Wicked cover art

Wicked

The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Wicked

By: Gregory Maguire
Narrated by: John McDonough
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $38.05

Buy Now for $38.05

About this listen

The New York Times bestseller that inspired the Tony-winning hit musical and major motion picture

OVER 6 MILLION COPIES SOLD

Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and not long after entering Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz's most promising young citizens.

But Elphaba's Oz is no utopia. The Wizard's secret police are everywhere.

Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance.

Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.

"An astonishing achievement."—Philip Pullman

©1995 Gregory Maguire (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC Classics Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Magic Magic Users Witchcraft Witty Wizardry

Critic Reviews

"A staggering feat of wordcraft." (Los Angeles Times)

"McDonough's excellent portrayals of Elphaba's outspoken, gravel-voiced nanny, Glinda's snobbish friends, and the wide-eyed, soft-spoken Dorothy make this excursion to Oz worthwhile." (Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant
Wicked is a wonderful book. Very well written and I enjoyed listening to the audio book just as much as I enjoyed reading it several years ago. I would have preferred a female narrator though, considering this is from the Witches pov!

Fantastic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m not sure what to feel with this book - it was interesting and had amazing world building elements to it. I much prefer the musical adaptation storyline and as such I wasn’t really satisfied/happy with the overall ending of the book - I don’t need a HEA in this instance but I felt unfulfilled with this ending. I think this book gave me trauma in an oddly weird way that I’m not quite sure how to describe, glad I read it but I’m not doing it again or any other books in the series.

I think I got trauma from this…🤷‍♀️

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The voice was a bit dull but the story was great, interesting from a different perspective

Great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found this book very slow, very strange as in the characters and land odd

Elphabas personality

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book felt like a chore to get through. Very long winded. Was a fan of the musical and was intrigued about the book despite hearing it was tough to get through. I also wanted to “read” this before the movie was released. The musical and movie are MUCH better. Stick to those.

Long winded

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.