I love the show and the movie, so I assumed I'd enjoy this, and maybe I went in with unrealistic expectations, but I was left disappointed. Maguire's version has so much potential, but it fails to be impactful. I didn't see a lot of growth in most of the characters, and many of the reveals lacked emotional impact as a result. It felt like too much crammed together and so nothing was explored in full depth - the clock of the time dragon, for instance, popped up randomly but never satisfactorily; Elphaba supposedly wants to help Animals but doesn't ever accomplish anything or really ever seem to try after the doctor dies; political discussions and the complications of race relations are more incidental than concretely explored. There were a lot of characters, especially Yackle and Liir, that could've added to the story if they'd been explained better, but instead it was just more running around without full explanations or motivations. How could Elphaba really be in hiding for multiple years with her condition, and how could she not know if she's a mother or not? That one conversation she has with a Cow is the closest we get to see of Animal's perspectives, but even that is very hastily done and never touched again. This world, idea, and even basic plot and characters could really be special in a fantasy book, but unfortunately this was not that book for me.