This is the second book in Maguire's "The Wicked Years" series. For whatever reason, I enjoyed this one a bit more than Wicked, perhaps because it was shorter and therefore the parts that "dragged" didn't seem as long as they did in Wicked? Anyway, this book follows Liir, the young man who accompanies Elphaba in the later part of the first book. Liir doesn't know if Elphaba was really his mother or not, but this book follows Liir's emotions as he deals with Elphaba's death, tries to piece his own life together, and searches for Nor, his young friend and possible half-sister who was captured by the Wizard's troops in Wicked. We find out what happens to Oz after the "Wicked Witch of the West" dies, get a better look at Mother Yackle (or Yackle) the mysterious creature who often appeared throughout Elphaba's life, and what happened to the Animals after the Wizard leaves. I was disappointed that this book left so many loose ends unraveled, but I guess that's so the third book could be written. Anyway, this is a perfectly good book to read when you are looking for something to lose your imagination in and rediscover the version of Oz that Maguire puts forth to us in Wicked.
An apt and fitting sequel to WICKED. Liir carries on after the death of Elphaba at the hands of Dorothy. This is definately NOT for kids! He learns to find love - perhaps.