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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
2.75 ⭐️. They should have left this alone. (Full review to come)
Oh Disney, what have you done. Hocus Pocus is an October must for me. I was 10 when the movie came out and I saw it in the theater. When the book came out I new I had to have it for the sake of nostalgia. I had no delusions that it would be a 5 star read but I did not expect it to be so....disappointing. The first half was ok. The writing was so so but still I enjoyed it. Then came the sequel. I struggled to read it. It pains me to say it reminds be of really bad fan fiction. There is nothing wrong with fan fiction but this was just.... sad.
I am so sad that this book was just utter crap because I love this movie and all of the cool stuff they are popping out with for Halloween.
The first half of the book is just a narrative of the movie. They added 2 or three lines to the script to prepare us for the sequel. The sequel takes place 25 years after the death of the three Sanderson sisters. The daughter of Allison and Max brings them back by playing a cheap and very millennial version of the Ouija board. Her parents and Aunt get sent to Hell while these three mischievous witches "wreak havoc" for one night or two. The whole plot just fell flat for me, it was too millennial and full of millennial references. I understand it is "going with the times" and it needs to be relatable but I just did not enjoy listening to these witches riding Swifers and Roombas and using cell phones to lure people out of their homes and into a zombie like trance to find a bloodstone and spell book for them. I just did not enjoy it all.
BTW, I am a millennial but I don't consider or relate as one. This book was just redundant and had everything I abhor of our current generation.
The first half of the book is just a narrative of the movie. They added 2 or three lines to the script to prepare us for the sequel. The sequel takes place 25 years after the death of the three Sanderson sisters. The daughter of Allison and Max brings them back by playing a cheap and very millennial version of the Ouija board. Her parents and Aunt get sent to Hell while these three mischievous witches "wreak havoc" for one night or two. The whole plot just fell flat for me, it was too millennial and full of millennial references. I understand it is "going with the times" and it needs to be relatable but I just did not enjoy listening to these witches riding Swifers and Roombas and using cell phones to lure people out of their homes and into a zombie like trance to find a bloodstone and spell book for them. I just did not enjoy it all.
BTW, I am a millennial but I don't consider or relate as one. This book was just redundant and had everything I abhor of our current generation.
hate is a strong word, so I will try not to use it at all. the first half is literally the movie, so I wouldn't waste your time reading. which is what I did. the second half... oh the second half... lame play-on-words, pop culture lingo, Allison's PTSD on Halloween, Max being a history teacher, Jay being the school principal. its all just too much and I was rolling my eyes from start to end. the ONLY (and I mean ONLY) thing I enjoyed. Poppy walked into her parents room and looks at a photo of them and Dani as Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell. that made me smile.
"Everyone here knows that Halloween was invented by the candy companies. It's a conspiracy."
Hocus Pocus was my fourth and final ✨spooky ✨ book of October! I can't believe it's all over already. :(
Is the book just like the movie? Yes, yes it almost is. There are a couple of scenes that are different, for example. Honestly, I don't think this is a spoiler, but just to be on the safe side.Dani and Max are walking to school together on Halloween morning, this takes place at the very beginning of the book. After escaping the Sanderson sisters in the graveyard, Max and Alison talk in the sewer. I really can't think of anything else... So if you don't like the movie, you're probably not going to enjoy the book. BUT, I'm trash for the movie so you know I was down to read the book.
Hocus Pocus can be pretty ridiculous at times, but I will always love this story. (Pretty short review, because, what is there to say about this?)
Hocus Pocus was my fourth and final ✨spooky ✨ book of October! I can't believe it's all over already. :(
Is the book just like the movie? Yes, yes it almost is. There are a couple of scenes that are different, for example. Honestly, I don't think this is a spoiler, but just to be on the safe side.
Hocus Pocus can be pretty ridiculous at times, but I will always love this story. (Pretty short review, because, what is there to say about this?)
The movie to book adaption part of this book was great. It gave me all of the nostalgia I could have dreamed of having in a book. I love that we got to see more of Max, Allison, and Dani in character. I loved Binx, and I loved all of the memorable scenes from the movie.
The sequel started off strong. I thought it was clever to have Max be the history teacher, who is required to tell the Sanderson story, but it doesn't really seem in character for Max. When I think of Max, I think of him being laid back and way too chill. I thought Poppy hating Halloween was perfect!
I did not like the use of technology in this sequel. When the Sanderson's were first introduced to an Apple Iphone, that whole scene was cringe. When Poppy and her friends used the speaker phone feature that was also dumb. Having random text speak in the middle of grammatically correct sentence... way dumb. Has an English teacher never had that conversation with this author? I mean probably not, but come on.
Read this book for the novelization of the movie then stop.
The sequel started off strong. I thought it was clever to have Max be the history teacher, who is required to tell the Sanderson story, but it doesn't really seem in character for Max. When I think of Max, I think of him being laid back and way too chill. I thought Poppy hating Halloween was perfect!
I did not like the use of technology in this sequel. When the Sanderson's were first introduced to an Apple Iphone, that whole scene was cringe. When Poppy and her friends used the speaker phone feature that was also dumb. Having random text speak in the middle of grammatically correct sentence... way dumb. Has an English teacher never had that conversation with this author? I mean probably not, but come on.
Read this book for the novelization of the movie then stop.
2.5 would be my rating..
I tried really hard to go into this book with no expectations.. I avoided reading reviews to be able to have my own impute before beginning.
I LOVED part one.. I felt like it was so true to the movie (of which I treasure so much) it was basically word for word ... I was very pleased. I felt like I was able to enjoy one of my favorite movies through my own imagination and it warmed my heart to read.
And then it got to part two......
I'm so discouraged to say I couldn't even make it through the third chapter... I don't even think I made it far enough to get to the Sanderson sisters coming back ... It was soooo over done. They tried wayy to hard to connected to this era it was actually disappointing and I felt like I couldn't enjoy it because of how cheesy it was.. most of it was just reiteration of facts from the first movie...
I decided to stop reading it.
If the book was just part one .... I would have rated it 5/5 ...
I tried really hard to go into this book with no expectations.. I avoided reading reviews to be able to have my own impute before beginning.
I LOVED part one.. I felt like it was so true to the movie (of which I treasure so much) it was basically word for word ... I was very pleased. I felt like I was able to enjoy one of my favorite movies through my own imagination and it warmed my heart to read.
And then it got to part two......
I'm so discouraged to say I couldn't even make it through the third chapter... I don't even think I made it far enough to get to the Sanderson sisters coming back ... It was soooo over done. They tried wayy to hard to connected to this era it was actually disappointing and I felt like I couldn't enjoy it because of how cheesy it was.. most of it was just reiteration of facts from the first movie...
I decided to stop reading it.
If the book was just part one .... I would have rated it 5/5 ...
I enjoyed it. It was light and cute! As someone who loves the movie and could quote it, I kinda skipped the first half of the book. But the second half and the return of the Sanderson sisters, I could see it playing out in my head. So vivid and great!
Much as it pains me to do so, I had to set this book aside about halfway through The All New Sequel (which is the whole title? the story doesn't get it's own...title??). I tried, I really did, but when the author started describing a musical number with Mary singing about feeling left out I just couldn't take it anymore. This is neither the sequel we deserved nor the sequel we needed.