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A review by andipants
Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha
3.0
The first part of the book is a pretty straightforward novelization of the original movie, and it's fine. It runs into some of the expected problems with movie novelizations — the occasional throwaway joke that passes quickly enough on screen gets cringey when you have to see it on the page; musical numbers don't translate well to print; etc — but it mostly does a good job of evoking the feel of the movie, while adding a little bit of characterization to keep things fresh.
The sequel portion starts out very strong — the beginning reads more like a straightforward YA novel, the perspective firmly from Poppy's point of view, setting up her friends, her personality and concerns, while establishing the connections to the original story. I was very interested to see where it was going.
Once the action picks up though, it goes a bit downhill. One of the strengths of the original story is that the kids are on their own; the adults are all at the bewitched party, so the kids have to figure out their own plans and next steps. Here,they can communicate not just with Poppy's parents and aunt, but with three very knowledgeable ghosts, who helpfully explain the entire plot to them and tell them exactly what to do next . It not only removes agency from the main characters and makes the stakes feel lower, but also grinds the plot to a halt while they're there. It also starts feeling again like a movie novelization instead of a standalone novel, even though there's not a movie being adapted here. Character development is dropped almost entirely in favor of action, and they needlessly bring back some of those movie-novelization problems, including a musical number that is truly cringe-inducing to read.
I'm also not entirely sure what the target age for this book is. The original movie is rated PG, and definitely feels like it's aimed at ~8-12-year-olds; meanwhile the sequel feels pretty squarely YA, including some language that I don't think would usually pass muster in a MG novel.
Overall, the first part is skillfully done, but the second part is pretty wildly uneven. I like the characters, but I wish the story felt more like a complete novel, instead of an adaptation of a nonexistent movie.
The sequel portion starts out very strong — the beginning reads more like a straightforward YA novel, the perspective firmly from Poppy's point of view, setting up her friends, her personality and concerns, while establishing the connections to the original story. I was very interested to see where it was going.
Once the action picks up though, it goes a bit downhill. One of the strengths of the original story is that the kids are on their own; the adults are all at the bewitched party, so the kids have to figure out their own plans and next steps. Here,
I'm also not entirely sure what the target age for this book is. The original movie is rated PG, and definitely feels like it's aimed at ~8-12-year-olds; meanwhile the sequel feels pretty squarely YA, including some language that I don't think would usually pass muster in a MG novel.
Overall, the first part is skillfully done, but the second part is pretty wildly uneven. I like the characters, but I wish the story felt more like a complete novel, instead of an adaptation of a nonexistent movie.