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wytchycat85 's review for:
Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel
by A.W. Jantha
Since I couldn’t wait until October to read this, I’m doing it now.
The first part is an obvious novelization of the Halloween cult classic that everyone knows and loves. Although it feels shorter, it seems, to make room for the sequel novel. Lines are lifted from the movie and some parts feel rushed through; such as ‘Master Satan’s house’.
We DO get a little more detail from some of the characters in between, like Winifred’s connection to her mother, childhood and her sisters; Max’s morning before school and his dislike of moving to Salem from California; Emily on her interests and what is expected of her in her society in 1693 and the morning of her death; Jay and Ernie and what became of them after the movie and even some of Allison, where the book made her a little bit more of a feminist and helping Max be a little less of an upset teen and learn to mellow out a bit, like he is with Dani.
I would have liked the story to be a bit longer and maybe fleshed out a bit more in some areas, but I am happy with it……now onto the sequel!
**********************
Ok, first off, I would have NO problem if they made this sequel into a movie!
First off, Winifred’s spell book flies off at the end of part one and isn’t seen again for 25 years, until 2018.
We meet Poppy, Max and Allison’s daughter. She is a fun character who isn’t the most popular student at her school for the fact that people find her odd and that her dad is her teacher.
Poppy also has a crush on the most popular girl in school, Isabella. Her friend Travis is always telling her to suck it up and ask her out. Poppy ends up telling Isabella her family secret, that her Aunt and parents resurrected and defeated the Sanderson sisters years ago.
When her parents decide to throw a Halloween party, Isabella thinks it would be fun to use a cheap Spirit Board to talk to the dead, and Poppy, trying to impress her with her interests, decides to break into the Sanderson house to do so.
Hijinks ensue and the sisters are brought back again…and Max, Allison and Dani are sent to Hell! Oops!
Isabella is transformed into a dog and we find that there is a fourth Sanderson sister, Elizabeth, who is nothing like her sisters and helped her family escape with a magical Bloodstone but was hanged anyway. She, along with the spirits of Binx and Emily help Poppy and her friends to find the Bloodstone and save Poppy’s family and Salem.
It is also said that unlike the Black Flame candle spell from the first book/movie, the spell doesn’t wear off after the sun comes up…it becomes permanent! Poppy’s parents would remain in Hell and Isabella would stay a dog forever unless the Bloodstone is destroyed, reversing everything.
Winifred and the others use a cell phone and Sarah’s singing powers to turn most of the citizens into zombies to help them find the Stone. An odd moment in the book also gives Mary a singing number in downtown Salem.
Poppy and her friends recruit Katie (Jay the bully’s daughter) into helping them to get everything back to normal, they find the Bloodstone through lightning that shows them where it was buried. Poppy is also told that Katie mentioned that her dad didn’t want to help them because, at the end of the first movie/book, Max left them for dead in the cages in the house and when they were rescued, he made the town think they did it themselves, Poppy and Katie have a moment of understanding through this.
The magical lightning ended up coming from Isabella and it is revealed that she is a descendant of the Sanderson family through Elizabeth!
Near the climax, Isabella is turned back into a human because of Elizabeth and the witches are planning their rule, by trading souls of the people of Salem for other witches residing in Hell!
After it seems like the witches may win, Poppy and Isabella break the BloodStone and put everything back to normal.
The book ends with Winifred’s spellbook disappearing until 2019 when a young boy appears and seems to be reviving Billy Butherson the zombie.
**************************
Both parts were written well, but I really enjoyed the sequel. The author incorporated the modern tech and references very well and there were even some Disney easter eggs in there, like Trick-or-Treaters dressed as very specific Princesses.
My favourite was: ‘Two kids—a boy and a girl dressed as peanut butter and jelly—shove past us rolling a red wheelbarrow full of candy.’
The inclusion of LGBTQ and diversity in the 2nd half was a nice update. Poppy with having a big crush on Isabella and both Travis and Isabella being POC.
There wasn’t really a character I didn’t like and was pretty happy with how everything was written and portrayed.
I would definitely recommend this for any Hocus Pocus fan both new and old because this is the only sequel we’ll get.
Rating: 5 out of 5 broomsticks!
The first part is an obvious novelization of the Halloween cult classic that everyone knows and loves. Although it feels shorter, it seems, to make room for the sequel novel. Lines are lifted from the movie and some parts feel rushed through; such as ‘Master Satan’s house’.
We DO get a little more detail from some of the characters in between, like Winifred’s connection to her mother, childhood and her sisters; Max’s morning before school and his dislike of moving to Salem from California; Emily on her interests and what is expected of her in her society in 1693 and the morning of her death; Jay and Ernie and what became of them after the movie and even some of Allison, where the book made her a little bit more of a feminist and helping Max be a little less of an upset teen and learn to mellow out a bit, like he is with Dani.
I would have liked the story to be a bit longer and maybe fleshed out a bit more in some areas, but I am happy with it……now onto the sequel!
**********************
Ok, first off, I would have NO problem if they made this sequel into a movie!
First off, Winifred’s spell book flies off at the end of part one and isn’t seen again for 25 years, until 2018.
We meet Poppy, Max and Allison’s daughter. She is a fun character who isn’t the most popular student at her school for the fact that people find her odd and that her dad is her teacher.
Poppy also has a crush on the most popular girl in school, Isabella. Her friend Travis is always telling her to suck it up and ask her out. Poppy ends up telling Isabella her family secret, that her Aunt and parents resurrected and defeated the Sanderson sisters years ago.
When her parents decide to throw a Halloween party, Isabella thinks it would be fun to use a cheap Spirit Board to talk to the dead, and Poppy, trying to impress her with her interests, decides to break into the Sanderson house to do so.
Hijinks ensue and the sisters are brought back again…and Max, Allison and Dani are sent to Hell! Oops!
Isabella is transformed into a dog and we find that there is a fourth Sanderson sister, Elizabeth, who is nothing like her sisters and helped her family escape with a magical Bloodstone but was hanged anyway. She, along with the spirits of Binx and Emily help Poppy and her friends to find the Bloodstone and save Poppy’s family and Salem.
It is also said that unlike the Black Flame candle spell from the first book/movie, the spell doesn’t wear off after the sun comes up…it becomes permanent! Poppy’s parents would remain in Hell and Isabella would stay a dog forever unless the Bloodstone is destroyed, reversing everything.
Winifred and the others use a cell phone and Sarah’s singing powers to turn most of the citizens into zombies to help them find the Stone. An odd moment in the book also gives Mary a singing number in downtown Salem.
Poppy and her friends recruit Katie (Jay the bully’s daughter) into helping them to get everything back to normal, they find the Bloodstone through lightning that shows them where it was buried. Poppy is also told that Katie mentioned that her dad didn’t want to help them because, at the end of the first movie/book, Max left them for dead in the cages in the house and when they were rescued, he made the town think they did it themselves, Poppy and Katie have a moment of understanding through this.
The magical lightning ended up coming from Isabella and it is revealed that she is a descendant of the Sanderson family through Elizabeth!
Near the climax, Isabella is turned back into a human because of Elizabeth and the witches are planning their rule, by trading souls of the people of Salem for other witches residing in Hell!
After it seems like the witches may win, Poppy and Isabella break the BloodStone and put everything back to normal.
The book ends with Winifred’s spellbook disappearing until 2019 when a young boy appears and seems to be reviving Billy Butherson the zombie.
**************************
Both parts were written well, but I really enjoyed the sequel. The author incorporated the modern tech and references very well and there were even some Disney easter eggs in there, like Trick-or-Treaters dressed as very specific Princesses.
My favourite was: ‘Two kids—a boy and a girl dressed as peanut butter and jelly—shove past us rolling a red wheelbarrow full of candy.’
The inclusion of LGBTQ and diversity in the 2nd half was a nice update. Poppy with having a big crush on Isabella and both Travis and Isabella being POC.
There wasn’t really a character I didn’t like and was pretty happy with how everything was written and portrayed.
I would definitely recommend this for any Hocus Pocus fan both new and old because this is the only sequel we’ll get.
Rating: 5 out of 5 broomsticks!