readingwithsammi 's review for:

3.0

How fun is this cover?! Really well done! The back is nice too with the sequel characters. This book clocks in at about 520 pages BUT I will say it was an easy/fast read & only took a few hours (3/4) to read.

The first part is word for word the Hocus Pocus movie & i really don’t think they missed a thing. I enjoyed it & the whole movie played through my mind while I read. This story is such a cult classic & I will never grow tired of it!

I will say I generally won’t/ don’t feel the need to read a book that was written for it after the movie since it’s basically the movie script in paragraph form. I wasn’t thinking about that when I got it but yeah.... I don’t need to read the movie script... the same thing happened when I read “Interstellar”. Still this was a fun & quick read so it was all good.

Ok now onto part 2: the sequel. SO this is where a lot of people start to have negative opinions but I was ok with it. So yes - this is an iconic story that doesn’t need a sequel, & no - the sequel isn’t even close to as good as the original.

The sequel follows Allison & Max’s daughter & friends on Halloween night when she reawakens the Sanderson Sisters by accident trying to impress a girl she likes. We get a talking dog in this one...BUT i promise the story does differ from the original.

As a stand alone or like unofficially related book it was fine. I think having it linked so closely to the original just rubbed people the wrong way. They did incorporate a lot more diversity (both race & sexual orientation) & gave plenty nods and respect to the original story. It was clearly geared for a young child/teen/young adult audience so I certainly felt too old for it but it was a nice. I can see them doing like a TV movie of this one on Disney channel.