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A review by afoolishfigment
Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha
3.0
I didn't love it; but I didn't hate it. That being said, as someone who is a pretty fast reader, it took me much longer then I expected to finish this book.
The entirety of "Part One" is just a retelling of the movie, and while there are VERY obvious nods to the added plot points to connect the two parts. I just found it extremely hard to stay interested in an almost word for word retelling.
That being said "Part Two" while cute and much easier to read then the first; it really fell flat. While there was some nods too the original/"Part One" I just felt there wasn't enough to really make this a satisfying sequel. Max and Allison's daughter, Poppy is just kind of 'there' and her friends just seem a bit under developed. They all speak and it really doesn't matter who it is, because none of them truly stand out.
In terms of plot, it's cute. Our favorite Virgin had a child who doesn't believe in her parents story of 'witches trying to suck the lives out of the children of Salem'. She goes and accidentally brings said witches back again, and then has a matter of hours to figure out how to get rid of them, or her friends and family are trapped in hell.
It just feels like for a book that focused so much on retelling the original, and asides from having a couple of the same characters there is no real connection with the original. I would have liked to see more of Poppy's interactions with Emily or Binx throughout the book. It seemed to be more of a strange tale about some high schoolers that just happen to reawaken the Sanderson Sisters, then a proper homage. Also, the weird ending that alludes to a third story..is well...unnecessary.
The entirety of "Part One" is just a retelling of the movie, and while there are VERY obvious nods to the added plot points to connect the two parts. I just found it extremely hard to stay interested in an almost word for word retelling.
That being said "Part Two" while cute and much easier to read then the first; it really fell flat. While there was some nods too the original/"Part One" I just felt there wasn't enough to really make this a satisfying sequel. Max and Allison's daughter, Poppy is just kind of 'there' and her friends just seem a bit under developed. They all speak and it really doesn't matter who it is, because none of them truly stand out.
In terms of plot, it's cute. Our favorite Virgin had a child who doesn't believe in her parents story of 'witches trying to suck the lives out of the children of Salem'. She goes and accidentally brings said witches back again, and then has a matter of hours to figure out how to get rid of them, or her friends and family are trapped in hell.
It just feels like for a book that focused so much on retelling the original, and asides from having a couple of the same characters there is no real connection with the original. I would have liked to see more of Poppy's interactions with Emily or Binx throughout the book. It seemed to be more of a strange tale about some high schoolers that just happen to reawaken the Sanderson Sisters, then a proper homage. Also, the weird ending that alludes to a third story..is well...unnecessary.