I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Hocus Pocus and The All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha Published by Disney Electronic Content on July 10, 2018
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Humorous, Black Comedy, Fantasy, Wizards & Witches, Action & Adventure
Pages: 521
Format: Hardcover, eARC
Source: Publisher
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Hocus Pocus is beloved by Halloween enthusiasts all over the world. Diving once more into the world of witches, this electrifying two-part young adult novel, released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1993 film, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus. Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens. Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on Earth to torment Salem for all eternity. Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison's seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest death-defying scheme.
Witch, please! I was actually really excited to get my hands on and read through Hocus Pocus And The All-New Sequel by AW Jantha. Normally I am not a huge fan of movie novelizations. They just are not my thing at all. However, nostalgia hits pretty hard. I am absolutely a child who grew up during the 90s (born in 87) so this book kind of spoke to me. I can even remember when the movie came out — and then going to rent it at the video store a few times. Naturally, I was ready to read the book version of the greatest Halloween movie of all time and then see what could possibly happen next – seeing as how the end of the movie was not open ended in the least.
The plot of Hocus Pocus, the first part, mirrors the movie pretty closely. There are not a whole lot of deviations from the movie except allusions to another Sanderson sister. Anyways, for those who have not seen the movie (why are you still reading this?) — the story follows Max, Dani and Allison. Max and Dani are siblings who moved from California to Salem, MA. Max is struggling with the move. Allison is from Salem and is smart and popular. Her mom used to run the witch museum.
Anyways, what happens is Max lights a black flame candle and brings the three Sanderson sisters back to life on Halloween. Chaos ensues. Little children are nearly taken away. Also, there’s a really old cat named Thackery Binx who was once a boy. Also, a little girl named Emily whose life force was stolen by the witches in their quest to be younger. Everything turns out okay in the the end though.
Overall, the initial portion of the book that deals with the original Hocus Pocus is pretty fun to read. I think your mileage is going to vary. If you love the movie and do not mind novelizations that are essentially the movie relayed scene by scene – this is the book for you. If you are looking for something a little bit more original, then you would do well to read the sequel portion of the book. Personally, I enjoyed the OG Hocus Pocus bits much more than the sequel.
The Sequel:
The setting of the sequel is 25 years later. This time, the story revolves around Poppy who is the daughter of Max and Allison. Somehow, Poppy ends up reawakening the Sanderson sisters. Meanwhile, she’s hanging out with her crush trying to make things right. I can’t remember her crush’s name. I do remember that her crush is another girl – so I am glad to see that there is diversity in this story. We also get to meet the fourth Sanderson sister who is basically the good witch trying to make things right. Oh and the one bully kid from the previous book is now a school principal and has a bully daughter. Again, chaos ensues.
For me, personally, the sequel was not as fun to read as the first portion. Maybe that is because my nostalgia is really coloring my view. I guess I felt like I did not care for or know the characters as well. One part that was unrealistic was the outcome of the bully kid growing up to be principal. Granted, this is a book about witches so how much realism do I expect? I think if you go in expecting a campy sort of read, you will not be disappointed. This is definitely a great book to have on your Halloween docket overall.
Other reviews of Hocus Pocus And The All-New Sequel by AW Jantha:
- Midnight Book Girl – “it was everything I needed it to be“
- Forever 17 Books – “didn’t quite hold a Black Flame candle to the original“
- Hello Jenny Reviews – “still cute and funny“
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