Title: Hocus Pocus and the All New Sequel
Author: A.W. Jantha
Published: 2018
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Rating:

Synopsis
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.
Credit: GoodReads

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The idea of a Hocus Pocus sequel is awesome. Especially, now that one is officially happening. However, I was unprepared for the concept of the book. Part one is the Hocus Pocus movie we know and love. I listened to this on audiobook, which is my preferred method of reading these days. But it was as if I was listening to the movie instead of watching it. Of course some parts were different, and scenes were omitted, but overall they were one in the same.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of the 90s film. There is just something strange about an author taking a movie and trying to adapted it into a book, while still making it their own. I guess I shouldn’t be so unimpressed by this since Hollywood has been adapting books into films for years. Nevertheless, I’d much rather just watch the movie. Don’t lie you know you would too.

However, the first half of the book did keep me entertained. The author tried their best to bring the movie story to life in a different way. And, give us all the feels we get from watching the film. Part two of the book was a whole new story; thus the sequel. It follows Max and Allison’s daughter, Poppy. All her life she’s heard stories about the Halloween her parents and aunt brought back the Sanderson sisters. Usually she laughs them off, because the story is too unbelievable to be real. But on Halloween night, Poppy and her friends sneak into the Sanderson museum and accidentally bring the witched back from the dead once again.

This sounds like a solid concept, but it was very lackluster. I wasn’t invested in the characters, which made me not care if they lost against the witches. The author tried to play off readers love for the movie by adding cameos of some of the movies characters. However, those characters felt out of place and didn’t fit it the story. And, it was clear that the author didn’t know how to right Max, Allison and Dani as adults.

Max and Allison were so far off from their original personalities. Allison was lawyer, which made no sense to me. Max was a teacher, which was weird as well. I would have mad Allison a teacher instead. Max seemed very creative, so I would picture him going that route. Maybe writing fiction books that stemmed from his experience with the Sanderson sisters. As for Dani, she was portrayed very childish. Like an adult, who think they’re still in high school.

“Oh, look, another glorious morning. Makes me sick!”

Throughout the book, Poppy talked about how her parents always freaking out on Halloween. They didn’t ever celebrate the holiday most years. This is another fact that was unrealistic to me. Sure three witches almost taking over Salem would probably change anyone perspective on Halloween, but that drastically. I think not. You would think that over time the story would start to sound fake even to them. They might even chalk it up to a nightmare of sorts. When paranormal thing happen most people convince themselves that their mind is playing tricks on them. So why wouldn’t these characters.

For me, the book was so-so. I would have preferred a ‘what if’ type story. Kind of similar to the Disney twisted tale books. Now that would have peaked my interested. Let me know your thoughts on the book in the comments below. Don’t forget to like and share this post. If you are a book lover follow my blog for book reviews and more.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny