A. W. Jantha

Fans have waited 25 years for more Hocus Pocus, and here's what Disney has come up with, publishing this just last week. It's in two parts.

Part One- the story from the movie, based on the screenplay by Mick Garris and Neal Cuthbert. This follows the movie very closely, with a little additional backstory on the characters and the mention of another Sanderson sister who didn't exist at all in the movie. The word "brunette" is misspelled repeatedly, but if you're a fan, you let it pass (even show more though Disney can certainly afford proof-readers) and you're likely to enjoy this first part of the book. It's 197 pages of the total 521 pages.

Part Two- And, if you're a fan of the movie, and why would anyone buy this book unless they are, you will likely be really pissed off by Part Two, which is effing garbage. Why did Disney do this? Why take such beloved characters from a movie that was witty, funny, a little edgy, yet ultimately about good versus bungling evil, and turn it into a platform for Social Issues?
It's 25 years later, teens Max and Allison grew up, married, and had one child, Poppy, who is now a teen herself. She is also a lesbian, which we aren't allowed to forget as the first 100 pages are solidly about her mooning after her friend, popular homecoming queen, Isabella. I'm not exaggerating, the book is written in first person, so we have over 300 pages of inner dialogue teen angst. Poppy's best friend Travis, is black and also gay, and he's the only one who knows her "secret". That is until the end-*Spoiler* (but not really a surprise by now)
Isabella is also gay.
They use the term "BAMF" and say lame things like "...if they call your parents, Travis, you'll be grounded until Cyber Monday." The writing is terrible. It's a "Gossip Girl" book. They have Jay, the skanky blonde burn-out from the movie, as the high school principal.
The Sanderson sisters, the reason for the movie's immense popularity, show up 100 pages in, and by then I was skipping through two and three pages at a time because I couldn't take the narcissistic workings of the teenage mind. When the Sandersons finally appeared, they were flat imitations of their previous selves, lacking the wit and charming deviousness. It felt like they were being used. And the new Sanderson sister, a "good" one who appears from the 1600's, actually says, with her parting breath, "Weed out hate and ignorance and persecution whenever and wherever you can."
My God I hate this book. And the ending was set up for more sequels. 1 star show less

Full disclosure: I’m a HUGE “Hocus Pocus” fan. I was 10 when it came out and saw it in the theatre several times, and of course I had the VHS, I still watch it several times during the month of October, and I even have a replica of Dani’s jacket and several Hocus Pocus decorations and clothing. I’ve always wished for a movie sequel, and when I heard there was a book version out, I was unsure if I was going to ever read it, and reading some unfavorable reviews didn’t help my show more decision. But after watching the cast perform in an online benefit event, my curiosity won the better of me and I decided to give it a chance. ⁣
The first half of the book is basically a retread of the movie, with a few additions sprinkled throughout that hint at events in the sequel. I enjoyed reading the first part, as it was just like watching the movie all over again. The second hand of the book picks up 25 years after Max, Dani, and Allison defeated the Sanderson sisters. Max and Allison have a teenage daughter, Poppy. Poppy doesn’t believe in her family’s story with the witches, but she finds the truth out the hard way on Halloween night when an innocent game with friends resurrects Winifred, Sarah, and Mary. ⁣
I enjoyed the addition to the Sanderson sister lore with the character of Elizabeth, and seeing old favorites like Binx, however briefly. Also, the scene with the witches being baffled by an IPhone made me laugh out loud. There were a few things that I felt could have either been left out or changed though. The character of Dani isn’t given as much attention or updates like other characters, and one of Poppy’s friends is turned into an animal like Binx, and it felt unnecessary. Winifred also came across as more of the focus as opposed to Sarah and Mary, whereas in the movie all 3 shared the spotlight. The battle at the end also seemed to go on for quite a while and almost became repetitive. Speaking of repetitive, Poppy also has a crush on her friend Isabella and her pining after her and some of the comments she made came across as overdramatic. I get it, I was a teenager once too, but still...how many more times do I have to read the same inner monologue? ⁣
If you’re craving some more “Hocus Pocus” until the sequel is released, this is a breezy and silly read that brings back all the nostalgia feels. ⁣ show less

In 17th century Salem, Massachusetts teenager, Thackery Binx, is unsuccessful in his attempts to rescue his little sister Emily from the three evil Sanderson sister, and the trio of witches transform Thackery into an immortal cat for his trouble.

Three hundred years later, high school student Max is uprooted from his home in California and transplanted to Salem, Massachusetts with his indifferent parents and his bratty little sister Dani. When he accidentally brings the Sanderson sisters show more back to life, Max—along with his high school crush, Allison, & Binx the cat—scramble to destroy the witches and save Dani from the same fate as Emily.

This book, which is a tie-in to the Disney film of the same name, is a disappointment on many levels.

The story drags on and on and is very repetitive. Max & entourage get trapped by the witches, escape, and destroy the witches—only to have that same scenario repeated over and over again. It felt like being on a really boring & never-ending merry-go-round. It drags on so long, most young children would be unable to stay interested.

I wouldn’t read this book to my children, anyway. It is very violent: two bullies gang up on Max, Max stalks Allison through the halls of the high school, the Sanderson sisters are brutally executed, and—of course—the witches' activities revolve around kidnapping, murdering, and eating children.

There are also a lot of offensive sexual references in the book. For the most part, there are childish giggles about boobies, and bazoomas, and other idiotic idioms for Allison’s breasts. But there are also much more vulgar sexual references pertaining to the witches that are just shocking for a children’s book, including instances that occur when they are executed and hijacking a bus.

Overall, this books suffers from being long-winded and boring. And, although clearly designed and marketed to be appealing to a juvenile audience, the violence and sexual references make it highly inappropriate for little ones. show less

I love Hocus Pocus. It's a cheesey, funny, Halloween movie month must at my house. That being said, I thought the novelization of the movie was okay. Most of the dialogue and scenes matched up, and I wasn't bothered by the book alternating between 1693 and 1993 in the beginning. They changed/omitted some scenes which did annoy me, so overall I'd give the novelization (which takes up the first 1/3 ish of the book) 3*.

As for the sequel... Holy bad writing. Wow. I had to start skimming because show more I didn't want to DNF this. This is by far the worst written book I've encountered in recent years. I occasionally read juvenile fiction alongside my 8 year old son and even the worst of those are better than this. On top of the bad writing, the story is extremely convenient and doesn't have the same charm as its predecessor. Some of the plot points were strange and forced. But I honestly could forgive the plot flaws if the writing wasn't cringe worthy. The only positives I can think of are 1) it was nice getting to see where many of the characters from the original movie ended up, 2) I liked that they made the characters more diverse and inclusive. The sequel gets a 1*.

So overall, 2/5 for the book. My suggestion is read a plot summary of the sequel and skip this one. Not worth it for how long it is. show less