Wicked: Witch & Curse

This review was originally posted on Melissa's Midnight Musings on October 2, 2012.


This book starts off immediately with action. Usually, I like a lot of background and setup, but diving into the action works well in this case. The metaphors and just the scenery, dreams, senses and feelings that the characters experience are all described really well. So well that I found myself cringing at certain parts including a lot of the sacrifice scenes.

That is one warning I would put out there to anyone who may pick up this book. There are a lot of scenes of sacrifices, including the drowning of a cat, so if you are sensitive to these kinds of scenes be forewarned. As a comment on the cat sacrifice scene in particular, I did find it disturbing, show more but I can also see why Holly felt she had to do it. Not saying that I agree with it, just that I understand why it was done.

I really liked the different levels of the exploration of magic in the book. There's the lighter side, where we see Amanda and Holly slowly trying to learn everything they can about white magic, and the innocent magic that Nicole does with her mom. Then there's the Deveraux family which is full of dark magic. It's nice to see both sides. I also enjoyed the fact that they took a more traditional route with some of the scenes with the rituals in that the coupling of a man and a woman creates the most powerful kind of magic. But, they were also open minded in that there is a gay couple in the book who can create extremely powerful magic together as well.

It's obvious to me anyway that Holly is the most powerful character, since she is so connected to her past (to the point of possession). I'm curious to see just how much she changes as she explores her power even further and as it grows.

I have a soft spot for books about witches, and Wicca, so I really enjoyed this. Plus there's a Charmed reference (pg 267 for anyone who's curious) so I had to like it. No, just kidding, but I'm really glad I did enjoy it so much because I had to read it in the span of a day and a half because I left it too long and it was due the next day at the library. Someone had already checked out the next book in the series otherwise I would have picked it up right away.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a great book that explores different elements of magic and Wicca in an action packed story, with a little romance thrown in. show less

I enjoy fantasy, especially fantasy rooted in lore and/or history. When I picked up this book I had high hopes. While reading a couple thoughts went through my mind:
Thought #1: Wow, they're going to actually talk about Wiccan/Pagan holidays and utilize some aspects of witch lore and history. Sweet.
Though#2: Hmm, this isn't quite what I expected. Maybe they're trying to be conscientious of the Wiccan community.
I quickly realized there are some major flaws in the first two installments of the series. Mainly, the writing style is simplistic which is both a pro and a con. Simple writing makes it an easy read, especially for younger audiences, people just entering the fantasy genre, or even people who do not like to read often. That show more being said, it was too simplistic in my mind. There was something too casual about the storytelling and I found it hard to believe this is a series done by well established authors. There were moments in the books that were well done and immersive, even making me tear up a little, but overall it felt a bit lazy and half-assed. Originally, I thought perhaps the authors struggled with worry over offending Wiccan and Pagan communities and that left them limited and in a position of self censorship. I realized as the story went on that this was not the case.
There is very little character development and relationships between characters are barely established. Characters are introduced with few mediocre and stereotypical sentences (especially for physical descriptions) before the authors state their role and then you are to accept it at face value and move on. I also had a large problem with how weak the women are portrayed. This is an aspect of the series I am hoping to see change for the better, hoping there will be growth but with two installments completed it is a very slow process of growth, if any. The "magnetic attraction" between Holly and the boy she barely knows is much too forced and I found myself growing more and more irritated; this occurred with the platonic friendships, as well. The lack of communication and development between the characters was absolutely amazing, in my opinion.
As for the plot of Witch and Curse, they were very self evident from the titles and somewhat meh in their execution. Some moments were a bit cliche and stereotypical: monsters, magic in colors, ghosts and even mentions of wands but I think it was just the way it was written. They were not BAD but they were not as good as other fantasy books I have read. It so far has been like a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, just with magic and lackluster writing. For someone new to fantasy or even that is not interested much in reading but wants to try something fun, this is very low on my list of recommendations. I WILL finish this series out of pure stubbornness and the fact all the books were given to me but (even considering the years for these two books are 2002 and 2003) I don't see exactly how these were bestsellers. show less

I enjoy fantasy, especially fantasy rooted in lore and/or history. When I picked up this book I had high hopes. While reading a couple thoughts went through my mind:
Thought #1: Wow, they're going to actually talk about Wiccan/Pagan holidays and utilize some aspects of witch lore and history. Sweet.
Though#2: Hmm, this isn't quite what I expected. Maybe they're trying to be conscientious of the Wiccan community.
I quickly realized there are some major flaws in the first two installments of the series. Mainly, the writing style is simplistic which is both a pro and a con. Simple writing makes it an easy read, especially for younger audiences, people just entering the fantasy genre, or even people who do not like to read often. That being show more said, it was too simplistic in my mind. There was something too casual about the storytelling and I found it hard to believe this is a series done by well established authors. There were moments in the books that were well done and immersive, even making me tear up a little, but overall it felt a bit lazy and half-assed. Originally, I thought perhaps the authors struggled with worry over offending Wiccan and Pagan communities and that left them limited and in a position of self censorship. I realized as the story went on that this was not the case.
There is very little character development and relationships between characters are barely established. Characters are introduced with few mediocre and stereotypical sentences (especially for physical descriptions) before the authors state their role and then you are to accept it at face value and move on. I also had a large problem with how weak the women are portrayed. This is an aspect of the series I am hoping to see change for the better, hoping there will be growth but with two installments completed it is a very slow process of growth, if any. The "magnetic attraction" between Holly and the boy she barely knows is much too forced and I found myself growing more and more irritated; this occurred with the platonic friendships, as well. The lack of communication and development between the characters was absolutely amazing, in my opinion.
As for the plot of Witch and Curse, they were very self evident from the titles and somewhat meh in their execution. Some moments were a bit cliche and stereotypical: monsters, magic in colors, ghosts and even mentions of wands but I think it was just the way it was written. They were not BAD but they were not as good as other fantasy books I have read. It so far has been like a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, just with magic and lackluster writing. For someone new to fantasy or even that is not interested much in reading but wants to try something fun, this is very low on my list of recommendations. I WILL finish this series out of pure stubbornness and the fact all the books were given to me but (even considering the years for these two books are 2002 and 2003) I don't see exactly how these were bestsellers. show less

I have had this book on my shelves probably since 2009, I finally decided it was time to read it and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

I really liked the first book, Witch. I was having a lot of fun reading it and I was enjoying it more than I expected to. It’s not the best story, but sometimes you just need some older YA paranormal in your life. Especially since that is pretty much where I started when I first got into reading.

The second book, Curse, unfortunately wasn’t as good. I was very disappointed and even got angry at one point. If you are like me and you love animals, either stay away from this series or just be prepared. Both Witch & Curse have animal sacrifices, but the second book is a bit worse. It made me so angry I show more almost didn’t finish the book. However, I was so close to the end, and I still have the rest of the series on my shelf, so I picked it back up and finished it.

Since I did I enjoy the first part, I will be continuing on with the series. Hopefully it gets better. Although I am really disliking Holly, so I don’t know how well this is going to go. show less

I read the version with both books in it, but I did a separate review on Witch by itself. I will rehash it a little bit here.

Witch I gave two stars. There didn't seem to be much of anything happening, I didn't care about any of the characters at all, and quite frankly it was boring. It just seemed to go from one plot point to another without much actual story in between. I understand that they were trying to build the background and foundation for the rest of the series, but it didn't work for me. I wouldn't have read the second book if it weren't already in my hands. There were sections that I didn't even understand after reading them more than once, like we were supposed to infer something or just go along with things without show more questioning why or how.

Curse was much better, although it still only gets a three star rating. There were more things happening, more action, and we get into more of the witchy stuff. My biggest complaint would be that there are so many people that it's sometimes hard to keep them straight. I don't understand how we're getting three more books out of this, but we'll see. I've bought all of them, so I'm going to do my best to make it through them.

All in all, not worth the time or money. Character development is small, none of them is someone you really want to get behind, and story is greatly lacking. Sorry! show less

I really enjoyed these books, I felt like they could be easily be turned into t.v episodes. I thought that both started off kind of slow, but as they continued it started to get better, although if you didn't know Curse was part of a series, you would be left scratching your head.Unlike Witch, book one, could be read as a stand alone. And in my opinion was the better of the two so far.

This book actually has two books, so I’m going to review it in two parts. I just finished the first book and I’m actually yearning for more, which is a good thing since I still have half a book to read

Holly is getting ready to go into her senior year of high school, finishing out the summer on a white water rafting trip with her parents and best friend. When it ends tragically, she moves to Seattle to live with her aunt, uncle and 2 cousins.

She hadn’t even made it to Seattle before strange things started (magic) and the moment she got into her new bedroom, it got even more serious (magic).

This book takes you back and forth between today and 600 years ago. There are two major witch/warlock covens, The Cathers and The Deveraux. show more There was an arranged match up between the two covens that ended tragically and risen back from the grave (MAGIC).

Holly always thought she heard her parents fighting about witches, but she had no idea it was true.

One thing I really liked about this book was that although the girls tried to push the weird dreams(magic) they were having to the back of their mind, when they found out they were really witches, they were cool with it. I mean, this is life changing. Yes, there was some serious drama going on and they really didn’t have a choice but to embrace it, but it would be hard, I think, to just be like “Oh, I’m a witch? Cool.”

I’ve read a lot of books that jump back and forth through time periods and sometimes it’s hard to determine where you are. This one was very self explanatory. If it jumped really far, it told you where it was. Otherwise, they used regular font for today and italics for the past. I always knew where I was.

At the beginning of each chapter, there was a spell. I thought this was SUPER COOL and here is my favorite one:

Feed us now as hunger grows
Let us feast upon our foes
We shall dine upon their eyes
Hearts and brains, ribs and thighs

Our Lady listen to our cry
We throw our heads back to the sky
Bind our family heart and sole
Comfort us and make us whole

When it comes to the chapters, they are labeled by the English Medieval moons, which they use instead of the months. Very cool! I had no idea there were so many different moons. Check out this site to see all of the different moon names.

Being a Twilight fan, one thing that caught my attention and I LOVED during this book, was that Port Angelus was mentioned. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but when it caught my eye, I thought it was cool. Witches, warlocks, vampires …. they’re all from the same mold and love Washington Yes, I realize I spelled Angelus with a “u”. That’s how it was spelled in the book. I looked it up online, and yes it’s Angeles! The “u” gives it a little character though!

I am really excited to start this next book. One thing I am hoping for is that we stay in the present a little more. While I love the old days, I think the characters in this book are really interesting. I love the fact that 3 teenage girls just learned they were witches. I would like to get to know them more. As I flip through the next book, I don’t see any italics so hopefully that means we stick with Holly, Amanda and Nicole!

I give this book 3 bookmarks.

I must admit from the get-go that I didn’t like Curse as much as Witch. I thought that I would like it better because it seemed like it was going to be more about the present than the past … not so much.

I was definitely fooled. Just because there wasn’t a lot of italics, doesn’t mean we weren’t delving into the past. Just like in the first book, we jumped from the present to the past as Holly and Amanda try once again to take over the Deveraux clan.

But this time some new characters are thrown into the midst and Nicole isn’t with her coven … she’s not even on the same continent.

There were a few things I liked about this book. I thought it was super cool that they had invisibility cloaks. I thought that was a cool feature in the Harry Potter series. Speaking of Harry Potter, if you think these books are going to be the same because they’re about witches, WRONG. This is more of the dark magic. In Harry Potter, there’s fun and silly spells. Here, all spells deal with fighting and supreme mastery.

I also like how quickly the girls were able to pick up the magic. It was only 3 months since they learned they were witches and they’re already becoming masters of their skill. I mean, after 3 months without anyone to teach you, how do you know about rites and rituals?

Once again, I have my favorite poem from the beginning of the chapters. This is from Dead Moon:

In the night we dance and laugh
As our foes taste our wrath
Death we are and death we bring
Delivered on a falcon’s wing

We dance upon each dead man’s corpse
Laugh and shout till we grow hoarse
We treasure all our enemies’ moans
As lady hawk talons crash their bones

This book ended with suspense like the last, so I’m still wanting a little more, but it really didn’t do much for me. I was lost most of the time through the book flipping back and forth trying to remember which century and which continent we were on. I guess I liked all the italics in the first book.

I give Curse 2 bookmarks. show less