Witches and Wizard: Okay This Actually is Good. James I Forgive You.

Witches and Wizard By James Patterson and Gabrielle Carbonnette

Overall Rating: Okay This Actually is Good. James I Forgive You.

I love Hastings bargain books. The three and four dollar books are always a good buy. Sure. Some can be cruddy, but every once in a while a person can find a treasure. But then again treasure is a matter of opinion. This time I found a book called Witches and Wizard By James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnett. And to see that a book that had just came out two weeks before with a three dollar tag on it in a bargain bin is rare. Surely a employee made some sort of mistake, but like any American who can’t afford much. I took advantage of the mistake to get a seventeen dollar book for three.
So the book is called Witches and Wizards. Or if you like me, and you only see that there is a flaming “W” on the cover and believe it is call “W,” until you actually open it up to the inside cover. It is written by James Patterson who I thought I never read before until I realized he is the same person who wrote the Angel Experiment, which is one of the worst books I’ve ever read. So when I realized this after buying the book, my hopes went from high to low. But then again now I own it, and because it is co written by another author, there’s no reason not to read it.
So it begins two children being abducted from their home by the military who actually show up in a pure cartoony way. The entire style is told in this odd and dated childeish sense of humor. The two children are a girl named Wisty and boy is named Whit. Cute and unusual names for the leads I must say. They live in world where the Unites States is changing from a democracy to a New Order. It is order that is controlled by the One. There are many Ones under The One though. There is The One Who Judges and The One Who Executes and so forth. They are accused of being witches, in which the two only found out they had powers they can’t control since the military raided their house. And they’re sent to a cruel magic proof hospital, where they are to be kept until they are of age to be executed.
From there on, it becomes a bit complicated. A dead girl friend of Whit’s comes from what is called Shadowland, to rescue them. They are then taken to a place called Freeland where kids who are rebelling against the one are safe. It turns out The One is locking away and is murdering not only witches, but kids too , making it seem no kid is safe. And they speak of a prophecy in which one day children will rule the world. Also Freeland is it’s own dimension. The same goes for Shadowland, Overworld(the world Whit and Wisty are from) and Underworld. And they briefly mention a fifth world. Also when they travel from one world to another any where from days to weeks have passed in the other four even though they were there just a couple hours. Confused yet? It’s not all that confusing, when you read it.
The good is that this is original. There is a lot of imagination here. And it’s not nearly as bad as the Maximum Ride series, that James Patterson wrote solo on. Maybe this Grabrielle is why the book is well done. I don’t know. Also, it’s not like other children fantasies such as Septimus Heap or Percy Jackson that rip off Harry Potter. It’s original. That goes for the style of writing as well. It jumps back and forth between Whit’s and Wisty’s point of views which is that of stereotypical teenagers, which mean it does not follow Harry Potter style either such as Lemony Snickett did. It’s told in a style of a Saturday morning cartoon. The story over all is good, and the authors are just bold enough to do new things.
And here’s the bad. There is so much crammed into this story, and just no detail at all. Such as the hellhounds that tear people to pieces in the hospital. I still have no clue as how they are scary. There are parts that I felt should have been more elaborated especially when it came to the creatures. Then I found it odd that even though the book is called Witches and Wizard, I felt that it should have been called Witch. Because it seemed Wisty did everything and appeared to be s much more powerful than Whit. Whit barely does anything in the book. Also by the end of the book, you learn so much about Wisty’s character. I seriously loved Wisty by the end. But Whit? There was nothing I could cling on to. With Whit, the only thing the book gave the reader, is the relationship he had with his dead girl friend that was weak and stereotypical. I mean these author were teenagers at one time right? Is there a possible way they could put some emotions there? And lastly in the five dimension thing I liked, but felt that it was a bit confusing when they didn’t exactly explain when they went from one to another.
So overall, it’s a easy enjoyable read. I finished in a couple days. And I’m glad to say, (since James Patterson isn’t stopping) at least he is getting better at these fantasies. But because there was so much crammed in with little description and confusing intertwining dimensions, I may read it again. But I’m not sure if I want to return to the world for the sequels, because if they throw any thing new at the readers on top of all these other things that they haven’t really explained in this book, my head might explode.

3 smoothies out four

P.S. check out my book and ebook website Lelue’s Realm. Google it or go directly to http://lelue.webs.com/