Customer Reviews

Wicked 2: Legacy & Spellbound

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Wicked 2 disappointed me terribly because the premise is good and the writing isn't too bad. But, Holder & Vigueie imbued the story with so much despair and angst, that it was torture for me to read. And I never connected with the characters at all. Holly and Jer, the two principals, should have been an excellent contrast of yin and yang, both containing seeds of that which rules the other. But, neither character shared enough of himself or herself for me to really care. Also, there is zero humor in this book which was the breaking point. This surprised me because Holder was co-writer of many of the Angel & Buffy shows. Where was the dynamic word play between the characters that we saw in those shows? Horror becomes more exciting when juxtaposed with wit. And in real life, there is always somebody in the group throwing out sarcastic remarks at the worst possible times. But, this sadly was just blood, gore, and death with absolutely no relief.

What really irks me is that it is marketed for young adults... Teens don't need this sort of despair! They have enough angst on their own!

The first two novels of this series, Witch and Curse, were very slow to get to the heart of the story. But here, in Legacy and Spellbound, we finally see why.

The action is picking up, for one. Everyone's on the move, running for their lives, or scrambling to save themselves, or hurrying to kill someone else before they themselves are killed.

For another, you finally love the characters. You love Holly for sacrificing so much of herself, even as it turns her Covenmates against her--you love her because she does it for the greater good OF both those Covenmates and her love, Jer. You love (and are frustrated with!) Jer for his suffering and his constant turning away Holly. You even start to find good attributes about Kari.

The flashback scenes make much, much more sense now. Every single one ties into the story, but you don't fully realize it until these two stories.

What threw me off was that, from the advertisement, I thought this would be the end of the series... but the end of Spellbound throws such a curve ball that it would be shameful of both the writers and publishers to NOT continue this series. As a reader, I need my closure, and I can only sit on edge and hope it comes someday.

I love stories like The Dresden Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, etc. WICKED 2: LEGACY & SPELLBOUND seemed like a perfect choice for me. And it should have been. However, there are several issues with this volume of two books that I just could not get passed.

First of all, WICKED 2: LEGACY & SPELLBOUND is the second volume of the WICKED series. WICKED: WITCH & CURSE is the first volume. Each volume contains 2 complete books of about 350 pages each, making each volume approximately 700 pages. WICKED 2 should not be read without reading the first WICKED volume. I have not read the first WICKED, and WICKED 2 simply does not stand alone. I was quite confused throughout most of the book. Tons of back story, people, events, are thrown at you in the opening chapters, at a breakneck speed, with very little detail. I had a very difficult time sorting out names, characters, relationships, and events past and present. To add to the difficulty, the time frame keeps jumping around. Intermixed within the current story are chapters devoted to the family history of the main characters. This family history is supposed to further develop the events that are happening in present day; however, the present storyline is so poorly grounded that the past events just confuse things even more.

Secondly, the entire WICKED series is marketed as YA (Young Adult). As the mother of a tween, I would not allow my daughter or anyone under the age of about 16 to read these books. The graphic and gruesome sacrifices, murder, death, torture, demonic possession, and even alluded rape are really not suitable for the younger side of YA. Even though her middle school friends are all reading this series, my child will not be. The subject matter is too adult.

Third, WICKED 2 had so much potential, and its failure to live up to that potential really disappointed me. WICKED 2 is the continuing story of witches verses warlocks, good verses evil, and, of course, true love verses hate. I really wanted to like this book. I tried to like this book. But aside from the book's inability to stand alone and the plot issues listed above, the writing itself is just not up to par. It is written at a very juvenile level, so much so that even older YA's might be hard pressed to enjoy this story. The writing is very basic, lacking adjectives, adverbs, or variety. While the hurried pacing hides this somewhat, after awhile, speed just isn't enough. The more adult subject matter combined with the very immature writing level makes me wonder if the authors even know who their audience is. I certainly don't.

And lastly, there is no resolution to any thread, any storyline at the end of WICKED 2. Clearly, we must read the next and supposedly final volume of the series. Which normally would be okay with me, except that EVERYTHING is left hanging. A good book, even one that is part of a series, should give the reader SOME sense of completeness at the end. In WICKED 2, there was none.

I do have to admit that I am sorely tempted to go back and read WICKED, to see if it makes anymore sense to me than WICKED 2, and also to read the last volume so that I can finally get the resolution to the story. Hopefully, once I have read all three, the entire WICKED series will make sense to me. But I am not counting on it. And I still will not let my tween-aged daughter read it until she is much older.

I was unable to feel drawn into this book. Not having read the previous books in this series, I may have been at a disadvantage. It was hard to follow the character connections of both past and present, and the character development was incomplete and unsophisticated. Even though being geared towards teen readers, I think it could have been more thought-provoking and more creatively written. Perhaps it is essential not to miss the previous books in this series before trying to read Wicked 2.

I was unaware this was a sequel when I ordered it. My mistake! I would say there is a standalone story, but unless you are fluently familiar with the characters and "mythology" of the previous novel, you are a bit lost in this one. Perhaps one indication that it was only "okay" is that it didn't prompt me to want to go back and read the other book unlike some series like the Black Dagger Brotherhood that made me instantly order every previous book in the series when I inadvertently started on the 3rd one!

I've read books 1 through 4 of this series, and the books do not improve as you go along. I enjoy paranormal, whether YA/adult fantasy, sci-fi, military sci-fi, ghost, suspense, gothic romance, what have you. However, it's hard to get into these books when the characters are not that likable and the same tension and over-arcing storyline seems to go on forever. Besides the pacing and the characterization, I knew each new plot point before it was revealed.

Young adults, ostensibly the audience for these books, can do so much better. The writing is something I may have been interested in around 5th grade, but the subject matter is more adult than that (human sacrifices, etc.), so it's hard to recommend these books to anyone. That said, I know people are devouring YA paranormal these days, and here's another fix until your favorite authors kick out the next in their series.

I normally try to avoid books that revolve around witchcraft as I generally find the characters shallow or poorly put-together. Not so with Wicked 2: Legacy & Spellbound (a compilation of 2 previously published novels). I really enjoyed getting into this series, as the characters were deep and well thought out. Reading through the book left me very little time to eat, sleep, and work; as the book was just too good to put down. I found myself starting one chapter, and not realizing hours had passed by when I put the book down, because it sucked me into the story _that_ much. I am putting the other books in this series by Nancy Holder on my "to read" short-list, because of how much I enjoyed being drawn into this deeply entertaining story.

It might be somewhat unclear on the Amazon page, but this is a small fat paperback book that is two books in one & they are a part of the Wicked series. Legacy & Spellbound. There are two books prior to this, you may want to consider reading them first if you haven't already done so. It will not ruin reading this compilation, but you will miss out on the detailed beginings.
This is one of those easy to read & highly entertaining style of books. A rather dark book & I think that might be why I like it as much as I do. It is geared towards the teenage reader, but I think that this is a great series even for those of us out of our teens...
In my opinion part of what makes this book on witches, warlocks, & magic great is that there is no clear line between good & evil. Both sides are tainted. It is much more realistic that way...well as realistic as one can be considering what the story is about! You have your magical battles as well as non magical & that's a nice mix up! Plus you have your romance, the easy & sweet romances & the main characters messed up torn up romance. Lastly, they really leave you hanging at the end & you know you just have to go get the next book! If you decide to buy this, make sure you buy the last one or you'll be kicking yourself!

As an adult I still read a lot of YA and children's fiction, especially fantasy. This book deals with a really seamy view of witches and warlocks, complete with torture and possession. The books also have quite a lack of detail in them. After reading for a while a realized there's a dearth of adverbs and adjectives. Descriptions are sparse if they are there. Left me thinking it was written for very young readers but the subject matter is certainly more for teens. The books are certainly action-packed and quick moving, which will keep some readers turning pages, but the characters did not spark my interest at all. I want a bit more description and some humor. It's not as well written as the Harry Potter books or the Twilight series, but may appeal to people who thought those were great books.

This book has a little of everything, betrayal, love lost, love reunited, lots of magic, tragedy, pregnancy, death, possession.... There is a lot going on and the authors manage to keep the large cast of characters and plots twists from being too confusing. This being said, DO NOT read this book as your first introduction to the series! I really do not think it can be read alone. Since I thought the book looked interesting, (love the paranormal and romance) I was eager to read it. But I discovered to my dismay that it was very difficult to figure out what was going on and who was who until around the forth of the book and there are a few characters I am still not sure how they relate.
This book is fast paced and includes intrigue, backstabbing, noble hero/heroine, self- sacrifice and some pretty shocking twists that I didn't expect in a YA novel. After reading this book you will want to read the next. This would be a great novel to convert into a movie if it could handle all the special effects from explosions, fires and general magic casting!
Holly is a cursed witch and the most powerful of her kind. She and her coven are trying to stay alive from attacks from covens seeking to destroy them or steal their power by making them a thrall. And if Holly didn't have enough troubles she is being taken over by a long dead descendant, Isabeau. Isabeau fell in love with Jean, a warlock who she swore to her mother she would kill but she made the tragic mistake of falling in love with him. Instead of killing Jean, Isabeau kills herself and destroys his family as a result. Jean vows revenge on Holly and follows her as a kind of spirit or ghost. Isabeau longs Jean even as she feels the compulsion to finally get rid of him. She drives Holly mad trying to take her over in her attempts to murder Jer the warlock the Jean's spirit has tried to inhabit. The problem is Holly and Jer also fall in love. You can see how much suffering and torment is going on! In addition, Jer's father is determined to kill Holly's family in revenge and one of Holly's cousins is kidnapped and harmed. The shocking thing is this book actually has a little torture etc. Much of which is suggested but still NOT light reading!
This book is like a magical good versus evil soap opera with many couples and heroic and dastardly deeds. As mentioned earier, it is fast paced and constantly full of surprises. If you read it you WILL want to read the next to find out how the characters will fare. Just read them in order! The only thing I might say is that because so much is going on and there are tons of characters some are not very developed and therefore, the relationships between the characters don't seem as deep/meaningful and satisfying to read. But it is hard to quibble when there is so much here.