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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Some spoilers., September 1, 2009
This review is from: Wicked: Witch & Curse (Paperback)
I'm not one to normally include spoilers in a review, but I must warn you there are a couple I couldn't avoid because of the impact they had when I read this book. I probably would have thought more about purchasing this book, had I known. Please be aware of this if you read my review.
The first book (Witch) held my attention quite well. The flashbacks were interesting, but didn't answer enough questions. Perhaps this was because we are taken back to the same incident in each flashback. I didn't get to connect to the ancestors, because I never really saw them outside of the "major incident" that caused them to reincarnate. Also, the ancestors who we see the most of, are so in love with each other that nothing else matters. It is nice to have romance, but so far the romance hasn't really led to anything amazing, just some whining. It was a fast-paced book, the storyline continued to move forward, despite the flashbacks lacking. I was disappointed that in the beginning, when Holly's parents die, we see Holly grieving (maybe too much). But then when her cousins' mother dies, there is no grieving. It's explained in a very small paragraph and no one really cares. The ending (mostly) tied together the loose ends, with a bit of an unexpected twist. The guy doesn't get the girl. After reading the 2nd book, I understand this was done ONLY so the story could continue (not because it should).
The second book (Curse) really let me down. First off, Holly's cousin Nicole "disappears" into Europe. She gets "scared" of all the magic (that she initially started messing with). Nicole is a very weak character. She is a drama queen and nothing more. The authors give her moments to try to make her do things for a greater purpose than herself, but it doesn't help. She is weak and selfish.
In most non-christian religions, there is a history of some sort of sacrifice, whether it's human or animal. In books about occult subjects I expect this, and there is plenty of it in this book. However, I find it very unacceptable to drown your missing cousin's familiar (in this case a cat) because some voudun priestess tells you to sacrifice an animal (without giving a reason). Especially when sacrificing this cat serves NO PURPOSE as far as the book is concerned. This animal (who was constantly helping to protect Holly from dark magic) was killed without a thought or emotion from Holly. Worse than not respecting the animal whose life she took, the death of this animal did nothing to "help" the situation the characters were in. There was no motive for this sacrifice. To me, this was a meaningless death and did not help the stereotypes surrounding witchcraft.
Overall, this would have been a much better book if they had rounded out the ending of Witch better and let it end there. By the end of this book it is really starting to lose momentum and the battles do not feel like they are leading up to anything. It was a fast read, and quite fun at the beginning.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I truly tried to like this, BUT..., May 26, 2009
This review is from: Wicked: Witch & Curse (Paperback)
...I just couldn't. The story is related in a disjointed manner, skipping from the main present-day storyline to ancient history which could have been incorporated in a much more entertaining way. The lead characters are unsympathetic, having no real depth and only seeming to perform their actions because the authors tell them to do so, not from any aspect of real personality. At times I found myself rooting for the villain, Michael Deveraux, who is unfortunately the most fleshed-out character in the whole series, and the only one who seems to have an idea of what he really wants. As for the lead trio of witches, Holly is what people her age would call "a hot mess", unstable and overly impulsive, hardly leadership material; Nicole metamorphoses from egocentric to whiny, and her fleeing to Europe when she's most needed is a frankly stupid plot device to make the story even more soap-opera, which it hardly needs; and Amanda I can't define, as after reading about 700 pages I still don't know anything about her-- the cats are better characterized. I can't really even enjoy this on the level of soap-opera, as the romance is contrived and has no real basis or tension. I am aware that Holly and Jer are supposed to be instantly attracted to each other as the reincarnations of the long-dead lovers, but their relationship has no personal level at all and feels very much acted out by puppets. While I don't like writing such a relentlessly negative review of anything, I honestly can't think of anything I liked about this book, and haven't disliked a book so much before (especially when I wanted to like it so much, as the subject matter was so appealing) that I had to write about it to get it off my chest. This series had a lot of potential, but all the potential is wasted-- it just feels phoned in. The authors don't even bother to keep their characters in character, and the lack of description as well as the constant juxtaposition of time periods makes the story muddled and difficult to follow. I was disappointed, to say the least-- this series could have been SO much more.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
It lost me towards the end of book 2, April 1, 2009
This review is from: Wicked: Witch & Curse (Paperback)
This book started out ok. With many characters and motivations it had a lot of potential. The first book was a good introduction... lots of action, star-crossed lovers, evil bad guys to destroy. But, in the second book (this book is two in one), the story begins to unravel. The main character, Holly, loses momentum in the second book. Her story line just seems to plod along. One of the secondary characters, Nicole, is actually far more interesting in this book.
The second book lost me when Holly did something VERY out of character. ***SPOILER ALERT*** She kills an animal that loves and trusts her with absolutely no emotion and little cause or motivation.*** SPOILER OVER*** It's not the act itself that bothers me as much as the fact that it was way out of character. Nothing led up to her making such a deviation from what she would normally do. The story was ruined for me after that. :( It may pick up and get better, but integrity of characterization is the most important part of a story for me.
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