Witch and Wizard by James Patterson and Charbonnet

[gigirl942]

Hey, guys! It's great to be here. You can call me Gigi, and this is my first post here and my first honest to goodness book review. So...bear with me, alright?

First of all, before I start the review I must say that Witch and Wizard is the first James Patterson book I've ever read in its entirety. Other than that, I've only looked at snippets of

Comments

[merrymonarch]

Ah, sounds like typical Patterson.
I have a tendancy to want to punch him/his characters in the face. Whilst wearing brass knuckles.
So I gave up on his writing after a while :/
I enjoyed your review, though :)

[kiiabby]

I reckon it would probably help if he actually wrote his own stories hehe! I was shocked the other day when his new book Private came in and the chapters were tiny with massive white spaces at the end of each one. Such a waste of paper just to pad a book out to a decent length. He's pumping out, what, nine odd books a year now? It's no wonder they're pretty awful :(

I shall steer clear of this book. And his others, whilst I'm at it!

[merrymonarch]

It probably would, haha! ;) I read once that he just comes up with an idea and then pays a ghostwriter to write the rest of it >.<
It's like, I read one book of his from the mid-ninties and was shocked at what higher quality it was. I mean, it wasn't great literature or anything, but it was waaaay better than what we're seeing these days.

I guess Fame & Fortune went straight to his head :|

[kiiabby]

Yeah it's the variety of stuff he tries his hand at now too - Think he's written a sick-lit book as well (hm, I think misery memoir is the correct term but you know the kind of book I mean!) and some shoddy romantic thing. I'm not sure either are entirely deserving of the word book being attached to them!

What bugs me is the people who come in on release day all "OHMYGOD WHERE IS IT I MUST BUY THE NEW JAMES PATTERSON BOOK NOW I MUST HAVE IT" every. single. time. Do they have no taste? One lady proudly told me she only reads his books and nothing else. Didn't want recommendations of other authors.. I just couldn't get my head round that!

I think he's turned more into a brand now... put his name on a book and it will sell no matter what the content is. It's a shame really, his early crime novels were meant to be quite fun reads.

[blackbluesock]

I tried to read another one of his books--can't remember what it was--and I had the exact same complaints you did. And then I wondered if something was wrong with me as "This was the great Patterson!"

[suitetwentytwo]

Something about this book just kept me disinterested. I don't know what, cause till I read your review I didn't know the storyline almost at all. But something made me say 'Nah. I'll read something else.' Guess I was right.

And seriously, let's stop comparing every young adult book out there to Harry Potter or Twilight. (not comparing Harry Potter to Twilight. I love Harry Potter. Hate Twilight.) Why not let an author's work stand on it's own? If it's not good, comparing it to something that is won't help it.

[gigirl942]

And seriously, let's stop comparing every young adult book out there to Harry Potter or Twilight. (not comparing Harry Potter to Twilight. I love Harry Potter. Hate Twilight.) Why not let an author's work stand on it's own? If it's not good, comparing it to something that is won't help it.

Word. You took the words right out of my mouth.

[suitetwentytwo]

'Like OMG guyz! This is JUST like Harry Potter! And Twilight! And Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! You are SO going to love it guyz!'

No it's not. No I won't. Go home and frickin' read an actual book. (Not hatin' on Harry. Def. hatin' on Twilight. Just picked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies cause it sounded funny.)

[princessteradia]

This is just random, but while browsing the 'teen' section of Barnes and Noble recently, I came across a cover that touted the story as Pride and Prejudice WITH zombies. I don't remember what the title/author was, alas, but... well, it's out there.

[alienfish]

I find out about so many books in here. It does not sound interesting.

As a minor point: People have lost track of what a Mary Sue is.

[suitetwentytwo]

What is a Mary Sue, if you don't mind my asking?

[alienfish]

Mary Sue is a fanfiction term. When someone writes a fanfic for a show, and specifically writes in an OFC (original female character) for some character from the show to fall in love with, that is a Mary Sue. The category includes Mary Sue who is there to make the male characters realize they are really in love with each other. It includes the sweet innocent woman with the mysterious something that the men can't stop thinking about. The male variant has often been dubbed "Marty-Sue."

Mary/Marty Sue has also been known to be given the face and name of an actual character from the story in order to disguise them.

[alienfish]

And, of course, Mary Sue is written for all formats, including fanfiction of video games. *cough*

[gehayi]

The One Who is the One

So the United States is being ruled by Neo. Got it.

The sequel to this thing is coming out on December 13th. It's called Witch and Wizard: The Gift. Here's the summary. It sounds as bad as this book:

When Whit & Wisty were imprisoned by the wicked forces of the totalitarian regime known as the New Order, they were barely able to escape with their lives. Now part of a hidden community of teens like themselves, Whit and Wisty have established themselves as leaders of the Resistance, willing to sacrifice anything to save kids kidnapped and brutally imprisoned by the New Order.

But the One has other plans in store for them: He needs Wisty, for she is "The One Who Has the Gift." While trying to figure out what that means, Whit and Wisty's suspenseful adventures through Overworld and Shadowland lead to a jaw-dropping climax and conclusion: the highly-anticipated fulfillment of the heart-pounding opening prologue of book one... The Execution of the Allgoods.I love that Wisteria is "The One Who Has The Gift" and

[gigirl942]

Oh God. It sounds even worse than this one.

And yeah. I bet it would be a cheap old sweater that contains "magical powers" and Patterson would try to play the whole thing off as humor. Every time she wears it, bad guys die from its ugliness you guys! And then Whit and Wisty would spend half the book ragging on the sweater instead of focusing on saving America. Ugh.

[suitetwentytwo]

Actually, I would probably read something like that. Sounds more interesting then this actual book.

[suitetwentytwo]

Man. She should donate that sweater to Goodwill and pass on the gift to someone else.