A. W. JanthaRezensionen

In 17th century Salem, Massachusetts teenager, Thackery Binx, is unsuccessful in his attempts to rescue his little sister Emily from the three evil Sanderson sister, and the trio of witches transform Thackery into an immortal cat for his trouble.

Three hundred years later, high school student Max is uprooted from his home in California and transplanted to Salem, Massachusetts with his indifferent parents and his bratty little sister Dani. When he accidentally brings the Sanderson sisters back to life, Max—along with his high school crush, Allison, & Binx the cat—scramble to destroy the witches and save Dani from the same fate as Emily.

This book, which is a tie-in to the Disney film of the same name, is a disappointment on many levels.

The story drags on and on and is very repetitive. Max & entourage get trapped by the witches, escape, and destroy the witches—only to have that same scenario repeated over and over again. It felt like being on a really boring & never-ending merry-go-round. It drags on so long, most young children would be unable to stay interested.

I wouldn’t read this book to my children, anyway. It is very violent: two bullies gang up on Max, Max stalks Allison through the halls of the high school, the Sanderson sisters are brutally executed, and—of course—the witches' activities revolve around kidnapping, murdering, and eating children.

There are also a lot of offensive sexual references in the book. For the most part, there are childish giggles about boobies, and bazoomas, and other idiotic idioms for Allison’s breasts. But there are also much more vulgar sexual references pertaining to the witches that are just shocking for a children’s book, including instances that occur when they are executed and hijacking a bus.

Overall, this books suffers from being long-winded and boring. And, although clearly designed and marketed to be appealing to a juvenile audience, the violence and sexual references make it highly inappropriate for little ones.

I actually think this will be a prefect halloween read! I think for younger kids who never watched the movie (the horror!!) the first part of this book was nice recap of the original story. But i was really invested in part two. I liked how the leads were connected to the family overall but also how different the story was. I just loved how diverse the cast was and also how the magic effected the story. I really enjoyed learning more about the sanderson family! It was super fun read and I think it will make a great fall read!

I actually think this will be a prefect halloween read! I think for younger kids who never watched the movie (the horror!!) the first part of this book was nice recap of the original story. But i was really invested in part two. I liked how the leads were connected to the family overall but also how different the story was. I just loved how diverse the cast was and also how the magic effected the story. I really enjoyed learning more about the sanderson family! It was super fun read and I think it will make a great fall read!

Review coming soon!

You know what they say, the sequels are almost never as good as the originals. And that's true for this book. Now, I don't know anything about how it was written, but it felt rushed. Some sections took forever to get through (I'm pretty sure the time Poppy took from deciding to go to the Sanderson House to the time they actually got there was 4 chapters long, and all they did was walk and talk about whether or not they should go.) I do appreciate that it is a much more diverse book than the original movie, but reading it felt like Disney just wanted to release the book so people would buy it for nostalgia factor (which, fair, that's part of the reason I bought it). I think the write up of the movie was quite good, and gave some further insight into Max's thoughts, but the shift from 3rd person to 1st person when Poppy became the main character was a little jarring. Also, I'm pretty sure sometimes the tenses were mixed up? So some editor didn't really do their job.

In short, this book was fine. It wasn't spectacular, it wasn't horrible. Maybe if I hadn't just read the amazing [book:Cemetery Boys|52339313] right before reading this I would've enjoyed it a little more.

Of course I loved the original story. I’ve been watching the movie since I was a child. It stayed close to the storyline, with a few scenes missing here and there. The sequel could never be better than the original. I definitely would have gone in a different direction in a few places but overall, I enjoyed it. I would definitely read on if the author chose to continue on with the stories.

Of course I loved the original story. I’ve been watching the movie since I was a child. It stayed close to the storyline, with a few scenes missing here and there. The sequel could never be better than the original. I definitely would have gone in a different direction in a few places but overall, I enjoyed it. I would definitely read on if the author chose to continue on with the stories.

Mentioned in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2019/10/28/villainathon-wrap-up/

I really liked this book, specially the first part, but the sequel wasn't as bad as people claim. Well I liked it anyway. Perhaps I am just easy to entertain.

We are HUGE, HUGE Hocus Pocus lovers in my household. I have always loved the movie, all 5 of my children love it, heck, even my hubby likes it. One of my daughters is named Danielle, we call her Dani. We watch it every Halloween, and several times throughout the rest of the year too. We own several pieces of Hocus Pocus merch., t- shirts, mugs, plaques, blankets, etc.

So, of course we were thrilled when this book came out. I could not wait to get my hands on it! The first part, the original story, is so nostalgic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and deeply appreciated the little extras that weren't in the movie.

The second part, the sequel......this part was a tad disappointing. I loved the plot and the characters, for the most part, but found it disappointing that Max and Allison's daughter was portrayed as less important than her friend in the scheme of things. I realize this is supposed to be a modern sequel, but it's also supposed to take place in a small and history obsessed town, so I wasn't thrilled with the super mod feel of this. The setting, although the same as the first story, didn't feel the same at all. Instead of that nostalgic, here we go again feeling, I was expecting, this almost felt like an entirely different story altogether. I don't foresee the movie version of this being great. I also wish Max, Allison and Dani would have played a bigger role. That said, I did enjoy it. It's made its rounds in our household and I plan to reread it again....its already on my Halloween reading list.

Full disclosure: I’m a HUGE “Hocus Pocus” fan. I was 10 when it came out and saw it in the theatre several times, and of course I had the VHS, I still watch it several times during the month of October, and I even have a replica of Dani’s jacket and several Hocus Pocus decorations and clothing. I’ve always wished for a movie sequel, and when I heard there was a book version out, I was unsure if I was going to ever read it, and reading some unfavorable reviews didn’t help my decision. But after watching the cast perform in an online benefit event, my curiosity won the better of me and I decided to give it a chance. ⁣
The first half of the book is basically a retread of the movie, with a few additions sprinkled throughout that hint at events in the sequel. I enjoyed reading the first part, as it was just like watching the movie all over again. The second hand of the book picks up 25 years after Max, Dani, and Allison defeated the Sanderson sisters. Max and Allison have a teenage daughter, Poppy. Poppy doesn’t believe in her family’s story with the witches, but she finds the truth out the hard way on Halloween night when an innocent game with friends resurrects Winifred, Sarah, and Mary. ⁣
I enjoyed the addition to the Sanderson sister lore with the character of Elizabeth, and seeing old favorites like Binx, however briefly. Also, the scene with the witches being baffled by an IPhone made me laugh out loud. There were a few things that I felt could have either been left out or changed though. The character of Dani isn’t given as much attention or updates like other characters, and one of Poppy’s friends is turned into an animal like Binx, and it felt unnecessary. Winifred also came across as more of the focus as opposed to Sarah and Mary, whereas in the movie all 3 shared the spotlight. The battle at the end also seemed to go on for quite a while and almost became repetitive. Speaking of repetitive, Poppy also has a crush on her friend Isabella and her pining after her and some of the comments she made came across as overdramatic. I get it, I was a teenager once too, but still...how many more times do I have to read the same inner monologue? ⁣
If you’re craving some more “Hocus Pocus” until the sequel is released, this is a breezy and silly read that brings back all the nostalgia feels. ⁣

I really loved reading the Hocus Pocus story. It stayed true to the movie but did have some additions to keep it interesting. I really liked being able to know exactly what Max was thinking. The additions also helped to set up the sequel. The sequel was fun and cute while doing a great job to pay homage to the original. It somewhat follows the same type of plot points as the original which did make it drag just a little which is why I rated it only four stars.

Good, but the novelization was better than the sequel in my opinion.
Still worth a read but glad I didn't buy

I’m sure most of you have seen Hocus Pocus – the first part of the book covering the original 1993 film didn’t vary much. The only thing that stuck with me was the addition of Elizabeth Sanderson and the other named witches in the book. It was fun reading a movie as a book even though I knew the plot and lines – I hadn’t seen Hocus Pocus in a while so it was even better giggling to myself about the movie lines. I may have missed new additions to the original story other than the names because I haven’t recently watched it. It is something I intend to rectify soon, I just found out my husband has NEVER seen it!!!!!!!!

I’m not sure if the author wasn’t given much leeway to craft her story but there were a lot of recycled parts of the original storyline. Isabella shares a lot of characteristics with teen Allison – her qualities that Poppy finds endearing are nearly a carbon copy of what Max found attractive about Allison. Poppy and Max both being the ones to decide on going to the Sanderson house, setting off the return of the witches. Allison’s costume choice as an adult being Lady Gaga (a modern version of Max’s mom’s Madonna costume). Katie Taylor cast as the class bully like her dad back in ’93. I think my favorite parts of the sequel was everything after Poppy and crew accidentally brought the sisters back for a second round.

I had higher hopes for the sequel than for it to recycle aspects of the original storyline. In my opinion, it would have been better as a complete retelling with no shared characters. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the “cliffhanger” for yet another book and/or movie in the new series. I’ve made it a point never to watch any of the “sequels” to main Disney movies and I will stick with it. Speaking of sequels… did you know there are FOURTEEN Land Before Time movies!? I didn’t watch any beyond the first two and that was enough for me… I can’t believe they’ve made twelve additional movies.

The sequel was cute. I like the story.

A novelization of the movie, plus a sequel to the film.
Meh. Certainly not high literature, and the sequel story isn't fabulous, but it was a fun enough way to spend a couple of hours.

So I just finished this book and I have to say that I absolutely loved part one, which is basically the movie with some fun extras added in. It really gave me a sense of nostalgia and I felt like I got the inside scoop. It was fun to read about what the characters were thinking during some of my favorite moments in the movie and the author was clever enough to add in a few new scenes as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

When I got the part two, I was really excited about the Poppy story-line. She is the daughter of Max and Allison and I was really looking forward to following her on an all new adventure, while getting to catch up with some of my favorite characters from part one. However, I had a little bit of trouble connecting with Poppy and I also felt like the love interest, Isabella, was slightly forced. It seemed like they were just starting to notice each other, but then they had this undying love connection that could not be broken. I guess I wanted to see a lot more content between these two so I could be on board with this.

When the sisters returned, I was also a little overwhelmed. The humor from part one and the movie did not exactly shift over to the second one. The jokes were not as funny even though I did appreciate the references to technology today, as I am sure many of us are wondering how the Sanderson sisters would cope now so I do appreciate the effort here.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book because Hocus Pocus is one of my favorite movies and I watch it every single Halloween. I would have rated this book 4 or 5 stars if part two had held up for me, but I guess I was looking for something a bit more. Either way, I really did like this book and I am glad I got a chance to read it! It was entertaining and fun and it really gave me that witchy nostalgia that I was looking for.

All right. I have a confession to make. I've only seen Hocus Pocus twice. And the first time I saw it, I was in college.


I know, I know. I'm a bit surprised myself.

I couldn't pinpoint why exactly I didn't see this as a kid. I do know that I'm one of the few people among my friends who doesn't have super nostalgic feelings for this movie, because, well, I didn't grow up with it. When I had mentioned in college I had never watched Hocus Pocus, my friends proceeded to rectify this issue. And I thought "It's all right. The witches are wonderful, but the kids are annoying." I didn't see it again until Halloween 2018. And I had the same thoughts. I would join the Sanderson coven & the kids are pretty annoying.

Then, I saw there was a book sequel set 25 years after the first movie. A new crop of kids could make me fall in love with the story and characters, right? I was a little bummed I didn't love this movie as much as my friends. I decided to give it a shot. And BOY, was I...disappointed.

Plot- The first part of the book is a novelization of Hocus Pocus. Pretty much all the dialogue is repeated word for word from the movie and it works.

The All New Sequel follows the story of Poppy Dennison, Max and Allison's teenage daughter, who is ashamed & doubtful of her parents and Aunt Dani's story about the Sanderson sisters. She also has a massive crush on Isabella, the most popular girl in school. She is bullied by Katie Taylor, the daughter of the principal, who may have a connection to the events from 25 years ago. On Halloween night 2018, a blood moon is on the rise. Poppy, Isabella and their friend Travis go to the Sanderson sisters' house with a Ouiji Board from the Dollar Tree. To no one's (except the three teenagers') surprise, the Sanderson sisters are resurrected. Poppy and her friends are against a ticking clock to stop the Sanderson sisters from completing their spells and obtaining eternal life.

Sounds familiar? Do you want a book version of one of the late '90's, early 2000's Disney direct to Home Video sequels for a cult classic? Where the child of the protagonist from the first movie learns the same lessons their parents did years ago? If so, The All New Sequel is right up your alley. It did not work for me. The novelization of Hocus Pocus was enjoyable enough to give this book a second star, but...I could also just watch the movie. I may not be the biggest fan of it, but at least in the movie, you get a couple great musical numbers from Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy and a whole lot of wonderfully campy ham in their acting.


I would totally watch a sequel if it was just the Sanderson sisters running amock. Disney, can we get that sequel instead, please, instead of a reboot or this book?

Okay guys I really wanted to like this book. But here's my take on it...
the entire first half of the book is the novelization of the film. the second half of the book as to where the sequel is. I found the writing to be tedious in areas. I'm talking completely over descriptive where it is not necessary. And then in other parts she left out things like little jokes here and there that made the movie funny.
I understand having to rewrite some things in order to set up for the sequel (because the film obviously did not) but I feel that all in all it could have been written better. The one thing that the author has going for her is that it is very obvious that she does care for the story and the characters and that is a nice touch.
The one biggest issue that I have with the movie novelisation and then switching to the sequel is the fact that the writer decided to choose to go from third-person in the first half to first-person in the second half. It is completely disorienting and it's almost like reading whiplash.
I'm going to be honest here and let you guys know forthright that I did not finish this book. It was just too disappointing. I will probably keep this in my library to try to read at a later date but for right now it's a no-go.
I honestly can't say that I would recommend this book and that makes me very very very sad. Most people that are going to be reading this book are big fans of the film and if you are a big fan of the film, unfortunately like most sequels, you will be disappointed here.

The first part of this is based on the movie, and really points out how nonsensical it is. The second part - the original part - is mostly a better story.

The first half of the book is the story everyone grew up on and loved with a few minor addins to make the sequel make sense. The sequel focuses on Max and Allison's daughter, Poppy, in 2018 growing up embarrassed by her family's belief in the Sanderson sisters until she goes to their house to impress a girl (like father, like daughter). We learn about another Sanderson sister that proves not all witches are bad and are left with a ending that indicates more stories to come. The sequel was entertaining, but feels like it will be dated in a few years because so many current slang and trends were used.

Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel brings to life the love and magic of the original Hocus Pocus while adding some small details that lead into the sequel. The sequel presents what happens when Max and Allison’s daughter unleashed the Sanderson Sisters with all of the fun that was in original while adding a new twist to it. There was however one spot that may of been a typo where a new characters name is introduced yet is no where in the story and leaves the way in which the reader needs to know what happens next!

I had higher hopes for this, but it wasn't the worst. I know that's not much of a selling point, but it's hard to follow up the movie. The movie is just so perfect that any follow up will fall under intense scrutiny. The first half of this book was completely redundant, it's rehashing of the movie, frame by frame. Skip ahead to part two where the story actually begins. Poppy is Max and Allison's daughter. Her whole life she's heard about the horror of the Sanderson sisters and the evils of Halloween but she's never really believed her family. Would you? It's just too insane. So on Halloween she and her two good friends (one of which she has a HUGE crush on) decide to get into some mischief and break into the Sanderson house. It's not like magic is real, it's just a bunch of hocus pocus! What could go wrong on the blood moon, twenty five years after her parent's killed the witches? The answer is a lot.

This was so much fun. I love Hocus Pocus so I had to read this when it came through the library. I pretty much skimmed the first half because I was so excited to see where they were going to take the story. That ending though. Definitely another one to come. 4🌟

Fans have waited 25 years for more Hocus Pocus, and here's what Disney has come up with, publishing this just last week. It's in two parts.

Part One- the story from the movie, based on the screenplay by Mick Garris and Neal Cuthbert. This follows the movie very closely, with a little additional backstory on the characters and the mention of another Sanderson sister who didn't exist at all in the movie. The word "brunette" is misspelled repeatedly, but if you're a fan, you let it pass (even though Disney can certainly afford proof-readers) and you're likely to enjoy this first part of the book. It's 197 pages of the total 521 pages.

Part Two- And, if you're a fan of the movie, and why would anyone buy this book unless they are, you will likely be really pissed off by Part Two, which is effing garbage. Why did Disney do this? Why take such beloved characters from a movie that was witty, funny, a little edgy, yet ultimately about good versus bungling evil, and turn it into a platform for Social Issues?
It's 25 years later, teens Max and Allison grew up, married, and had one child, Poppy, who is now a teen herself. She is also a lesbian, which we aren't allowed to forget as the first 100 pages are solidly about her mooning after her friend, popular homecoming queen, Isabella. I'm not exaggerating, the book is written in first person, so we have over 300 pages of inner dialogue teen angst. Poppy's best friend Travis, is black and also gay, and he's the only one who knows her "secret". That is until the end-*Spoiler* (but not really a surprise by now)
Isabella is also gay.
They use the term "BAMF" and say lame things like "...if they call your parents, Travis, you'll be grounded until Cyber Monday." The writing is terrible. It's a "Gossip Girl" book. They have Jay, the skanky blonde burn-out from the movie, as the high school principal.
The Sanderson sisters, the reason for the movie's immense popularity, show up 100 pages in, and by then I was skipping through two and three pages at a time because I couldn't take the narcissistic workings of the teenage mind. When the Sandersons finally appeared, they were flat imitations of their previous selves, lacking the wit and charming deviousness. It felt like they were being used. And the new Sanderson sister, a "good" one who appears from the 1600's, actually says, with her parting breath, "Weed out hate and ignorance and persecution whenever and wherever you can."
My God I hate this book. And the ending was set up for more sequels. 1 star