Review: Witch and Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend.

The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they'd never dreamed of.

Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents--and maybe the world?

Review:

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet was somewhat interesting but overall, failed to grip me. The story follows the main characters Whit and Wisty Allgood as they are arrested for being a witch and wizard according to the New Order- N.O. for short.

Whit and Wisty struggle to understand what's going on; why they have been arrested, who they themselves are, what exactly the New Order is and how to escape from the prison cell which they find themselves in.

While it turns out that Whit and Wisty do have magical abilities, why they have these powers is never explained and the reader is never informed about the extent, limitations and rules of their powers. This means that anything goes and the reader has to accept it.

Witch and Wizard was humorous at times and serious at others. On occasion, the story was both humorous and serious simultaneously. This felt surreal and puzzling. For example, they exchange a lot of funny quips with the 'baddies', the main one being 'The One Who Is The One.' It seemed as though the story didn't know which direction to go in.

Though Whit and Wisty are seventeen and fifteen in the story, I believe Witch and Wizard would appeal more to younger readers mainly due to the fact that it's somewhat comedic and the plot isn't too complex. Furthermore, each chapter was only about two or three pages long which was off-putting for me, though it did feel like the story went by faster.

Additionally, the chapters alternate between Whit and Wisty. It was nice to read about both of them, but I didn't feel particularly attached to either of them or any of the other characters. The multitude of secondary characters were not developed and they all blurred into one for the most part.

Though the 'baddies' were very nasty and mean, they felt very one-dimensional and one-track minded. For example, they kept saying they wanted to kill the Allgood family, however, they kept wasting opportunities for just that.

Much more background information as to how the New Order came into power was needed as the explanation was lacking. I fail to see how Whit and Wisty wouldn't have some clue as to what the New Order was before they took over. I know new governments/dictatorships can spring up very quickly, but really, they should have had some clue. It isn't enough to let them have an excuse of being a teenager and therefore not knowing what's going on in the world.

However, Witch and Wizard did have some good points. It does have quite a lot of action which was enjoyable to read, some seriously disgusting description featuring rats and a trip through various worlds. While these 'worlds' weren't thoroughly described, it does give the authors more to build on in the next books. The ending did leave some questions unanswered and even though there weren't many surprising twists, it was a satisfactory ending.

Overall, Witch and Wizard was an okay book. It doesn't explore the dystopian element as much as I would have liked. I would recommend it to others who are looking for a quick, easy read with a few laughs along the way.

Rating: 3/5

Concept: 3/5
Cover: 2/5
Authors: James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

This review is part of Dystopian February at Presenting Lenore.