Wicked: Witch and Curse by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié

Wicked: Witch and Curse by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié

Published by Simon Pulse on September 9 2008

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Romance

Pages 672

Holly Cathers's world shatters when her parents are killed in a terrible accident. Wrenched from her home in San Francisco, she is sent to Seattle to live with her relatives, Aunt Marie-Claire and her twin cousins, Amanda and Nicole.

In her new home, Holly's sorrow and grief soon give way to bewilderment at the strange incidents going on around her. Such as how any wish she whispers to her cat seems to come true. Or the way a friend is injured after a freak attack from a vicious falcon. And there's the undeniable, magnetic attraction to a boy Holly barely knows.

Holly, Amanda, and Nicole are about to be launced into a dark legacy of witches, secrets, and alliances, where ancient magics yield dangerous results. The girls will assume their roles in an intergenerational feud beyond their wildest imaginations...and in doing so, will attempt to fulfill their shared destiny.

CLARIFICATION: Witch and Curse are the first two books in a five book series. They were originally published in 2002 and 2003 , however my combined edition is from 2008. Each book is approximately 330 or so pages.

I enjoy fantasy, especially fantasy rooted in lore and/or history and when I picked up this book I had high hopes. While reading a couple thoughts went through my mind: 

Thought #1: Wow, they're going to actually talk about Wiccan/Pagan holidays and utilize some aspects of witch lore and history. Sweet.

Though#2: Hmm, this isn't quite what I expected. Maybe they're trying to be conscientious of the Wiccan community.

I quickly realized there are some major flaws in the first two installments of the series. Mainly, the writing style is simplistic which is both a pro and a con. Simple writing makes it an easy read, especially for younger audiences, people just entering the fantasy genre, or even people who do not like to read often. That being said, it was too simplistic in my mind. There was something too casual about the storytelling and I found it hard to believe this is a series done by well established authors. There were moments in the books that were well done and immersive, even making me tear up a little, but overall it felt a bit lazy and half-assed. Originally, I thought perhaps the authors struggled with worry over offending Wiccan and Pagan communities and that left them limited and in a position of self censorship. I realized as the story went on that this was not the case.

There is very little character development and relationships between characters are barely established. Characters are introduced with few mediocre and stereotypical sentences (especially for physical descriptions) before the authors state their role and then you are to accept it at face value and move on. I also had a large problem with how weak the women are portrayed. This is an aspect of the series I am hoping to see change for the better, hoping there will be growth but with two installments completed it is a very slow process of growth, if any. The "magnetic attraction" between Holly and the boy she barely knows is much too forced and I found myself growing more and more irritated; this occurred with the platonic friendships, as well. The lack of communication and development between the characters was absolutely amazing, in my opinion. There was nothing but fighting between and pure lust in the romantic encounters.

As for the plot of Witch and Curse, they were very self evident from the titles and somewhat meh in their execution. Some moments were a bit stereotypical, but often appear in fantasy books: monsters, magic in colors, ghosts and even mentions of wands and pointy hats but the way it was written, with little details, They were not BAD, I have read books that are much worse, but just barely. 

Overall, I would say Witch and Curse are a 2 out of 5. These were just not as good as other fantasy books I have read. It so far has been like a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, with trimmings of magic and full of lackluster writing. For someone new to fantasy or even that is not interested much in reading but wants to try something fun, this is very, very low on my list of recommendations. I WILL finish this series out of pure stubbornness and the fact all the books were given to me but (even considering the original years for these two books are 2002 and 2003) I don't see how these were bestsellers.