Witch and Curse (Wicked, Books 1-2)

by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

[Jo]

Witch - I have always been fascinated as magic. As a child, I found magicians and the idea of magic just so awesome; I was in awe of Paul Daniels, he was practically a god. As I got older, my fascination didn't fade, but grew as I discovered there were real people out there who thought themselves witches. Whether or not people believe they have any power is down to each person's individual opinion, but I'm fascinated by the witches' personal beliefs. So, understandably, I was ecstatic to discover that the fictional story of the Wicked series is based on the beliefs of those who are Wiccan - serious research has gone into this series and I think it's awesome!

So I read the first story in the first book, Witch. I really liked it! The whole idea of witches and warlocks who can perform magic and spells, as I said, is fascinating to me, so the story of this girl who not only finds out that she is a witch, but has the burden of dealing with the present day conflict based on the events of centuries past is just awesome! There are so many characters, so many POVs, six that I can remember, and so much going on, you'll be completely gripped throughout.

There are qite a few characters that play quite a big part. First there's Holly, the main character. She struggles with the loss of her parents and her best friend, and having to fit in with these family members she never knew she had. Her greif is such a big part of this story that the only other thing you know about her is that she likes horses. Amanda and Nicole, Holly's twin cousins, are completely different; nice, mousey, friendly Amanda, and vain, popular, and selfish Nicole. There's Aunt Marie-Claire, who I disliked immensely, I felt she was just so shallow. The best characters in my opinion are Jer, Holly's love interest, and his evil father Michael. Their relationship is brilliant, and finding out about their beliefs, desires and goals - they are the story for me.

To be honest, I found the story of Jer and his evil family more interesting than Holly finding out. It just felt to me that there was more research put into what Jer and his family believed and did, as they grew up knowing of their power, it was more solid. Where as Holly puts two and two together after strange things happen. That was a little odd, though. Although it took Holly a while to come to that conclusion, when she did start adding things together, she came to the conclusion of magic straight away, and automatically guessed she must be a witch. I think it would be a little more believable if she tried to believe it was something else first, or questioned her sanity. Then she tells her cousin, and her cousin believes her straight away, no problem. It just felt a little off.

What also felt a little off was the "relationship" between Holly and Jer. I have no problem with unexplained magnetism, I can deal with that, I find it quite intriguing. But with Jer and Holly, there was hardly any build up, any interaction between them before, BAM, the big deal that's happening between them is, well, happening.

The action is fantastic though! Seriously. I can't even begin to really go through it without spoiling it, but it is based on some awesome spells and chants and other things linked with Wicca. Seriously awesome story, and I'm hoping Curse will be just as good!

Curse - If Witch was great, then Curse is amazing! I absolutely loved it! Curse picks up a few months after Witch finished, and not a huge amount has happened other than the Cahors Coven has grown in strength and knowledge.

Curse is a darker novel compared to Witch, and more action packed. It’s a lot more graphic, but not sexually, rather in terms of what one does when practising black magic. You find out in the first story, but you actually see it in this book. It’s a little disturbing, which shows how great the authors’ talent is as they’re doing their job and effecting the reader. With the darker elements, you find yourself sucked into the book that little bit more.

There are so many points of view in this story, you get to see through almost everyone’s eyes at one point or another. Where in Witch the blood feud between Isabeau and Jean is explained, in Curse, we get more history, but from after the events we already know about from the 13th century to the 17th century. The history is just fantastic, the detail that has gone into it so that present day story is more understandable.

A lot of the story is the history. There is quite a bit of action set in present day, but most of the story is relating the history to now. A whole slew of great new characters in introduced in this story, involved in a connected subplot, a new coven. I can’t go into detail about them without spoiling the story, but I’m sure they will play an integral part in the future book when paths cross.

I wouldn’t say there was a resolution to this story, it’s more of a progression; both sides make moves, consequences happen, and more questions arise. This is not to say that nothing major happens, a few major things happen, but there is no definitive end to the story. All I can say is that the next book, Wicked 2: Legacy & Spellbound, is going to be absolutely rivoting! I implore you to pick up this book, it’s fantastic!