jakethesnake123's review against another edition
2.0
I thought it was boring. I loved the first one, I found it not nearly as good as its predecessor. The characters got on my nerves constantly. I found this sequel an overall disappointment. I will most likely not finish the series.
rexb's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
theoliveprincess's review against another edition
3.0
I like these books. They stimulated my imagination, even gave me nightmares. (But that's okay, it meant it was making me think).
tallyvauthor's review against another edition
4.0
Did I like it: 3★
Does it fit the genre: 3★
Does it do what it's trying to do: 5★
Storyline: 5★
Writing style: 5★
Characters: 5★
Plot Twists: 3★
Pacing: 5★
Overall: 4.25
These books are really great for brain-numbing. And yes, I know I know, that's not usually why people read, but this book is a perfect dive into an interesting world. It's very fast-paced and I'm not a huge fan of time skips, but I thought they fit well into this book. Well explained and all that.
The characters are well laid-out and easy to understand and follow. Their motivations are clear and again, absolutely zero subplots. Which is almost funny. It's a great book for what it is.
Does it fit the genre: 3★
Does it do what it's trying to do: 5★
Storyline: 5★
Writing style: 5★
Characters: 5★
Plot Twists: 3★
Pacing: 5★
Overall: 4.25
These books are really great for brain-numbing. And yes, I know I know, that's not usually why people read, but this book is a perfect dive into an interesting world. It's very fast-paced and I'm not a huge fan of time skips, but I thought they fit well into this book. Well explained and all that.
The characters are well laid-out and easy to understand and follow. Their motivations are clear and again, absolutely zero subplots. Which is almost funny. It's a great book for what it is.
jokerliss13's review against another edition
5.0
I found the second book of this series to be as engrossing as the first book. I almost completed the whole book in one day, finishing the last 12% the following night. Overall, I found that the characters remained true to their portrayal, while also growing through all the hardships and chaos that has consumed their lives.
I also truly love how this book continues to realize that it is a book during the whole story telling process. During some parts where the reader is "ridiculed" (for lack of a better term) if they chose the incorrect option provided by the storyteller of the chapter, the storyteller will request that the reader rewind a few chapters to once again familiarize themselves with what is truly happening during the story. The fact that this theme constantly pops up at the most random moments has me giggling and looking forward to how it will be incorporated in another stressful part down the road. It provides some tension relief for the reader, since this book seemed to start running head first into danger on the opening pages.
Also, I apologize in advance. Apparently I really liked this book and found that I just couldn't stop typing about all the crazy. Hopefully I still have the spoiler thing correct, but either way this is a long post. Oops. :-)
The book opens on the Resistance working on a mission that has failed horribly and caused everyone to be split up from each other. Whit is alone in the main city and trying to figure out what is going on and where everyone is, when across the billboards and in handouts carried by the civilians he realizes that the execution of Wisteria Allgood is about to take place. We find him rushing through the town like a madman to reach the execution in time to save his sister. However, he can't force his way through the crowd to the platform in time before the hooded, noosed figure on the Hangman's Gallows is turned into ashes by The One Who Is The One's power. He falls to the ground, all hope lost, and the chapter ends with narration being taken over by... Wisty?!
Turns out that Wisty is not, in fact, the person who is standing proudly before the crowd of unhappy, brain-washed citizens. The person that has actually been captured is their friend Margo, one of the Resistance's most influential, dedicated, and original members. Whit isn't close enough (or maybe just being a guy so doesn't notice) the specific punk-rock clothing, silver-starred shoes, black with hints of bright colors throughout the shoes and pants, that the hooded figure is wearing. After their friend is cremated (for lack of a better term, again), Wisty looses all control. She basically becomes a human bonfire, causing panic to ensue in the crowds around her and the gallows. Whit looks at the flames with relief for his sister's "rebirth" and then it is once again time for the siblings to flee. Since Wisty caused such a commotion at the hanging, the One has difficulty figuring the best way to spin the information so that the people still believe the Wisty was indeed the one that was killed. When his team fails, once again, to apprehend the siblings, he shows signs of loosing control and resorts to killing the men for their failure. His actions lead me to believe that if the siblings, Wisty in particular, are not captured soon then The One Who is the One will have to come to a crossroads in his plans. He will either lose all control and become consumed with capturing Wisty and Whit, forcing them to work with him, give him their powers, or die. Or he will come to the rational realization that he has expelled to much time, money, and man power on two individuals and be forced to move on to "plan B." Throughout the whole story, it seems as though The One is leaning towards the first option. But at the very end of the book, when Wisty finally accepts and surrenders to save all of the brainwashed people living in a city that are about to be destroyed, The One simply states that working together is no longer an option and has them swarmed by his police to be captured once again. I am looking forward to the next book to see if this is all a "cool tactic" that he has decided to use, trying to keep them confused and cornered, or if he has indeed accepted that he can control the whole world without them.
Byron is again a major aspect of this story. And to be honest, I have given up trying to sort out how I feel about his character. He is one of the most confused, rejected, annoying, conniving, love-struck, selfless, selfish, bratty characters I have every met. It is almost like spending time with Wisty in the first book (and as a weasel) has giving him multiple personality disorder. He is constantly struggling with his obsessive love for Wisty (which he is convinced repeatedly will lead to his untimely death) and doing what he was raised by his father to achieve (basically serving The One Who Is The One and looking out for himself.) He seriously has a switch in his head where on one side he sees Wisty and can't lie to her or allow her to be hurt. But on the otherside, when he looks away from Wisty, normally towards Whit and feels the hatred, or if Wisty is not actually around, then he returns to his normal ways and snitches, exploits, belittles, anything that will make him seem superior and also save hisself in the process.
It becomes know that Byron is actually spying on the Resistance when he reports in to his father, or should we say The One Who Counts The Beans (I honestly don't remember his official title, just what the Resistance kids call him. And yet that seems fine with me since he seems like an absolutely horrible person, father especially. Sorry, side rant). He reports EVERYTHING to his father about the Resistance. He is then enrolled in a special school, where Whit and Wisty end up after being captured.
This school is used to train children with powers. The children are rewarded with chocolate when they excel, but I am pretty sure this is the chocolate that the released kids from the first book were working on that seemed to be tainted with something. It is never specified what the chocolate does, but it is clear that Wisty gets addicted to it quickly and has some severe cravings for it. After she wins and is allowed to The Room With The Chocolate, she gorges herself on so much chocolate that she passes out and ends up in bed recouping for days. I have a theory that suction cup sensors that they are hooked up with while eating the chocolate somehow syphons the magical aspects from their bodies. The chocolates keeps them complaint and sleepy while this process happens. Wisty probably had so much taken from her, especially since this is the first time to The Room With the Chocolates, that she collapsed. It is possible that the magic they have is similar to a life force, so having it stripped away or using too much of it can cause weakness and even death. That would explain why the Allgood's parents look so gaunt, weak, and hollowed out in the vision that The One forces them to see. In this vision as well they are hooked up to giant suction cup sensors where pulses of color keep being sucked out of them. This is the same thing that happened while Wisty was enjoying all of her delicious chocolate.
But I am getting slightly ahead of myself. After Wisty has recouped, the siblings decided that they will lay low. They won't stand out and excel. They won't win anymore chocolates. They will just get the lay of the land and figure out how to escape and use this knowledge against the New Order. However, The One has other plans. Wisty is still not over her cravings, and when a boy that they were unable to help uses stolen chocolate to taunt her, Wisty looses control and turns into a fireball again. This causes her to have to go to solitary, or basically the nasty basement, where The One conducts tests and experiments on her. The people doing the experiments are the only social action that she sees for an unspecified amount of time. Eventually, Whit and Byron arrive to join her in solitary, having been sent there due to a fist fight between them. Byron explores while Wisty and Whit are asleep and picks the locks of the locked doors around them. Here he finds the remaining Allgoods, and the illusion begins for Wisty and Whit. Believing that it is indeed real, Wisty runs into the room ready to fight the decaying mad dog/wolf that is pacing and guarding her parents, ignoring her parents pleas to stay away. Whit runs after her, appearing to Wisty to have joined in the fight to save their parents, but he simply tackles Wisty before things can get bad. Upon Whit saving Wisty, The One appears and is fuming at his interference once again. Byron is gone, which leads the reader to believe that he was forced to leave after opening the door, or that The One has been pretending to be Byron since the fist fight (possibly before.) I personally believe that it was the latter, since the next time Byron sees Wisty, I don't remember him mentioning anything about her parents. The One leaves Whit and Wisty with one final life or death test. Figure out what The One wants and give it to him, thus saving their lives, or freeze to death in the blizzard that he has started in the basement.
Enter Byron to save the day, supposedly. He says that he requested to bring them their last meal, but really he confesses his absolute love to Wisty and his need to help her survive. They go to a quiet, dark corner (hopefully where the AI can't hear/see them) and Byron proves that Wisty turning him into a weasel had a long lasting effect on him. He is able to help Wisty channel her magic in a way that neither sibling has been able to do since the school has a dampening field. By holding hands they are able to transform the measly meal that has been provided to them into fresh hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. I am pretty sure that they never get a bite of it and will regret that mistake forever lol. But unfortunately, the AI interrupts them, causing them to have to set the escape plan into motion. Byron convinces the AI that the Allgoods should be allowed to use a proper restroom one last time before death. One last potty break as Wisty puts it. After debating the request, the AI finally agrees and unlocks one of the other doors that is located in the basement. Upon entering the bathroom, Byron returns Whit's journal and tells him to read a spell that pertains to water. They all link hands and Whit begins to read one that seems to be to his liking. This spell causes Wisty and Whit to be turned into fish and Byron proceeds to say goodbye and flushes them down the toilet to freedom.
Byron believes that this will be his final act of love for Wisty and that The One will disinegrate him for having freed the Allgoods. Unfortunately, The One has other ideas. He assigns Byron as the Kill Squad leader, controlling young children by using a musical pipe, who have been brainwashed into animals with only the intent to kill. he proceeds to track Wisty and Whit, having decided that he will just be killed with them using the Kill Squad.
Meanwhile, Wisty and Whit are now free. They fight for their lives to return to the Resistance. They end up being almost caught by Byron, but escape into the Shadowland. Here they are almost killed by Lost Ones and the Kill Squad. But the two forces end up fighting each other instead. Somehow Celia is leading the Lost Ones, and saves Whit and Wisty from Byron. But Byron breaks free and continues to chase them. They finally clash on an abandoned rooftop, but Whit and Wisty manage to turn into birds and fly away, leaving Byron to be attached by his Kill Squad alone. Finally free of Byron, they finish the long journey back to the department store. Here they find that they have been gone for months and things have not been going well for the Resistance. Many are now recaptured or just gone, and The One plans on bombing the whole Freelands the following morning to rid himself of the remaining Resistance. They will have to evacuate tonight.
So evacuate they do, or most of them anyway. Some stay behind, believing evacuating to be a suicide mission. This ends up not working well for them, since an entire fight squad is send to bomb and level the department store specifically. Whit, Wisty and the ones that left manage to make it into the tunnels. Whit and Wisty conjure up a wonderful breakfast to raise spirits and form a plan to make a "last stand"of sorts by using Byron's theory. All of the remaining children line up in the bomb cratered wasteland and take hands. Together, they focus on the bombers coming in and manage to change them into birds that simply fly away. They are able to do this for many squads that are sent this way, but eventually all of their energy is burned up. With the sky darkening under the wings of the never-ending bombing squads that are coming their way, the siblings direct all the remaining Resistance into a manhole that leads to some much lower tunnels. Here they hope that the remainder of the resistance will be safe, and they say their goodbyes to go get help from the crazy, old ninja lady Mrs. H.
Getting to the city and Mrs. H takes more time than anyone expected however, since The One is still dropping bombs all over Freeland. They are finally able to make it to her home and are surprised that she already new that they were coming. They enter her apartment and request her help. She helps them to contact their parents through a crystal ball, and they receive some interesting advice from them. Their dad requests that they try to "speed things up" since time is running short. And they both tell them that they will need to leave them comfort zone and do things that aren't what they consider "right" in order to succeed. This confuses and baffles the siblings, but the time for more answers is done as the communication can't be held on any longer.
Turns out that Mrs. H has contacted The One as to the Allgood's whereabouts. The apartment is thrown into chaos as whirlwinds, rain, and earthquakes tear into it. Mrs. H points out that The One has control of the sky, wind, water, and earth. She tells the children to pay attention to how he controls everything and that this will be the clue for what he wants from Wisty. While the siblings are holding on for dear life, Mrs. H stands firmly in the middle of all the chaos and demands that The One show himself. She is slammed into her ceiling and almost crushed by the pressure only to then be pulled out of the window screaming for The One to show himself the whole time.
The madness disappears abruptly and Wisty and Whit are about to move before they are captured by everyone. Unfortunately, The One was not the only one to have arrived at this time. Who should be standing in the street calling up to them? Of course, Byron with his Kill Squad. Wisty finally admits out-loud that maybe they should surrender, since that goes out of their comfort zone like their parents suggested. Whit will have none of this, and proceeds to block the front door so Byron can't get in with his little pack. But the pack simply climbs up the side of the building and through the newly busted windows. Instead of killing them, they hogtie Whit and Wisty up. Byron appears and threatens to kill Whit causing Wisty to once again lose control. While the pack is afraid of the fire and backs away, Byron isn't and simply closes in on Wisty and hugs her, showing her that she can't hurt him. Wisty is out of control and the whole apartment is starting to go up in flames. Whit manages to put out Wisty by dumping whatever Mrs. H was brewing when they arrive and Wisty is able to untie Whit while keeping the pack back with sparks of flames. They escape to the street only to come face to face with The One.
A crazy battle ensues where Whit and Wisty work together to fight The One and all of his crazy powers. They are in-sync and transform into creatures left and right to survive all of his attacks (the coolest being Griffins, I mean come on!). Finally, The One calls upon a tidal wave so large that Wisty knows that it will kill at least half of the city. She can't allow this to happen and screams her surrender as loud as she can. The tidal wave subsides and Whit and Wisty float forward to meet The One. But, he has decided that they are unable to work together and has them surrounded by thousands of military.
The Epilogue flashes back to Wisty, Whit and their parents. They are on the Hangman's platform, surrounded by millions, and standing in front of The One. They are all waiting for The One to signal that the boards be dropped out from under them bringing about the end of their lives and fight. Their mom has given up and is silently crying. Their dad is trying to encourage them to be brave. Whit is trying to use brute strength to free himself and getting repeatedly beaten and picked back up. Wisty is just lost and not wanting to die yet. Then The One uses his powers on their parents. And their parents are gone, just ashes that are blowing away in the wind. Just when they are freaking out and assuming that they are indeed next, all hell breaks loose. Celia has arrived on the scene. With a blinding flash that consumes everything, Whit and Wisty are cut down from the gallows, dumped underneath them and told to run or all is lost. So Wisty takes off. Then she realizes that she doesn't know where Whit is, although his is no longer located at the top of the gallows. She tries to turn back and find him, fighting the crowd that is panicking and stampeding out of the arena. But she is constantly pushed down and away. Celia tells her to run. Tells her that her brother is fine, but them together is to easy of a target. She tells her that for them both to survive, that Wisty must run like their lives depended on it. So she does. And that is where the story comes to a close. Just hanging there. Like the last book lol!
I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who are fans of the magic books. for me, this book seems to go past the levels of Harry Potter, or other such series, to reach new heights in the regards of the magical uses that are available. The magic of the siblings seems to be limited more by imagination than any other force that has be represented in other books.
I am greatly looking forward to reading the next book and working my way through the rest of the series (hopefully in the very near future). I also would like to possibly look into reading the manga version of Witch & Wizard. The excerpt that was featured at the end of this book looks well drawn. There are moments that bring to mind "Avatar: The Last Airbender" graphics and I am very interested in how the series as a whole would be portrayed through the panels.
I also truly love how this book continues to realize that it is a book during the whole story telling process. During some parts where the reader is "ridiculed" (for lack of a better term) if they chose the incorrect option provided by the storyteller of the chapter, the storyteller will request that the reader rewind a few chapters to once again familiarize themselves with what is truly happening during the story. The fact that this theme constantly pops up at the most random moments has me giggling and looking forward to how it will be incorporated in another stressful part down the road. It provides some tension relief for the reader, since this book seemed to start running head first into danger on the opening pages.
Also, I apologize in advance. Apparently I really liked this book and found that I just couldn't stop typing about all the crazy. Hopefully I still have the spoiler thing correct, but either way this is a long post. Oops. :-)
Spoiler
During this book, Wisty and Whit are once again fighting the good fight against The One Who Is The One. This book in particular contains less of the Resistance as a whole and more of just Wisty and Whit trying to find what their path for saving the world entails. They are captured, freed, captured again, freed again, captured again, etc. It is a constant merry-go-round that has you turning the pages just to see if they indeed make it around one more time.The book opens on the Resistance working on a mission that has failed horribly and caused everyone to be split up from each other. Whit is alone in the main city and trying to figure out what is going on and where everyone is, when across the billboards and in handouts carried by the civilians he realizes that the execution of Wisteria Allgood is about to take place. We find him rushing through the town like a madman to reach the execution in time to save his sister. However, he can't force his way through the crowd to the platform in time before the hooded, noosed figure on the Hangman's Gallows is turned into ashes by The One Who Is The One's power. He falls to the ground, all hope lost, and the chapter ends with narration being taken over by... Wisty?!
Turns out that Wisty is not, in fact, the person who is standing proudly before the crowd of unhappy, brain-washed citizens. The person that has actually been captured is their friend Margo, one of the Resistance's most influential, dedicated, and original members. Whit isn't close enough (or maybe just being a guy so doesn't notice) the specific punk-rock clothing, silver-starred shoes, black with hints of bright colors throughout the shoes and pants, that the hooded figure is wearing. After their friend is cremated (for lack of a better term, again), Wisty looses all control. She basically becomes a human bonfire, causing panic to ensue in the crowds around her and the gallows. Whit looks at the flames with relief for his sister's "rebirth" and then it is once again time for the siblings to flee. Since Wisty caused such a commotion at the hanging, the One has difficulty figuring the best way to spin the information so that the people still believe the Wisty was indeed the one that was killed. When his team fails, once again, to apprehend the siblings, he shows signs of loosing control and resorts to killing the men for their failure. His actions lead me to believe that if the siblings, Wisty in particular, are not captured soon then The One Who is the One will have to come to a crossroads in his plans. He will either lose all control and become consumed with capturing Wisty and Whit, forcing them to work with him, give him their powers, or die. Or he will come to the rational realization that he has expelled to much time, money, and man power on two individuals and be forced to move on to "plan B." Throughout the whole story, it seems as though The One is leaning towards the first option. But at the very end of the book, when Wisty finally accepts and surrenders to save all of the brainwashed people living in a city that are about to be destroyed, The One simply states that working together is no longer an option and has them swarmed by his police to be captured once again. I am looking forward to the next book to see if this is all a "cool tactic" that he has decided to use, trying to keep them confused and cornered, or if he has indeed accepted that he can control the whole world without them.
Byron is again a major aspect of this story. And to be honest, I have given up trying to sort out how I feel about his character. He is one of the most confused, rejected, annoying, conniving, love-struck, selfless, selfish, bratty characters I have every met. It is almost like spending time with Wisty in the first book (and as a weasel) has giving him multiple personality disorder. He is constantly struggling with his obsessive love for Wisty (which he is convinced repeatedly will lead to his untimely death) and doing what he was raised by his father to achieve (basically serving The One Who Is The One and looking out for himself.) He seriously has a switch in his head where on one side he sees Wisty and can't lie to her or allow her to be hurt. But on the otherside, when he looks away from Wisty, normally towards Whit and feels the hatred, or if Wisty is not actually around, then he returns to his normal ways and snitches, exploits, belittles, anything that will make him seem superior and also save hisself in the process.
It becomes know that Byron is actually spying on the Resistance when he reports in to his father, or should we say The One Who Counts The Beans (I honestly don't remember his official title, just what the Resistance kids call him. And yet that seems fine with me since he seems like an absolutely horrible person, father especially. Sorry, side rant). He reports EVERYTHING to his father about the Resistance. He is then enrolled in a special school, where Whit and Wisty end up after being captured.
This school is used to train children with powers. The children are rewarded with chocolate when they excel, but I am pretty sure this is the chocolate that the released kids from the first book were working on that seemed to be tainted with something. It is never specified what the chocolate does, but it is clear that Wisty gets addicted to it quickly and has some severe cravings for it. After she wins and is allowed to The Room With The Chocolate, she gorges herself on so much chocolate that she passes out and ends up in bed recouping for days. I have a theory that suction cup sensors that they are hooked up with while eating the chocolate somehow syphons the magical aspects from their bodies. The chocolates keeps them complaint and sleepy while this process happens. Wisty probably had so much taken from her, especially since this is the first time to The Room With the Chocolates, that she collapsed. It is possible that the magic they have is similar to a life force, so having it stripped away or using too much of it can cause weakness and even death. That would explain why the Allgood's parents look so gaunt, weak, and hollowed out in the vision that The One forces them to see. In this vision as well they are hooked up to giant suction cup sensors where pulses of color keep being sucked out of them. This is the same thing that happened while Wisty was enjoying all of her delicious chocolate.
But I am getting slightly ahead of myself. After Wisty has recouped, the siblings decided that they will lay low. They won't stand out and excel. They won't win anymore chocolates. They will just get the lay of the land and figure out how to escape and use this knowledge against the New Order. However, The One has other plans. Wisty is still not over her cravings, and when a boy that they were unable to help uses stolen chocolate to taunt her, Wisty looses control and turns into a fireball again. This causes her to have to go to solitary, or basically the nasty basement, where The One conducts tests and experiments on her. The people doing the experiments are the only social action that she sees for an unspecified amount of time. Eventually, Whit and Byron arrive to join her in solitary, having been sent there due to a fist fight between them. Byron explores while Wisty and Whit are asleep and picks the locks of the locked doors around them. Here he finds the remaining Allgoods, and the illusion begins for Wisty and Whit. Believing that it is indeed real, Wisty runs into the room ready to fight the decaying mad dog/wolf that is pacing and guarding her parents, ignoring her parents pleas to stay away. Whit runs after her, appearing to Wisty to have joined in the fight to save their parents, but he simply tackles Wisty before things can get bad. Upon Whit saving Wisty, The One appears and is fuming at his interference once again. Byron is gone, which leads the reader to believe that he was forced to leave after opening the door, or that The One has been pretending to be Byron since the fist fight (possibly before.) I personally believe that it was the latter, since the next time Byron sees Wisty, I don't remember him mentioning anything about her parents. The One leaves Whit and Wisty with one final life or death test. Figure out what The One wants and give it to him, thus saving their lives, or freeze to death in the blizzard that he has started in the basement.
Enter Byron to save the day, supposedly. He says that he requested to bring them their last meal, but really he confesses his absolute love to Wisty and his need to help her survive. They go to a quiet, dark corner (hopefully where the AI can't hear/see them) and Byron proves that Wisty turning him into a weasel had a long lasting effect on him. He is able to help Wisty channel her magic in a way that neither sibling has been able to do since the school has a dampening field. By holding hands they are able to transform the measly meal that has been provided to them into fresh hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. I am pretty sure that they never get a bite of it and will regret that mistake forever lol. But unfortunately, the AI interrupts them, causing them to have to set the escape plan into motion. Byron convinces the AI that the Allgoods should be allowed to use a proper restroom one last time before death. One last potty break as Wisty puts it. After debating the request, the AI finally agrees and unlocks one of the other doors that is located in the basement. Upon entering the bathroom, Byron returns Whit's journal and tells him to read a spell that pertains to water. They all link hands and Whit begins to read one that seems to be to his liking. This spell causes Wisty and Whit to be turned into fish and Byron proceeds to say goodbye and flushes them down the toilet to freedom.
Byron believes that this will be his final act of love for Wisty and that The One will disinegrate him for having freed the Allgoods. Unfortunately, The One has other ideas. He assigns Byron as the Kill Squad leader, controlling young children by using a musical pipe, who have been brainwashed into animals with only the intent to kill. he proceeds to track Wisty and Whit, having decided that he will just be killed with them using the Kill Squad.
Meanwhile, Wisty and Whit are now free. They fight for their lives to return to the Resistance. They end up being almost caught by Byron, but escape into the Shadowland. Here they are almost killed by Lost Ones and the Kill Squad. But the two forces end up fighting each other instead. Somehow Celia is leading the Lost Ones, and saves Whit and Wisty from Byron. But Byron breaks free and continues to chase them. They finally clash on an abandoned rooftop, but Whit and Wisty manage to turn into birds and fly away, leaving Byron to be attached by his Kill Squad alone. Finally free of Byron, they finish the long journey back to the department store. Here they find that they have been gone for months and things have not been going well for the Resistance. Many are now recaptured or just gone, and The One plans on bombing the whole Freelands the following morning to rid himself of the remaining Resistance. They will have to evacuate tonight.
So evacuate they do, or most of them anyway. Some stay behind, believing evacuating to be a suicide mission. This ends up not working well for them, since an entire fight squad is send to bomb and level the department store specifically. Whit, Wisty and the ones that left manage to make it into the tunnels. Whit and Wisty conjure up a wonderful breakfast to raise spirits and form a plan to make a "last stand"of sorts by using Byron's theory. All of the remaining children line up in the bomb cratered wasteland and take hands. Together, they focus on the bombers coming in and manage to change them into birds that simply fly away. They are able to do this for many squads that are sent this way, but eventually all of their energy is burned up. With the sky darkening under the wings of the never-ending bombing squads that are coming their way, the siblings direct all the remaining Resistance into a manhole that leads to some much lower tunnels. Here they hope that the remainder of the resistance will be safe, and they say their goodbyes to go get help from the crazy, old ninja lady Mrs. H.
Getting to the city and Mrs. H takes more time than anyone expected however, since The One is still dropping bombs all over Freeland. They are finally able to make it to her home and are surprised that she already new that they were coming. They enter her apartment and request her help. She helps them to contact their parents through a crystal ball, and they receive some interesting advice from them. Their dad requests that they try to "speed things up" since time is running short. And they both tell them that they will need to leave them comfort zone and do things that aren't what they consider "right" in order to succeed. This confuses and baffles the siblings, but the time for more answers is done as the communication can't be held on any longer.
Turns out that Mrs. H has contacted The One as to the Allgood's whereabouts. The apartment is thrown into chaos as whirlwinds, rain, and earthquakes tear into it. Mrs. H points out that The One has control of the sky, wind, water, and earth. She tells the children to pay attention to how he controls everything and that this will be the clue for what he wants from Wisty. While the siblings are holding on for dear life, Mrs. H stands firmly in the middle of all the chaos and demands that The One show himself. She is slammed into her ceiling and almost crushed by the pressure only to then be pulled out of the window screaming for The One to show himself the whole time.
The madness disappears abruptly and Wisty and Whit are about to move before they are captured by everyone. Unfortunately, The One was not the only one to have arrived at this time. Who should be standing in the street calling up to them? Of course, Byron with his Kill Squad. Wisty finally admits out-loud that maybe they should surrender, since that goes out of their comfort zone like their parents suggested. Whit will have none of this, and proceeds to block the front door so Byron can't get in with his little pack. But the pack simply climbs up the side of the building and through the newly busted windows. Instead of killing them, they hogtie Whit and Wisty up. Byron appears and threatens to kill Whit causing Wisty to once again lose control. While the pack is afraid of the fire and backs away, Byron isn't and simply closes in on Wisty and hugs her, showing her that she can't hurt him. Wisty is out of control and the whole apartment is starting to go up in flames. Whit manages to put out Wisty by dumping whatever Mrs. H was brewing when they arrive and Wisty is able to untie Whit while keeping the pack back with sparks of flames. They escape to the street only to come face to face with The One.
A crazy battle ensues where Whit and Wisty work together to fight The One and all of his crazy powers. They are in-sync and transform into creatures left and right to survive all of his attacks (the coolest being Griffins, I mean come on!). Finally, The One calls upon a tidal wave so large that Wisty knows that it will kill at least half of the city. She can't allow this to happen and screams her surrender as loud as she can. The tidal wave subsides and Whit and Wisty float forward to meet The One. But, he has decided that they are unable to work together and has them surrounded by thousands of military.
The Epilogue flashes back to Wisty, Whit and their parents. They are on the Hangman's platform, surrounded by millions, and standing in front of The One. They are all waiting for The One to signal that the boards be dropped out from under them bringing about the end of their lives and fight. Their mom has given up and is silently crying. Their dad is trying to encourage them to be brave. Whit is trying to use brute strength to free himself and getting repeatedly beaten and picked back up. Wisty is just lost and not wanting to die yet. Then The One uses his powers on their parents. And their parents are gone, just ashes that are blowing away in the wind. Just when they are freaking out and assuming that they are indeed next, all hell breaks loose. Celia has arrived on the scene. With a blinding flash that consumes everything, Whit and Wisty are cut down from the gallows, dumped underneath them and told to run or all is lost. So Wisty takes off. Then she realizes that she doesn't know where Whit is, although his is no longer located at the top of the gallows. She tries to turn back and find him, fighting the crowd that is panicking and stampeding out of the arena. But she is constantly pushed down and away. Celia tells her to run. Tells her that her brother is fine, but them together is to easy of a target. She tells her that for them both to survive, that Wisty must run like their lives depended on it. So she does. And that is where the story comes to a close. Just hanging there. Like the last book lol!
I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who are fans of the magic books. for me, this book seems to go past the levels of Harry Potter, or other such series, to reach new heights in the regards of the magical uses that are available. The magic of the siblings seems to be limited more by imagination than any other force that has be represented in other books.
I am greatly looking forward to reading the next book and working my way through the rest of the series (hopefully in the very near future). I also would like to possibly look into reading the manga version of Witch & Wizard. The excerpt that was featured at the end of this book looks well drawn. There are moments that bring to mind "Avatar: The Last Airbender" graphics and I am very interested in how the series as a whole would be portrayed through the panels.
djinnia's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, technically I listened to this book on playaway, but who could say no to listening to Frodo tell you a story.
First off, the continuing saga of Wisty and Whit hasn't lost it's appeal for me. This is in spite of the fact that Whit has the annoying obsession with his dead girlfriend, Celia. It made me drop the rating because he just can't get over the fact.
Byron, is as much of a creep as ever.
The One Who Is The One is as rotten and cruel as he is in the first.
I loved when he and the twin face off during the story. All that drama.
All-in-all, a good book.
First off, the continuing saga of Wisty and Whit hasn't lost it's appeal for me. This is in spite of the fact that Whit has the annoying obsession with his dead girlfriend, Celia. It made me drop the rating because he just can't get over the fact.
Byron, is as much of a creep as ever.
The One Who Is The One is as rotten and cruel as he is in the first.
I loved when he and the twin face off during the story. All that drama.
All-in-all, a good book.
susiereads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0