Review: Witch & Wizard by James Patterson

The world is changing-the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now kids are disappearing. For fifteen-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside-down when they are hauled out of bed one night, separated from their parents, and thrown into a secret compound for no reason they can comprehend. The new government is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager.

Imprisoned together and condemned to death, Wisty and Whit begin exhibiting strange abilities and powers they never dreamed of. Maybe there is a reason they were singled out. Can this newly discovered witch and a wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents-and maybe the world?

**Contains SPOILERS**

When I picked up this book in the library, I had no idea what it was about, apart from the fact it might include magic, as it didn't have any blurb on the back!  When I was about to read it I looked at it on Amazon and thought it looked ok.  I think it's set in the future.

As soon as I started the book I was pulled into it - it was certainly fast paced, with so much happening all through the book.  It was quite exciting too, and wasn't too predictable, however I was a bit unsure of what the characters were trying to acheive apart from freeing the kids from prison.  Were they trying to find out what their enemies were planning?  Or was freeing the kids the whole point of the mission?  Either way it was still a good story and and I definately wasn't left feeling that it was a pointless book.

Even though the book was exciting and had a good story there was something I wasn't too keen on, but I can't put my finger on it...argh!  At some points I thought it was a *little* childish, with enemy names like 'The One Who Is The One' which I at first thought was a nickname thought up by the main characters, and also when the characters say things along the lines of  'kids are better than adults, we will run the world better than them'.  Also calling adults 'grown ups', which I think is a quite childish description, and using words like 'abracadabra' for their spells sounded very young too.  I don't know if the book was written for younger teens/kids though.
It was also confusing at times, and despite being taken in by the book at the start I wasn't so gripped by it later on.  Although I think this book is in the adventure genre, there was a lot more it, not just magic and adventure - it also had dystopian/futuristic and supernatural themes in it, which was what I think made it confusing.

Overall this book was exciting, fast paced and some of the narrative by Whit and Whisty was quite lighthearted, but there was just SOMETHING about it, along with what I've put.  Hmm. This most definately was not one of the best adventure books I've read.

Rating: 3/5