The Gift

Witch & Wizard #2

by James Patterson, Ned Rust

Leading the Resistance, Whit and Wisty face their most daunting challenge yet in the jaw-dropping sequel to Witch & Wizard .

When Whit and Wisty were imprisoned by the wicked forces of the totalitarian regime known as the New Order, they were barely able to escape with their lives. Now part of a hidden community of teens like themselves, Whit and Wisty have established themselves as leaders of the Resistance, willing to sacrifice anything to save kidnapped and imprisoned kids.

Now the villainous leader of the New Order is just a breath away from the ability to control the forces of nature and to manipulate his citizens on the most profound level imaginable: through their minds. There is only one more thing he needs to triumph in his evil quest: the Gifts of Whit and Wisty Allgood. And he will stop at nothing to seize them.

In this second installment of James Patterson's epic Witch & Wizard series, Whit and Wisty's heart-pounding adventures through the Overworld and Shadowland lead to a spectacular climax and conclusion.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Dystopia, Fiction, Magic, Paranormal, Adventure

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Official US Site
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JIMMY Patterson Books
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James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Savita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hah! This is good! No more attempted romance-y crap! Back to the real action and grit. This is what I've been waiting for.

**EDIT** Now that I've finished it...

COULD IT GET ANY MORE AMAZING?! THIS is the James Patterson I know and love, with all his plot twists and awesome charactesr.

[Grace Stiles · Rating 1 out of 5]

So this book... it's just... bad. Please don't get worked up over my opinion. I liked the first book. Really, I did. But in general, Mr. P's writing seems like it's gone down the tube. The Max Ride books after the third one, Daniel X, and now Witch and Wizard.

I'm not going to annoy you with a boring summary, you should know it by now.

Issue 1: dialogue and writing. The dialogue is stiff, like they are bad actors with bad scripts with a bad director in a bad movie. Because that is how JP writes - like it's a movie. One moment they could be using the word loquatious, the next OMGWTF?!
With the writing, it's the kind of overused metaphors I used to write in the sixth grade. The kind that is in every one of his teen books and gives you a literal image. It's a bit irritating. Thanks for thinking we're stupid, Mr. P.

Issue 2: inconsistensies, randomness, and him thinking that we are inside his mind. So they're running away from the One (that's in issue three). Celia shows up! Wow! Gives a cryptic message and then vanishes (again). And now they are at a building where they could a: be killed (as stated every other page) or b: they are welcomed like heroes, this is the rebellion, all these people are rather flat characters, there will be a concert, all that jazz. JP goes with option B, because somehow it's believable. No more comments.
Randomness - okay, a rock concert underground?? Really? When all the teenagers are supposedly brainwashed? And Wisty just 'happens' to have psycho powers that she's a rockstar? And now Byron and practicaly every other dude she meets is in love with her? What is the point of this nonsense? There really is none.
And then JP says all this stuff that is supposedly obvious to the plot. No. It's not. Crazy tangent that he created somehow.

And Issue 3: bad characters. The One Who is The One needs a bit of a brain. As do Wisty and Whit. Just a cheesy comic-book villian who always lets the heroes escape. Whoopdeedo.

I know I'm slamming Mr. P big time. I liked the first book. I just finished the third, and that was a bit better. I loved the first three Max Ride books. But man did I hate this one. It just seemed like recycled garbage that he didn't proof-read. Does he not have editors? Or is he just so famous that his books get published once they are 'done'?

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original book got 4 stars from me, but this sequel only gets 2. First of all, why am I getting an ARC to a James Patterson sequel? Perhaps it's not selling as well as his other series? This book is really Witch & Wizard all over again: there's not that much changed in the way of plot, characterization or, well, anything (unlike, say, the Hunger Games trilogy, which does have some set pieces but you do see character growth and a story arc). It's definitely out of the Patterson factory and suffers from the formula.

ARC provided by publisher.

[Mauoijenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was better than the first. I wonder if the next one is even better than this and obviously the first. A series that starts off bad only to get betterbetter by every book? That would be interesting. Wisty is getting to be a better character in this one. Her brother Whit is still annoying me.

[Anita · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am confused about this series. I have looked at websites and read other reviews, and so far the feedback seems to be rather positive. I guess there are just some books you don’t like. It’s just unusual, because I’m usually in sync with other people, but this time I can’t be further away. I really, really do not like these books – this book specifically. I think with Witch and Wizard, it was new and somewhat enjoyable. I was hoping the story would have moved on from the last book. Really, I feel like this is the same book over again, only Whit and Wisty actually know about their powers instead of being oblivious.

The characters are all over the place. For example, Byron and Celia –Are they trying to help Whit and Wisty, or are they against them? It’s like this wavering plot point that seems like it’s suppose to be tricky, but is really annoying. Usually a character (Byron) only changes sides once, maybe has a change of heart and then will change twice, but he is completely riding the fence and has no idea who he’s working for or why. Then there are the cryptic messages from the parents and other “friends.” In any “war” situation, why would anyone give half advice? “You must give your gift away.” Like that is helpful. To whom? Why? How? Parents especially would never be that cryptic – especially when there is a master overlord in the picture. People who are for you wouldn’t try to relay information this way. It just doesn’t make any sense.

And as for the Master Overlord, The One Who is The One (hello cheesy name..but when he heads up an organization called the N.O, and has N.O.W troops running around, what do you expect?), this guy must be really dumb. I mean, how many times can you capture the same two kids only to let them escape? Seriously! And if you’re going to give a death sentence, don’t you think (considering how many times the two have escaped in the past) you would just do the deed right away instead of letting them “sit and think about it” for a few days. I won’t even touch on this menacing “test” at the end of the book. This guy would run screaming like a little girl if he were to meet Voldemort, and at least he knew how to play down the whole ego driven, power hungry thing, making a much more deadly villain.

As for the magic. It really is a little out of hand. Not only can Whit and Wisty change into animals, fish, birds, whatever; but they can cause things to appear out of thin air. They can change bomber planes (machines) into birds (alive). So what doesn’t seem to line-up is why is it so difficult to run and hide, or why worry about your energy running low? Surely you can create more food whenever you want it. Or, with this kind of power, why not go for invisibility and just take your time?

I am not sure what age group these books are suppose to be geared for, and maybe that is the problem here (with why I don’t like the books). Between the horrible text speak and teenagey talk that just sounds like the book is trying to “fit in” with all the other paranormal books out there, the characters come off sort of stiff and unbelievable. (If you want some good characters – check out some Cassandra Clare) Then there is an impromptu concert, that is supposed to be a benefit for The Resistance (or whatever they call themselves) and has what is suppose to be an encouraging, motivational speech given by Wisty….where is Katniss Everdeen when you need her anyway? I really can’t see this series working with a young adult crowd (which I would consider 16-20 somethings), but it probably would go over well with the 11-15ish age group. The book, for me, read like a Nickelodeon Sitcom.

I think I’ve made my point well enough. I don’t usually rip books apart like this. In fact, I don’t usually finish reading (or listening, in this case) to books I don’t like. I was just hoping for something to happen so that it would redeem itself. I feel like most of the hype is due to the author’s popularity and the media backing he’s able to get, rather than how well the books are written. With all the great books out there, I can’t even imagine picking up the next installment of this series. It just wouldn’t be worth my time.

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and fun characters. I never knew what going to happen next. Very suspenseful. I've already ordered the next book.

[Chazz Sandoval · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book was just as good if not better than the first book in the series. The book was easy to comprehend and continued to keep me interested all throughout the book.I do think that you should read the first book of the series before you read this one because it will make a lot more sense to you and catch you up on what is going on. My favorite character in this book is Whit because even though he is strong and buff he still can be emotional and help with problems. He wants to do everything he ca to protect him and his sister. My least favorite character in this book is Byron Swain because he is not trustworthy at all. You never know if he is telling the truth or jus lying to you. He is just one of those people you have to pretend to like because he is valuable. I agree with the authors message to stick with you family even if times are hard because in the end they only want the best for you. I would reccomend this book to my friends because it was easy to relate to as a teenage boy going through tough and easy times. I think that people who love thrillers and suspensful books will enjoy this book the most because the suspense is always keeping you on your toes and you never know what to expect next.

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are funny books, I enjoy all the puns on real life people and places. The plot is a little all over the place for me and I struggled a bit to keep track of what the goal is and who we can trust. The relationship between Whit and Wisty is sweet and I like that they take care of each other. The narration is a lot of fun and helps bring the story to life.

[Shah Si Pencinta Buku · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whit and Wisty Allgood are on the run. Run from the cruelty of new reign of The One. The magic and art in the world has been banned by New Order.

The build up story in this book is good and make it more interesting. The pace are quite fast. Every pages and chapters has their own story.

The concept and idea of this book is quite interesting. Which book and music part or our world has been banned. Book has been destroyed. For a book lover this scene are quite frustrating for me. Because of my love to the books. How much I appreciate it.

The characters build up is also interesting. Every each of the has their own story. Their existing make the story become more solid.

After reads this book it makes me want to find the other book in this series.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the adventure continues!

[Ric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now I know why I had never read James Patterson before the first book in this series. I’m really glad the chapters were short because I couldn’t wait for this book to end. The characters were all caricatures at this point; the one who is the one is a cheesy over the top comic book villain, Whit is basically useless because he doesn’t actually have any magical powers, and Wisty can literally do anything that the plot commands for (even playing electric guitar at a concert) but doesn’t know how to control it. And how many times are they going to be captured and escape in this series? It’s been like seven through the first two books alone. The writing was bad at best and the plot wasn’t much better, not a series I’ll be continuing.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is an action filled book with lots of twists, you never know what's going to happen next. Its a thrill!!! this book is all about how ever since the new order has taken over, everybody's freedoms have been taken away. such as books, music, and anything that allows people to be creative are banned. because Wisty and whit have even more special powers then some others it makes them a even bigger target to the one. they end up with a group of misfits that are kids that call them selves the resistance against the one (kind of like in star wars) but its hard to focus on a revolution when you don't even know if your parents are alive. because the one wants all of the Allgoods to take their gifts for himself even though his power is increasing he still wants theirs. but in all the darkness there's a bit of light to be discovered. as wisty goes to a music festival with her friends in the free lands she discovers her love of music and performing. and a gift that come along with her love of music.
I love wisty in this book the most, I love her character in all the books because wisty is do sweet when se wants to be. but when things need to get done and people need help shes there to push people and bring them up to do the best they can. she can be fearless in the face of danger even when she's been hurt by it. I love music so much so her having a gift involving music( read to find out) I can connect t the feeling she has.
SPOILIER ALERT!!! my favorite part for sure is when there in the car and the new order police are after them and they try and get away but they cant and they have this band with them in the there car also to take them back with them to the resistence because wisty likes the drummer. but there surrounded and wisty ha no fear and she starts singing and the band backed her up with a beat and they start flouting threw the air back to the garfunkles(where the resistence sleep) witch is an old store that has almost everything. kinda like a mall. I found that amazing, and incredible.
I don't have anything bad to say about the book it was amazing, I loved the book and I would definitely read it again.

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember the first in the series wasn't that great, but it was an easy read. I don't remember it being quite this bad. First off, I feel like this series is trying to capitalize on both the supernatural and dystopian YA trends. Which would be fine, if it did a good job at either one. We're told to believe this new world has been established relatively recently, with people being openly zealous 1984 style, but I honestly don't remember any justification given for people to turn around that quickly.

Which, is really one of the main problems. People do things just because it fits the "plot" it seems. There is not indication of why Byron likes Wisty. The episode with the drummer was particularly aggravating. She met him the night before and she lives in a society where she can't really trust anyone, so I have a really hard time with her being that upset about his betrayal. Although she gets over it rather quickly, like most everything. At one point someone accuses Whit of having PTSD, of which I saw absolutely no signs in the book.

On top of all that, everything and absolutely nothing seems to happen in this book. They're running around escaping "The One," who has them in his clutches multiple times, and really doesn't seem to be putting in much of an effort. I don't really recognize any stakes here.

Other than this series I've only read one other Patterson (which was also a collaboration), which I loved. The style in that was also sparse and to the point. But we were going somewhere. And there were characters I cared about. This book is a lot of tell, and not enough show. It worries me that maybe there was a thought that because this is a YA release the quality could slip, and it could be dumbed down. Which is not the case, especially in this market.

[Jacquelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read the first book in the series, so that's undoubtedly a big part of why I found it hard to care about the characters. But I just found them to be somewhat flat, their voices weren't all that unique (which I think is critically important if you're going to shift first-person perspective between characters), and the writing felt rushed. There were definitely some good action sequences, but that was mostly what this book was: a series of action sequences. I would have liked to have some time between events to get to know the characters better, feel some tension build, and immerse myself a bit more in their world.

That being said, there were some really fun moments, and the evolution of their magic unfolded in a very satisfying way. The events were creatively imagined, and if you like a fast-paced book, this is it. I will probably go back and read the first book, and if I like it, I'll re-read The Gift and increase my rating if I like it better the second time. For now, I give it 2.75 stars (rounded up to three).

[Jacob_Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first book in the series, but this book was not even close to as good. I never got into the book and it was super slow. I think if the author added more suspense this book would have been much better. I had never heard of this book before I read it and now I know why.

[Lori]

Signed galley from BEA

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. :-)

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.

[Ash Mustard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is just getting crazier and crazier! I love it and seriously dislike Byron lol

[Charlotte Aneca · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Moriah Writes-a-lot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was originally going to whine about the grievous misuse of the English language, particularly in the simile and metaphor department, as my claim was there were on average 3 horrid, stretched out similes or metaphors per a page. But my friends have proved me wrong and not wanting to use use a hyperbole (which was also over used), I stand corrected. There is on average only one rancid, overused, or stretched out simile/metaphor per a page. Patterson saves up all his big boy words for these nails-on-chalkboard similes and in dialogue to make his protagonists sound smart while he spends the rest of the novel proving they are dumb. The rest of everything else is recycled words. Blah blah blah.

So that concludes my literary complaints. On to inconsistencies! Such as the confiscated journal/diary/psychic book which apparently has teleportation powers and Byron's own love of illogical side changes. Don't get me wrong, Patterson thinks he has a perfectly rational explanation, but "I think I will help you escape from certain death." then "Oh, it has been explained to be that you will die in front of my eyes so to avoid that I shall help kill you." just doesn't make sense to anyone but Patterson and his fictional character.

And while we are on the subject of details Patterson has seemed to slip into his Max Ride habit of forgetting details except instead of doing this over the coarse of the whole series has has done this in the hand-span of one book. Boo much? And no, I don't care if it's being saved for final (hopefully) book because it will be so terribly done no one will care.

And lastly, my disappointment that this wasn't the last book. When you look at it has a whole they went through some traumatic events and now are back were they began at the beginning minus a few friends and a building. You could probably read book one, a summery of book two, and then the final (hopefully, hopefully) book and miss nothing except more horrid similes (yes I am still on that overridden horse). And lastly I am sad because knowing how horrible the book will be I will still read because of my inability to leave stuff alone. So yes, I must re-suffer this all over again. Boo.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wisteria and Whitford Allgood are back in the second book in a dystopian series where the world has been taken over by the New Order, and their magical skills would seem to be the only hope of the Resistance. While the first book seemed to be nothing more than a prologue to explain the world in which the series is set, The Gift does a good job of being presenting an interesting story that is a blend of science fiction and fantasy.

The One Who Is The One seems to have recognized the gift of great magical power that Wisty has within herself. As he has been doing with their parents and others with magical abilities, The One is hoping to drain them of their magical power with the hope of bringing it into himself, making him the most powerful person in the world.

His secret police are actually able to capture the Allgood siblings and bring them into one of their schools, which are really more retraining/reducation centers to instill kids with support for the New Order.

Byron Swain, the traitor that has wormed his way into the Resistance, proves to be constantly bumping into Wisty and Whit. The result is a bit confusing for the Allgoods, who hear his words of love for Wisty and see his constant attempts to help them. At the same time, his father is a New Order ranking official, and he always seems to be around when things go bad.

Wisty and Whit find themselves on the run, reaching out to all sorts of allies like Whit's dead and ghostly girlfriend Celia, an old family friend, and the other kids in the Resistance as they get a handle how their powers seem particularly tied to the creative arts like music and writing.

The result of all this is a pretty fun and quick-paced action story. There is little character development, and the authors continue to slowly release details of what brought the world to this point so the story is a bit two-dimensional, but the series is improving. Maybe the next book in the series will be even better.

[nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

can't finish, even if it means having to explain to the supervisor who lent it to me exactly why i didn't like it. good lord, what a trainwreck.

[Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Whit in this book. I'm always thoroughly amused by the banned lists in the back of the book, too! It was a great read, very fast-paced and thrilling. I can't wait for the next one!

[Raegan · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars.
The first book was a lot better than this one. I didn't like the writing in this book at all and the plot of this book slowly downward spiraled into eternal darkness.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

the ending was so suspenseful and good I knew they weren't going to die but I still felt like they were.

[Brian Bova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one. Ending is left open for part 3 ... The Fire.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid book the plot didn’t keep I’m in it the whole time but it was still good

[Behnam Riahi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The following review has been copied from http://behnamriahi.tumblr.com

The Gift, written by James Patterson (Ned Rust) and published by Little Brown, is the first-person adventures of Whit and Wisty, brother and sister freedom fighters in a dystopian setting reminiscent of 1984. Whit and Wisty are magical savants—of course, their world doesn’t appreciate magic anymore, or freedom or creativity or anything, really. But it especially doesn’t appreciate magic. So Whit and Wisty join a surviving rebel faction to help free other slaves or prisoners of their world as they search for their lost parents. Only, Whit and Wisty don’t realize just to what lengths the world will go to take them back.

So this book, The Gift, was a gift. Oh, God, that always makes me laugh. Moving on, it came into my possession by my ex-roommate and friend, Maurice. Funny thing about Maurice is that while he’s thoughtful, he’s also very frugal. I see the 30% off Target sticker on the cover, indicating that when he bought this book, he didn’t exactly know what he was buying. So it should be no surprise that I didn’t get around to reading this. I’m sure he’ll understand that it took my two years to finally crack it open, not because I don’t care for Maurice’s financially-conservative choices, but because of Patterson. But I’ll get back to after I review the book.

Going into this, I’d like to say first that I understand that this book is a sequel in part of a series. To that extent, I credit the author for summing up what happened in the previous piece, but because the books have two different authors, I won’t pull any punches. It’s fair to say that what we learned in the first book is that Whit and Wisty’s parents disappeared as they discovered they had magic powers, all while society was taken over by a group called New Order, who wishes to control free will. Now that you understand, let’s continue.

The great thing about this book is that it flies by—333 pages and you can finish it in a couple of days without much thought or effort. Rust accomplishes this by writing it like a collection of episodic instances with short chapters that move each instance forward. The instances blend well enough together that as soon as one ends, another immediately begins without the glue of an overall theme or story, simply keeping the audience on the edge of their seats to watch things unfold in anticipation that something will actually happen or mean something. That’s about where this book’s finer points end—after all, there is no theme or over-arcing story really. There’s no climactic ending, no revelation, no meaningful depiction of character change or evolution. It’s just one interchangeable instant after another without any pay-off.

In addition to a surprising lack of theme, the characters don’t necessitate change much either. They're one-dimensional figures that pass through their motions with no significant purpose for doing what they’re doing. Whit and Wisty are uncomfortably similar and though the book is told from both their points-of-view, they don’t read any differently. Their voices are the same and the only real departure from each other is their expectations of a world when the dystopia ends, where Whit would like to settle down with his dead girlfriend and Wisty would like to be a rockstar. That’s it. Otherwise, the characters are one in the same with only a few different qualities here and there, mostly in relation to their powers or prowess and the way a few characters, whom are even more one-dimensional, perceive either/or romantically. Here’s the kicker though—despite their meandering romantic interests or the fact that others are interested in them, I get the vibe that Whit and Wisty are going to fuck in one of the future books. They just have that kind of relationship. The most shallow of all characters is the villain, referred to only as The One Who Is The One—he’s a powerful, semi-magical being that controls society’s new infrastructures, I guess. The only problem is that, despite building a new society, he’s obsessed with catching Whit and Wisty without giving much thought to the society he’s built. He compensates for his inability to capture either with a series of stupid, consistently repulsive one-liners that are, surprisingly, expected of shallow villains—shallow sub-villains even. At no point does he show depth or serve any purpose apart from being a nuisance, even in the few chapters told form his point-of-view, and yet, somehow, he’s omnipresent throughout the whole narrative.

The purposelessness of the characters is reflected in the settings though. There’s Freeland and then there’s everything else. Freeland is a sort of grunge punk sanctuary where people can rock out on their guitars or have impatient, sexless romances without being impinged upon by the populace, the New Order. Occasionally, Freeland’s youth (and there’s only youth in Freeland, because anyone who speaks like a grown-up is undoubtedly a spy, according to Whit and Wisty who spend the novel searching for their lost parents, who are obviously not spies) will venture out to rescue more people from the New Order, even those that are comfortably compliant with it. The lands of the New Order are reminiscent of most dystopias, so much that they seem to be a mere copy of what we’re supposed to assume a dystopia is to appear like from every other book or movie ever. Though I’ll elaborate on that a little more, the novel is simply Harry Potter in 1984, except not written quite as well as either.

Of course, the voice is the worst, inept in the same shallow capacity that many teenagers preserve as their own thought process. That’s about all you can say about it, though I’ll examine a few phrases or thoughts to elaborate on this further. For instance, characters in this book refer to people of the New Order as “Beaners.” Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly sure that’s a term used in racial prejudice against Hispanics. In fact, I think everyone knows that—especially teenagers. It’s the equivalent of calling the villains of the book “The Chinks” or “The Niggers” or “The Towel Heads.” I dare say that this author knew what it meant and pushed forward with it anyway, as if satisfied to plug something so offensive into a book geared toward sub-intelligent children. Speaking of sub-intelligent children though, I wonder how this book made it to the presses with characters talking in text-speak, saying things like, “wth!” audibly, which is the PG-version of “wtf.” The irony is that, while this book’s setting is a copy of 1984's Oceania, and while there are freedom fighters standing up against this story's version of Big Brother, they're still using actual interpretations of “Newspeak” to communicate with others and characterize themselves. In that sense, I don't even believe that this book is a copy of 1984 as much as it is a copy of a copy of 1984.

Just… don’t buy this book. I’m sorry, but you’re better off. After all, the money doesn’t even really go to the author—it goes to the man who claims himself to be the author: James Patterson.

Let’s make one thing clear right now: Patterson doesn’t write his own books. He’ll write a treatment for his books and he’ll even coax his authors to complete them, but at the end of the day, these words aren’t his—he just puts his stamp on it to make more money. I’m trying to think of any other creative medium where that’s acceptable and I can only come up with pop music. After all, the singer of the pop song isn’t necessarily the author of the pop song. Quite likely, she’s not the producer either, nor does she play any other instrument. In fact, in most cases, pop musicians are given a script to sing from and a background track to sing it to. Basically, James Patterson is the Rihanna of books, no offense to Rihanna, but at least Rihanna can sing. I’m not convinced Patterson can write.

Here are some casual differences between pop music and books: When you’re buying a pop music album, you’re buying it for that over-produced voice and, hell, I bought a Britney Spears album in middle school because I liked the way the girl on the cover looked. A pop music star is selling a lot more than just her music—she’s selling her voice, her appearance, and maybe that’s only because we’ve grown to accept that the pop music industry is cruel to those that don’t follow instruction. Literature has not been a cruel industry in a long time though. Publishing has no desire to put a pretty face and name on someone else’s book—and Patterson certainly has neither of those qualities, so he’s not exactly the ideal Milli-Vanilli. If anything, his name is only moderately recognizable because he defined the style of writing novels devoid of complicated theme, careful description, and credible characters. So, why are you just buying the author’s name without getting any of his own writing with it? I understand it might bare some of the same qualities of other works with his name, and that these qualities are appealing to a careless reader (this review is just full of fucking paradoxes), but why gamble with it? If you’re hoping Patterson’s seal of approval means anything, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

There’s a missing piece of this puzzle that I’ll never truly understand—I think it’s the part of me that doesn’t understand devotion to religion or political parties—that people read Patterson out of habit alone. He’s defied all the things authors hold true in writing: He doesn’t write his own stories, those that do have his name are poorly written, and he makes more money than anyone who does write well. I suppose somewhere out there, there are poorer readers who, when buying a quick read, think, “Eh, I’ll just get this Patterson book.” I suppose that for those who pattersoned their college essays or those who pattersoned their work resumes can forgive it. Me? I’m thankful for Patterson in one sense, that should I wind up at someone’s apartment and they’ve got a shelf with two or more of his titles on it, I remember that I have better things to do.

[Miriam Quezada · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you were to ask someone, they would most likely say that they wish they were able to use magic, not just their own benefits, but for other people’s benefits as well. In the book Witch and Wizard: The Gift by James Patterson, there are people who are capable of using magic, but there is an evil totalitarian government called “The New Order” that is being run by “The One Who Is The One”. Meanwhile, our protagonists, Wisteria Allgood (Wisty) and Whitford Allgood (Whit), are trying to defeat the New Order and their leader to try to end the dictatorship by using their magic against the organization.

In the book Witch and Wizard: The Gift, there is also a quote that says “If there is one thing that makes me hope we stand a chance against the New Order, it’s the knowledge that we have so much talent. Talent and passion. That’s what scares the New Order about us, isn’t it? We’ve got it and they don’t. We all have the Gift.” This quote is an example of the signpost ‘Words of the Wiser’ because Wisty is saying that the Resistance forces, the ones that are against the New Order, have talent and passion, unlike the organization. And thus, they all have “The Gift”. It is also worth mentioning that this book also contains symbolism because in the book, there is an area called Garfunkel’s, which acts as the ‘home’ of the Resistance forces and symbolizes the hope of the Resistance forces. However, it is later bombed by the New Order, which symbolizes how everybody is starting to lose hope for stopping The One Who Is The One.

These are examples of how both the book and the author portrays the harsh reality everybody in the book is living in, as it drives a lot of emotion into making the reader feel as if they are there with all of them. These are some reasons why I really like this book. It has fantasy, strong emotion, characters that the reader loves, it is unpredictable, and is just overall a great book. I say that Witch and Wizard: The Gift is perfect for an 8th grader to read and I would gladly recommend it to a friend. It’s different from other books I’ve read because it clearly shows the characters’ personalities and differences from others, along with their emotion about certain situations. I would highly recommend this to anyone. It will have you reading more of the series and is very memorable.

[Abigail Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) bruh these parents must be the worst book parents i’ve ever come across smh. i liked this book a lot, there was always things going on and the super short chapters help me breeze through these books. some of the writing seems a bit juvenile, but then i remember that’s it’s a young adult fiction and was made for children. the one thing that bothered me is that some of the storylines just don’t get explained or even finished. like byron? mrs highsmith? the rest of the CHILDREN!?!? like are they good or bad? that’s the one thing about the short chapters. the storylines feel rushed at times but overall a good read and i’m excited for the next one!!