Witch World

Jan 24, 2013 Jennifer Jensen (Literally Jen) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: from-publisher

I have to start out by saying I have been a huge fan of Christopher Pike and his books for nineteen years. I started reading his books around the time I was 11 or 12, and if I'm remembering correctly, the first one I ever read was Whisper of Death. Unfortunately I don't remember that book very well, but reading it influenced me to purchase the first Pike book I would ever own (which is still either my #1 or #2 favorite, depending on the day you ask me), Remember Me.

It's been especially exci...more I have to start out by saying I have been a huge fan of Christopher Pike and his books for nineteen years. I started reading his books around the time I was 11 or 12, and if I'm remembering correctly, the first one I ever read was Whisper of Death. Unfortunately I don't remember that book very well, but reading it influenced me to purchase the first Pike book I would ever own (which is still either my #1 or #2 favorite, depending on the day you ask me), Remember Me.

It's been especially exciting over the past few years to see The Last Vampire re-packaged for a whole new generation of fans to enjoy, and then to eventually see Pike start releasing brand new books such as Thirst No. 3 and Thirst No. 4--and now Witch World. Before I knew what Witch World was about, I assumed it would be another bind-up like To Die For, but I was ridiculously happy to find out it was totally new.

Witch World begins with the graduating senior class of Apple Valley High planning a trip for a fun-filled weekend in Las Vegas. Jessie is still in love with her ex-boyfriend, Jimmy, and her drive to Las Vegas becomes uncomfortable after she finds out he'll be riding there in the same car with her. She still doesn't understand why he broke up with her, and it hurts her that he left her for his previous girlfriend, Kari. Jessie is hoping that while they are in Las Vegas she'll finally get the truth behind their break-up.

Once in Las Vegas, Jessie and her best friend Alex break away from their classmates and head out on their own into the casinos armed with their fake IDs. At a 21 table, Jessie and Alex encounter a handsome stranger named Russ who doesn't seem to be able to lose the game. When Jessie is left alone at the table, she follows Russ's lead and begins to win at the game herself--the sum is astonishing, and will pay her college tuition. Later on that evening in Russ's room, he teaches Jessie a game called 22 and she learns another version of herself exists in an alternate reality called witch world.

Alternate reality/time travel stories are tricky to follow, and it takes a very skilled writer to make it have sense to the readers. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep up with Christopher Pike's thought process in this book. Perhaps it's because I just had too many follow-up questions, I didn't pay close enough attention, or it simply hasn't been explained yet. I did learn that there is to be a sequel to Witch World, so I am hoping if we are purposely kept in the dark about certain things, then it will be explained in the next book.

Pike's witches are actually pretty unique; there are no magic potions, spells, or anything generally associated with witches. I didn't quite grasp all of the scientific explanations, but there are genes that determine if a person is a witch or not. In Witch World, there appear to be two different groups of witches, a group call the Tars and another called the Lapras. Both sets are powerful, and both are dangerous. Once Jessie becomes "connected" to witch world, she slowly begins to recover Jessica's memories and learns that she and James (the witch world version of Jimmy) conceived a daughter together. Lara, their daughter, is the only witch to have ever been born that possesses all ten genes. This is why each group wants her in their clutches, but I think it still remains to be seen which side has the best intentions.

As is tradition with Christopher Pike novels, many of the characters have very rich, fully fleshed out back stories. Their narratives sometimes can go on for pages and pages, but I felt with this particular title there were simply too many things going on. In the late 80s and 90s when Christopher Pike's books were first being published, they were at most 200 pages. In today's publishing, books in the YA genre on average are around 400 or 500 pages, so Pike now has to meet those publishing needs. In my opinion, it just made this story suffer. Too many characters, too many various plot lines, too many different settings and a world that just wasn't explained enough for readers to follow. Unfortunately most of what I'd want to expand upon are events which occur later in the books, and would be incredibly huge spoilers for people who haven't yet read the book. For those people, I'd strongly recommend taking notes on characters and explanations as they are provided, and then trying to make sense of it all once you've finished the book. I began taking notes, but wasn't always reading in a location where I had access to my notes or could jot any down. I feel as if there were some contradictions; they may have been intentional, since I seem to remember another Pike novel that discussed paradoxes.

I've re-read nearly every Christopher Pike novel I own numerous times, but sadly I don't see myself wanting to read this again at any point. I'm interested enough in Witch World to read at least one sequel and then decide from there if I want to read any further novels in the series. As with any favorite author of mine, I'm bound to be on the fence about a title or two. I had high hopes for this one since it's the first novel in years featuring new characters, but it just wasn't for me. As always, I'll be eagerly waiting for whatever comes next.

(I received an ARC from the publisher for review.)
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Dec 03, 2012 Brooke Banks rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, bad-choice-bad-read, written-reviews

I won this in a First Reads Giveaway.

I didn't like this book at all. Somehow despite it's drawbacks and flaws, I was hooked in from like page 10 to around 250. Then it quickly waned and it was a struggle to finish. I don't even know why I was hooked. It was mostly before the complete WTF started setting in but I had problems believing the story throughout. There's potential but ultimately I felt it failed. I'm definitely not pleased with it and am not going to continue the series. I might check...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Erika marked it as did-not-finish

Shelves: 2012-releases, giveaway-wins, arc, high-hopes

DNF
I tried I really did. I wanted to like this one but I just couldn't get into it. Not my cup of tea.

Before

Mwahahaha this will be mine! As soon as it comes in the mail because I won it in a Goodreads giveaway! Super excited for this one. I love Christopher Pike's books!

Edit:
Just got this in the mail and the first words out of my mouth were "It's mine! All mine!"

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Oct 27, 2012 Kat rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, 2012, fantasy, tweens-and-teens, ye-gods-why

Won in a First Reads giveaway!

Basic Plot: Jessie Ralle takes a senior trip to Las Vegas that introduces her to a new game, a new world, and a new life.

I remember reading a few Christopher Pike novels back in his earlier career days. He was really popular in the early 90's for his YA horror. Judging by the excitement surrounding this book, he hasn't done anything like that for a while. Frankly, I think Pike needs to move on to adult books at this point. This book is labeled YA (In my opinion) bec...more Won in a First Reads giveaway!

Basic Plot: Jessie Ralle takes a senior trip to Las Vegas that introduces her to a new game, a new world, and a new life.

I remember reading a few Christopher Pike novels back in his earlier career days. He was really popular in the early 90's for his YA horror. Judging by the excitement surrounding this book, he hasn't done anything like that for a while. Frankly, I think Pike needs to move on to adult books at this point. This book is labeled YA (In my opinion) because the main character is only 18 and there is no *graphic* sex or violence. It could have been an adult book very easily, though, and I'm not just talking about the sex or violence, I'm mostly talking about the attitude and voice of the narrator of the book. Jessie is supposed to be 18, but does not in any way sound like an 18-year-old (neither do any of the other characters): the slang is wrong, the cultural attitude is off, and the way they react to their environment/technology is WAY off. Pike seems out of touch as a result. I teach high school and thus know teens pretty well. When teens are using their cell phones ONLY to make calls, the book is out of touch. The characters were caricatures of teens and adults, with only vague descriptions and no real personalities.

The plot was convoluted at best and downright frustrating at its worst. The title leads the reader to believe there will be an urban fantasy feel to the book, with witches and magic at the core. This is NOT the case. Witches in Pike's world are beings who have special abilities based on their genetics. Once "connected" to their powers, they become "witches" and have access to a parallel dimension referred to as "witch world." Plot-wise, there is a reason the book tops 500 pages: a LOT of crap happens. We have mystery men, near death, learning powers, plotting and scheming, meeting a missing father, finding a missing baby, and a lot of smacking my suspension of disbelief in the face. It ended with the promise (threat?) that Jessie's story would continue in Witch World 2.

Overall, I didn't find a single character in the book to be likeable, and some of them were downright unbelievable. At over 400 pages into the book I found myself trying to evaluate what the plot/conflict of the book actually was. The fact that I didn't quite know does not speak well of the book. There were a lot of moments when a single, well-placed sentence would have justified various goings-on (why a character did/knew/didn't know something) but that sentence never came and I found myself getting more and more frustrated. Sheer stubbornness allowed me to finish this volume, and I have no plans to read its sequel. I'm sure there is someone out there who might like this book, but that person is not me.(less)

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Mar 12, 2013 Makayla rated it 2 of 5 stars

Eh... where do I start?

First off, I don't know what it is, but when I read a Christopher Pike book I get sucked in and then halfway through I realize it's not that good. I've only read one other series by Pike, the Thirst series, and it was okay in my opinion. And this book, like Thirst, after 100 pages I had to make myself finish it. Yeah, once in a while I hit a good part, but only for a couple of pages. Is that just me?

I liked the idea of the book though. It was definitely different but I fee...more Eh... where do I start?

First off, I don't know what it is, but when I read a Christopher Pike book I get sucked in and then halfway through I realize it's not that good. I've only read one other series by Pike, the Thirst series, and it was okay in my opinion. And this book, like Thirst, after 100 pages I had to make myself finish it. Yeah, once in a while I hit a good part, but only for a couple of pages. Is that just me?

I liked the idea of the book though. It was definitely different but I feel like it could have been written way better. I don't know if I don't like Pike's writing or if the two series I've read weren't for me. I didn't get into this one at all. It was slow at the beginning and then super fast and choppy in the end. I couldn't follow it. Important things were writing in two lines and then what felt like a paragraph worth of information took up multiple chapters.

I didn't like the main character also. She just bored me, and I felt like I has no sense of what type of person she was. She did things that were suppose to be interesting I felt like, but really were not to me. And Pike didn't do that great of a job saying why she was doing all these crazy things (like kidnapping this one girl). One minute she's Jessica, this normal and boring girl who is stressed about college and has daddy issues, and the next she's kidnapping people because she finds out she has a daughter about four pages back. Then two pages later, she's a whole other person again. But hey, some people may like that whole multiple personality syndrome thing that she was rockin'.

Honestly, I related to none of the characters in this book. I didn't know them, and I love when I feel like I know a character. The Thirst series I got a sense of the main character, but in this book I felt like every page was the first page. They did not act like their age (18) either. I'm in high school and there are probably two people out of the entire school who act as maturely as them, and go gambling and stuff like that, who aren't total morons and won't amount to anything better then the 7-11 manager. Don't get me wrong, I was glad not to be reading an OMG BECKY KISSED TANNER book, but they felt way older to me then they were said to be. No mention of modern day technology or Facebook AT ALL? I don't use facebook that much, but out of a whole group of teenagers someone for sure does.

All in all... I would not recommend this book. The cover caught my eye, but the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" totally applies to this one. I read this a while back, and I had to skim over it to write this review because it just left such a light imprint on me. Christopher Pike, I like your ideas, but not your writing.
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Mar 07, 2013 Catt A rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have read Christopher Pike since I found thirst in 6th or 7th grade and I have LOVED him ever since, each one of his books has a little spark and a creative use of fantasy and a clever back story and its just so intelligently written like if you slapped christopher pike on any book name i would buy it without a second thought because he is really just that awesome but this book...I really liked that he was creating a series now that thirst is almost done (at least I think it is, I'm pretty sur...more I have read Christopher Pike since I found thirst in 6th or 7th grade and I have LOVED him ever since, each one of his books has a little spark and a creative use of fantasy and a clever back story and its just so intelligently written like if you slapped christopher pike on any book name i would buy it without a second thought because he is really just that awesome but this book...I really liked that he was creating a series now that thirst is almost done (at least I think it is, I'm pretty sure it getting to the end) but the book was just...meh

It wasn't bad but it was...confusing at parts and I still am confused now if I try to look at things in detail the whole (I'm more of a big picture person so that wasnt too bad) but I also felt like too many things were being thrown to me at once...it went from oh ha ha friends in vegas with ex boyfriend then oh look its a hot guy playing blackjack and then then freezers and necrophiliacs then when her dad starts explaining...I had to slow down and process everything...

SPOILER ALERT
The whole "two worlds" thing wasnt that hard to understand but impacts on the events kind of mess me up like... 9and i could have missed something or misunderstood)

Why was jimmy dead in the real world and not the witch world
okay then that means whatever happens int he witch world doesnt really effect the witch world
but wasnt kari killed in the real world? and shes connected and Im going to assume 'Karla is dead too' right? RIGHT?!
These are the moments that get to me when I think to hard about them

Also the part with Russ dying...I felt just came to fast. He was introduced then suddenly there is a death match and he's dead. I mean I'm sad he died but I felt it was done...prematurely. I don't know it might just be me but I felt Russ was supposed to play a LARGE roll in the overrall plot and course of the story and then he just died...its like he was built up to be something great then suddenly sayonara he seemed too imporant to be made expendable but at the same time if he was that important he would be killed much later in the story(something I've learned from other books, important people will eventually die)
I'm going to assume that when the second book comes out everything will be made clearer and all the questions will be answered
Was I the only one who questioned who the heck Whip's father was? Because the second I found out his mother was Susan, but Kendor didn't have him it started bugging me throughout the book

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Jan 05, 2013 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

erm. excuse me as I go bang my head against my bedroom door.

Quoted from the book itself,
"This is a mind-fuck" (274)

But it isn't either. It's just so damn confusing. Complicated is good, but when there are HUMONGOUS holes it just becomes confusing. And Jessica, Jessie whatever the fuck her name sometimes morphs into different characters. Its hard to describe, but it's like she's five different people, and not in the whole two worlds paralleling eachother kind of way. Like Pike forgot who he wa...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Deja vu happens to us all, but never do we actually think it's because things have actually happened before. At least not for me. But in Jessie's world, that is exactly what it means. Jessie and her friends are graduating high school, and they decide to go crazy. Gambling, drinking, finding the right hook-up... it's all on the itinerary. What Jessie doesn't bank on is meeting a dark stranger who will change her life forever. And it all starts with the game of twenty-two.

This is a book that I wil...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Autumn Wind rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: to-donate

What sums this book up perfectly: WTF?!

My main question is this: Was this book written by a ghost writer? Sure, Christopher Pike is not the best writer, but even for him this is low quality; one of Pike's worst books ever.

Support for a possible ghostwriter pages, 93-94:

“'How’s your book?' he asked.

'The mystery part is excellent but it feels like the author wrote it in a month. All the paragraphs are short and jumpy.'

'If it holds your interest, that’s all that matters.'

'I suppose.' I frowned as...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Justine rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think I would actually give this more of a 3.5. I had a hard time deciding on how I felt about this book. On one hand, I thought some of the parents were very well written, and I especially liked it as the ending was within reach. However, there were other parts of the book that I just didn't like, although I am not entirely sure why. I'm not a big Jimmy/James fan, even though I feel like I am supposed to be.
Actually, I was a big fan of Russell/Russ, although it is probably best that I avoid t...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Jamie White rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've been a huge Pike fan for years. His early books and adult titles are among some of my favorites, except for the Alosha books. I couldn't get through more than one of those. I also never read The Secret of Ka after hearing many mixed reviews of it.

Still, I couldn't resist picking this book up after enjoying the latest Thirst book (there was no way I'd miss another Sita book). I have to say that I'm happy I did. Witch World follows the story of a young girl named Jessie, a recent High School...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Belle Zimet rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of Christopher Pike for over 20 years, but this is the first book I've read from him since The Last Vampire. We broke up then because I felt that a majority of the time he got too out there for me, and there was no telling how intense, crazy or metaphysical the books would get once he had found his place in being an author and in the YA world. I was more interested in some of his more typical titles (Final Friends, Remember Me, Last Act etc) and I just kind of grew away from hi...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Earl Dizon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, kids

Witch World was a rollercoaster ride of a reading experience.

Christopher Pike is my favorite writer and I’m always excited when he has a new book come out. But, reading the synopsis and then the early chapters for “Witch World” left me underwhelmed- add to that, the generic cover! One of the reasons I enjoyed his books growing up was that they seemed so much more mature than their intended audience despite the fact he was writing about ghosts, witches, and vampires. Of course, I was a kid then a...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Hurricanekerrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christopher-pike

***NOTE SOME SPOILERS MAY BE PRESENT***

Witch World is about Jessica Ralle who goes to Vegas on a class high school graduation trip and finds out there's a parallel universe where she's a powerful witch. NOt a Harry Potter kind of witch, mind you, but more of a mutant superior human being. You can always count on Christopher Pike to make up worlds with rich mythologies and background stories that overextend its hands into history. His expositions make it so that it's almost believable that here w...more ***NOTE SOME SPOILERS MAY BE PRESENT***

Witch World is about Jessica Ralle who goes to Vegas on a class high school graduation trip and finds out there's a parallel universe where she's a powerful witch. NOt a Harry Potter kind of witch, mind you, but more of a mutant superior human being. You can always count on Christopher Pike to make up worlds with rich mythologies and background stories that overextend its hands into history. His expositions make it so that it's almost believable that here we have a handful of characters who actually were part of history-- whether it was fighting with Caesar or experiencing Hiroshima-- and I like that creative license. I'm always one for conspiracy theories, anyway. Witch World is no different in that Pike creates a parallel universe that almost could be real. The exposition is sometimes long but I do appreciate that I need all these details in order to understand this new world and its new rules better.

I like hearing Jessica's internal conflicts.

***SPOILER Even the fact that she sometimes goes bad-- especially towards the end where I was worried that she was teetering too close to the other side. However, I must admit it's a little bit bothersome that she was able to accept and actually fight for a child that she didn't even know she had. Is that just motherly instinct? I don't know. I just didn't gather from the beginning that she was somebody who liked children a lot or something.****

The characters did sound a little older than their purported 18 and they are dealing with situations and characters that the YA audience of today may find a little hard to understand. I wish they were perhaps 20 (just under the legal age to still make Vegas somewhat rebellious). And this being about Jessica, so far my two favorite characters in this book are Russ and Whip... and maybe Kendor.I like that the characters are complex and not one-dimensional.

The parallel universe theme seems always difficult to conquer in literary form but I feel like Christopher Pike leads us into this world as well as he could. The story is edgy, sometimes gory but unique and if the microwave generation doesn't let its collective ADHD kick in, they would probably enjoy the story. True Pike fans, though, would celebrate this book-- and perhaps mourn when they get to the end when they realize they read the book too quickly and will have to wait for the next installment in a year. Well, that's always the case for me anyway. Now I have a Pike hangover and have to console myself again by re-reading Final Friends for the umpteenth time.

I say 4.5 stars.

P.S. True Pike fans listen up: grab a copy of this book then send it to Pike for a book signing! Seriously, head on over to his Facebook page for the deets.(less)

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Nov 18, 2012 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I didn't hate it but I seriously question a ghost writer in the background. I read a rough copy which was somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 pages, deliberating over witchy fight moves and all of Jessica's and Jessie's flighty thoughts. Character development was sparse. I never really liked any of the characters. The protagonist waxed on about the love between her and Jimmy but I found little evidence of love and/or commitment. In fact, the lack of character and relationship detail led me to f...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Wow, this one's a wild read!

Excitement, bright lights, naughty thrills—that’s what Jessie expects when her senior class takes off for a free-for-all weekend in Las Vegas. But Jessie’s party is derailed when her ex-boyfriend, Jimmy, appears and reveals the scandalous reason he broke her heart so many months ago. Rocked by Jimmy’s confession, Jessie drowns her troubles in a high-stakes game of blackjack alongside hot and mysterious Russ. This guy just can’t lose, and he slyly shares his luck with...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Morgan rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one who values their sanity

Shelves: mockprintzbookclub

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. *CAUTION: read at your own risk, many spoilers, too many run-on-sentences to count, and lots of rambling/ranting/confusing stuff*

This book is so messed up in so many ways that I don't know where to start. The first few chapters were boring. The next four or so chapters were confusing, but interesting, the entire last half of the book would be best described in three letters: WTF? So many things went wrong at the end, that I sounded like I was going to cry when I was describing it to my sister.

*...more *CAUTION: read at your own risk, many spoilers, too many run-on-sentences to count, and lots of rambling/ranting/confusing stuff*

This book is so messed up in so many ways that I don't know where to start. The first few chapters were boring. The next four or so chapters were confusing, but interesting, the entire last half of the book would be best described in three letters: WTF? So many things went wrong at the end, that I sounded like I was going to cry when I was describing it to my sister.

*SPOILERS*
Moral of the story? Don't have sex until you're married and out of high school because otherwise you'll have a kidnapped daughter in another dimension, and your boyfriend's ex girlfriend will have a kid, also kidnapped. And you'll find out that you're a witch with a large number of witch genes, and your father still loves you even though he divorced your mother when you were six and left you all with nothing while he's freaking rich. And you'll realize that some people are very gifted at card games like blackjack that don't exist in other dimensions because people only play red queen. You'll also find out that everyone is called by their real first name in this other dimension, Witch World, rather than their nickname in Real World. And you'll also figure out that gunpowder and the modern-day 52-card deck of cards were introduced to the Romans much earlier than historians have gathered, and it's all because a crazy person called "The Alchemist" saved the life of one of the only two cool characters, showed him how to play cards and use gunpowder, and then stole money from card dealers who won this game of cards that he taught people how to play.

*SERIOUS SPOILERS*
And the only two cool characters in the entire book will die, leaving the reader extremely upset, and then you're boyfriend will accidentally kill himself in Real World to try to become a witch in Witch World (because, as all witches know, the only way to be conscious of what happens in both Witch World and Real World is to kill yourself, but bring yourself back to life by possessing the witch gene that will give you healing powers, otherwise you'll just die in Real World and be conscious in Witch World, but with all your memories from Real World.) And then the two-hundred year old man that is dating you're best friend, Alex/Alexis (depending on what world you're in), will reveal that he is actually the son of the villain and one of the only two cool characters. And then the sadistic villain will try to make you as evil and psycho as she is by introducing you to a third world (in which red is everybody's favorite color), but the joy of love and family will save you, so don't sweat it!

Still want to read Witch World?(less)

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Oct 19, 2012 Marsha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, romance, supernatural, literature-fiction, goodreads-giveaway, series-entry

The idea of a parallel world of magic and sorcery isn’t a new one. The idea that this world is one day ahead of ours, where life is the same but different—definitely original.

“Witch World” starts in media res and then builds its worldview slowly. But, once our heroine Jessie/Jessica is plunged into this land of magical inheritance, events start escalating at an alarming rate. The question of morality and expediency is wrestled with but mostly thrust aside in favor of action-packed scenes like w...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, read-2013, r2r-complete

(Source: I borrowed a copy of this book.)
Jessie and her friends (including her ex-boyfriend Jimmy) are heading off to Las Vegas for a weekend, but spending time with her ex-boyfriend is going to turn out to be the least of Jessie’s problems during this trip.

Using a fake ID to get into a casino and play blackjack, Jessie and her best friend Alex sit down to play, when a high roller comes to the table. His name is Russell, and his winning streak is unbelievable. When Alex storms off in a huff, Jes...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Sherri rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: washyarg-finished

After graduating high school, Jessie is excited to party in Las Vegas with her friends, but she’s not thrilled that her ex-boyfriend Jimmy is riding in the same car. Jessie thought Jimmy was her true love until he suddenly broke up with her 5 months ago. Now he wants to explain what happened and get her back, however, Jessie’s whole life is about to change and her drama with Jimmy barely scratches the surface of her new issues.

While in Vegas, Jessie wakes up on an autopsy table moments before s...more After graduating high school, Jessie is excited to party in Las Vegas with her friends, but she’s not thrilled that her ex-boyfriend Jimmy is riding in the same car. Jessie thought Jimmy was her true love until he suddenly broke up with her 5 months ago. Now he wants to explain what happened and get her back, however, Jessie’s whole life is about to change and her drama with Jimmy barely scratches the surface of her new issues.

While in Vegas, Jessie wakes up on an autopsy table moments before she is about to be cut open. She panics and immediately an inexplicable fire surges from her solar plexus and brings her back to life. It turns out that Jessie is a witch and the only way to activate a witch’s powers is by dying. However, if a witch lacks the healing gene, then the witch could die.

It turns out that witch world is a parallel dimension to what Jessie thought of as the real world. Since Jessie is now a witch, at sundown every day, she will collapse in what she thought was the real world and awaken in witch world which evidently is the true world. Almost everyone in the supposedly real world has a counterpart in witch world, but there are differences. In witch world, she is Jessica, not Jessie, and her ex-boyfriend Jimmy is really James. In witch world, Jessica and James had a baby, Lara, who was kidnapped shortly after birth because she possesses all 10 witch genes, which is an extreme rarity.

The two warring factions of witches, the Lapras and the Tars, both want control of the baby since they believe the fate of mankind rests on her. Now Jessica has to not only adjust to being a witch, but also adapt to being a mother. Can Jessica figure out who has her daughter and get her back without facing death again—in either world? Teens who enjoy paranormal stories, especially about witches, might enjoy this, but it is difficult to follow. Despite the book’s title, it took almost 200 pages (out of 520) to actually get to witch world.

Note: My major pet peeve is finding false info on the book jacket. This book’s jacket states that the way to enter witch world is by playing the card game 22 “Red Queen” (instead of 21/Blackjack). Seeing people playing 22 is a sure sign you are in witch world.

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Nov 21, 2012 Kyle Moore rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm a long time fan of Christopher Pike and I've been reading his books for many years now. With every Pike novel comes a great cast of characters and a very unique story that only Pike seems to be able to tell. There's never been a Pike novel that I didn't love and Witch World was no exception. From page one I knew I was on another story driven by Pike's masterful storytelling skills. In fact I would go far as to say Witch World was even better, that Pike himself has gotten better at storytelli...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Glynnis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Christopher Pike delivers once again! I loved it, and I am already dying for the next installment. Too many amazing quotes to include in this review, but here is an assortment:

"It was unbearable, and yet I could bear it."

"Once again, who was I to argue with a man who wanted to pay for my college education?"

"I had broken a promise to myself. That I would not sit down under any circumstances."

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Dec 12, 2012 Paul Hamilton rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, new-in-2012, novel, young-adult

Jessie just graduated from high school, and she's on a road trip to Las Vegas to celebrate before she has to head back and figure out how to transfer her admirable grades but poor status into a college education. She's still reeling from the recent loss of her boyfriend, Jimmy, but when she ends up at a blackjack table next to a mysterious stranger, Russ, who helps her win big, she begins to question if it's time to move on from Jimmy at last.

But something about her new suitor isn't quite normal...more Jessie just graduated from high school, and she's on a road trip to Las Vegas to celebrate before she has to head back and figure out how to transfer her admirable grades but poor status into a college education. She's still reeling from the recent loss of her boyfriend, Jimmy, but when she ends up at a blackjack table next to a mysterious stranger, Russ, who helps her win big, she begins to question if it's time to move on from Jimmy at last.

But something about her new suitor isn't quite normal. And more importantly, there seems to be a sinister element present in Vegas, one that is focused on her. Before Jessie can begin to suspect Russ she's dragged suddenly and violently into a reality she had no idea ever existed. A parallel world where the rules are different, one where Jessie's counterpart, Jessica, has just upset the balance of things in a big way.

Witch World is the first volume in a new YA series by Christopher Pike, an author I've read a bit of due to my wife's affection for his work. Occasionally Pike has produced stories I quite enjoyed but I'm sad to say that Witch World wasn't one of the better examples.

The central issue I have with the book is that it feels too much like an early draft, something that needs a heavy editor's hand to crystalize some of the muddier aspects of the world building. There are simply too many points where the book isn't internally consistent or misleading information about Witch World is given to the reader just to set up a "shocking" revelation later. And while the premise is interesting, there just isn't enough to distinguish it from obvious reference material like The X-Men and any number of parallel worlds fiction (Narnia, The Matrix, Alice In Wonderland, Phaze, etc).

The worst part of this is the way in which the world-building information is presented is almost exclusively in long, expository dialogue sequences where one character basically story-tells to another while they sit and do nothing else. These parts do some interesting stuff with alternate histories, and in fact it is the tenets in here that earn the book its extra star, but the presentation is so clumsy and lifeless that it takes the inherent intrigue of re-casting historic events in a new context and makes it tedious.

Another thing I didn't care for in Witch World was how often I just didn't buy in to Pike's narrative. Jessie/Jessica is sort of a bland protagonist/narrator, but near the end she has a drastic, sudden shift of personality that isn't earned and rings incredibly false. Several characters are 100% superfluous (a couple even completely disappear from the book about a third of the way in, to no discernible effect on the rest of the book) and a lot of the detail about both Witch World and the nature of witches is scientifically ridiculous or poorly realized such that things end up happening just "because WITCH WORLD, y'all."

To be clear, the central story is interesting enough and I kind of wanted to enjoy what was going on, but there was too much about the way the whole thing was put together that I didn't care for. And on a very serious note, there is one part in particular that drove me up the wall: Jessie, drunk and sexually charged, begins to get amorous with a man and at one point makes a remark about eschewing a condom because she's too lost in the passion of the moment to bother. This is in a young adult book? Really? Look, I get that the whole "condoms will ruin the moment" concept is a real concern, especially among the sexually inexperienced. But I think Pike owes his target audience better than legitimizing the (false) notion that safe sex trumps emotional connection or fulfilling fervor.

And while I'm at it, I should note that the language in Witch World is annoyingly crass. I get that plenty of teenagers and young adults use crude language and I don't have a problem with books that depict dialogue with an air of authenticity. But Pike here seems to hide behind f-bombs to convey emotion rather than make it feel real of its own accord.

I don't recommend Witch World. It has a kernel of interesting ideas buried inside it, but it gets too caught up in unnecessary details, is too lazy in presenting the world the characters inhabit, and lacks enough emotional hook to get a reader really invested in the story.(less)

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Dec 11, 2012 Joy (joyous reads) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

This brand new series from Christopher Pike will have you wanting for everyone to leave you alone just so you could finish with little to no interruption. The writing and the story is that addictive, fast paced and full of suspense. For a book of five hundred some odd pages, it could've easily been a one-sitting read. But life disrupted my reading mojo so many times that it took me a week to finish. Admittedly, this novel had its claws on me - imbedded so deeply that I'd forgotten a blog tour ob...more This brand new series from Christopher Pike will have you wanting for everyone to leave you alone just so you could finish with little to no interruption. The writing and the story is that addictive, fast paced and full of suspense. For a book of five hundred some odd pages, it could've easily been a one-sitting read. But life disrupted my reading mojo so many times that it took me a week to finish. Admittedly, this novel had its claws on me - imbedded so deeply that I'd forgotten a blog tour obligation. For shame.

The story begins with a group of teens on their way to Vegas for the weekend. After all, what better way to celebrate the end of High School than spending three days in Sin City? Jessie could barely contain her disdain when she finds out that Jimmy, her ex, will be in the same car and possibly, in the same hotel room. What she doesn't know is that, the boy who told her he loved her then dumped her almost in the same breath will be the least of her problems. What awaits in Vegas is an alternate world she doesn't know; powers beyond her imagination, and lovers transcending time and universe.

Imagine a world where a person can exist in two dimensions - not at the same time, but in a seemingly dual persona. The real world shows characters leading normal lives; the witch world on the other hand, has the same characters walking the earth like gods with powers. Not powers borne out of magic but genetics. It's interesting, even if the author gave very little explanation as to how the extra gene equates to superpowers. If you can forgive that, then you'll most likely enjoy this book. I, for one, didn't care.

You need to pay astute attention while reading this book in order to appreciate all its niches. There were two versions of characters and a parallel universe that you may have a hard time keeping straight in your head.

At first, I was completely enraptured by the 21-esque ambiance of the book. But as I got deeper into the story, I realize, this is so much more than a couple of witches hustling Vegas.The powers alone got me hooked, as well the history of the ancient characters reaching as far back as the birth of civilization.

This book was presented very maturely; and I mean that in a very literal way. The characters, though teens themselves, were a promiscuous bunch: gamblers, smokers, drug addicts and they have sex. Copious amount of sex. One could argue, however, that the teens here are immortals and therefore, ageless. I rarely read a book and get uppity about the lessons an author brings to the table with his or her work but I must admit that this one scares me a little. The characters - the witches - were shown in an über cool way that impressionable readers may take it the wrong way.

Jessie/Jessica started off as an immature character; bitter and hateful of how her relationship with Jimmy ended. But she slowly grew on me as her character progressively matured. I guess motherhood will do that to ya. She was strong in her way and wasn't at all put off by the role she must play as soon as she's become aware of the witch world.

I could talk about Jessie's love interest but there was another character that I thought was far more interesting than Jimmy. As soon as I was introduced to Russ, I was just as enamoured as Jessie was. He was every bit as charming as a hustler in a suit. And though he seemed like a major player in the book, I thought that Pike didn't really give him justice. In fact, I was a little turned off by what happened to him in the end. Though a love triangle was looking imminent in the beginning, rest assured that it didn't actually materialize.

My introduction to Christopher Pike went swimmingly well. This mesmerizing book is sure to keep you entertained with its unapologetic risque situations that oddly fits well with the over all ambiance of the novel. If you're looking for a devour-able 528 page read, add this to your list and discover the ways magic can be explained by Science and Religion simplified as a state of mind.(less)

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Dec 14, 2012 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I saw this book at Wal-Mart by accident when I was shopping and decided to read the inside flap. It caught my attention so I checked out Amazon to see if it was in Kindle form. And by luck it was.

I have never read a book by Chistopher Pike so I do not have any to campare this to. I did enjoy this on a lot. I actually read it in a couple of days which is fast for me.

The title of the book is very fitting. It is about two worlds that some people are in. One is the real world and the other is the Wi...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Even in an unusual place like Las Vegas, recent high school graduate Jessie gets way more than she bargained for when she and her friends head there for a weekend getaway! Vulnerable from an emotional conflict with her ex boyfriend Jimmy, she is quickly pulled in to the allure of the glitzy city. Then, the story pivots, in to a dark undercurrent as Jessie finds out what's really going on in Las Vegas this particular weekend, and how she is involved with it in a way she couldn't have imagined. He...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Lisa Collins rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: checked-out

I picked up Witch World on whim. I had seen it more than a couple times on my library’s “new” shelf and decided one day to give it a go. I actually didn’t even read the jacket description until I was far enough into the book to already know what was going on. I was hooked on it from the very beginning. It was interesting from page one (good for me; I don’t do well with slow starters) and continued the trend page after page. I read almost the entire first half of the book in one evening.

The story...more I picked up Witch World on whim. I had seen it more than a couple times on my library’s “new” shelf and decided one day to give it a go. I actually didn’t even read the jacket description until I was far enough into the book to already know what was going on. I was hooked on it from the very beginning. It was interesting from page one (good for me; I don’t do well with slow starters) and continued the trend page after page. I read almost the entire first half of the book in one evening.

The story isn’t like anything I’ve read before, but it did feel like it could have been done before. It’s somewhat of the typical alternate world/parallel realm where things are the same as “real life” but different, and people are "special". Nevertheless, I never felt like things were too easy or predictable. In fact, there were many things in Witch world that I didn’t foresee in the slightest. I predicted the future of one character hundreds of pages before anything happened, but the way everything unfolded was a total shocker to me, so I’m totally okay with it. In the whole story there were just a couple plot points I didn’t dig at all. They were necessary, sure, but I feel like they should have been written better. I should have felt more than I did while I was reading the scenes, and that left me thoroughly unsatisfied.

As a whole I thought the characters were pretty so-so. I loved two guys named Russ and Kendor who were, unfortunately, not super apparent in the book. They were there, but they weren't more than support. I would have loved some more of both of them. The main character, Jessie, was all right. I didn’t love her and I didn’t hate her. As a main character she was decent. She was strong and smart (usually) but still had that sense of naivety that made her realistic. She was pretty stubborn too, which was annoying but totally helpful in making her character seem genuine.

There are a few things in the world that I’m still confused about. More importantly though... there are a few events that were sort of explained but not really explained that left me sitting here like "Okay, how does that work again?" I don’t know if it was bad writing or me not paying attention at an earlier point in the book. Perhaps it was a mixture of the two. I don’t want to get in depth with what I’m talking about, but come shine some light on the mechanics of Witch World for me if you can, because I really need some clarity.

In general I really liked this book. It took me just a couple days to read it because I always felt like I was being thrust further and further into the story. There’s going to be a second book, but honestly I don’t feel excited or really anything to read it. I can’t help feeling like I’m done with the story. Sure, I want to know what happens next, but I feel like I might be bored reading the next book. We’ll see. Like I said: sometimes the writing was hot and cold--which is why this book doesn’t get a perfect rating--and with the lackluster ending there was something to be desired, but knowing what I know now I would definitely read this book again. If you’re into paranormal or fantasy I would definitely recommend Witch World.(less)

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Dec 18, 2012 Vanessa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction

Back in the day I was a huge Christopher Pike fan. I pretty much devoured his books as soon as I could get them checked out of the library, so I was excited to find out via Facebook that he was releasing a new novel. Overall I liked the book, I wouldn't say I loved it as much I loved his previous books. I did like the new witch concept where each person is born with a certain amount of "witch genes" that gives them different abilities. The whole witch world universe did confuse me. One moment I...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Valia Lind rated it 3 of 5 stars

Originally posted at: http://wordsareinnermusic.blogspot.com

Jessie and her senior class set off to their last high school adventure, traveling to Las Vegas together. She ends up in the car with her ex, Jimmy, the guy who broke her heart a few months back and is now trying to find his way back to her. In Las Vegas, Jessie meets Russ at a blackjack table, a stranger who has more secrets than she can imagine. He teaches her a game that changes all the rules Jessie has ever know and opens her eyes...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Animus rated it 5 of 5 stars

Witch World is a pleasure trip, a book that I devoured start to finish, uninterrupted. Jessica, a recent high school graduate runs off to Las Vegas with friends and fellow classmates to celebrate. Still in love with her ex boyfriend, they are forced back into each others lives in one painfully awkward car ride arranged by her wily best friend, Alex. Jessica soon finds their uncomfortable reunion is the least of her problems when a handsome stranger takes an interest in her while playing a game o...more

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