W.i.t.c.h. - The Power of Five: Complete & Unabridged

W.I.T.C.H. Chapter Books #1

by Elisabetta Gnone

Will is new to Sheffield Institute, but quickly befriends Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin, four girls with whom Will learns to share her mysterious supernatural abilities. Together they discover that they need to protect Earth from the evil of Metamoor. But things go seriously wrong for the girls at the school's Halloween dance when Metamoor henchmen crash the party and attempt to capture them. The girls have to command their newly discovered powers in their first battle against evil.

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Childrens, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Magic, Fiction

Audio CD

First published February 4, 2004

About the author

Elisabetta Gnone is an Italian writer. In April 2001, she co-created the Italian comic/magazine W.I.T.C.H. with Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa. The publication was later made into the television series of the same name. Gnone also wrote the children's trilogy Fairy Oak: Il segreto delle gemelle (The Secret of the Twins), L'incanto del buio (The Spell of Darkness), and Il potere della luce (The Power of Light). She expanded the Fairy Oak Universe with four more books, "The four mysteries": "Captain Grisam's love", "Shirley's wizarding days", "Flox smiles in autumn", and "Good-bye Fairy Oak".

information taken from wikipedia.com

Reviews

[ambsreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a young girl (or even boy, but I'm using my personal experience here) this is such an incredible series! I was obsessed as a young girl and have watched the show three times as a young adult. I absolutely adore everything. Such a beautiful tale of friendship and such incredible characters. I would run home after swimming on the weekend so I could get home in time to watch the show. Highly recommended!

I sadly had to give up all my books one move that my family did and it unfortunately included these copies. I'm now on a mission to find copies, but they're out of print? A literal attack. eBay is my new best friend.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first two of this series in third grade, by complete chance. I love finding hidden gems like this in the library! The WITCH series has inspired me so much!

Since the third grade I've read a few others and my interest / liking of this series has not waned with age. Oh, some day I will read them all! I really recommend them to anyone who likes unique fantasy / adventure books, even though they are short and meant for pre-teens.

Also, a note: The TV series isn't nearly as good.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

W.i.t.c.h. Is without a doubt an amazing story and I’ve been a fan since little. I saw that they are being republished and I couldn’t resist buying them all over again. The magic in reading the comics is still there. They are fun, filled with action, life lessons and so much other little things that make them so cool.

[Artemis Crescent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these books during my girl-power-loving schoolgirl days (as yet unchanged, only now I'm thinking about the portrayal of girl power in the media through a more modern feminist lens and perspective).

I deeply dislike the TV series, however I remember the 'W.I.T.C.H' books as being sweet, colourful, dramatic, magical, and above all heartfelt. It's mainly about friendship than anything else, and each of the main characters - who could not be any more different from one another - are flawed, likable and relatable in their own way. It's hard to pick a favourite.

'W.I.T.C.H' is a nice mixture of real life preteen girl anxieties and magical and mysterious worlds, with expressive artwork from the original comics. It explores how five girls - Will Vandom, Irma Lair, Taranee Cook, Cornelia Hale and Hay Lin (hence the acronym W.I.T.C.H.) - who are chosen to be the Guardians of the Veil separating realms - struggle with fighting evil on top of dealing with boys, families and school. They also fight to keep their friendship alive. Their relationships felt real to me, and that's what I remember most fondly about this series.

And whenever they transform into Guardians - with powers of Heart, Water, Fire, Earth and Air - their bodies grow older; I don't remember the artwork making them look particularly sexualized, now that I look back. But nevertheless, I enjoyed all 26 books!

Final Score: 4/5

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a unique taken the Westernized magical girl formula, using nature/Tolkenesqe themes. The characters and motifs have some parallel to Sailor Moon, but still keep true to originality in character development

the writing tends to little stale and repetitive at times, and very over descriptive about what the girls wore in every chapter- I remember being younger, I would attempt to mock what the characters wore, Cornelia and Taranee having the cutest outfits - but what I do appreciated about the books is that the writer actually echoes each characters thoughts and feelings on the current situation, whether they're kicking ass in Meridan or hanging out with one another.

EDIT, JUNE 2 2017: As to why this book has three stars, as an adult woman I would suggest ya'll take a look at the original comics rather than the novelizations.

[Skrivena stranica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, uspomene... Osnovna škola i sve.

[Kendall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was in the third grade and decidedly fell in love with the whole series. A friend recently bought me a bunch of the old copies as a gift because I was reminiscing on how much I had used to love them, and I’m surprised how much I actually remembered (about a decade later). These books are so fun for young kids, even if they are a bit dated now. Underrated and quirky, the WITCH books are their own brand of magical girl story. And I think the comic panels in the beginning and end are perfect to draw little kids in and make the books even more fun.

[Anja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm getting soo nostalgic reading these comics now! I was absolutely obsessed about ten/eleven years ago, when I first read them and I can definitely see myself sliding into this pattern again. :'D

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

me lo he encontrado en mi estantería y me lo he leído rapidito <3

[Neus · Rating 5 out of 5]

de petita em solia saltar les pàgines del còmic a les revistes o ho llegia per sobre així que aquí estem

[Suvama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutamente genial. [...] Un ejemplo perfecto de por qué los adultos leen novelas juveniles." Time

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is about five normal girls who got chosen to be guardians. I liked this book because this type of book are really what I like. It is entertaining and interesting because it has a lot of details. I recommend this book to people that like fantasy like this type.

[Mae !!!!! · Rating 2 out of 5]

-SPOILERS-




Honestly a really cool concept and book and I liked the personalities of each of the characters and how different they are
Funny and I like the plot I think it'd be great for any young fairy lovers it's got fun themes and I actually didn't predict what would happen most of the time
THEIR STYLE IS SO COOL?
The freaky Friday stuff in the shop window and bedroom is so funny like she just randomly turned into this other person I'd be so scared bro
Bro Irma is the og 'clean girl'
Aww they're almost all struggling with body image and it sucks "Will squinted at her reflection. Was it possible to love herself in this state? She decided to give a small smile a try. She lifted a corner of her mouth. Not bad. She raised the other corner. Will didn't want to admit it, but it did help." -pg 71
Will's mum 100% used to be a party girl c'mon she's so eager to have her make friends and party lol

Overall a good read- I definitely loved reading the book that created the mystery doll I got when I was younger, who we later realised was the iconic Hay Lin (I called her Dolly Boots before I knew because of her sick boots), which we got from the same event as the books!

[A common reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have such good memories of this saga and I felt so nostalgic that I wanted to read the first book again. I loved W.I.T.C.H. when I was a little girl, there was action, suspense, friendship and magic. Reading this book as an adult didn't feel the same, especially because I didn't like how the book overused stereotypical descriptions of teenagers –teenage girls mainly. Still I hold dear the memories I have from my childhood regarding these books.

[Am · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series as a kid. I owned every one and all the cool nik-naks that I could get my mother to agree to.
it's still a great read, even for a chapter book.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back to childhood by rereading this ! One of my favourite comics when I was child

[Juli · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5

Mi adolescencia transcurrió acompañada por esta serie (y otras más)

Me encanta !!

Y me dan muchas ganas de rever la serie animada !

[Emilija]

i read a lot of this series when it was coming out in the early 2000s. there was even the availability to sign up for a subscription so you'd get this sent to your home every time a new volume came out and i loved getting these in the post. what a time!

[Shina Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vi estos libros en el mercado y no pude evitar agarrarme los 2 primeros, es que es mi infancia 💕 y no me ha decepcionado 💖✨

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

czarodziejki<3

[Ela Ostrowska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Kirei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think reading this has finally healed my inner child. What a magic to read a niche book you found in the school library as a kid.

[Afri]

MI INFANCIA, HOY ESTOY SOFT, DO NOT INTERACT

[Camila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember this series of books being my absolute favourite when I was a child. My first approach to it were the books and I have like five of them (1, 3, 8, 6, 18) because those were the ones I could manage to get my hands on back then. Later, I started reading the comics more because it was easier to read. Thus I was really excited with the animated series, which, looking back, wasn't a good adaptation and didn't do justice to the series.

The bottom of all is that, this books were with me most of my childhood and I treasure them a lot. I can quite remember every aspect of the plot but I'm sure it wont fail to entertain any kid who's in search for adventure, fantasy, school life and a bit of romance in a book.

I said kids but of course anyone can read it. However it's specially appealing to kids and preteens because the protagonists are in middle school and easy to relate . Other thing I like from the series it's that you don't even have to read them ALL to understand it because they change of arcs and each books works well on it's own if you get the general idea. Although I would recommend reading the first one anyways, cause it's the best one ;)

At the end, W.I.T.C.H. is a goos series of book for a young bookworm or an older one with young bookworm soul. So I'll guess I'll be posting this review on the first and eighteenth book (My favs). And... C'est fini! :D

[Dana Salman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think the way the magic was presented was the best way..and I think the author of this book was being a little corny at times. She didn't speak a slang I'm used to hearing in this decade. I think maybe the comics would be alot better to read, if I could find them anywhere. I don't think W.I.T.C.H was made to be a novel series. The storyline flows better when there are illustrations to portray the action. I got a bit confused as to what was happening sometimes whilst reading this. Also, the descriptions of the girls' appearances and clothing can sometimes get in the way. The original comics artist must've been very enthusiastic about their outfits (not that i blame her, I always love what they're wearing) but that's easier seen than explained. Because, in novel-mode, they just don't really matter.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, W.I.T.C.H. So much of my childhood was spend obsessing over the series. The books. The comics. The cartoon. The merchandise. You name it I was into it.

So why only the three stars if I loved it so much?

Well as time went by, I grew disinterested in the series. I went along with it mainly to see how it ended. I simply wanted to know what the final outcome was.

Surely that is not enough to merit three stars? You loved it!

I did, but that was because I was a pre-teen with very low expectations. This came before my vampire-loving period, so you can imagine what my standard was like. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad books – they’re simply not something I can go back to now that I’m older.

Thoroughly enjoyable at the time, but not quite so much now.

[Despair Speaking · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohhhh! I missed the W.I.T.C.H. series! I was such a fan of the comic series back when I was still in elementary! I was really sad when it ended. I suppose it's an example of the saying that states good things must come to an end!

Will has just recently moved in and is the new girl in town. She's worried of how things will turn out for her but luckily she managed to make friends with a few girls around her age and even find someone to crush over! But the real fun (well, probably not for her, just me!) starts when she discovers that she has magical powers along with the girls she befriended!

W - Will
I - Irma
T - Taranee
C - Cornelia
H - Hay Lin

[Natalya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE W.I.T.C.H. so much! This first started out as a comic which turned in to books, then magazines then a TV series. Let me tell u - the books are DIFFERENT to the TV series. For example Blunk was never in the original W>I>T>C>H> .. You have to read the whole series (though there are a lot) to get to know w.i.t.c.h. properly.

It is quite old so rare to find these days. You can probably get the book s from the library though and merchandise from Ebay.

In case you hadnt noticed - I LOVE W.I.T.C.H.!
And if you love it too, I would ove to have conversations with you about it!

[Camille]

Will is new to Sheffield Institute, but quickly befriends Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin, four girls with whom Will learns to share her mysterious supernatural abilities. Together they discover that they need to protect Earth from the evil of Metamoor. But things go seriously wrong for the girls at the school's Halloween dance when Metamoor henchmen crash the party and attempt to capture them. The girls have to command their newly discovered powers in their first battle against evil.

[Mirabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book couldn't have been written any better, a wonderful start for the series? What's sad is that the TV Series (based on the WITCH books) is off......so I have to watch the episodes on YouTube. But again, this book totally rocks! My older sister reccommended this book to me. I'm so glad she did. In fact, if it weren't for the WITCH series I would've never became friends with this girl I know, Jasmine (true story)