The Hypnotists by Gordon Korman

from goodreads

2 stars

Well, the weather forecast says that we have snow coming in our future. I don't really believe it, though, it most probably is true. With the cold winter of last year and our cool summer, it seems impossible that winter could already be starting again. To quote on of my friends, "I'm still waiting for summer".

Oh well, at least with the cold weather we get to bundle up in our sweaters, have mugs of hot tea or chocolate and hibernate with our reading list stacked beside us. Here's hoping for a milder winter. Bring on the snow.

Synopsis

Strange things always happen around Jackson Opus. Superstar athletes stop being good. Doctors act like monkeys. Girls actually notice him. When he realizes he is actually a hypnotist he learns how to use and harness his powers. But others with less pure intents take notice too.

My Thoughts

I love Gordon Korman. The MacDonald Hall series made me laugh and I love his book I Want to Go Home. I still remember my mom passing the book back and forth because we couldn't get through a section we were laughing so hard.

This book, not quite as good. I read it because the second book in the series just came out and it looked interesting but I thought I should read the first book first. It starts off really good and in usual Gordon Korman fashion you are hooked. The chapters were exciting and interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Then, the rest of the book happened. I don't know what it was. Perhaps, how naive Jackson was, but I found myself just not caring. I didn't care for the characters, or what happened to them. By the end I was skimming just to get to the end faster. I only kept reading, one, because I hoped it would get better (it didn't), and two, I wanted to see if the "bad guy" was able to get found out at all.

I may have felt annoyance at the characters because I am an adult reading a kids book. Perhaps kids wouldn't notice how ignorant people were being, though kids are more savvy than we think, so, I'm not sure if that is the case. But kids might be more forgiving of the characters faults and the story's flaws than I am.

I am not sure if I am going to read the second book. The premise sounds interesting, but then, so did the premise of this one and I ended up disappointed. We will have to wait and see.

Despite the poor review for this book, I still highly recommend the author. You should definitely check him out.