The Book of Magic A Novel

From a girl that always wanted to be a witch her whole childhood, this book was magic. Everything I wanted witches to be.

I loved all the magic elements, the descriptions on that made it feel real for me to imagine. Has a family feels truly realistic but in terms of the character's development I struggled also was a bit repetitive felt the rush to force my self to finish the book.

This was an excellent final chapter to the Owens family curse saga. I’m going to miss this journey, but what a finish!

I’m a fan of Practical Magic, both the book and movie. Even if the movie takes some liberties, I think the spirit and message of the book is there. So a book about the Aunts as young girls then as women is too good to pass up! This doesn’t disappoint. Jet and Franny along with their beautiful younger brother navigate the 60’s and 70’s learning who and what they are. You learn of Maria’s past, their history within the town and of course the curse. Their lives are marked with denial, heartbreak, tragedy and losses. However, Alice Hoffman also shows that love for each other and loving others is what makes everyone human, and loss happens to everyone. I would have loved to have kept delving deeper into this family, but maybe she plans to do another. At least I hope she does!!♥️📕📖📚

4.5/5. my favorite book out of this series. looooved it.

2 Stars *This review contains minor spoilers.* Trigger Warning: (view spoiler)[Statutory rape, incest, and discrimination based on sexual orientation (hide spoiler)] This book just did not work for me. I struggled to get through parts of it and rushed through the second half so I could be done with it. When I picked up The Rules of Magic, I was thinking fondly of Practical Magic. Although in hindsight, I was thinking more of the movie than the book which was my first mistake. It isn't that Hoffman is a bad writer. There were some beautiful passages. But the poetic descriptions of nature did not provide enough substance. And while the writing was pretty, it did not engage me. I felt disconnected from the characters the entire book. This is a prequel to Practical Magic and tells the story of a previous generation of Owens children: Franny, Bridget, and Vincent. They are a family of witches and have been cursed since the Salem Witch Trials to always have their love end tragically. Most of the story takes place in their teenage years. As I mentioned, I never connected with any of the characters. Perhaps in trying to make them mysterious and secretive, Hoffman made them a bit too unrelatable. Add to that an awful lot of angst and drama over the curse and my attention frequently wandered. I was also uncomfortable with some of events of the story, particularly when a fourteen-year-old child was in a sexual relationship with a married woman three times his age and everyone else just shrugged it off. The story mainly takes place in the 1960's and 70's, but the historical setting was never fleshed out enough. Part of that was because the family was so isolated from society that the things that would have made the time period come alive could not be worked into the story. The historical events that were mentioned were too brief to be absorbed. It was like taking a breakneck bus tour through history where by the time your guide tells you what to look for, you have already past it. The fleeting glimpses were frustrating and unsatisfactory. It was also very difficult to tell the passage of time. Sometimes a few weeks would go by, and other times years would pass without mention. Since the narrative also jumped between characters and events, it was not strictly chronological. It often followed one of the Owens down a path for a while then backtracked and followed another character for a while. It all got muddled very quickly. The magic could not carry the story either. The children suppress their magic much of the time. But even when they were practicing, it was never exciting or well... magical. There were long descriptions of brewing potions and poultices than actual magic. It is a character driven novel. But since I could not connect to the characters, I could not get into the story itself. There was little plot, and what plot did exist tended to flit in and out of the story unreliably. Every single time it started getting interesting the story veered abruptly away and focuses on something else. That became increasingly frustrating as the author repeatedly set up things that sounded interesting only to say, "Oh, wouldn't you rather read more about lavender and nightshade?!" There were big secrets that were repeatedly teased but not revealed to the reader for the longest time. It was extremely vexing for the characters to have prophetic visions and not reveal them to the reader. But they referenced them over and over and over! And of course those things ended up being extremely anticlimactic! The whole story had a depressing sense of inevitable gloom and doom to it, and I simply could not enjoy it. RATING FACTORS: Ease of Reading: 3 Stars Writing Style: 2 Stars Characters and Character Development: 2 Stars Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star Level of Captivation: 2 Stars Originality: 2 Stars

Publishing date: October 10, 2017 Publisher: Simon Schuster Rating: 3.5 stars ARC, own, or library: library First Thoughts; Alright, I have to say it. I didn’t love this book. It didn’t seem to go anywhere, you know what I mean? And it’s unfortunate because this book has so many positive reviews. I can see why it does but it just didn’t cut it for me. It was a day in the life but spread out over years and I don’t think it worked. There didn’t seem to be an actual plot. But I’ll dive more into it in the later sections. Characters; I wish the entire book had been solely about Jet. She was my absolute favorite and I adored her. She was soft and wholesome and I will destroy anything that hurts her or says something awful to her. SHe is everything I look for in a character. As for the other Owen siblings, they were alright. Franny kind of drove me nuts with her decisions and how harsh she could be. I guess I like my characters more open; she was just so closed off and so closed minded. Vincent was also just okay for me. I liked that he was gay and his sisters didn’t even bat an eye. It wasn’t a coming out story, he just was and I loved that. But he was kind of a jerk to his sisters and to the people around him. Plot; Like I mentioned above, in the first thoughts section, the plot wasn’t really there. Sure, I love a good character growth story but with this, it wasn’t there. The synopsis of the book made it seem like the Owens were going to spend the story finding out who they were and their family history. But that wasn’t the case. It was a day in the life but spanned over years. It was just disappointing to me. Writing Style; So although the story/plot was disappointing, the writing style was absolutely breathtaking. Seriously, beautifully crafted statements that made my heart melt. Each word was thought out and placed carefully in the sentence. I am going to be picking up Hoffman’s other words seriously for the prose. Trigger Warnings; The trigger warnings include: parent death, grief, drug use, homophobia, cancer, dependent adult abuse, and alcoholism (heavy drinking) Final Thoughts; Overall, while I didn’t love the story, I fell in love with the prose and writing style. Plus, this book has made me want to read all the witchy books. Which is exactly what I’m going to do...eventually. Despite my average rating, I would still recommend this book simply for the prose.

I am glad so many people have gotten enjoyment from this book. I just don't happen to be one of them. The unnamed, omniscient narrator is so distant I read through the whole book and still didn't care one bit about these emo kids. They find out they are witches and they do pretty much nothing with that magic? This makes little logical sense and even less considering the rebellion they had already committed to. Much is made out of Vincent being the first and only male born in the Owens bloodline, but that also comes to a big fat nothing. This is especially frustrating when the author has absolutely zero faith in the intelligence of her audience and beats them over the head with the same bits of information over and over and over--lavender is for protection! Jet has "lost the sight/her gift"! Hawthorne put the "w" in his name to distance himself from the Hathorne witch hunter family! Some dude designed Central Park (okay obviously that one didn't stick despite it being explained three times, but by then I was too bored to care anyway)! All this information, yet we don't get proper names for some of the flowers these witches are supposed to be so in tune with (e.g. shouldn't those daffodils with the orange centers be called narcissists? Considering how self-absorbed they all are it would be fitting). And why, oh why, does wise old Isabelle let these children ruin their entire lives by letting them wallow in self pity for decades without once piping up and saying, "You're m-f-ing WITCHES, do something and be happy!" But no, these oh so powerful witches let an entire book of preventible things happen TO them as they drift through and affect no change beyond softening up some old man who lost his will to live earlier in the book. All in all, a pretty big yawner and eye-roller for me.

I’m a fan of Practical Magic, both the book and movie. Even if the movie takes some liberties, I think the spirit and message of the book is there. So a book about the Aunts as young girls then as women is too good to pass up! This doesn’t disappoint. Jet and Franny along with their beautiful younger brother navigate the 60’s and 70’s learning who and what they are. You learn of Maria’s past, their history within the town and of course the curse. Their lives are marked with denial, heartbreak, tragedy and losses. However, Alice Hoffman also shows that love for each other and loving others is what makes everyone human, and loss happens to everyone. I would have loved to have kept delving deeper into this family, but maybe she plans to do another. At least I hope she does!!♥️📕📖📚

I was gifted the entire series and somehow still managed to read them out of order. I thought I knew what the order was, but I was mistaken. Ah well, it was still good. I was already familiar with the basic story of Practical Magic because it was a really good movie (I love Sandra Bullock), so I understood about the curse. What I enjoyed was that it seemed like this group managed to "break" the curse...as I knew the Practical Magic group also managed to break the curse... So why was it still called a curse? Regardless, I liked the book. I looked forward to reading the other two despite the lack of order.

I loved all the magic elements, the descriptions on that made it feel real for me to imagine. Has a family feels truly realistic but in terms of the character's development I struggled also was a bit repetitive felt the rush to force my self to finish the book.

The Rules of Magic is truly spellbinding. As the prequel to Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic follows the 'aunts,' Franny and Jet. It also follows their brother Vincent, the first wizard/male witch of the Owens family. We learn how these three siblings discover and come into their power, and it's magical to read about. I loved the setting and time period: NYC in the 1960s. It was perfect for this book.

I liked that this book was very layered, with various plotlines and stories intertwined and playing out throughout the novel. It's full of heart, of love and romance, and the bonds of family, sisterhood and siblings. The plot is slow and mellow, a gentle dance through New York City and Magnolia Street in Massachusetts.

About two-thirds of the way through the book, however, the plot picks up. Things move fast and suddenly all the siblings' lives are forever changed. I'm still grappling with what happened, and not sure I understand why it had to happen. It was also straight up confusing for a bit. Nevertheless, it didn't spoil the book for me.

This book also had me teary-eyed quite a few times, and it's not often I'm that emotionally affected by what I'm reading. So kudos to Alice Hoffman; I always enjoy reading her works. I love Hoffman's own take on, and brand of, magical realism, and The Rules of Magic did not disappoint. It's a worthy companion to Magic Lessons, one of my all-time favorite books. And while I didn't enjoy Practical Magic this much when I first read it, I think I'll have to revisit it after learning more about the beloved aunts, Franny and Jet.

This book is beautiful. I could hardly put it down.

Sinking into the world of the Owens family is always good. The writing is rich, the characters so complex, and the atmosphere lush. I loved this book.

Alice Hoffman has an uncanny ability to make me comfortable and set me on edge in the same page. The Rules of Magic is a wonderful story that ultimately reminds readers to face fears and love fiercely. Just the story I needed to remind me to chase my own fate and fall into the wonders that the world awaits- because running from it proves unfruitful.

I haven’t read practical magic so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Genre-fiction wise, this is a strange book that goes against type somewhat; that’s probably why I liked it so much. It’s structure kept reminding me of non fiction, but the sweeping lives of the Owens had magical elements pretty often. It is just told in such a matter-of-fact, interesting authorial voice way, that it sort of becomes mundane. It’S also fairly inclusive, which for some reason I didn’t expect either. It’s quite sad (which I like), but plays fair and feels well balanced. Unusual and interesting format. Will check out others in the series as well. 2020 saw a prequel to this prequel apparently, so I’ll probably nab that next before going on to practical magic.

All through this book I was wondering what about these books always scratch a very particular itch for me. I think to some degree it’s her use of worldbuilding, which is basically a mix of hard, but delivered in a soft way—meaning the “rules” are present and codified; even have their root in folklore, fairytales, and fiction on the subject; yet are not info dumps and presented in an as-you-need-it manner, consistent with something like, say, Harry Potter. Soft delivery often leads to authors reworking aspects in a kind of ret-con. Again, see HP. But because all the rules here gel and have roots in the cultural consciousness already, it all feels “correct”, somehow. For instance, when an Owen girl goes missing and another family member worries and wants to find her, someone tells her to bake a pie. The most important ingredient being “love”, which ends up sort of filling the missing person with a kind of home sickness that eventually makes her call. You could easily see that as something steeped in literature and co-opted into Hoffman’s magical cannon. But also just sort of makes sense? The nostalgia of homemade pie in western culture being what it is and the ritual of cooking being mundane, yet somehow also magical, is really enticing to believe in. You want to believe in the worldbuilding as you encounter more of it. Another The thing I like the most about Hoffman is that her fiction consolidates a lot of mythology around witchcraft and incorporates it into the verisimilitudes of every day life in matter-of-fact terms. Just, by the way, as she does with inclusion of queer characters, it’s unquestioned and in the tides of their lives. This is even more augmented in this book, as it builds on all the previous books. Which makes a lot of sense and actually paints the last book I read, the one where the curse originated in historical fiction rather than contemporary times, in a much better light. I didn’t like that one as much because I have consumed so many witchy stories set in that era. This incorporates a whole bunch of the family history, which I came to in an odd order (2,3,1,4). Characters established previously arrive, along with their tangled history and “flavour” of magic. The family curse comes to a head in this conclusion. Family drama meets left-handed magic, ie: dark arts; all while grappling with the curse itself, which the family has been attempting to pretty much trick or circumnavigate for the entirety of their lives, to varying degrees of success and tragedy. This is a very fitting and well balanced ending that felt organic and earned. I will very likely read these all again (in the proper order). I think, for now, The Rules of Magic is still my favourite. But by a short margin.

I thought Magic Lessons was heartbreaking, but it had nothing on this book. Throughout the story we learn of what happened to the descendants of Maria Owens. With the story focusing on the two Aunts that Sally and Gillian come to live with in Practical Magic. Though they are the main characters, it is cool to see other witches, and discussions of other family members throughout the story. How they each handle the witchcraft that runs in their blood and such. Frances and Bridget live sheltered lives, and try and hide from the curse, and who they are from time to time. But what's in their blood will always bring them back to where they belong. The lessons of love and life that are within these pages are magical yet gut-wrenching. These back stories give so much depth to the Aunts we meet in Practical Magic. Not to mention the town's history with the Owens women. It's insightful to see how deep seeded the feuds, and rumors run. As with Magic Lessons, this book is filled with witchcraft mementos that make you feel fully immersed, and wondering if they are true. I adore the writing style of Alice Hoffman. These books feel like you are reading family history, not fiction. You'll love this series if you enjoy reading about love, family bonds, and witches. "The only remedy for love is to love more."

What a journey this series is. Not going to lie, this installment made me cry multiple times. If you've read all the books you're going to fall right into place with Alice's writing style, and the journey thus far of the Owen's Family. I adore how well everything tied together so well, from strands she left loose in each of the three previous books. If you're coming from the movie Practical Magic, Alice does a really good job of summarizing the two prequals, and the events that took place in PM that did not happen in the movie. There are multiple things happening within this story, a series is ending, characters are growing, and changing their roles in the family. It's an amazing journey. So many times I found myself yelling NOOOO don't do that, which is funny because as a teen I always Identified with Gillian more, and now I am more of Sally. All the family bounds, and sisterly love is felt deep throughout the book. Talking too much about the plot will give a lot away, so instead I'm going to tell you that she continues her practice of writing in such a manner that makes you want to google her witchy remedies, and feel like you are part of the family of witches. This book has the happiest of endings, I couldn't have dreamed a better series ending than Alice wrote, it's perfect. Seriously perfect. If you aren't used to Alice's writing, she does a lot of storytelling through telling instead of showing, but it is never off putting like most unfavorable telling books are. If you love any part of the Owen's, the books or the movie, you will adore this book. Even if you've never read or seen a bit of it, you will find this book welcoming you home into a long standing witch family with secrets, love, and an everlasting bond.

Alice Hoffman returns, 22 years later, to tell the first part of the story. The Rules Of Magic follows Franny, Jet, and Vincent Owens as they uncover the mystery of their witchy heritage, and try to break the curse that haunts their fate. This prequel to the 1995 best-seller Practical Magic is an essential prelude to the first book, providing a fundamental understanding of the family and the secrets that follow them. In The Rules Of Magic, we are introduced to Maria Owens, the Salem witch Hoffman uses to root the family tree in witchcraft and magik. The plot opens with Franny, Jet, and their younger brother Vincent, and explains to readers why they are the way that they are. Witch-y. The siblings’ mother, Susanna Owens, hoping to (view spoiler)[escape magic, married and moved away from her sister Isabelle (who, on the other hand, embraced her inner witch, and now keeps the family home and Book of Shadows, both which are to be inherited by the strongest witch of each generation). But when Franny turns 13, she is invited to meet her aunt. Reluctantly, their mother not only allows her to leave for the summer, but allows Jet and Vincent to go as well. (hide spoiler)] That summer vacation is just the beginning of their understanding of their true selves, and sets in motion the course of the rest of their lives. The first few chapters of the book deal with the children’s questions of their heritage. In this way, Hoffman addresses the idea of memory as a tool for understanding the self. (Forgotten memories not passed down through family generations, secrets, betrayals). Hoffman uses a few established historical references to the Salem Witch Trials (like John Hathorne, the vicious trial judge for the town of Salem, for example) to ground the tale in fact rather than fiction. By writing the story around an already well-known historical event, Hoffman brings credibility to the witches ancestry. Through the lives of the Owens’es, this book touches on the idea of forgiveness as a tool for healing and self-acceptance. The book also deals with the theme of knowing oneself, or finding the self, and being true to yourself. “He understood who he was.” (53). The siblings are not ‘normal’; Hoffman’s tale of these witches coming into their own can offer advice for everyone struggling with their individuality. I have personally traced my own family tree far enough back to find an accused Salem Witch in my own heritage. Mary Ayer-Parker, who was hanged in 1692 as an accused witch, is my aunt of husband of 1st cousin 10x removed. So, for me, this story, despite being a fiction, is very near and dear to my own heart. Because it could be real enough, and, at least, the history is: it is clear that Hoffman has done expert research in the writing of this book. “We’re bloodline witches. Which means we have no choice in the matter. It’s a genetic factor. Like blue eyes or red hair. It’s who you are.” (41). Read this review on my blog here

I’m really disappointed in how boring I found this book. I love Practical Magic but there was very little plot in the prequel.

“Blue must be worn for protection. Moonstones were useful in connecting with the living, topaz to contact the dead. Copper, sacred to Venus, will call a man to you, and black tourmaline will eliminate jealousy. When it came to love, you must always be careful. If you dropped something belonging to the man you loved into a candle flame, then added pine needles and marigold flowers, he would arrive on your doorstep by morning, so you would do well to be certain you wanted him there. The most basic and reliable love potion was made from anise, rosemary, honey, and cloves boiled for nine hours on the back burner of the old stove. It had always cost $9.99 and was therefore called Love Potion Number Nine, which worked best on the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month.” I love Practical Magic, the book and the movie. The rules of magic live up to my expectations, it’s perfect. I want to live in a big old house with cats and grow lavender and be the neighbourhood witch casting love spells for old women.

A fun magical read but not as compelling as the Magic Lessons or Practical Magic. I loved reading about Franny and Jet (Vincent was a pleasant addition) but wish we would have seen more about the 60s hippie movement and perhaps the rise of the Wiccan practice.

I loved this 100 million times more than practical magic!! I was totally immersed in The Rules of Magic. Have already re-read it!!!

I didn’t know I was going to love this book as much as I did! Very well written, fast paced book. Full of magic, despair, and love.