Practical Magic: 25th Anniversary Edition (The Practical Magic Series)
*25th Anniversary Edition*—with an Introduction by the Author!
The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic.
For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic...
“Splendid...Practical Magic is one of [Hoffman's] best novels, showing on every page her gift for touching ordinary life as if with a wand, to reveal how extraordinary life really is.”—Newsweek
“[A] delicious fantasy of witchcraft and love in a world where gardens smell of lemon verbena and happy endings are possible.”—Cosmopolitan
The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic.
For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic...
“Splendid...Practical Magic is one of [Hoffman's] best novels, showing on every page her gift for touching ordinary life as if with a wand, to reveal how extraordinary life really is.”—Newsweek
“[A] delicious fantasy of witchcraft and love in a world where gardens smell of lemon verbena and happy endings are possible.”—Cosmopolitan
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Readers say *Practical Magic* offers a different experience from the popular movie, with some enjoying its emotional depth, sisterly bonds, and subtle...
I am so sad to report that this book was 👎🏻 boring. Which completely breaks my heart because I’ve always loved the movie. Yes, yes…I am fully aware that movies are typically never like the book. Most times than not, the book is so much better than the movie. Nope…not this case at all. I truly did try to love the book. But the writing style was incredibly boring and constantly moving around from character to character & not in a good way. Sadly, I found myself skimming pages just to force myself to finish the book. I wanted to find myself reading the other books that were tied to this book and / or other books Alice has written. But that will not be happening. This was a one & done for me.
Conclusion: The movie is so much better than the book.
Not what I expected. This is a very rare case where I will say I actually enjoyed the movie more than the book.
I picked this up because I liked the movie "Practical Magic," but I soon found that the book is very different! That's not a bad thing. In the book, the magic is much more subtle, and the focus is more on Sally and Gillian...and love.
DNF... disappointment is the best descriptor of the 70 ish pages I invested in this book. Starting off with the most annoying aspect of why are there no actual chapters only sections?
In terms of writing, it was nice to read something with more classic enriched vocabulary compared to the short hand terms we see in modern books today. Setting needed to be established. Time lapse was way too quick to actually be meaningfully developed.
It frustrated me that there was no actual meaning to whatever story she was trying to develop. WORSE.... It's a witchy story with little to no emphasis on the witchy element except occasional drops of mentions that they are cursed or the aunts have abilities.
In terms of writing, it was nice to read something with more classic enriched vocabulary compared to the short hand terms we see in modern books today. Setting needed to be established. Time lapse was way too quick to actually be meaningfully developed.
It frustrated me that there was no actual meaning to whatever story she was trying to develop. WORSE.... It's a witchy story with little to no emphasis on the witchy element except occasional drops of mentions that they are cursed or the aunts have abilities.
I loved how the reader got to really absorb the lives of these characters. I loved that the magic always had a certain "deniability" to it even though it was obviously very real and present. I loved how the natural and supernatural were all tangled together. Lovely book. Would recommend!
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