Reviews - Magic Lessons | The StoryGraph

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2.83k reviews for:

Magic Lessons

Alice Hoffman

4.15 AVERAGE

thenoisegirl's review against another edition

3.5

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

clairegarns's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

pauromero06's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It was not what I was expecting, in a good way. There was a lot of character growth. I was pleasantly surprised, a very breezy read and a glimpse through hardships women went though in the colonies ( they briefly mentioned some of the actual people put on trial) and how they went about trying witches.

It was a dark journey for women in Salem, but Maria and Faith got through it. Faith fared a lot worse than her mom and took a turn towards darker crafts but in the end was able to pull herself back before it was too late. So sad about Keeper though, he was loyal til the end (Cadin too). Glad that Samuel got to have his happy ending, that man deserved one.

Content Warnings

crisc_bookmarks's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really enjoyed this book. The writing style and themes drew me in, and I liked following the story of Maria Owens and her daughter Faith, exploring how life as witches during the Salem trials shaped their paths.

Although it is presented as a prequel to Practical Magic, I felt there was some disconnect. Read as a standalone witchy novel, it’s very engaging, but as a prequel it feels a little too distant from the contemporary Owens witches. Apart from learning how the family “curse” began, the links are minimal and it could almost stand as a completely separate story.

I particularly enjoyed the character development and the sections written in the style of a grimoire, which added atmosphere and depth.

katerosalie's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jennicraw's review against another edition

2.0

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was just too long and the decisions made by the characters felt forced. They acted like puppets on strings, doing things that made no sense merely because this is a prequel so certain plot points had to happen.

I came to loath how the author constantly violated her own rules of magic, giving threadbare excuses as to why this must be an exception.

And what is the point of a generation curse if literally every woman finds a way around it?

A strong beginning but it just fell apart as the characters were forced into stupid choices in order to match a predetermined plot. It just didn't work.