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courtwj's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Minor: Abandonment
_likethefruit's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Domestic abuse, Death, and Drug abuse
corinnereads7's review against another edition
dnf, felt quite sexist. too cheesy and unrealistic with the romances while shallow with the relationships between the Owens women/girls. focuses intensely on how hot they are, including the 13 year old girl who has a glow-up when her hair is dyed blonde and then is immediately abandoned by her male best friend because he’s too attracted to her or something? and instead of writing him off as an asshole and getting better friends, she bakes him his favorite cake. she’s then chased across a cornfield by grown men whose graphic thoughts about a CHILD the author kindly details for us. gross.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Stalking, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
puf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Animal death, Rape, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
waynethelibrarian's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual content
alisylvi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Wanted more magic and witchy things :(
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
ezrah's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Very different from the movie but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Pretty quick read but not intensely paced.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Grief, Car accident, and Animal death
hbby's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Rape
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I just finished rereading this, and I have to admit it’s been awhile since I’ve read it - simply because I don’t really reread books.
This is a book I’ve long considered one of my all time favorites, but I think that honor may be given to Magic Lessons (which is part of this series, and tells the story of Maria Owens).
BUT, this book is still great... I just think Alice Hoffman has perfected telling the stories of the Owens women the farther she gets into the series. I cannot wait for the final installment (The Book of Magic) to come out later this year.
This is a book I’ve long considered one of my all time favorites, but I think that honor may be given to Magic Lessons (which is part of this series, and tells the story of Maria Owens).
BUT, this book is still great... I just think Alice Hoffman has perfected telling the stories of the Owens women the farther she gets into the series. I cannot wait for the final installment (The Book of Magic) to come out later this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death
allyhoo811's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I just finished reading Practical Magic for the first time, and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it overall. It was a fun, whimsical, fast-paced story that kept me interested. So while I definitely liked this book, there were a few issues that kept me from loving it (I gave it a 4 star rating, but that is really more like 3.5 rounded up to a 4).
**Most of my issues with Practical Magic probably fall under the category of certain content just not aging well, so I'm factoring that into my review**
Pros:
The Fairytale Feel -- Practical Magic definitely has the narrative structure of a fairytale. The omniscient narrator recounts a story about fate, magic, and true love without really delving too deeply into character development and the long term ethical consequences of characters' actions. For me, it worked. There are a lot of things in this book that would normally leave me rolling my eyes and possibly dnf'ing (insta-love of epic proportions, deus ex machina type mechanics, things just sort of happening without a real explanation), but because of the intentional fairytale structure of the narrative it didn't really bug me in this case. If you treat this story as the fairytale that it is, you will enjoy it more.
The Strong Familial Relationships (especially related to sisterhood) -- This story really shines with regard to its depiction of the various relationships sisters have with one another. This part of the story felt very authentic, while still keeping with the fairytale feel of the book.
Cons:
Issues of Consent within Romantic/Sexual relationships: A large part of this story focuses on love potions and love at first sight interactions. These are two elements very common in fairytales and so it is hard to penalize the book too hard for treating theses elements so cavalierly, but it was very cringy to read at times. There were a lot of instances where there was dubious consent given in romantic encounters, and certainly no enthusiastic consent. There were also several instances that were downright rapey without being called out as such in the text (love potions involved). In the book's example of a "healthy, good" relationship the dude insta-falls for one of the main characters and basically harasses her until she "realizes they belong together." Not healthy, not good....but very fairytale! Some (but not all) of these sorts of issues can be explained by the era the book was written in.
"The Aunts:" My other big issue with Practical Magic is the character of "the aunts." I feel like I was supposed to like these two women and think they were good people, but I don't know...I felt like their business of selling desperate women love potions (even to the point of stealing away already married men) was just evil. Then when it didn't work out right, they were all, "that woman was a fool." Not acknowledging that they were giving very dangerous substances to women barely out of their teens and not explaining the consequences fully. I don't know...just not a fan.
Possible Content Warnings: Rape, Sexual Assault, Domestic Abuse (none are explicitly described)
**Most of my issues with Practical Magic probably fall under the category of certain content just not aging well, so I'm factoring that into my review**
Pros:
The Fairytale Feel -- Practical Magic definitely has the narrative structure of a fairytale. The omniscient narrator recounts a story about fate, magic, and true love without really delving too deeply into character development and the long term ethical consequences of characters' actions. For me, it worked. There are a lot of things in this book that would normally leave me rolling my eyes and possibly dnf'ing (insta-love of epic proportions, deus ex machina type mechanics, things just sort of happening without a real explanation), but because of the intentional fairytale structure of the narrative it didn't really bug me in this case. If you treat this story as the fairytale that it is, you will enjoy it more.
The Strong Familial Relationships (especially related to sisterhood) -- This story really shines with regard to its depiction of the various relationships sisters have with one another. This part of the story felt very authentic, while still keeping with the fairytale feel of the book.
Cons:
Issues of Consent within Romantic/Sexual relationships: A large part of this story focuses on love potions and love at first sight interactions. These are two elements very common in fairytales and so it is hard to penalize the book too hard for treating theses elements so cavalierly, but it was very cringy to read at times. There were a lot of instances where there was dubious consent given in romantic encounters, and certainly no enthusiastic consent. There were also several instances that were downright rapey without being called out as such in the text (love potions involved). In the book's example of a "healthy, good" relationship the dude insta-falls for one of the main characters and basically harasses her until she "realizes they belong together." Not healthy, not good....but very fairytale! Some (but not all) of these sorts of issues can be explained by the era the book was written in.
"The Aunts:" My other big issue with Practical Magic is the character of "the aunts." I feel like I was supposed to like these two women and think they were good people, but I don't know...I felt like their business of selling desperate women love potions (even to the point of stealing away already married men) was just evil. Then when it didn't work out right, they were all, "that woman was a fool." Not acknowledging that they were giving very dangerous substances to women barely out of their teens and not explaining the consequences fully. I don't know...just not a fan.
Possible Content Warnings: Rape, Sexual Assault, Domestic Abuse (none are explicitly described)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Rape