Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Il giardino delle magie

First: this isn't a rom-com, and the movie is nothing like the book in terms of atmosphere and tone at all. Tonally, if the entire genre of women's fiction and A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS had a baby, it would be PRACTICAL MAGIC.

I'd read another Hoffman before, the historical THE WORLD THAT WE KNEW, and wasn't terribly impressed by it, so I came here expecting more of the same. Here, though, Hoffman's style really does work. Though the characters are also drawn in broad brushstrokes and the romances instant, PRACTICAL MAGIC really makes it feel like more of a conscious nod to fairy tales than simply bland writing. The omniscient narrator, who sometimes switches the character being followed within the same paragraph, the doses of wisdom, and the lyricism all combine to make a great experience; Hoffman knows exactly when to dole out backstory to make the reader appreciate their increasingly more whole understanding of the Owens family and the world.

I'm of two minds, though, because the political imagination at work here isn't great. Everyone is white; everyone is heterosexual. The cure for the characters' flaws is the right man. The main characters are all neatly paired off at the end; just find your true love and you'll be fixed, Hoffman seems to say. The pre-cell phone milieu is interesting and evocative, but drives home the kind of stifling suburban whiteness that characters aspire to.

Overall, a serious and occasionally dark book about sisterhood and female family members in a magical realism milieu, where the cure for all conflict is heterosexual romance.

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danibailey's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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erinalt90's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I am reading the series and have LOVED the first two books (Magic Lessons and The Rules of Magic). I am also looking forward to the next /final book in the series (The Book of Magic). I started this series specifically to read Practical Magic.

To say this book was disappointing would be an understatement. You can tell this was the first book written. I'm not sure that is an excuse for how poorly the characters were developed or the story line that was hardly there. If you're reading this series you will notice that Practical Magic not only does not fit into the series but also contradicts some characters' backstory. It also lacked well established facts of the world it takes place in and there is very little magic.

The characters are not lovable and I would even go to say that I didn't care what happened to them. In fact there were main characters that if they had disappeared I wouldn't have cared.
The plot is put together like leftovers on a plate and then put in a microwave.
There are entire scenes that have nothing to do at all with the book including a scene where a child is almost SA'd.

I would not recommend this book at all. The movie was better and I will pretend like this book doesn't exist in the series. So disappointing.

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I rated this so low because when I tried to think of things I liked about the book I could hardly come up with any (the small bits of magic stuff, the bonds between the sisters), and I could come up with so much I didn't like or even hated (the portrayal of women in love, the men in general, the animal cruelty, meandering prose that felt like reading a summary of events rather than a book, the toxic relationships, the unnecessary references to sexual assault and harassment, and more). I watched the movie and it was definitely better, but still not great. They changed a lot and left out a lot, which is for the best. If you are worried you are missing out by not watching/reading either, I promise you're not.

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cassielaj's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A lot of the literary choices in this novel were impressive to me, and the characters were well characterized and well developed. There’s not a lot of plot, but the vibes are definitely there, and I love the sister/family dynamics

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