Reviews with content warning for Incest - The Rules of Magic

Reviews tagging 'Incest'

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

19 reviews

luckypumpkin's review against another edition

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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? N/A

4.0

the prose of this book is how I want my home to feel

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bookishfaye's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

3.5

I love Alice Hoffman’s whimsical & folkloric witchy writing and the way she writes the Owens & their magic & curse & trauma & the history of the world around them so much!!!!!!!! God damn I love the Owens family 😤😤😤; I will definitely be continuing these books!! That being said, this book had some…. issues:

1. The incest. There was literally no reason for it, & I know she had to include it because she had written it into Practical Magic already like almost 20 years previously, but hated that it was even there at all.

2. The lack of diversity. Hoffman tells such a profound generational story with these books & it would benefit so much more from being more diverse. Magic Lessons definitely had diversity, but this one was very bland on that front, apart from

Vincent’s

queerness (which i take issues with in some ways as well)

3.

Vincent’s journey to discovering his sexuality was a really annoying queer trope. Spoilers ahead: we follow Vincent as he sleeps with his older cousin (impregnating her in the process, & it is her daughter Regina’s kids who we follow in Practical Magic), & then his 30+ year old neighbour when he’s 14 years old. The way it’s written makes it seem mutual and him just “sleeping around,” but homie was being groomed & writing that situation in the way Hoffman did did not sit right with me at all. Vincent then becomes kind of a player, sleeping around with women quite often, before eventually realizing that he’s not attached to them because he’s actually attracted to men.

Yes, I realize this is a real thing that a lot of queer people go through in their journeys in real life, but something about a straight white women representing queerness only in this way doesn’t feel cool.

Someone give me a diverse & queer Practical Magic style generational saga right MF NOOOWWW

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featherinthewind's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Ok ok, I know, I’ve read this book twice and with that, it was a great book both times, except I couldn’t help but feel like I was left wanting more. The book tugged at my heart strings for the last 100 pages and made me angry at it for what it had done to one of the main characters, but I still enjoyed it.

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shel_bay11's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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themixedpages's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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alanahhill's review against another edition

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2.0

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apoppyinthewind's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

Practical Magic is and has been in my top five favourite books for decades so it's a little crazy to me that I'm just reading The Rules of Magic now. I enjoyed it, it had the same style of writing that drew me into Practical Magic decades ago and I read it within a day which ....well, it isn't unusual for me but it's a good sign. If I can't put a book down because I need to know what happens next then the writer is doing a good job in my book.

I'm torn between a 4 or 5. I did truly enjoy it and I can see myself re-reading it again when I'm in the mood for something witchy. I might even pick up a copy to go with the copy of Practical Magic I've been meaning to re-buy (Decluttering remorse 🤦‍♀️) and yet it is lacking something that Practical Magic holds for me. I can't quite put my finger on it so I may update this review when I do so for now let's say 4.5 stars.

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babayaga1989's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

The Rules of Magic was an amazing read. I was sucked in from the first pages and couldn't put it down. I don't want to get into the plot because I won't be able to stop typing and I'll spoil pretty much every last detail and so suffice it to say, I loved this book. It was an emotional roller coaster--a very pleasantly intense read. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that reading this book changed me for the better.

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poursandpages's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Officially a convert. Can I be an Owens now?!

The Rules of Magic was SOOOO much better than Practical Magic, IMO. I devoured it, loved all of the characters & story lines, & loved seeing how Practical Magic came to be. Plus, it’s infinitely more
plot-heavy.

You can definitely read it as a stand alone, but reading (or watching) Practical Magic first gives you a bit of context. Highly recommend!

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