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thebibutterfly's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A beautiful, poignant book that was well written, but I was unprepared for the sheer number of deaths in this one, many of which were devastating. The massive time skips can be a tad jarring, but the ending was quite a full circle moment. My main issues with this book were the *multiple* incestuous relationships and an Adult/minor relationship. They were said to be distant cousins in both cases, but still. It seemed incredibly weird that Bridget wasn’t even told until afterwards and that April practically jumped Vincent in his own bed, then blamed him for getting her pregnant. Further still, that Isabel didn’t intervene despite having “the sight” and claims that she always knew what was going on. That was all handled very poorly, in my opinion. This one was overflowing with triggering topics, but most were handled fairly sensitively.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Child death, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Death, Incest, Sexual content, War, and Homophobia
judassilver's review against another edition
Dropped due to the incest he gets his older cousin pregnant fyi and the comments around youth and beauty and the conflation of love and obsession-- something that seems to be used as a way to handwave the grooming and sexual assault that Vincent is victim to, which I didn't see addressed in any meaningful way. It felt very victim blaming that it was "his charm" that made his 30-something neighbor grope and then sexually assault him. His aunt seemed to think it was normal for him to have these "flings" , at 14 years old. I also wasn't a huge fan of the constant mention of sex, drugs, alcohol, and smoking that peppered this book-it made it feel edgy more than anything. I wish I had known going in, so let this be a word of awareness to unsuspecting readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
thalia16's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, War, Pregnancy, and Medical content
bookishfaye's review against another edition
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 fromVincent’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
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
3.
Someone give me a diverse & queer Practical Magic style generational saga right MF NOOOWWW
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Cancer, Grief, Toxic relationship, and War
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