Reviews tagging 'War'

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

19 reviews

womanwill's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: War, Terminal illness, and Cancer

nicola4e's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Minor: War

samgelbert's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Car accident, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

aislinn_mcd_harrison's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

This was one I wanted to keep reading but i didn’t feel I really loved the writing style or even the characters. There was a sadness all through the book that made it difficult to enjoy but I don’t think it had a particularly strong message or view on its theme of love is disaster / love is the only good. Also don’t like books whose endings only set up the next book. 

Questions to ask book club:
Is the curse real? 
What do you think Alice Hoffman’s writing about youth and beauty and age? 
Do you think Franny is consistent? 
What do you think of how she portrayed real events like the Vietnam war and the stonewall riots? 
Did you like the siblings? Who was your favourite? 
This book is a prequel and the ending fairly unapologetically has nothing to do with the book you’ve read and is a preamble to practical magic - did it make you want to read the next one and why? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, War, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content

martamae77's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: War, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt and Animal death

shel_bay11's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Cancer, Death, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, and War

taylorjayne's review against another edition

funny hopeful sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

happyreadings's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

5.0

I'm re-reading the Practical Magic series to get myself prepared for the newest book. After reading The Rules of Magic again, I can definitely say this is probably my favorite book from the series (although that might change once I read The Book of Magic). I loved watching Jet, Franny, and Vincent grow up and everything they had to go through to find their love. This book will break your heart, put it back together again, and then break it again but it will be okay in the end. Love more, not less.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness

Minor: Cancer and War

cararock's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, and War