Reviews tagging 'Death'

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

63 reviews

oh_bother's review

dark funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

Wanted to love this as much as I adore the film adaptation. The stream of consciousness and switching between narrators randomly was jarring and hard to follow. A lot of boring stuff. Not enough magic. But still found myself rooting for the characters and being charmed a few times. The movie was better but this is different enough that maybe they should be judged separately. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Abandonment

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective fast-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? Yes

3.5

Unique writing style; I liked it but it may not be for everyone. The pacing was pretty weird, a lot got packed in to the last 15% or so of the book. And I’m not sure how I felt about how casually the author wrote about domestic violence. This may be the rare case where the movie is better than the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

lindsayerin's review

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual harassment, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault

marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent

ce_read's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I was raised on the movie so it's hard not to compare the two. The writing could be a bit hoakey and ham-fisted for me at times, but ultimately compelling and entertaining. I second some other reviews that said some characters were introduced abruptly or not well-enough developed, and of there were themes or plot devices, I didn't pick up on them. Not my usual fare 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death

chasingpages1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Car accident, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Stalking, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Rape

lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

So…. The book is not nearly as whimsical and witchy and charming as the movie.

If it was only the last 30%, it wouldn’t be so bad. The problem is the first 70%, which contains a lot more f-bombs and threats of sexual assault from every boy or man in town on multiple generations of Owens women. That really soured my enjoyment. Plus, the aunts aren’t featured as much as I would have expected, and flashbacks are thrown throughout, which made the timeline confusing in places.

All in all, the sort of book where you’ll likely need a palate cleanser afterwards.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Death

euphemiajo's review against another edition

adventurous

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Animal death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Murder, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Violence

scarlett_f's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

_mirambo_'s review

emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse