Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

9 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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

Blended reading (audiobook + physical)

The Details:
Narrated by Laurence Bouvard
Unabridged

Mild spoilers will be in this review as I talk about different parts of the book.

I was initally apprehensive about the lack of chapters, but I needn't worry about that because everything just flowed in such a gentle storytelling way. It was also helpful that it was broken into parts.

I wasn't expecting such a generational saga, but I loved growing up with the sisters Sally and Gillian as they went to live with their peculiar aunts in Superstition. It was interesting to see little bits of witch craft, and from the little snippets of the movie I've seen (only very small scenes out of context), I was surprised that there was a lot of hexing and manipulation of love. It was fascinating to see how both of the very opposite sisters felt about it and also how everyone around them changed their views in different ways as they grew up. I felt like Sally was always getting the short straw of life, rather unfairly, just for being kind and not as bold and carefree as her little sister, so when she finally got a chance at love later on in this part and had a family I was so happy.

In Premonitions I'm happy that Sally was still a main character but the focus shifted on her two children growing up and mirroring the experience her and her sister had with school. I also loved seeing the OG sisters, who had become more and more estranged, reconciled at last.... but not over wholesome circumstances.
The lilacs haunting the sisters, suddenly reminded me of a scene from Weep, Woman, Weep and I wonder if that was inspired by Practical Magic. A pivotal development in this part was Kylie's 13th birthday and that did not go anyway I was expecting it to!

With the way that part ended, I was super interested to see how Clairvoyance would progress the story futher, now that Kylie was coming into her own. The story really developed here as powers were further unearthed and consequences began to come to a head for the run up to the conclusion.

It's weird how fond of the aunts I was, despite them feeling more like off page characters. I missed them and the cats so much when we were following everyone else living their lives.

The whole feel of this story was very whimsical and cosy and felt as if you were being narrated through this odd life, that wasn't super out of the ordinary, but enough to make you second glance. I absolutely adored it and am looking forward to reading the sequel and two prequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Stalking, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident

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

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

uranaishi's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy, Drug use, Abortion, Cursing, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, and Blood

madison26_'s review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

claudiamacpherson's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

I was immediately enchanted by this funny, sweet, magical story of sisterhood. The sisters of the Owens family are far from perfect, but so charming that you can’t help but love them. The magic is subtle and satisfying, because everyone gets what’s coming to them (good and bad). I loved how Hoffman wove superstitions and folklore through the story, some common and some I’d never heard of.

I hit a bit of a reading slump mid-read, so it took me a while to finish, but definitely not because I didn’t enjoy the book. I’ve noticed that, for some reason, books with super long chapters (like this one, which is divided into 4 sections rather than traditional chapters) take me a lot longer to finish than books with shorter chapters.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

It’s satisfyingly happy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

kelseydaffodil's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, Death, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

ahopper7's review

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I finally read this book after years of having it on my shelf. It was hard for me to get into at first because the writing style is so different than most books. It reads like a fairytale rather than a start-to-finish story. When I switched over to the audiobook it was much more enjoyable. The last part, levitation, was my favorite part of the book. My favorite part is the relationship between sisters and the witchy vibes. I really do with their was more dialogue to love the. plot along instead of narration. I also think I went in a little biased because I’ve seen and loved the movie way before I even knew the book existed, so the book’s story wasn’t as lively for me. But overall I really enjoyed the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, and Sexual content