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gilliske's review against another edition
3.0
De eerste helft vond ik maar zozo... --> 2 sterren
De tweede helft daarentegen vond ik veel beter en maakte me benieuwd naar het vervolg --> 4 sterren.
Samen maakt dat 3 sterren :-)
De tweede helft daarentegen vond ik veel beter en maakte me benieuwd naar het vervolg --> 4 sterren.
Samen maakt dat 3 sterren :-)
morgob's review against another edition
5.0
This book was a nice surprise! It was an emotional rollercoaster for sure, but I would definitely read it again. I suppose the thing that surprised me the most was the adult themes. I heard that the movie was supposed to be a cute, lighthearted movie, so I expected the book to be similar, but that is not the case. There are lighthearted bits, but most of it is about love. Deep, devoted, full-of-grief love. It was a really great story about three generations of women sort of working together to end a conflict. Honestly, though, some of the women were not great. Like, I could not stand Antonia or Gillian for most of the book. Gillian was the worst. Yes, she had bad things happen to her, but she was also just mostly a horrible person. Poor Sally, is what I kept saying. Actually, honestly there were times I couldn't stand any of the characters. They all had parts when they were annoying. The characters had high points and low points for sure.
The good part of the story was any time they mentioned their quirky little magic. The aunts and their eccentricities were definitely a plus. Any time something off was explained, little remedies for things, and strange things that happened, I loved the book a little bit more. I actually loved the part where the young girl was being chased by drunk men across the field, not because I enjoyed it or anything, but that is just a really accurate telling of something that happens to women and girls anywhere. I have experienced similar things. I liked how surprisingly real this book was, if that makes sense. And, of course, I loved the cutesy magic bits, like the ending. I already recommended this book to one of my older students. It's a sort of feel-good book that focuses on love, but--more importantly--the bond between sisters. And that is something I can fully relate to.
The good part of the story was any time they mentioned their quirky little magic. The aunts and their eccentricities were definitely a plus. Any time something off was explained, little remedies for things, and strange things that happened, I loved the book a little bit more. I actually loved the part where the young girl was being chased by drunk men across the field, not because I enjoyed it or anything, but that is just a really accurate telling of something that happens to women and girls anywhere. I have experienced similar things. I liked how surprisingly real this book was, if that makes sense. And, of course, I loved the cutesy magic bits, like the ending. I already recommended this book to one of my older students. It's a sort of feel-good book that focuses on love, but--more importantly--the bond between sisters. And that is something I can fully relate to.
kharkeyz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
hiiiii!!! finished this one quite a bit ago based on this review, so i'm not going too in depth here. i'm mainly writing this post-completion of the final installment of this series [i am extremely numbed and emotional]. upon some reflection of this novel, as the first publication of this series, i can somewhat understand why the series was so overlooked in general. i mainly began reading this series after my mom gave me raving reviews, and i've hardly ever heard the series anywhere else. this installment serves as a great stepping stone to the overall wrap-up of the story of the owens family, howeverrrrrrr as a stand alone i found it as the weakest link. i originally had issues finding interest in the owens family starting from the first prequel in the series, but over time and learning about the characters, every novel serves a purpose. this wouldn't be my first foray into the owens family HOWEVER it serves as an important bridge to the final product, showing us how the curse and how magic affects the owens women in a more modern setting, especially showing how they've chosen to deal with the burden bestowed upon them. the characters introduced here do grow more loveable in the fourth installment, or their second appearances, and a large part of this story revolves around keeping faith as a reader that it'll all come together in the end.
tldr; make sure to read the series in order! this one is weaker than the others, but it was still wonderful to read :)
tldr; make sure to read the series in order! this one is weaker than the others, but it was still wonderful to read :)
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
2.0
So I LOVED the movie as a kid so I was really excited to pick this up and get either a different perspective, a little more into the characters or some fun differences between it and the movie I loved so much and I was very disappointed.
I feel like the movies has everything from the book and more, and I prefer the movies choices over the books. I didn't enjoy the writing of the book because it felt like it wasn't showing me anything. Just telling me stuff.. Now I am thinking of reading another book from the series to see HOW much of my dislike of this is because the movie is so great in my eyes.. I feel like even if the writing is lacking with the other books at least I'll get new information and might enjoy that if nothing else.
(I should mention that I usually really enjoy comparing books and movies and seeing what they do the same or do differently and that usually doesn't effect my enjoyment of either books or movie/tv show)
I feel like the movies has everything from the book and more, and I prefer the movies choices over the books. I didn't enjoy the writing of the book because it felt like it wasn't showing me anything. Just telling me stuff.. Now I am thinking of reading another book from the series to see HOW much of my dislike of this is because the movie is so great in my eyes.. I feel like even if the writing is lacking with the other books at least I'll get new information and might enjoy that if nothing else.
(I should mention that I usually really enjoy comparing books and movies and seeing what they do the same or do differently and that usually doesn't effect my enjoyment of either books or movie/tv show)
barbara_'s review against another edition
2.0
This book was only ok for me. The writing style was very bland to me and a lot of the book felt like a really long prologue or summary of their lives instead of a journey I was on with them. Once the action started it seemed there was very little payoff for all the buildup. I don’t know if it’s because I saw the movie a long time ago so I knew kind of what was going to happen, but the climax of the story resolved itself too quickly. I also was not a fan of everyone falling in love at first sight with all of the Owens women. I was hoping for more.
erintowner's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. I picked it up because I loved the movie but the book is spookier. I often found myself stopping to re-read a beautiful passage or think about all the different things it can mean to be a woman in love. And it made me want to cast some spells.