Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

38 reviews

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

beckyhofman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

bxnnny's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

i've already read practical magic but i honestly feel like i liked the rules of magic more, which makes me sad because the movie is truly my favorite! the movie just was much stronger overall in comparison to its book counterpart. i feel like this book, in comparison to the first, was a more compelling story with more fleshed-out and realistic characters. it was interesting seeing the aunts in their early lives before sally and gillian, and to learn more about vincent and his role. i did find frances annoying at times, especially when it came to haylin, but i overall really enjoyed the characters and their stories. i cried a couple of times throughout and there were some really touching moments.

i feel like i want to re-read practical magic now to see if my feelings have changed and to generally see how i feel about the story/characters, knowing what i know now about their ancestors. but maybe once i finish the entire series, i'll go back and read them all chronologically! for now, i'll read them in the order they were released.

in short, this book was honestly a really well-done follow-up to practical magic and i'm excited to read the next installment!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

hannah_beth_charles's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

I found the novel choppy, repetitive and focused more on telling than showing the background and world in the beginning. I enjoyed Isabelle’s character and Jet’s quiet but still impactful moments.  Franny was annoying and I would see her as a villain in the way she handled her frustrating relationship with Haylin. I liked the concept but I don’t think the story was executed well.

Vincent and April having a baby was out of place and just odd to me. I also didn’t like how much Vincent was sexualised at such a young age. It was gross and uncomfortable and I don’t think it was made to feel wrong in the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, and Car accident

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ksilvio's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Murder

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Another fantastic tale in the Owens family, this time following the old aunts we meet in Practical magic, Frannie and Jet, and their brother Vincent, growing up and navigating life and the curse in their own way.

It was everything I've come to expect, beautifully generational, tragically heartbreaking and absolutely moving.

It transitioned fantastically to the start of Gillian and Sally's story.

The one thing that gave me he ick was all the incest, no matter how distant, was so gross and accompanied with the underaged stuff happening on top of that... Just why. I really wish this was done differently.

Despite that major discomfort, again, this was a beautifully told, magical family saga! I have loved pouring over the history of the Owens' - they feel so real - and I'm so sad that I only have one more book left. Can't believe it had taken me so long to get to a series I so obviously knew I would love!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest, Suicide, and Death of parent

ginbat's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Easy to get sucked into. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket, Wes Andersen, Forrest Gump and The Little Prince.

The plot is somewhat sad/bittersweet. But the true art is in the writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Incest, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

There may be a lot of triggering things in this book, but because of the way the book is written, they pass by quickly to move on to the next (also triggering) thing. Death happens relatively frequently for instance, but specifically the death of a parent isn't a repeated thing. If something triggers you but you still want to continue reading, it's generally pretty easy to skip a few pages and then it won't be brought up again. Except for death!! If someone dies that shit is brought up like crazy! Incest:

is it really incest if it's your ninth cousin twice removed?

Addiction/Alcoholism:

One of the main characters becomes and alcoholic at like 14

Death/Grief:

people lowkey drop like flies and then people are sad about it

alexjoneswrites's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.75

Really enjoyable and wonderful to read. I really like how the prequel because a full circle towards the end as someone who grew up watching the video of the original so much it wore out! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

silvasketches's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Pedophilia, and Death of parent