A review by mxunsmiley
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

2.0

What can I say... it was complete nonsense. Definitely not her best because I'm usually a fan of Alice Hoffman, so I was surprised to find myself in utter disbelief at how messy this whole novel was. A lot of things from the beginning didn't make sense to me--why did the local kids suddenly want to date or emulate Gillian in high school, for example, when all their lives before were filled with hatred and teasing and fear? Why did the aunts immediately warm up to Michael, Sally's husband, when prior to that it was mentioned that they hated conventionality and he was the most ordinary of men? Why was the misfortune the Owens experienced completely changed on a whim, when it was maintained that they were supremely unlucky in love? Why did the investigator who supposedly loved getting to the bottom of things just accept the fact that Jimmy was dead and leave it at that, even covering for Sally? Why did they somehow fall in love (or: want to fuck each other silly, as that what this novel equates love to being essentially by the end) for no reason at all?

I only give it 2 stars because I love Alice Hoffman but man, the writing here was also extremely sloppy and soap opera-y. I can only describe it as reminiscent of a Hallmark movie. It was also fairly entertaining and I can't say that the characters weren't interesting at least, though many an eye roll was gestured.