A review by skillyillian
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

dark emotional funny 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

3.75

absolutely had to read this bc i grew up loving the movie. unfortunately, it took me the better part of six months to get through. most of that is me being busy, but part of it was because this book takes a long time to say anything. that being said, i did really like it. the way hoffman writes is magic in and of itself, but she is also seriously verbose to a fault, and can make the book feel like it's dragging on sometimes. gillian shows up to sally's with her, ahem, problem, and it takes literally ages for the story to get on after that. it's a lot of weird weather and romantic drama until the very end of the book, when everything gets solved in about a chapter, maybe two.

i did like how sally's girls are teens in the book, rather than little kids like in the movie. it made them feel more like their own people, rather than accessories for sally. i actually really wish the movie had kept them older, and included the love interests and everything too. i think the movie focused too much on sally, as much as i adore and relate to her. gillian deserved her love interest as much as sally did, but in the movie she doesn't get the kind of closure that you can get from finding a good partner after years of shitty ones. justice for movie gillian!!! maybe it'll be in the second one, idk.

moving on though! the descriptions hoffman writes are lovely. the way magic is as innate and intuitive as the sky is blue is so, so, so darling, even when she's describing sad or difficult things, it just makes you want to sigh and look out a window. i wish i could inject alice hoffman's writing style directly into my veins. i think it would probably cure my depression.

sally and gillian's relationship reminded me so much of my own relationship with my sister, like hoffman watched us grow up and then wrote our story with magic tossed in by the fistful. the same with antonia and kylie. god all four of them reminded me of my life with my sister. i cried several times. there's so much healing and love (and trauma bonding) and it just finds the cracked parts of your heart and soothes them in the same way you'd pet a grumpy cat until their hackles went back down and they cuddled with you.

i do wish the romance had taken longer, i'm not a huge fan of insta-love, but i'll give hoffman a pass because of the magic of it. it was better than the movie, where the aunts did it for sally bc she was so sad and pathetic in their eyes. i do wish the aunts had been in the book more, but i know they have a book of their own, so i might pick it up someday. anyway, long review short: good book. takes far too long to say or do any damn thing, but still worth the read, if you're here for the vibes and not in any kind of hurry. unfortunately i need stories with a little more plot and a lot less fluff, otherwise this would have definitely made it above four stars.

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