Practical Magic
Ratings134
Average rating3.5
The movie, of course, is a cult classic and uses the main storyline and characters in this book. However, to compare the two would be a disservice to both. The book by itself without being compared to the movie is a magical experience that allows you deeply know the characters on a whole other level.
As usual with an Alice Hoffman book, I could barely put this one down. So lovely.
So much meh. Perhaps this book resonates more with people who have siblings (particularly sisters), but I had a hard time enjoying the plot or any of the characters. That being said, I adore the movie and think it addresses some of the sibling complications and the romance elements in a better way. I'm still looking forward to giving [b:The Rules of Magic 34037113 The Rules of Magic Alice Hoffman https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492802012s/34037113.jpg 55038896] a shot though.
I mean... it's a classic for a reason! I still love the film, which is a childhood favourite, but I prefer the book. And will happily read it again (and again). It's delightfully dark in places and, as I was pleasantly surprised to find our, the original is much more adult than the film. A great read!
4 stars this book is very different from the movie (which is one of my absolute favourite).
It's not a bad book or an unpleasant one, but I'm sorry to say that now I'm part of the-movie-was-better army :(
There's something about reading a book that a friend loves and loving it so much yourself. It's just so special to share love for the same stories and share what you experienced while reading. I have loved the movie, Practical Magic, for a very long time, but I never had read the book. I'm usually very much a read before watching girlie, but I didn't even realize the film was adapted from the book until a few years ago. This is a beautiful story of mothers and daughters, sisters, friendship, and love. It's a much deeper look into the lives of our favorite Owens women and their relationship with love and everything that love brings with it. This edition has an introduction written by the author, and she spoke about how she hears often from readers of how their mothers shared this story with them. This story is truly multi-generational— you have the aunts, Sally and Gillian, and Antonia and Kylie (Sally's daughters). Three generations of Owens women determined to not be like the generation before them, but through life discovering the importance of love and family. As someone who has sisters, friends I view as sisters, and three daughters, this story really spoke to me! Practical Magic is adult fiction, 16+ for language and content.
I read this book because I adore the movie. Now, usually, I tell people to read the book before watching the movie because the movie never delivers quite the same impact.
I'd say the same thing with this book, except that it's not just the impact, this book felt like an entirely different story from the movie! I was so accustomed to the pacing of the movie, the theme and what was important, that I often found myself bewildered and wondering what the point was with a particular passage.
I didn't dislike this book, I was just surprised by how different it was from the movie. It wasn't the sort of explicit magic the movie portrays. It's a quiet read, for sure.
Like many other people, I'm sure, I picked this up because I saw the movie and liked it. The movie is quite charming and charismatic, and the book shares these traits. It has a rather Gilmore Girls feel: cozy, feminine-driven, romantic. For the most part I like how Hoffman has written this. By that I mean I like the words she uses, the sweetness and wonder with which she constructs the world of the story. But Hoffman narrates a LOT. I'd say the entire book is 85% narration, 15% dialogue. I am not talking about standard narration. And when I say she narrates a lot, I mean she explains everything you'd possibly need to know in any given scene in order to understand it. Hoffman introduces a character in a scene, and narrates what the character is doing, why they are doing it, how they are feeling, and why they are feeling that way. And I don't mean she explains it through character introspection or symbolism. She lists all the information the reader needs, and it gets very, very tedious the longer you read. Here is an example:
“Sally thought long and hard each time she hung up the phone. She thought about the girl in the drugstore and the sound of Antonia's footsteps on the stairs when she went to bed without a good-night hug. She thought about Michael's life and his death, and about every second they had spent together. She considered each of his kisses and all the words he had ever said to her. Everything was still gray— the paintings Antonia brought home from school and slipped beneath her door, the flannel pajamas Kylie wore on chilly mornings, the velvet curtains that kept the world at bay. But now Sally began to order things in her mind— grief and joy, dollars and cents, a baby's cry and the look on her face when you blew her a kiss on a windy afternoon. Such things might be worth something, a glance, a peek, a deeper look.”
Practical Magic
Soft DNF. I like the movie too much and so it's interfering with me getting through the book. I will have to get back to this later
this was fine.
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-229-practical-magic/
I loved it (of course!). The imagery is wonderful and the character insights are great. My only problem was that I tend to read right before I go to bed, and sometimes in the middle of the long, flowing sections, I'd notice myself getting lost or looking for a place to pause. But that's a minor thing. I will definitely be looking for The Rules of Magic now!
it was okk but I kept finding myself wanting to skim the lists that she uses to express everything that can possibly be expressed. not awful though
I had read the final three books ([b:The Rules of Magic 34037113 The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic, #0.2) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492802012l/34037113.SX50.jpg 55038896], [b:Magic Lessons 50892349 Magic Lessons (Practical Magic, #0.1) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593355938l/50892349.SX50.jpg 75786942], and [b:The Book of Magic 56898179 The Book of Magic (Practical Magic, #2) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631120142l/56898179.SX50.jpg 88976021]) in the “magic” series by [a:Alice Hoffman 3502 Alice Hoffman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1590599928p2/3502.jpg], but for some reason, I had seen the movie for [b:Practical Magic 22896 Practical Magic (Practical Magic, #1) Alice Hoffman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1629464836l/22896.SY75.jpg 4030671], but hadn't read the book. So glad I finally did.As always, the book was so much better, and it made the other books in the series make sense. When you skip reading PRACTICAL MAGIC and only see the movie, you wonder where all these people/characters came from to populate the rest of the series.I loved this book! What I like the most are the passages where Hoffman addresses the reader. It's happens in the “you” paragraphs. You don't realize she doing it at first, but she is drawing you into the story when she does. For instance:“That's when Kylie comes down from her bedroom. Her face is pale and her hair is sticking straight up. If Gillian stood before a mirror, that was stretched to present someone younger and taller and more beautiful, she'd be looking at Kylie. When you're thirty-six and you're confronted with this, so very early in the morning, your mouth can suddenly feel parched, your skin can feel prickly and worn out, no matter how much moisturizer you've been using. “Another example is:“The most Sally can do is watch as Kylie's isolation becomes a circle: the lonelier you are, the more you pull away, until humans seem an alien race, with customs and a language you can't begin to understand. This Sally knows better than most. She know it late at night, when Gillian is at Ben Frye's, and the moths tap against the window screens, and she feels so separated from the summer night that those screens might as well be stones.”Hoffman's lyrical prose is like a character in the story. It inspires mystery, surprise, and despair, often multiple times on the same page. Not only do you need to read this book, you need to read everything she's ever written. But I'm hardly impartial. I love Alice Hoffman.
This was one of those books where, in my opinion, not a whole lot happened. Perhaps I am used to the ‘murder most foul' genre, where brutal attacks are my forte, so this was mild. However, I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the fact that, even though nothing happened, it was a true study in the human personality. I was fascinated by the author's explanation of the powerful women in the Owens' family and the personalities that were true magic. I am really looking forward to reading the other 2 (prequels?) I am still trying to get down what order they should be in. Anyways, the movie used to scare me when I was younger (ask Trish), but I believe that was on account of the brutal beating scene with Gillian and maybe the death? Oh how I've grown from that lol. Anyways, ramble aside, this was a good story about women who stick together through the thick of it all.
I enjoyed this story of two pairs of sisters whose lives were touched by magic. I especially liked how both Gillian and Sally and Kylie and Antonia learned to take risks, trust their feelings and appreciate each other over time.
“Practical Magic” is a novel that promises magic and enchantment, but ultimately falls short of expectations. While the premise is intriguing - two sisters navigating their magical heritage in a small New England town - the execution is lacking, with a plot that meanders and characters that fail to fully engage.
Hoffman's writing is often poetic and evocative, but the pacing of the novel is uneven and the narrative is bogged down by lengthy descriptions and tangential subplots. The characters, while interesting in concept, are poorly developed, with little depth or nuance to their personalities.
Moreover, the novel's portrayal of magic and witchcraft feels superficial and underdeveloped. The supernatural elements of the story are never fully explored or integrated into the narrative, leaving the reader with a sense of unfulfilled potential.
Note: The movie is a mere skim off the top of this book, with a heaping tablespoon of whimsy, and a hefty dose of Hollywood glopped on towards the end. You'll recognize things from the movie in this book - but they're really not the same animal. I enjoyed both. I liked this book, I'm glad I read it, but I did not love it enough to relegate it to the shelf of things I cherish and reread over and over again. 3 1/2 stars.
“Practical Magic” by Alice Hoffman left me feeling underwhelmed. While Hoffman's writing shows potential, with a few memorable quotes and reflections that stand out, the story itself felt lazy, and the characters failed to engage. While the portrayal of motherhood was handled reasonably well, the depiction of sisterhood was disappointing. The sisters shared no genuine connection until a traumatic event, making that part of the plot feel forced and underdeveloped. The portrayal of women was particularly disappointing, as they seemed defined by their beauty or their relationships with men, which felt outdated and reductive. The murder plot, which had the potential for real intrigue, ultimately fell flat. Instead, we spent full chapters on side characters who added little to the narrative, detracting from the main storyline (which I'm still trying to figure out if there was one). Overall, this book was a letdown despite its moments of promise. I've heard the movie is better and am excited to watch it!