The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic, #0.2)

by Alice Hoffman

From beloved author Alice Hoffman comes the spellbinding prequel to her bestseller, Practical Magic.

Find your magic.

For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.

From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.

The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy. Thrilling and exquisite, real and fantastical, The Rules of Magic is a story about the power of love reminding us that the only remedy for being human is to be true to yourself.

Reviewed by thepunktheory on

4 of 5 stars

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Full review on my blog: www.thepunktheory.wordpress.com

Oh boy, I am in love with this novel. It's just about everything I had hoped for.
First of all, I love that it's set in the 60's. It's such a fascinating time and it works extremely well with the whole vibe of the book. The characters are all to die for. There's not a single one in there that I don't care about. Hoffman managed to evade warming up stereotypes. Whenever you think you know where it's going and just what that characters is like, you are surprised. The story itself is crafted wonderfully. The magic seeps out of every page without being too much in your face. Actually there's not that much magic going on but you can almost feel it hovering in the air. You can tell from the premise that there will be much sadness going on and I have to admit the book truly broke my heart. It was impossible for me to put it down, I just needed to know how the story would end. Maybe with a happy end? *Fingers crossed* But no spoilers here! Go and read it for yourself!

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  • Started reading
  • 22 November, 2018: Finished reading
  • 22 November, 2018: Reviewed