Review: Practical Magic
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Genre: Fiction | Publication Date: 7/1/1995 | Pages: 286 | Month read: September 2024
What made me pick this up?
Like most millennial women, I grew up watching and loving the movie, Practical Magic. When I got back into reading in 2022, I decided to start reading the series in chronological order—I read Magic Lessons in 2022 and The Rules of Magic in 2023, so this year was finally time for me to read the original that started it all.
“But there are some things I know for certain: Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can.”
GoodReads synopsis: The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman.
For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape.
One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic...
My Thoughts
Organizing my thoughts about this book is difficult because historically, when I’ve seen a movie/show adaptation of a book before reading it, I typically don’t enjoy the book as much. It takes away some of the magic of reading when I’ve already seen the story come to life through someone else’s eyes. This book in particular is also difficult to review because it was written in the 90s, which is both reflected in Hoffman’s less developed writing style and some off-putting remarks in the book about relationship dynamics that are of the times but haven’t aged well.
Let’s highlight the good: Obviously, revisiting the Owens family universe! It was surreal reading this knowing that this is where everything started, ultimately leading to 30 years of stories in the form of the movie, prequel and sequel books (and soon, movie sequel!)
I was surprised by how different the plot was from the movie, and ultimately think the movie adaptation is a better story because the plot threads it follows are more compelling. The book felt like a lot more telling versus showing, scratching the surface but without a lot of depth. In comparing this book to the two prequels, there’s also quite a bit less magic! It felt more like women’s fiction than witchy, magical realism.
Overall, I think this book is required reading only if you’re embarking on reading the series. I’d recommend reading the books in published order and go into this one with neutral, if not loose, expectations. This way, you can appreciate Hoffman’s evolution and growth as a writer and experience the fleshing out of the universe as she develops it through the years. If you’re not going to read the series in full, then I’d skip this and stick with re-watching the movie.
My rating: ★★★
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
For my past reviews of the series prequels, check out my past Bookstagram posts:
Magic Lessons review (book #0.1, published 2020)
The Rules of Magic review (book #0.2, published 2017)
The Book of Magic (book #2, published 2021) - review to come in fall 2025!
