Practical Magic

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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…

Synopses source: The StoryGraph

Review

Genre(s): Paranormal, Magical Realism
HB&W Rating: 3 stars
View on StoryGraph, Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble | Amazon

I read this as part of my 2025 Book Challenge for September: Adapted to the Screen. For more recommended reads, see my blog post here.

After the last book I read for this month’s prompt, The Duke and I, I was hoping for a spot of redemption with this beloved classic. I loved the movie and it holds a special place in my heart and I will absolutely be seeing the next one when it comes out, but this is one of those rare instances when the movie was absolutely better than the book.

Even borrowing from the mood set in the movie as I listened to this one, I just didn’t get the same vibe. The writing and descriptions felt messy and all over the place. It was difficult keeping track of whose voice we were reading when the scenes changed from Jillian to Antonia to Kylie to Sally’s perspectives in a single paragraph. But probably the worst infraction is that there was no tension, no eerie mood pervading this story.

It was a quick listen and I’m glad I finally have this one under my belt, but it just wasn’t for me.

Until next time,

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