This Book Put a Spell on Me

TITLE: The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic #0)
AUTHOR: Alice Hoffman
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster
PUBLISHING DATE: October 10, 2017

FROM GOODREADS: 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. 

MY THOUGHTS: I'm finding this review somewhat hard to write which is rare for a 5/5 book. Basically, from the first chapter, Hoffman worked some kind of magical spell within the pages and I found "The Rules of Magic" almost impossible to put down. In fact, although I enjoyed "Practical Magic," I had seen the movie first so I found the book a tad redundant. With this one, we get a fresh new tale about the Owens' family history and I was riveted to find out what happened long before we met Sally and Gillian.

"The Rules of Magic" follows three Owens' siblings - Franny (the stubborn one), Jet (the beautiful and whimsical one) and Vincent (the confused wanderer). From birth they are discouraged by their mother and father from learning about their heritage and are warned about all the things they should not do. However, one summer spent with their Aunt changes all of that. This book follows pretty much their entire lives and shows how they are cursed to always lose their true love.

This book was pure magic. I will caution that overall I wouldn't consider it an action-packed, exciting read. In fact, at times, it might seem quite slow. But for some reason, none of that bothered me. I even remember commenting while reading it that nothing was really happening in the book yet I couldn't stop reading to find out what comes next.

This was a perfect prequel to "Practical Magic" and at the end, the reader gets a glimpse of how Sally and Gilly came to live with Franny and Jet. While reading, I found myself growing so connected to the characters and I have to admit, Franny was my favorite. For anyone who loves Hoffman, or witches, or even just enjoyed the "Practical Magic" movie or book, you simply must grab a copy of this book. It lyrical and beautiful and a whole bunch of other adjectives I'm sure I don't need to detail. "The Rules of Magic" definitely ranks in one of my favorite top 5 reads of the year!

RATING: 5 PAWS