RATING: 4 STARS
2017; Simon & Schuster Canada

The Rules of Magic is the story of the Aunts (Jet and Frances) from Practical Magic) before Sally and Gillian came to live with them. This is technically a prequel, but I would read it after Practical Magic. I think first meeting them in PM, it allows you to become more absorbed in the story, and explains a bit more about Gillian and Sally's parents's background. I wasn't sure if I would like this one, as it's always a hit or miss when another book in the series is released quite a bit later. Also, would the Aunts' personality be what I had in my imagination. For me, this novel was absorbing and I look forward to the next book which takes on Maria Owen's story.

***I received a complimentary copy of this eBook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

This was so beautifully written! I loved Practical Magic and this prequel made me want to dive even deeper into their world of magic.

I love Alice Hoffman's writing, and this did not disappoint. She strikes an amazing balance between the supernatural and day-to-day human interactions.

I was so excited to read this book. I love the movie Practical Magic and have traveled to the area where part of the movie was filmed. I was a little concerned as I had tried several times to read Practical Magic. I am so glad I had the opportunity to read The Rules of Magic! What a great story!! One of my new favorites! Now I can't wait to give Practical Magic another try!!

This was an amazing read. I loved it from the moment that I picked it up. I could not put it down until the very last page was read. It moved along at a great pace, has an interesting, non stop story that keeps you interested from the very first word all the way till you reach the very last word. The characters are so real feeling that you feel as though you know them personally and that you are there with them experiencing what they are in that moment.

Alice Hoffman has written an incredible book, that you will not be sorry that you have read.

Special thanks to Alice Hoffman for writing this brilliant, haunting, novel and to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, Canada for providing me with a digital ARC of THE RULES OF MAGIC, enabling me to write this unbiased review.

"Reading an Alice Hoffman book is like falling into a deep dream where senses are heightened and love reigns supreme. THE RULES OF MAGIC is no exception." - JODI PICOULT, New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things.

"There is no remedy for love but to love more." - Henry David Thoreau

THE RULES OF MAGIC is the spellbinding prequel to PRACTICAL MAGIC.

It was with great anticipation that I started this book, and I was not disappointed. The characters seemed real and Alice Hoffman once again bewitched me with her wonderful writing.

Susanna Owens knows that her three children are different and although she wants to protect them, she allows them to leave home and spend their summer vacation with Aunt Isabelle in Massachusetts. Fanny, Jet and Vincent's lives change that summer in the early 1960s.
When the siblings return home to New York City, they know much more about themselves and the truth of who they are. In the 1600s the Owens family had a curse put on them and must never fall in love.
Tragedy strikes and we follow Fanny, Jet and Vincent as they leave childhood, make life altering decisions and grow into adulthood, all the while bearing in mind that they are cursed in love. Vincent and Fanny try to outwit the curse. Will they succeed?
There were several twists to this story, but surprisingly it all came together nicely, leading into the novel PRACTICAL MAGIC. I thoroughly enjoyed THE RULES OF MAGIC and am eager to start the next one in the series to see what lies in store for Fanny, Jet, and their nieces Sally and Gillian. If you liked Ami McKay's THE WITCHES OF NEW YORK, then you must read THE RULES OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman.
5 magical stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️

Rules of Magic or Rules for Life? A heartbreaking journey into a family's history with lessons about what it means to be human.

I loved reading the life story of the Owen siblings. Experiencing their joys, sorrows, and triumphs as they learned about their family legacy and about themselves. I really liked how the different periods in their lives were separated out into distinct sections in the book. I found their story very compelling and heartfelt.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. So easy to be swept away into this magical world and come back into your own world and see magic everywhere.

I loved this book! I haven’t read any of Alice Hoffman’s other work so what a great introduction. Upon finishing I went and downloaded (i.e. bought!!) Practical Magic to my ereader so I’ll get on that soon. The characters of this magical story are magical themselves and each unique and engaging in their own way. The story is wonderful and beautifully written. I’m so looking forward to learning more about the Owens family in Practical Magic.

Barely 3 stars.

I knew there was a chance The Rules of Magic wasn’t for me and unfortunately I was right. But I wanted to give it a try because I’ve liked other books by Hoffman and because of a few enthusiastic reviews by GR friends. The story focuses on three siblings — Franny, Jet and Vincent — who are born into a family of witches in the 1950s in Manhattan. They live with a curse that makes love dangerous for those they love. What unfolds is a long melancholic saga about living on the margins of society with the burden of prescience and their family curse. I find any fiction that contains magic or surreal elements challenging, but every now and then a book comes along that works for me. In this case, as a concept The Rules of Magic had the potential to be a clever thought experiment. What if a few people living in what is otherwise the real world had a few magic powers? But the delivery didn’t really work for me. Hoffman’s writing is very strong, but I found myself unable to connect with the characters and the story. It felt long and overly dramatic.

But as mentioned, many GR friends loved this one. So take my review with a grain of salt. For my part, I’ll try sticking with my instincts when it comes to books featuring witches or other supernatural elements.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read a complimentary copy. (It was an advance copy, but it took me a while to convince myself to read it.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't know what to expect because I wasn't familiar with the author. The book's themes are wonderful - love, spells and potions, and gives me a great indication of the 1960's generation. Alice Hoffman is able to cast a spell on her readers in which that they will not be able to put down the book once they begin to read it. I was totally drawn in right from the start!

The Rules of Magic is a prequel to Practical Magic, one of Hoffman’s best-known stories turned movie. It tells the tale of three siblings from a magical family: Franny, Jet, and Vincent Owens. Despite their mother’s best efforts to shield her children from their magical heritage, the three come into their abilities while coming of age in 1960s New York City.

Although this book is largely fantastic, it’s rooted in the reality of love and loss. The magical aspects of the story are touching and imaginative; just beyond the grasp of everyday life. Hoffman almost convinces her readers that if you dig a little deeper you too could be magical, and it’s because her characters are so human and so connected to the human experience, especially love and loss. As an elderly Owens aunt remarks, “Once upon a time I was young and beautiful. But that is the fairy tale, because it all happens in the blink of eye.” Ain’t that the truth.

Readers will adore these characters, especially Vincent whose reckless behaviour incites both tension and tenderness. You will become entrenched in their choices knowing there’s nothing you can do to prevent their inevitable pain. And because they are all victims and perpetrators their pain is justifiable and all too real. No one writes grief like Hoffman; it is all at once beautiful and devastatingly heartbreaking. Character relationships in Rules of Magic are ever-touching. The story asserts “when you truly love someone and they love you in return, you ruin your lives together.” What Hoffman does, however, is show readers that love is worth ruin. It’s magical, but it’s real, and, most of all, it’s hopeful.

As a long-time Hoffman fan, I’ve become accustomed to two certainties; while reading her books -- these whimsy-meets-realism treasures -- I’ll be wholly enchanted, but inevitably heartbroken. To be fair, Hoffman warns you of what’s to come. Her characters both celebrate and lament their humanity, all the while sensitive to the pain life inevitably brings. And so when I read a Hoffman story, I do so with a perpetual lump in my throat and a smile on my face.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

When I heard that the prequel to “Practical Magic” was coming out I was so excited, I was even more excited when I was granted permission to read this book in advance. This book does not fail to meet and exceed my expectations. I loved it!

I loved reading about Jet and Franny and their brother, Vincent (whom we had never heard of before.).It was an inspiring, love-filled, sad, heart-rendering book. I was captivated and taken back in time to learn of the aunts from one of my favourite books/movies. I loved their stories and this book seemlessly ends right where “Practical Magic” starts. I know that next time I watch the movie, it will be with fresh eyes and I might have to now re-read Practical Magic. Fantastic!

Read this book and then read Practical
Magic, you won’t be disappointed.

My full review can be found at
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2118950366

Such a charming and quirky read. I was captivated by the writing, the magic and the relationships. I only wish it had gone deeper and there had been more! The plot was definitely more literary than I was expecting, which was a good thing. The story is about love and loss, self-acceptance and grief. It's learning to take risk in love despite the threat of pain. I will continue reading Ms. Hoffman's work as she has a special gift when it comes to storytelling.

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a prequel to Practical Magic, but I loved it.

The pacing was good. The beginning was a little slow for me when Franny, Jet, and Vincent were children. But it became more exciting as they grew up.

I liked the way the curse followed them wherever they went. In their teenage ignorance, they didn’t think it would affect them but it did.

Throughout the whole book, I kept looking for hints to the characters in Practical Magic. I loved the way that the magic is passed through the generations of Owens women.

Though the story followed a similar format of Practical Magic, you can definitely read this as a standalone novel. I think I got more out of it since I was familiar with some of the characters in the town, as well as the aunts when they are old and mysterious witches, but the story could be read by itself. Since this is a prequel, I think you could read The Rules of Magic first and then follow the story chronologically.

I really enjoyed this novel, and I will look out for Alice Hoffman in the future.

I loved Faithful so much (one of my favourite reads of 2016) so when I had the chance to read the latest Alice Hoffman novel, The Rules of Magic, I was really excited. Unfortunately, The Rules of Magic didn’t elicit the same types of emotions. I found the characters to be one dimensional, self-centered, even stilted and I was unable to connect to them. The writing lacked fluidity and I just felt like there wasn’t a cohesive, encompasing story just a jumble of words an phrases. I know I’m in the minority here but I just didn’t enjoy this latest by an otherwise great author.

I read The Rules of Magic with eight of my Traveling Sisters and we all found this to be a very magical reading experience.

The Rules of Magic is a spellbinding, heartfelt and heartbreaking, insightful, sad and beautiful story that was so full of emotion for all of us. The story started off a little rocky for some of us at first as we were getting to know the Owens siblings. A lot was being told to us all at once but once we let that go and felt the magic within the storyline we were able to escape into this magical world of love, courage and a family curse. For the rest of the sisters, they were enchanted right from the start with this magically written story.

Alice Hoffman does a fantastic job here creating unique, quirky characters each of them with some danger to them. The tension builds as each deals with their own personal conflict and we loved their bond and support they had for each other. We all loved the animals in this story that made such wonderful characters themselves with their bonded relationship with one of the siblings.

We all felt a strong message throughout this story of love more, not less in so many different ways and that brought out such a wonderful discussion amongst each other. We dug deep into Hoffman’s insightful words and shared with each other the messages we each got from the stories allowing us to look at it differently had we read it on our own. We savored our discussion reading experience as we talked about the joy, love, loss, sorrow, acceptance, courage and support we felt within this wonderful story. We will be thinking of this discussion and this story for awhile. We highly recommend for group reads!

Thank you, NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Canada, and Alice Hoffman for a copy to read and review.

All of our Traveling Sisters Reviews can be found on our sister blog:
https://twogirlslostinacouleereading....

5 brilliant stars for this magically written story!
 
I absolutely loved everything about this book and savoured every single word that was written.  
 
THE RULES OF MAGIC by ALICE HOFFMAN was a fantastic, endearing, and a spellbinding novel that was an absolute joy to read.  It was a touching, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and a powerful story with a strong message of love and courage within the pages of this book.  I absolutely love a little bit of magical realism within my books but I think there was so much more to this story than that.  The words written were just as magical as the magic within the story.
 
This was a Traveling Sisters Group Read that we all absolutely raved over and didn't want it to end. I was quickly drawn into the magical world of the Owen’s family and the family curse. Would highly recommend!!
 
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Canada, and Alice Hoffman for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review!

I was very excited to read "Rules of Magic" because Practical Magic was a beloved movie from my childhood. I loved the down-to-earth yet slightly off kilter nature of the movie and was looking forward to returning to this world via Rules of Magic.

Ultimately, I thought that the story was a let down. Actually, the story itself wasn't bad and Hoffman's writing style was great. It was the characters that I had issues with. I don't think that Hoffman wrote convincing teenagers. Their thoughts and actions never rang true. A lot of the angst felt forced and like it had to get to a certain point which would lead us to Practical Magic.

I will definitely give Alice Hoffman another try but I will steer clear of any books she writes using teenagers as protagonists.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review; however, this review is based on the audiobook version.