This was such an enjoyable book. I love the cozy, small, magical town. This was such a quick, easy, and entertaining read. It was perfect read for the fall season. I really enjoyed the mystery of what was happening to the magic in town, and was curious to see how everything would play out. If you’re looking for a cute witchy read with some Gilmore Girls vibes, add this one to your list!

Read if you enjoy:
✔️Second chance
✔️Witchy romance
✔️Cozy small town
✔️Slow burn
✔️Grumpy x sunshine

Impractical Magic by Emily Grimoire is pure joy from start to finish. The story follows Tessa, a young witch with incredible powers but hilariously little control over them. Her magical mishaps and journey of self-discovery kept me hooked, laughing one moment and rooting for her the next.

Grimoire’s writing is both funny and heartfelt, and the characters feel so real, especially Tessa’s eccentric grandmother, who adds an extra dose of charm. Beneath the humor, there’s a lovely message about embracing who you are—even the messy parts.

If you’re in the mood for a feel-good read that blends magic and self-acceptance, this book is for you. It left me smiling and believing in a little magic myself.

This was a cute idea with a Gilmore Girls vibe. I didn’t really enjoy this writing style though, just not for me.

I'm sad to say this wasn't for me.

I spent weeks trying to finish this because I just couldn't connect with anyone in this story. It didn't give me Gilmore Girls vibes or any vibes at all.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.

I wish I liked this more. I really tried to.

My Rating: ⭐⭐

Thank you to Avon Books for providing me a review copy of this publication.

In a world full of cozy, witchy, fall romcoms, this book just isn't it. It promises to fill some big shoes comparing to the likes of Gilmore Girls, and Charmed, and sadly just falls flat - for a few reasons.

First of all, I just could not get into any of the characters. Not a single one. Scarlett was annoying, Nate was a pushover, Scarlett's family was continuously unkind to her (yet suddenly all is forgiven in the end even though they spend the whole book telling her that she can't do anything right). The townsfolk.. well they don't really get enough time to be worth writing about. I just didn't care about any one of them.

Secondly, far too many pop culture references. Look - not all books are going to stand the test of time, but you're pretty much guaranteed not to when you fill your book with real-life references to current events and media. And this isn't a criticism towards the author, specifically - I don't particularly care for any books that do this. But here, it gets excessive. And who really wants to walk through a portal and end up in Trump towers?

Third, I was told this was perfect for fans of grumpy x sunshine. So tell me why this book did not deliver? 😭 No, but for real, did I miss something? Who was meant to be grumpy?

Lastly - the dialogue. It just felt a little too over the top, and I couldn't picture a single scenario where characters would actually have the kind of back and forth I was reading. Lorelai Gilmore is an anomaly, you can't convince me of a whole town that talks this way. I know it's fiction and I'm meant to suspend my disbelief, but I prefer to do that with things like magic and not the way the characters are interacting with one another.

Okay, I lied, a couple more honorable mentions. Maybe it's just the editing, but the way the story progressed felt really kind of choppy in areas? The tone of the ending just felt so off from the rest of the story, too. Like we had this lighthearted feeling, and then we got super serious for all of a chapter before we went back to the carefree storytelling. "Hey I lost a year of my life, but I'm not phased. Look, no trauma, want to bang before we go tell everyone I'm alive?" 😭

Witchy small-town, slow-burn vibes. The plot and characters had strong potential, but overall, the story just didn’t resonate with me. There was quite a bit of unnecessary repetition in my opinion.

Cute little fairytale about witches in a New England enclave. The prodigal daughter must return home and save the town’s magic. The plot was fun and I liked how it turned out.

This was such a perfect book to read in October. It had all of the perfect fall vibes you could want and I really enjoyed it. I hope we get more books from Emily Grimoire soon!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

This book has plenty of witty charm, magical elements and a little bit of romance mixed in. Very Charmed meets Gilmore girls and is a perfect read for this autumn season.

Scarlett returns to her hometown full of magic after leaving abruptly 10 years ago when her father passed away. When she runs into her former best friend, possible love interest things heat up again. The will they or won't they vibe picks up where it left off. The town's magic is on the fritz which leads Scarlett and her family to figure out what is going on.

I received an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

This book is a tough one to rate. The plot itself is pretty good, and I found myself very curious to see how the story played out. And as I struggled with other aspects of the book, that interest is the only thing that kept me from DNFing it. There's a mystery aspect where Scarlett, and the other townfolks of Oak Haven, try to discover why their magic is going haywire. And it was executed well-enough.

Now for the parts that make this book a slog to get through. The dialogue in this book is hard to get through. I was reminded of when I worked on a transcription of a panel interview back when I was in school. My first time transcribing the interview, I tried to be as accurate as possible and put all the "umms" and "hmms", etc. My editor bounced it back to me telling me that transciption is not about having the most accurate dialogue, but also about cleaning it up to make it more legible. Grimoire needs to take that advice while writing dialogue. She adds a lot of conversational filler words. And there's also something very stitled and unnatural about the way her characters talk to each other. Sometimes I felt like I was reading mediocre Gilmore Girls fanfiction, where the main characters were witches.

Overall I'd give Impractical Magic 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this.
I didn't love this. 2/5 stars. It has ALL the cozy fall vibes: a witch moves back to her hometown when things start falling apart. It was toted as Gilmore Girls meets magic meets friends to lovers...all directly up my alley. But the delivery left alot to be desired.
This was very pop culture heavy but not plot heavy, which is a dynamic I don't love. I LOVE me a good pop culture reference, but not when it seems so heavy handed. Nate/Scarlett really never got off the ground developmentally, and while I felt like they should be together, I never really felt a good why. A lot of it seems very hokey and full of wonderful fall vibes but again, more VIBES less plot. After finishing, I wasnt even fully sure I knew what the book was about.

This read felt like it was giving Gilmore Girls meets witch vibes—the perfect aesthetic for fall! I enjoyed reading this book in October for this reason!

The conflict is due to an impediment with the town’s magic. None of the spells the witches perform are turning out right, but no one knows why. The town’s famous family, the Melroses, are tasked with remedying the situation to stabilize the community once again. Scarlet Melrose, whose been on a 10 year hiatus from her hometown, returns to help her family, worrying she will cause more damage due to her past spell-tastrophes… but will she be the key to fixing it all?

This book is comical and cute in moments! I enjoyed the easy going banter and magical elements that swept me away. However, the characters were not always likable and that made it hard to engage or root for them. I wanted to see them kick butt and get their magic fixed, but I didn’t really feel invested in their personal relationships or care about the “will they won’t they” because, honestly, I didn’t think they all deserved so many chances. Some of the characters are quite selfish and dramatic, and as a high school teacher, I get my fill of that elsewhere.

Still, the storyline was cute and the aesthetic was cozy. It’s a read I enjoyed once, but wouldn’t probably read again!

I do love me some cozy witchy reads for the fall season.
There was something missing with this one. I love the idea but it was lacking and a bit much with the references.
It was still fun and full of magic and mystery.

The Grumpy/ Sunshine trope within this book is done perfectly! you find yourself adoring both characters as their story unfolds and we truly get to know them as individuals throughout.
The entire book is so wonderfully written it is impossible to put it down! I loved it.,

This was cute but only ok. Scarlett heads back home after being away for about 10 years. Her magical town has been cursed and her family needs her help to get everything back in order. Scarlett is still struggling with the past when she helped save the city and her dad ended up dying. Scarlett gave up witchcraft after that and is reluctant to use it now. I found it pretty east to guess who was behind the mayhem even though no one in town could figure it out.

This was so cute and cozy. I got a little frustrated with the characters at times, but I feel like the family struggle aspect was really relatable. I just enjoyed the cozy vibes of this sm!!

I had high expectations for this book but it feel flat. I was hoping that it would deliver on the cozy fall vibes but there wasn't a lot of that. It was mostly a good story with a good plot but there was a lot going on and then it felt like the resolution was written very quickly and everything wrapped up nicely without ever addressing the underlying issues. I adored the characters and the world so I was just hoping for a little more!

3.5 stars for me. The premise of this book was great and everything I was looking for - small town, autumnal vibes, witchy drama but I’m sorry to say it fell flat for me. I really did not like the main character and I think that’s what was holding back my enjoyment of the book. I found her immature and annoying, very self-centered and she bickered with everyone, which I tired quite quickly of. The actual story was quite interesting and I enjoyed reading about the beautiful small town and the problem Scarlett and her family encountered and how they solved it. I think on the whole, I enjoyed the story but it did fall flat.

Impractical Magic had a great premise but felt a little clunky in places. There was a lot of over-explaining of some ideas and not enough for others. It was generally fine and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but there could have been some revising to make everything feel more cohesive. It was definitely a nice cozy read that is perfect for the fall, but tried really hard to be like Gilmore Girls and kind of missed the mark. If you are looking for a read that is pretty easy to get through and doesn't require you to focus a whole lot (it's a little difficult sometimes with how much exposition is given in some parts and it's just too much to work with). Overall it was a pleasant read and I'm glad I had the opportunity to give it a try.