A Book Review: The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman
I picked up this audio book because it was Reese Witherspoon's Book Club selection for the month. I didn't realize it was a prequel to Practical Magic until I was ready to click "order," and I could not have been more excited to read it. I LOVE that movie. So much so that I had everyone in my wedding walk out to a song from the soundtrack for that movie. I love that my niece is named Jillian because of that movie. (I mean I love it because of that, not that she was named that because of the movie....or was she? little Jillybean!) That movie was where I discovered Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks.. Talk about a great soundtrack! All of this to say, I was thrilled about this book.
Practical Magic follows the lives of Gillian and Sally Owens and The Rules of Magic gives us more Owens family history with a look into the early lives of the Aunts that raise Gillian and Sally after their parents fall victim to the Owens curse. Most of this review is based on the assumption that you know at least a little about Practical Magic, so if you are clueless here, just go watch the movie and come back....
OK, so now that we are all on the same page. Who wouldn't want to know more about Franny and Jet? These ladies seem to have lived the most interesting and amazing lives, full of love and loss and adventures before settling into that amazing house and it's true. AND it all happened early in their lives. The sisters and their brother grew up in New York unaware of their family history. They are sent to stay for the summer with their own Aunt in the Owens home when the oldest daughter, Franny, turns 16. This is where they learn a little about themselves and their story really begins.
I will not spoil anything because I hate having anything revealed before I get there myself. But, as in the movie, some fall victim to the curse and heartbreak is a part of the story line for this entire family. This cannot be avoided in a story about these young girls. The curse means falling in love leads to the demise of the object of you affections. I do have to say that the story line gets a little muddled from the time of the first major conflict to the end. There are some secondary conflicts that pull the story along to get the sisters to where we know they end up. The confusion comes in to play when trying to figure out their ages through all of those events. Years are skipped. It is hard to picture the characters getting older and the clues about the timeline come from the characters around the women. In all honesty, this could just be a problem with me listening to this as an audio book while I'm driving and missing small bits while paying attention to the road, or because of starting and stopping the book without having a real way to look back on previous paragraphs and skim for the information my brain missed while multi-tasking. Such is the life of an audio book listener.
My favorite parts of the book are the little tidbits about magic. The uses for plants, what to use when and for what. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when they work spells and when there's a voice over about planting lavender at the garden gate and other "rules" for magic. So that is right up my alley. I love all things witch. Fictional as most of this is, it still scratches that itch of being a teenager in the 90's and wanting so badly to be a real witch. I picture myself as one of the red headed Owens sisters. Probably more Franny
I'd recommend the book if you are familiar with Practical Magic or if you plan on reading it at some point. It might be interesting to read them in opposite order of release. It's not amazing or even wonderfully written in my opinion, but like I said, it scratches the itch. It's a good vacation book. Easily devoured in a weekend and it ends quite well, especially if you know where the story goes, which you do! because you went and watched the movie first, right?
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