The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Author: Hoffman, Alice
Title: The Rules of Magic

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2017
Pages: 384
Price: $22.00 CAN (paperback)
"Find your magic"



       Right away, I'd like to admit that I have never read the original book "Practical Magic" nor have I seen the movie starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. In fact, until I read this book, I hadn't been aware there was a previous book or movie. Perhaps one has to read the original book to find this book enjoyable because I did not. The Rules of Magic is a prequel to Practical Magic, following the aunts and grandfather of Practical Magic's protagonists, Sally and Gillian. Sally and Gillian's weird and cooky aunts were introduced in Practical Magic, so I'm led to understand, and were likeable wise women who had seen enough to know the workings of the world, including the magical world.

     However, in The Rules of Magic, the aunts - Franny and Jet - are unfamiliar and unlikable. Franny is quite rude to everyone for the entirety of the book and Jet leads a very sad, dismal life, unafraid to really go after what she wants. The aunts also have a brother, Vincent, who is a bar-loving, womanizing musician who practices the darker sides of magic (for parts of the book anyway). We find out later why Vincent behaves the way he does, but his character doesn't seem to develop morally in the way readers would like. Later in the book when he is drafted to fight in the Korean war, he fakes his death and runs away to hide in France for the remainder of his life. I thought this was a very pathetic and cowardly thing to do.

    Franny and Jet seem to allow their lives to be completely and wholly dictated by this supposed curse that affects the women in their family: Whenever an Owens woman falls in love, it will end tragically. This part really confused me because there are parts in the story where they seem to conclude that this means they should simply love harder, but then they change their minds and avoid the loves of their lives. They hop back and forth a few times, unsure really what the meaning of the curse is, and I'm not sure I ever really understood it myself. It seemed unnecessary and confused to even the author, and yet it was practically the main premise of the book.

    Also, everyone dies.

   Not like Game of Thrones where the deaths are surprising and alluring, no, these deaths are just random and silly. I still don't even understand how the parents died. From my understanding, they were in a taxi that ran over a curb and hit a teenage boy. How exactly does this kill the vehicle's occupants upon impact? I don't know.

  I found this story overall didn't really seem to have a direction, as if the author just sat down and started typing, not really sure where the story was headed. I thought the entire book was going to be about the three teenage siblings during one summer at their aunt's house, finding out about their magical past and abilities. But that was just one short (and honestly, disappointing) part in this book. The book itself spans almost their entire lives, hopping all over the place and leaving me feeling like nothing has happened and everything has happened (in a confused way) all at once. Also, as if this book needs yet another strike against it, there are no chapters! I find this infuriating in novels. This book is instead broken into 6 parts, all with obscure titles like "Remedy", "Intuition" and "Alchemy" as if that is going to give some sort of hint to the story. It doesn't. At least, none that I could understand.

   Try as I might, I really didn't connect with any of the characters or the story line. I read until the end for the sake of this review, also in hopes that it would somehow miraculously change directions, but I truly didn't enjoy it. This was my first, and likely my last, Alice Hoffman book. If you have read it, I hope you enjoyed it more than I did. If you were thinking about reading it, I would suggest something different because this one fell flat.

Goodreads rating: 4/5
Intothewordpool rating: 1.5/5


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