It was required for a training class I was in at work, so I decided if I was going to read, it should count for something. I expected to have like another 30-40 pages of story, and then it was just done. Kylie was okay, and there could have been a lot of room to expand on the emotions and spirits she was sensing. Practical Magic is one of her best novels, showing on every page her gift for touching ordinary life as if with a wand, to reveal how extraordinary life really is.” —Newsweek “A beautiful, moving book about the power of love and the desires of the heart.” —Denver Post “Written with a light hand and perfect rhythm… It was interesting, and I liked it, but not what I was really expecting. Review Book Review: Practical Magic. Book Review: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman Goodreads Summary: The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman. Again, that probably had a lot to do with my experience of the movie.In all, it’s a worthwhile read if you don’t place too much stock in the film, which to me took the best parts of the book and altered the pacing, progression, and dialog to near perfection.Your email address will not be published.Visions- 10th Anniversary Special Edition,Bits and Bobs April 2018: House Hunt, Book Writing →. The read was quick, and not unenjoyable, but this is one of those rare cases where the movie script managed to do something the book could not: impart a bit of magic on it’s audience. There is magic present though, just because the Owen’s family.This is not a hardcore witch fantasy book but if you want a take on modern, gentle witchcraft and an exploration of relationships (both romantic and familial) than this is for you!This is up there as one of my favourite Alice Hoffman’s!Wonderful review I adore all the Owens women so much, both the book and movie versions!Thank you! Everything else felt incredibly undefined.The central portion of the story was just about the women and their love interests, including the women who came to visit their aunts. Practical Magic on Amazon (affiliate link) The ending was kind of abrupt as well. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I wanted more magic and less romance.Reviews, Discussions, and Reading Challenges,*Edit: Apparently, my Grammarly updates aren't taking effect when I make them. If a damp spring arrived, if cows in the pasture gave milk that was runny with blood, if a colt died of colic or a baby was born with a red birthmark stamped onto its cheek, everyone believed that fate must have been twisted, at least a little, by those women over on Magnolia Street.If you are a regular follower of my blog you’ll know that I like certain things. The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman. Book Review: Practical Magic. I am so excited that it is August because that means it's that much closer to being fall, my favorite season. In another book it wouldn’t have bothered me, but it just felt off seeing that language here. It’s very witchy.We have the Aunts, Sally and Gillian and Sally’s two teenage daughters; Antonia and Kylie.I was forewarned that the book is nothing like the movie and I have mentioned this before when I have mentioned Practical Magic. The book and movie are divorced from each other to an extent that even the characters felt unfamiliar. The whole time reading it, I kept wondering if Sally, Gillian, and Antonia had some kind of magic, but it was so subtly written that it was hard to tell. You’ll know that I like these certain things because I do the book blog equivalent of grabbing pots and pans and banging on about it.Two of those things are; witches and stories about sister relationships. You can find magic wherever you look. Sure, you can shake the reputation and bury your past but as Sally realises, and in more ways than one, you can’t bury things forever.This isn’t a story about active witchcraft but passive witchcraft. Practical Magic is … But some of my absolute favorite bits of the movie are absent, and in their place is a long, as in decades-go-by, saga of the Owens family that bears little resemblance. Those of you who read my work have probably guessed that I enjoy stories that are set in the real world but that have an element of magic or the supernatural.