The Rules of Magic

Franny, Jet, and Vincent aren’t like their friends – they have the vision.  The harder their parents push them to avoid their gift, the more rebellious they became.  So when an invitation comes for them to spend the summer with their Aunt Isabelle, they jump at it just for the freedom.  Isabelle lives in a house with green windows with a garden full of strange herbs, in the town of Salem – the Owens Family house next to Leech Lake.

The Rules of Magic is the second book chronologically in Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series.  This novel is set in the 1960’s and connects the historical family introduced in Magic Lessons to the Owens women we love in Practical Magic.  This book is truly the backstory for aunts Franny and Jet and ends when their nieces Sally and Gillian come to live with them.  Hoffman explores dark magic and the consequences of the curse Maria Owens placed on the people who love them against some of the most important historical events of this era – the Vietnam War and the Stonewall Riots.  This book is truly about the power of love and the importance of family.

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I give The Rules of Magic 5 out of 5 stars.  This book was similar, yet so different from both Magic Lessons and Practical Magic.  As a backstory to the aunts, I appreciated learning more about their history and the characters.  The vivid descriptions of New York and Salem makes the reader feel as though they are there in the scenes with these characters.  However, I did feel like Vincent’s story was missing something.  He is so integral to the story, but his character changes so quickly that it feels like we missed a chapter of his metamorphosis.  With that said, I wish I could spend more time with Franny and Jet – this story really makes me feel for them in a way I hadn’t before!

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If you love Practical Magic, you need to read this book!  It will explain so much about the aunts and give depth to that story.  I would also recommend this book for readers who love Hoffman’s other works like The Invisible Hour – Nathaniel Hawthorne makes an appearance here in a historical way that I wasn’t expecting.  With references to sex, death, and war, this book would be best directed to more mature audiences over 13.   I would also caution readers against this book if they are triggered by limb loss during war, or fatal car crashes.

I chose The Rules of Magic as my Halloween read this year.  I am on a mission to finish the Practical Magic series this year, having read the inaugural book last year and Magic Lessons last week.  These books are perfect to get you in the Halloween mood!  I’ll be finishing the series with The Book of Magic in the next few weeks.  Do you enjoy the magical realism of Hoffman’s works?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: Island of Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell
• Current audio book: Lawrence in Arabia, Scott Anderson
• Book I’m most looking forward to: Nights in Rodanthe, Nicholas Sparks