Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

48 reviews

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is the story of a family of women who love each other fiercely and will do anything for each other. This is also the story of love, when it is a disaster, when it’s dangerous and when it is absolutely perfect. I just love a witchy family.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

mariakureads's review against another edition

funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I love watching this movie over and over so I figured it was about time to read the source and the two are different enough that I'm at a bit of a crossroads here but I found this to be a solid read.

For one, I like that the Sally's girls are teens in the book vs kids in the film since it lead a different aspect to the story and showcased Sally in a bit of a vulnerable light aside from being a widow, but a single mom on the verge of losing her girls if she's not careful.

Another is that very little magic happens. Lots of hints of magical things but it's just the I fluence of it and not the actual doing which I miss. It's such a visual in the film that I kept waiting for something that never came.

The additional small snippets of the aunts was a welcoming new fact for me since the film didn't give too much insight but here, there were little morsels throughout about their younger selves, the family, and Maria Owens that I'm sure get talked about in the other books.

All in all, the book and it's characters are so different from their movie counterparts, especially the relationships all the women have towards each other, Sally's daughters included, that I find I can enjoy them as separate pieces.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

williamabookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

itsheyfay's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content

pinto_los_flores's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Alice Hoffman explains the wide spectrum of male attention perfectly. I feel like I’ve been every single one of these women at some point or another. I found every woman wildly relatable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

matcha_cat's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

moonlightreads007's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed reading this book! The plot unfolded at a relatively slow pace, but you can tell that the author has phenomenal story-telling skills based on how they describe every aspect of the story such as the characters' thoughts and feelings, the intricate detail included in each story, as well as the lessons learned from the stories and how the characters went on to apply (or not apply) those lessons in their own lives. The story really sucks you in - once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down! Thematically, the book also explores the topic of moulding yourself to fit in vs. standing out and being your authentic self, as the women in this book grapple with this issue as they explore their identities both within and outside of magic. Another interesting theme was the ever-changing nature of their relationships and life circumstances, and how those changes affected their relationships with each other as well as how they adapted to those changes. All in all, this was a very fun, interesting read and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about friendships, family and magic✨️😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Blended reading (audiobook + physical)

The Details:
Narrated by Laurence Bouvard
Unabridged

Mild spoilers will be in this review as I talk about different parts of the book.

I was initally apprehensive about the lack of chapters, but I needn't worry about that because everything just flowed in such a gentle storytelling way. It was also helpful that it was broken into parts.

I wasn't expecting such a generational saga, but I loved growing up with the sisters Sally and Gillian as they went to live with their peculiar aunts in Superstition. It was interesting to see little bits of witch craft, and from the little snippets of the movie I've seen (only very small scenes out of context), I was surprised that there was a lot of hexing and manipulation of love. It was fascinating to see how both of the very opposite sisters felt about it and also how everyone around them changed their views in different ways as they grew up. I felt like Sally was always getting the short straw of life, rather unfairly, just for being kind and not as bold and carefree as her little sister, so when she finally got a chance at love later on in this part and had a family I was so happy.

In Premonitions I'm happy that Sally was still a main character but the focus shifted on her two children growing up and mirroring the experience her and her sister had with school. I also loved seeing the OG sisters, who had become more and more estranged, reconciled at last.... but not over wholesome circumstances.
The lilacs haunting the sisters, suddenly reminded me of a scene from Weep, Woman, Weep and I wonder if that was inspired by Practical Magic. A pivotal development in this part was Kylie's 13th birthday and that did not go anyway I was expecting it to!

With the way that part ended, I was super interested to see how Clairvoyance would progress the story futher, now that Kylie was coming into her own. The story really developed here as powers were further unearthed and consequences began to come to a head for the run up to the conclusion.

It's weird how fond of the aunts I was, despite them feeling more like off page characters. I missed them and the cats so much when we were following everyone else living their lives.

The whole feel of this story was very whimsical and cosy and felt as if you were being narrated through this odd life, that wasn't super out of the ordinary, but enough to make you second glance. I absolutely adored it and am looking forward to reading the sequel and two prequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident

clover_darling's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Watch the movie instead

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic relationship