Reviews

What a charming book! I liked that most of the characters were not clearly "good" or "evil" and there is some ambiguity to whether or not the Lenore women's business is really ethical. On the other hand, I felt like there were a few incidents that seemed like they were going to be important but then didn't really go anywhere.

The book is pure escapism. Imagine that you had magical powers that could solve any problem, and enough money to escape any problem that arose. In a way, that's this book. But it's also more complex than that and it is an enjoyable read.

nadinebean's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

impybelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Ehhhhhhh... This is probably more of a 2.5 star kind of book and I figure I'll round up this time around.

Ignore all comparisons to Practical Magic because I'm gonna need more than magically inclined sisters from a magically inclined family. I won't harp on this because others have probably done so far better than I could manage at this point.

I'll agree with those who felt the characters felt flat. Hell, the only character I actually cared about was Mya and I'm pretty sure I was supposed to dislike her. I'm not saying I'd like to hang out with an actual Mya, but I kinda get her. She's spent her entire life prepping to take over the family business, hell, it even seems to be something she wants, but surprise! Little sister returns and the company goes to her because Mya has screwed up and Mya pays for that and pays for it big. I admit I accidentally read ahead (I was very sleepy the other day and had two bookmarks in the book and for some reason used the second one) and SPOILERS DUH saw that Luke and Mya were going to head off and see the world and thought, "well, I guess that works. She can work her magic pretty much anywhere if she wants." NOPE. Mya loses her sense of smell and her sense of taste (because, y'know, they're a two-fer) and that pretty much decimates everything she loves in life... aside from Luke. But it's okay because Lucia can now suddenly work the magic and the perfume, despite us being told that she has no affinity for this, and she does a spell that makes Mya fine with all this because she still has Luke and one day a baby and nyargh. This is after Willow, their mother, can't bring herself to help with the spell because she's not even sure Mya deserves protection after inadvertently crafting a perfume that made the wearer commit suicide and bringing down a curse that is really only fucking with Mya's life because the flower thing that's mentioned? Yeah, that's more of a "kids these days don't settle down and have babies or fall in love the way they used to back in my day" kinda thing.

Seriously, your daughter is in the hospital and the doctors and nurses are amazed she's alive because by all rights she should be super dead at this point, and you're going to say maybe she doesn't deserve a little something to keep her from, I dunno, dying? Mother of the year, I suppose.