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iamamylatta's review against another edition
2.0
DNF - I tried. Everyone says they love it. I just could not get into these characters or what happens to them.
Tried her other book, and same. Maybe she’s not just my style.
Tried her other book, and same. Maybe she’s not just my style.
jenage's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
krbfleming's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting story but told poorly. Too long & drawn out. Not amazing writing. 3 stars instead of 2 because of the ending, which made it worth the read for me.
sammii85's review against another edition
5.0
A very enjoyable book. Practical Magic is my favourite film so I really enjoyed reading Maria's origin story. Alice Hoffman seems to break all the rules with her books - very little dialogue, jumping povs and telling instead of showing, but she pulls it off well. Her writing is quite poetic. Highly recommended
resse_brown's review against another edition
5.0
A little repetitive at times- but I enjoyed the nook especially the last advice of the book - girls keep reading .
rovco's review against another edition
2.0
"She was a girl, and love is dangerous, and women are not treated well in society and only she was smart enough to know that, so she gave up on love until she didn't: herb, herb, herb, herb, plant, herb, disease."
This is what almost every paragraph in this book sounded like to me.
So so book. I was really critical of the story telling when I first started. That didn't change but I definitely started to understand the style a bit more. Parts of the story were also gripping, but most of it feels like the boring blunt slog above talking at you.
If you are sensitive to an author showing and not telling the story, do not bother with this book. Reading it sometimes felt like I had accidentally bought the themes outline for the story it was supposed to be. It will just tell you the conflict, character growth, resolution, and larger social issues in one paragraph.
It just took forever to get through. This story is definitely for some people, just not me. This feels drenched in modern "not like other girls" pretentious witch culture. No merci. Respect for the amount of words written. No desire to read Book #2.
This is what almost every paragraph in this book sounded like to me.
So so book. I was really critical of the story telling when I first started. That didn't change but I definitely started to understand the style a bit more. Parts of the story were also gripping, but most of it feels like the boring blunt slog above talking at you.
If you are sensitive to an author showing and not telling the story, do not bother with this book. Reading it sometimes felt like I had accidentally bought the themes outline for the story it was supposed to be. It will just tell you the conflict, character growth, resolution, and larger social issues in one paragraph.
It just took forever to get through. This story is definitely for some people, just not me. This feels drenched in modern "not like other girls" pretentious witch culture. No merci. Respect for the amount of words written. No desire to read Book #2.
nicolegabriel424's review against another edition
5.0
Magic Lessons follows the story of Maria Owens, a witch, who was abandoned as a baby. Maria was left on the doorstep of a fellow witch named Hannah Owens, and although she wasn't her birth mother, Hannah treated her as her own and loved her unconditionally. Hannah taught Maria everything she could, and unfortunately dies early on in Maria's life.
After Hannah's death, Maria goes to Curacao, and becomes indentured to a family until she becomes of age. While in Curacao, she falls in love with a man named John Hathorne from Massachusetts, who gets her pregnant. After giving birth to her daughter, Faith, Maria and Faith set out to go find John. While on the ship to America, Maria meets a man named Samuel Dias, who she also falls in love with. However, Maria's sight is on finding John and making a home with him and their daughter, however, after arriving in Salem, she realizes the man that she thought she knew and loved, was a complete liar.
John sits on the Salem counsel, and this is during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, and so, because everyone is aware of Maria's abilities, she gets accused of witchcraft, and is sentenced to death. On the day of her execution, Samuel comes to Massachusetts to find Maria, and is able to save her from being hanged, by swapping the rope with a much older one that is ready to snap.
After Samuel saves Maria, she realizes that the woman who took Faith in during Maria's prison sentence has purposely left Massachusetts for New York because she wanted to keep Faith as her own child. Samuel and Maria head over to New York to find Faith, which becomes a very long and painful process for them both.
I loved this book, especially Maria. I thought she was an incredible character, who loved her daughter fiercely and was willing to do anything to keep her save. I also really enjoyed Maria and Samuel's story, even if it was a slow burn to get them together.
Would I Reread? Yes!
After Hannah's death, Maria goes to Curacao, and becomes indentured to a family until she becomes of age. While in Curacao, she falls in love with a man named John Hathorne from Massachusetts, who gets her pregnant. After giving birth to her daughter, Faith, Maria and Faith set out to go find John. While on the ship to America, Maria meets a man named Samuel Dias, who she also falls in love with. However, Maria's sight is on finding John and making a home with him and their daughter, however, after arriving in Salem, she realizes the man that she thought she knew and loved, was a complete liar.
John sits on the Salem counsel, and this is during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, and so, because everyone is aware of Maria's abilities, she gets accused of witchcraft, and is sentenced to death. On the day of her execution, Samuel comes to Massachusetts to find Maria, and is able to save her from being hanged, by swapping the rope with a much older one that is ready to snap.
After Samuel saves Maria, she realizes that the woman who took Faith in during Maria's prison sentence has purposely left Massachusetts for New York because she wanted to keep Faith as her own child. Samuel and Maria head over to New York to find Faith, which becomes a very long and painful process for them both.
I loved this book, especially Maria. I thought she was an incredible character, who loved her daughter fiercely and was willing to do anything to keep her save. I also really enjoyed Maria and Samuel's story, even if it was a slow burn to get them together.
Would I Reread? Yes!
_huuuuulia_'s review against another edition
4.0
Solid story and incredibly atmospheric. This is the first Alice Hoffman book I've read, and I love her prose, though the word love must have been said a minimum of 350 during the novel. All in all worth a read!
calstar's review against another edition
2.0
2.5. Just okay. People I trust love this book but neither this nor Practical Magic really did it for me. I found this book super repetitive and the story was superficial and not very engaging. The characters were not super memorable. This book tells the origin story of the Owens family curse. It begins in mid-1600’s England with an abandoned baby, Maria, raised by a healer who, though not a witch by birth, has learned to harness the power of nature. As a young teen, Maria is reunited with her biological mother, a born witch. Maria sets off on a journey that hones her learned and natural powers. There is love and betrayal and children. Maria creates the curse that afflicts her and every woman in her bloodline. The curse was so dumb it annoyed me and many of the spells in the book had obvious negative outcomes; I kept getting increasingly frustrated as witches were shocked by the (clearly stated) consequences of their actions. I wanted to love this but it wasn't my cup of witchy tea.
knight_owl77's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0