Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

34 reviews

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Homophobia, Abandonment, and War

nozycozy's review against another edition

DNF

 I love Alice Hoffmann’s writing style but <Spoiler>the way her story handled the boys statutory rape was disturbing. This book is not for me doesn’t matter if the child is magical I detest victim blaming. </Spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

amberrose's review against another edition

DNF at 28%

Pretty, descriptive writings are not enough to make up for the fact that I don't care one iota about the characters.

Also, statutory rape is later described as "a summer fling" and my dudes, I Simply Cannot With That Shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

breeforestell's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

chezarose79's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

bookishfaye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

3.5

I love Alice Hoffman’s whimsical & folkloric witchy writing and the way she writes the Owens & their magic & curse & trauma & the history of the world around them so much!!!!!!!! God damn I love the Owens family 😤😤😤; I will definitely be continuing these books!! That being said, this book had some…. issues: 

1. The incest. There was literally no reason for it, & I know she had to include it because she had written it into Practical Magic already like almost 20 years previously, but hated that it was even there at all.

2. The lack of diversity. Hoffman tells such a profound generational story with these books & it would benefit so much more from being more diverse. Magic Lessons definitely had diversity, but this one was very bland on that front, apart from

Vincent’s

queerness (which i take issues with in some ways as well)

3.

Vincent’s journey to discovering his sexuality was a really annoying queer trope. Spoilers ahead: we follow Vincent as he sleeps with his older cousin (impregnating her in the process, & it is her daughter Regina’s kids who we follow in Practical Magic), & then his 30+ year old neighbour when he’s 14 years old. The way it’s written makes it seem mutual and him just “sleeping around,” but homie was being groomed & writing that situation in the way Hoffman did did not sit right with me at all. Vincent then becomes kind of a player, sleeping around with women quite often, before eventually realizing that he’s not attached to them because he’s actually attracted to men.

Yes, I realize this is a real thing that a lot of queer people go through in their journeys in real life, but something about a straight white women representing queerness only in this way doesn’t feel cool. 

Someone give me a diverse & queer Practical Magic style generational saga right MF NOOOWWW

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Homophobia, Incest, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

samgelbert's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

aislinn_mcd_harrison's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

This was one I wanted to keep reading but i didn’t feel I really loved the writing style or even the characters. There was a sadness all through the book that made it difficult to enjoy but I don’t think it had a particularly strong message or view on its theme of love is disaster / love is the only good. Also don’t like books whose endings only set up the next book. 

Questions to ask book club:
Is the curse real? 
What do you think Alice Hoffman’s writing about youth and beauty and age? 
Do you think Franny is consistent? 
What do you think of how she portrayed real events like the Vietnam war and the stonewall riots? 
Did you like the siblings? Who was your favourite? 
This book is a prequel and the ending fairly unapologetically has nothing to do with the book you’ve read and is a preamble to practical magic - did it make you want to read the next one and why? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and War

saltycoffee's review against another edition

emotional relaxing sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Death of parent

shel_bay11's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Grief, Car accident, and War