A review by calstar
Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

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.