Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

The extraordinary new novel from the author of Practical Magic and The Dovekeepers We first met the Owens in the glorious novel Practical Magic. We discovered the tragedy of the Owens siblings in The Rules of Magic. Now we learn how it all began ... with a baby abandoned in a snowy English field in the 1600s. Under the care of gentle Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the ‘Unnamed Arts’. Maria has a gift for them – a gift that may well prove her undoing. When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it’s here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters. Magic Lessons is a celebration of life and love, and a showcase of Alice Hoffman’s masterful storytelling.

I was ready to fall in love with this book, it has some of my favourite tropes, tashreads catnip if you will. Strong female leads, witches, magic (but not too much!), revenge, narrow escapes and complicated mother daughter relationships.

But I'm sorry to report that I failed to connect to the way it was written. I felt the writing style kept me at arm's length from the characters - I never really knew them. The story was great (and I think it would translate well to screen - just like Practical Magic). I am in the minority, most people loved it, but the magic of this novel fell a bit flat for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! The pace, the people, the surprises. I can't wait to read the next one.

Rating: 4 leaves out of 5-Characters: 3/5-Cover: 3/5-Story: 3.75/5-Writing: 5/5Genre: Fantasy, HisFic, Magical Realism, Romance-Fantasy: 3.5/5-HisFic: 5/5-Magic Realism: 5/5-Romance: 3.75/5Type: BookWorth?: I believe so.Hated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked LoveI am so glad I am reading this in story order. I loved the story. The characters were so/so. Maria annoyed me when she was younger but loved her as she grown. Same with her daughter. I was disgusted with a 30 yr old man knocking up a 16 year old girl, but what do you expect from those times? Rebecca is a POS and you can't change my mind.I loved seeing the women rise up from their trauma and the things I recognized from Practical Magic (the movie). What I didn't care for too much was the filler between scenes. I know it made the book run through smoothly, Alice does this in pretty much all of the books I have read by her, but somehow I don't mind it. It is like a car ride where you have this long stretch of nothingness but you admire it for the beauty.

Ok, so... Chapter 11 was wonderful. Absolutely perfect. I didn't expect that.
But then Alice spoiled it all by writing and writing and writing and writing... and writing hogwash. I hate the movie Practical Magic because of the ending. The whole town hated them for being witches, but then everyone just magically loved them. And here this end of 17th century Salem that burned witches just 10 years earlier, we have these witches everyone knows to be witches being respected citizens who do modern things and everyone is happy and loves them. Yeah, sure. Tell me that story about little Red Ridinghood, too. Sure a teenage girl walks around wearing trousers and reading books, sure :-D Why, didn't they make pocketbooks in the 17th century?

I also don't believe in karma. “The witches' rede” or Wiccan Rede was written in the 60s. The 1960s, that is. It's a lot of BS, IMHO. I believe witchcraft is like anything else one does, and one's personal ethics is the only rede one needs. We all know you don't get what you give, nice people are nice to everyone, mean people are mean to everyone, and if someone is having a p*ssy day, they don't suddenly become all sunshine and unicorn farts just because you smile to them. I suppose you can tell I'm not a “white witch”, nor a fluffy bunny, but more a “grey witch” and a stinking badger pagan :-D But - I accept that in Alice's universe witches bleed black acid and follow the ancient laws from the 1960s - so mote it be.

There were also a lot of historically questionable details there, like how likely was it for some witch living in the woods to get their hands on ginger? Also, they didn't call the wild herbal teas “liberty teas” before the Boston Tea Party.

Nevertheless, I like Alice Hoffman's books. It's easy to read her writing (even though she doesn't know when to stop:-D) and she creates interesting characters and stories.