Estrella is a Marrano: During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, she is one of a community of Spanish Jews living double lives as Catholics. And ...
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Feb 02, 2008
J-Lynn
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This book is a beautiful telling of a horrific story. Set in Spain in 1500, Estrella DeMadrigal is a normal teenage girl whose everyday life revolves around her well respected family and her best friend, Catalina. The peaceful existence of her charmed childhood is disrupted when soldiers build a bonfire of books in the town’s center.
This barbaric act signals a rebirth of anti-semitism and as the government decrees against Jews heighten, Estrella realizes that her family may have re More...
This barbaric act signals a rebirth of anti-semitism and as the government decrees against Jews heighten, Estrella realizes that her family may have re More...
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Jan 12, 2009
Jaemi
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The day the books burned in the plaza, Estrella’s life began to change. She caught her first glimpse of a different side of her best friend. She felt the evilness which had come up and inhabited her town. She saw a part of her mother that scared her the same way her grandmother always had.
Estrella’s town has always been divided. Years ago, the Jews we all made to convert to Christianity or leave. Some refused both, and were forced to the outskirts, living behind a gate. On the other More...
Estrella’s town has always been divided. Years ago, the Jews we all made to convert to Christianity or leave. Some refused both, and were forced to the outskirts, living behind a gate. On the other More...
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Dec 27, 2011
Nicole
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For young Estrella, living in Encaleflora, Spain is all she's ever known. Staying with her grandfather, grandmother, mother, and brother Louis, Estrella has many questions about her life but never fully understands or gets answers about her family traditions. When all seems right, Estrella's best friend Catalina rushes her to the plaza where something exciting is happening. There Estrella finds a Marano (or Jew) that has been caught keeping a book. It is burned while the man cry's and is mo More...
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Dec 30, 2009
Sarah-Greenbeanteenqueen
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I know it's not Friday, but I listened to this audiobook yesterday and thought I'd review it. I picked up Incantation based on the short length and the pretty cover. It was three hours long so I thought I could get through it in one day. I didn't know anything else about it or about Alice Hoffman. Now I'll be sure to pick up more books by this author!
This may be a short read, but it packs a lot of emotion into it's three short discs. I'll try not to give anything away. Estrella is a More...
This may be a short read, but it packs a lot of emotion into it's three short discs. I'll try not to give anything away. Estrella is a More...
Dec 12, 2008
Courtney
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This is not a story just for the young or the old or everyone in between. This is a story for everyone. It is also not just a story of about a young girl becoming a woman and finding love mixed with betrayal along the way, but rather a story of a young woman who is forced to discover who she is and where not only she has come from but the entire history of her family in a time and place where you were punished for simply being different and of a different faith. The tale Estrella deMadrigal tell
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Feb 11, 2012
Sandra
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Tendo já ouvido falar maravilhas desta autora e tendo adorado o filme "Da magia à sedução", entrei com elevadas expectativas na leitura deste livro. Pois qual não foi o meu espanto quando começo a ler e vejo que este livro não tem nada de mágico ou mesmo fantástico! Não consigo de todo perceber qual foi a ideia da Gailivro em publicá-lo dentro da colecção 1001 Mundos.
Foi uma sorte eu ter lido anteriormente um outro livro que explicava o mundo dos Marranos o que me facilitou e More...
Foi uma sorte eu ter lido anteriormente um outro livro que explicava o mundo dos Marranos o que me facilitou e More...
Dec 02, 2011
Book Geek
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 13, 2011
Sarah
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Alice Hoffman’s novel Incantation is an emotional read filled with all sorts of elements: sadness, betrayal, jealous, secrets, and strength. Hoffman does a superb job with expressing the main character Estrella’s feelings about her life and the world around her, from the beginning of the novel where she is unaware of who she is, until the very end. The book offers a chilling retelling of the horrors that went on during the time of the Spanish Inquisition and all that Estrella is forced to go thr
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Aug 19, 2011
Marion
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What happens when a young woman (16) learns that her entire life has been a lie? This is what happens to Estrella di Madrigal in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition.
She watches as those around her are arrested, tortured, and put to death because they are Conversos (Jews who have converted to Christianity). She feels for them but is happy that she and her family attend the Christian church headed by Friar DeLeon and that her brother is a seminarian.
Estrella's best frien More...
She watches as those around her are arrested, tortured, and put to death because they are Conversos (Jews who have converted to Christianity). She feels for them but is happy that she and her family attend the Christian church headed by Friar DeLeon and that her brother is a seminarian.
Estrella's best frien More...
Jul 28, 2011
Catalina and Esrtrella are best friends who live in a small village in Spain. They are such good friends that people cal them Raven and Crow. THey look like each other even. THe first part of the book dewcribes the life of Estrella who the story revolves around. The mother is ffreinds with a family in the muslim quarter with a doctor and a wife who is terminally ill. Her mother is a knowledgable healer and knows how to seww clothes. THe Grand father teaches students late into the night and grand
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Jul 04, 2011
Zixuan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Apr 24, 2011
Shawn
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Oct 03, 2010
Bookworm
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I'm a fan of Alice Hoffman's work, especially since reading Practical Magic and The Ice Queen. I picked up Incantation several months ago, and being busy with other reads, I put it down and never got back to it. I didn't want to give up on it though, so I picked it up again and this time around I found myself being immersed in this story.
Incantation is a story about a 16 year old girl named Estrella deMadrigal, and the long hidden secret she finds out about her family. The family li More...
Incantation is a story about a 16 year old girl named Estrella deMadrigal, and the long hidden secret she finds out about her family. The family li More...
Jul 05, 2010
Katie (It's Time to Read)
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Synopsis:
Estrella deMadrigal thought she knew herself: daughter, granddaughter, sister, dearest friend, beloved. She is Star in the Night Sky, Truth in the Darkness. But truth is rare and precious in this cruel and unforgiving century in Spain, when Jews who refused conversion to Christianity risked everything - love, life, family, faith.
Then: A startling discovery shakes Estrella's world to the core. And yet, it is something small and sweet that sets it aflame. A More...
Estrella deMadrigal thought she knew herself: daughter, granddaughter, sister, dearest friend, beloved. She is Star in the Night Sky, Truth in the Darkness. But truth is rare and precious in this cruel and unforgiving century in Spain, when Jews who refused conversion to Christianity risked everything - love, life, family, faith.
Then: A startling discovery shakes Estrella's world to the core. And yet, it is something small and sweet that sets it aflame. A More...
Jun 21, 2010
Charley
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 19, 2010
Shally
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Summary: Set in Spain in the 1500s, Estrella deMadrigal and her family live during the time when everyone is forced to convert Christianity. The Jews are being persecuted, taken out of their homes, beaten and even killed. Estrella and her family attend a Christian church and watch a lot of this happening. It changes Estrella's and her family's lives. Estrella has a best friend, Catalina, who finds a way to be involved in the catastrophic events which comes with big consequences. Throughout the b
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Jun 14, 2010
Cat
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Estrella lives in a time of turmoil and confusion. In the beginning of "Incantation", Estrella seems to be fine with her life in rural Spain, but she soon discovers the pain and torments of the Spanish Inquisition. "Incantation" revolves around several discoveries that Estrella makes in finding out about her true heritage and the nature of her former friends in the face of conflict. Estrella has to deal with family loss, loss of property, and loss of friends. She also exp
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Jun 01, 2010
Liz
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Incantation by Alice Hoffman is a book about a young girl (Estrella) living during the time of the Spanish Inquisition in which she and her family are negatively affected. She is completely naive as to the goings on around her until there is a book burning in her town, and many around her that are practicing Jews are humiliated and detested. Estrella's best friend Catalina eventually turns on her because the person that Catalina loves falls in love with Estrella. Even the smallest accusation of
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Mar 08, 2010
Zach
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Mar 01, 2010
Hannah
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This book is set in the 1500's.
Estrella de Madigal lives in a village in Spain where people who practice the jewish religion are closed in from the rest of the village. When harsh discrimanation towards Jews starts up again, Estrella world begans to change- she begans to lose her best friend, she finds out a deadly 500 year old family secret.
To protect herself, and her family, Estrella has to hide who she actually is.
The story line is really good, so I never got bor More...
Estrella de Madigal lives in a village in Spain where people who practice the jewish religion are closed in from the rest of the village. When harsh discrimanation towards Jews starts up again, Estrella world begans to change- she begans to lose her best friend, she finds out a deadly 500 year old family secret.
To protect herself, and her family, Estrella has to hide who she actually is.
The story line is really good, so I never got bor More...
Feb 03, 2010
Zachary
rated it:
So far this is a good book. I enjoy its interesting display of spain over around century ago and find its display of events well balanced by the personification of the books characters giving them emotion, comparable lives, and social situations similar to ours today.
In the amount I have read so far the main character has to deal with a strict family, boy troubles, and racism in her time. Sound familiar? Her friend has a no-contract unwritten arranged marriage with her co More...
In the amount I have read so far the main character has to deal with a strict family, boy troubles, and racism in her time. Sound familiar? Her friend has a no-contract unwritten arranged marriage with her co More...
Nov 09, 2009
Beth
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Estrella deMadrigal is aware that she lives in dangerous times. Jews are designated with red circles on their coats and city is divided religiously, with Muslims in one corner and Jews in another. Set in Spain the 1500’s, Estrella’s tightly knit family appear at first to witches. Knowledgeable practitioners of folk medicine, they attend a special church and practice many customs that are different from their neighbors, who include Estrella’s best friend, Catalina. It isn’t until a list of charac
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Jul 19, 2009
Mindee
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 14, 2009
Alison
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Incantation by Alice Hoffman is wonderful book written during the time period of the Spanish Inquisition when Jews were persecuted and forced to flee the country. This rich tale weaves a story of two girls’ friendship with one another and the subsequent betrayal that leads to its demise. Estrella is a Jewish girl who is unaware that her family is hiding their religion from public eye until the “monster” arrives in their town and turns the community into one of distrust, fear, discrimination, a
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Apr 18, 2009
Social
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by Stephany G
"Some people say, save yourself and save your life. I say, be yourself and save your soul." If one were to read this quote on would think of a wise man that had gone through many difficult situations, but this quote was of the lips of a young teenager, sixteen years of age to be exact. Incantation is one of the most intriguing yet realistic books in the market to date, showing the intensive life of many people during the period of Jewish hatred (1500).This book More...
"Some people say, save yourself and save your life. I say, be yourself and save your soul." If one were to read this quote on would think of a wise man that had gone through many difficult situations, but this quote was of the lips of a young teenager, sixteen years of age to be exact. Incantation is one of the most intriguing yet realistic books in the market to date, showing the intensive life of many people during the period of Jewish hatred (1500).This book More...
Jun 13, 2011
Cherrylea
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You know those really good, in depth books that capture the theme extremely well? Those ones that, well, actually have a theme in the first place (and that, let me tell you, is an achievement). Well, this is one of those books. Good, well rounded, and meaningful.
Estrella has a youthful voice, one filled with power and hope. In this book, she experiences the climax of her life where everything she has ever known changes. She is faced with the conflict of betrayal and hatred. However, she dis More...
Estrella has a youthful voice, one filled with power and hope. In this book, she experiences the climax of her life where everything she has ever known changes. She is faced with the conflict of betrayal and hatred. However, she dis More...
Jan 31, 2010
Janice
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By just reading the first sentence I liked this book. The wording and descriptions that are used makes the world seem like the most gorgeous yet darkest place.Estrella lives in Spain with her mother, grandparents and brother. Her best friend is Catalina whom she has known since she was a one week old baby. Estrella's life seems beautiful and magical until a serious of events begins to take place.The books of a Jew are burned in the plaza, the neighbors are arrested and a decree to turn in Jews i
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May 24, 2010
Rachel
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Sep 30, 2009
Ash... =]
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This book is a about a a girl that describes her feelings and thoughts about what happens in her life. The time of this book was in the years where the nazi's and the germans were fighting and the named Esther was going and experencing that time of year with her family. This story also shows how the nazi's use to treat the germans and how people were crule that time of year and how they stooped so low.Finally, this story also is about how dat girl Esther helped her family with this problem in th
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Sep 22, 2011
Hannah
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Incantation is a really touching and breathtaking book. It centers around a town full of fearful hatred where the only key to survival is secrecy and betrayals are frequent, common and gory. Incantation paints such a clear, detailed picture of what life was like for Jews in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition that it brings tears to your eyes. It portrays the life of Estrella deMadrigal who is best friends with Catalina who lives next door to her. However, everything changes when Estrella and C
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