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Old Magic

by Marianne Curley (Goodreads Author)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 5,454 ratings · 525 reviews

Jarrod Thornton is mesmerizing, but Kate Warren doesn't know why.

The moment the new guy walks into the room, Kate senses something strange and intense about him. Something supernatural. Her instincts are proven correct a few minutes later when, bullied by his classmates, Jarrod unknowingly conjures up a freak thunderstorm "inside" their classroom.

Jarrod doesn't believe in...more

Mass Market Paperback, 317 pages

Published February 26th 2002 by Simon Pulse (first published October 16th 2000)

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Community Reviews

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Jun 08, 2013 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

'I recall the look in Rhauk's eyes the moment he spotted Kate. It will stay with me forever, carved into my brain like an engraving on a headstone. It's as if he found something he treasured, something he's been looking for all his life.'

(view spoiler)...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 10, 2010 Sara ♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, books-i-own, 2010, challenge-spring-2010, paranormal, romance, action-adventure

I REALLY like this book. It's really a coming of age story for both the hero and the heroine, but especially for Jarrod, who has a LOT of growing to do. The magic is really interesting and the big bad guy is REALLY scary! My only complaint: There wasn't NEARLY enough kissing. ;) I wish there had been one more scene at the end......

15 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2012 Marceline rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

Bought my copy for less than a dollar. I started reading it at least three times, but I couldn't get past the first chapter each time. Finally, on a Friday night when our ISP sucked big time and I had no internet to distract me from reading, I went through the pile of to-read books beside my bed.

The story eventually picked up, and I finished it in this sitting! The description at the back of the book didn't hint anything about what happened in the second half, so:

And I happened to be a sucker fo...more

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2011 Karolina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well..that was fun!:D I mean, really funny at some parts because it was very different from what i read in general - i do enjoy reading young adult books but this one actually surprised me!The summary wasnt very promising but the book really made my day and considering the bad things that happened lately it means something.It actually reminds me of the fairy tales - the fight between evil and good, the hope that the good will win ...But what made it what it is - the main character wasnt very con...more

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2011 Saniya(Will Herondale is mine) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Oh my gosh. This is one the best book I have ever read!!!

Or maybe I am getting super extra excited because I am reading these freaking awesome books after 1 month bcuz to exams!!!

This book was totally awesome and I just can't believe how can anybody give this book a very low rating and freaking weird books high. And this was the first time ever that I liked the witch craft stuffs in a book. I don't know but I just don't like witchy stuffs in other books. I rather prefer vampires and shape-sh...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 08, 2008 Marissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Awesome book too. Magic and young romance mixed together. What could be better? Kate is a witch and so is her grandmother. When Jared is new to town and her school she realizes he has magic and power beyond hers and that he doesnt even know it! She finds out he has an ancient curse that has been put on his family and every 7th born in his ancestry. They go back into time to kill the sorcerer who created it and... die trying? It's up to you to find out.

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 01, 2013 Honour rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: high school romance readers, YA witchcraft readers, YA time travel readers

Recommended to Honour by: amazon

Shelves: reviewed-by-moi, wings-paws-fangs-wands, female-first-person-pov, male-first-person-pov, disappointed-expectations

2.5 stars is what I really want to give it.
When I first read an excerpt of the first chapter at Amazon.com, I thought- fantastic! A high school story, yes, but one where this bumbling boy, unaware of how much power he has, comes into contact with a girl who realises just how dangerous he could be- and he refuses to believe her!
It seemed like a plot that could only get funnier and more complicated as the chapters turned. Right?
NO.
When I finally chased the book down- it was because of this book th...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 24, 2012 Splash Of Our Worlds *Yiota* rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the books that you remember for many reasons. For me, was the first book I've read about magic. One of the first I've read secretly, my parents had no clue since it was school season, while I was on the class-yes, during the lessons- and on the breaks. The first I've shared with my high-school BFF (which is Yiota, by the way).

The story tells about Kate and Jarrod. Kate lives on a small village with her grandma and knows that she has magical powers. Jarrod moves in the same village...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 22, 2011 Adi (Reading in the Windowseat) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-on-paper, 2011-read-list, class-young-adult, genre-fantasy, genre-romance

Loved it! Couldn't put it down.

This is a story I adored from beginning to end. For once the girl was the brave one, and the guy was the one who wouldn't take peer pressure or any risks for what he believes is good.

The mythology and time-orientation were great. This is a book about magic, but also about history. There were great references to the Middle Age culture and English history, all mixed up with witchcraft and present-day teen issues.

I loved Kate's character - brave, confident, self-suffi...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 09, 2012 Bianca added it

Shelves: favorites

I read this book ages ago (okay, no, it was just seven or eight years ago). It was one of the first fantasy novels I read, and something in me just... clicked on. While I loved books before, this for me was a discovery.
It was cathartic to let go of all my problems for a few hours and disappear in a fictitious world. In somebody else's life.
Everyone has been an awkward teen, this novel taught me that I could become someone else in a novel.
I wrote for the first time, after I read this novel. And...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 13, 2013 Lolita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-fell-in-love-with

I read this book way back when I was in my 2nd grade of High School. My friend and I had to choose a book and make a book report on it. I fell in love with De Vloek (Dutch name for Old Magic which means 'the curse') because of the cover. It had this creepy picture of a girls' shadow that was kind of faxed out as she was walking through the woods. I assumed this was a bit of a horror story... But it wasn't.
Kate is such an amazing character! She is brave, strong, loyal and doesn't let people mess...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Analyn Sandhu rated it 4 of 5 stars

pgs.369 Old Magic, by Marianne Curley, was captivating and continued to increase in excitement. I tried reading this book multiple times and could never get passed the first few chapters; but I can honestly say that I am so happy I finally did. Although the beginning of the book may be somewhat dragged on, the middle and end is full of twists and intensity that I didn't see coming. The author creates great character development and a great progression of the plot. This story was about a young g...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Johanna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Old Magic
by Marianne Curley

Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

His name is Jarrod Thornton. He has blond-red hair to his shoulders, nice clean skin and green eyes like fiery emeralds; but this is not why I can't drag my eyes off him. There's something else. Something disturbing . . .

Kate is at a loss. She meets a boy with extraordinary powers and a bizarre family history that can be traced back to the Middles Ages. But Jarrod doesn't believe in the paranormal. When Kate tries to co...more Old Magic
by Marianne Curley

Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

His name is Jarrod Thornton. He has blond-red hair to his shoulders, nice clean skin and green eyes like fiery emeralds; but this is not why I can't drag my eyes off him. There's something else. Something disturbing . . .

Kate is at a loss. She meets a boy with extraordinary powers and a bizarre family history that can be traced back to the Middles Ages. But Jarrod doesn't believe in the paranormal. When Kate tries to convince him that he has supernatural powers that need to be harnessed, he doesn't take her serious, and only puts up with her "hocus pocus" notions because he finds her captivating. However, the dangerous, uncontrolled strengthening of his gifts finally convinces Jarrod that he must take Kate's theories seriously. Together, they embark on a remarkable journey - one which will unravel the mystery that has hung over Jarrod's family for generations and finds them pitted against immense forces in a battle to undo the past and reshape the future.

When Jarrod Thornton walks into the classroom, Kate Warren instantly senses that he is as different as she is. In anger, he unknowingly unleashes a storm in the science lab and Kate realizes that he has exceptional paranormal abilities that exceed her own. As an uneasy friendship forms, she helps Jarrod confront and internalize his talents. With her grandmother's help, the teens journey back to the Middle Ages and break the curse that has controlled the Thornton family for generations.

Another book from my TBR pile finished. Yayy! I'm finally putting a dent in that never-ending stack. The plot in this book was very well planned out. The first half was set in a small town along the forest in Australia and the second half was set in the Scottish Highlands among castles and villagers. Two different mixtures that blended quite well with the story. Both of the main characters can use magic, but in different ways and at different skill-levels. Yet, Kate and Jarrod are instantly attracted to each other as well. Each lead gets their own chapter and they flip back and forth throughout, so the reader gets quite a smooth story telling of attempts to break the old family curse, time traveling experiences and different uses of magic.

Likes: I enjoyed that it was set in Australia for the majority of the book, so there were lots of unfamiliar Australian slang . . . which I found fascinating!

Dislikes: Jarrod came off as too pessimistic and I couldn't really warm up to him because of that.(less)

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Feb 02, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kate is 15 and a trainee witch. Raised by her grandmother, Jillian, who is a true user of 'Old Magic', she can do small things like sensing peoples moods and moving objects, but not a lot else.

Jarrod is also 15 and is new at school, and Kate immediately knows that there is something different about him when she tries to look inside his head and he feels her there and blocks her out. Then, when his temper gets out of hand and storms start spontaneously from nothing, and glass begins to shatter, s...more Kate is 15 and a trainee witch. Raised by her grandmother, Jillian, who is a true user of 'Old Magic', she can do small things like sensing peoples moods and moving objects, but not a lot else.

Jarrod is also 15 and is new at school, and Kate immediately knows that there is something different about him when she tries to look inside his head and he feels her there and blocks her out. Then, when his temper gets out of hand and storms start spontaneously from nothing, and glass begins to shatter, she realises that Jarrod too has a gift, if only he would acknowledge that it was real.

Making contact with Jarrod, Kate introduces him to her grandmother, and tries to convince him that he has a gift, but he tells her she's wrong, and instead aligns himself with the people at school who make fun of Kate.

Jarrod's family however seem to have had a run of misfortunes - they're always breaking bones, his dad is disabled from an accident in their garage, and they have lost both homes and businesses to gas explosions and flash floods. When Kate hears of this, she seems convinced that Jarrod's family must be under some sort of curse, but it is only when his younger brother almost dies in a freak fishing accident that Jarrod begins to listen to her.

Reading from an ancient book of her grandmother's, Kate discovers that some powerful curses can last generations, with every 7th born son being affected, and when Jarrod learns that his parents had 6 other babies before him who all died within days of being born, he understands that this must be what has happened to his family.

After a failed cleansing ritual, and his father's attempted suicide, Jarrod realises that it's time for drastic action to try and save his family from this curse, and Jillian comes up with the idea of sending Jarrod and Kate back in time to when the spell was cast, in hopes of stopping it from ever happening.

Now, flown years back in time hundreds of years, Jarrod and Kate must find and stop the spell-caster, in hopes of saving Jarrod's family from this awful curse.

I think this book is aimed at a young-adult audience, but it's not so simple and baby-ish that it can't appeal to adults too. The story is a little dull in parts, but this is made up for in the end. The story is told from both Kate and Jarrod's perspectives alternately, which I found a little confusing at times, but overall worked out okay

Overall, a fairly decent story, but sure to appeal more to a teenage rather than an adult audience. (less)

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Dec 03, 2011 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read this book almost ten years ago, but I still count it at the very, very top of my list of favorite books. There are a number of authors and books that have helped build my reading preferences, but "Old Magic" is the book that created my preference of Young Adult fiction. This book sets a bar that I judge almost every book I read by. Marianne Curley has written a novel that to this day I can describe in vivid detail, partially because this boos, the Harry Potter series, and The Hunger Games...more I read this book almost ten years ago, but I still count it at the very, very top of my list of favorite books. There are a number of authors and books that have helped build my reading preferences, but "Old Magic" is the book that created my preference of Young Adult fiction. This book sets a bar that I judge almost every book I read by. Marianne Curley has written a novel that to this day I can describe in vivid detail, partially because this boos, the Harry Potter series, and The Hunger Games trilogy are the only books I crave to read over and over. This is a book about magic--original, imagination commanding magic--that stays on track, that goes just far enough, but not too far into the land of the fantastical. This is a book about love--heart-wrenching, knee-shaking love--that holds back the absolutely perfect amount, that is so realistic and astonishing when set against the back drop of the world and powers Curley creates. This is a book full of characters, stories, and lives that come to life with every turn of the page. Unlike other Young Adult authors (who shall not be named in this review), the author creates characters so intensely fitting, so true to the story--but without being perfect. The characters has real flaws, the characters have real lives, the characters have real and raw emotions; all of which ooze within the book's pages. This is not a novel that involves intervention and magical means for no reason, the characters aren't just thrown together--Jarrod seeks Kate and her grandmother out with purpose. Kate genuinely cares and falls for him in a true to life fashion--she doesn't become obsessed with no cause. And Jarrod seeks popularity and acceptance the way any teen who has moved to a new town will relate to. The curse is a tale passed down generations, the same as stories in everyone's family. And Kate and her grandmother agree to help--not because Kate has a crush, but because it is their job, their passion and purpose to help people with their talents. Even the aspects that take place in the past keep true to the story, true to the vulnerability and raw feelings that the characters (and most people) have at all times. When I first read "Old Magic" I would feel build-ups to many moments and climaxes of the plot, thinking at first that it would be a predictable, one-size-fits-ass story line. It wasn't. Curley maintains the base of the people she has invented, in another book it would be certain that the young couple, ripe with new feelings and freedom in the past, would be met with amazing things, and would fall deeply in love within moments of landing. But Jarrod and Kate spend their first moments in the mud, their first night on a hay bed filled with lice and bugs. Their closeness that takes place is the proper style for them.

This review may sound a little laudable--but I assure you, this book is moving, it pulls you in and stays in your mind for years. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 20, 2011 Candace rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book (like The Time Traveler’s Wife) broke three of my cardinal rules: it was narrated by multiple first-person narrators, chapters began with the name of the current narrator, and it was written in first-person present tense. But unlike Time Traveler’s Wife, which had an interesting premise to (sometimes) make up for these grievous faults (seriously, who said it was okay to have multiple first-person narrators? I’d like to find whoever it was and beat him with a stick), Old Magic was prett...more This book (like The Time Traveler’s Wife) broke three of my cardinal rules: it was narrated by multiple first-person narrators, chapters began with the name of the current narrator, and it was written in first-person present tense. But unlike Time Traveler’s Wife, which had an interesting premise to (sometimes) make up for these grievous faults (seriously, who said it was okay to have multiple first-person narrators? I’d like to find whoever it was and beat him with a stick), Old Magic was pretty ho-hum. Sure, it sort of took place in Australia. But the whole time-and-space travel thing was not as intriguing as it could’ve been. It wasn’t a terribly Twlight-esque book once you got over the first scene of intense attraction in a science classroom (I would die of laughter if I found out that Stephenie Meyer had ever read this book), but it didn’t bring too many new things to the table.

One of my favorite aspects of urban fantasy (I suppose this qualifies as such) is that magic can act as a beautiful metaphor for all of the problems we have with our day-to-day lives. Characters in urban fantasy are human beings just like you and me, but with an added set of worries and complaints and desires, because they also know that magic exists, intertwined with reality.

Except Old Magic didn’t have much of that. Magic was the problem and the solution. I don’t know if I learned anything important about either of the characters through their interactions with the magical world around them. This was no Young Wizards where all of a sudden the meaning of life has been elucidated via whalesong (oh how I love you, Deep Wizardry).

This was not even quirkily Australian. It took the one unique thing it had going for it (from an American perspective, at any rate) and didn’t really run with it. I have a feeling there’s probably a market for Australian young adult urban fantasy that actually deals with Australian cultural tradition rather than demanding the throwback to medieval England. And frankly, I would’ve been more interested.(less)

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May 27, 2011 Rum rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ok first of all I did enjoy the book. I was surprised by the twist int he middle of the book as there was no hint of it in the blurb. I was expecting a YA novel along the lines of magic and paranormalish themes (i.e. a little dark, urban etc) however I would class this more as a middle-grade book and a fantasy rather than paranormal.

The basic plot is (spoilers ahead) about Kate a teenage witch who realises the new boy in town has special powers he is not aware of, enter Jarrod. A clumsy, coward...more

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Feb 11, 2011 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade, ya

Fun, easy read. A teen romance about a clumsy boy whose family is cursed. They eventually go back in time to the Middle Ages to take care of the curse. Fun concept that teen girls would eat up.

Positives: Liked the character's physical descriptions. Very clear visuals in my head. The villain was the best crafted character in the book though. This author knows how to do EVIL.

Criticism: While I liked the book being told in alternating points of view (between Kate and Jarrod), I feel like often thei...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 23, 2010 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

More witchcraft . . .

Fortunatelly, there was less emphasis on the ceremonial aspects of witch craft in this particular novel and more character development. I'm all for character development, I love knowing all about my character's ups and downs. Ironically, the biggest weakness of this book was all the backstory Ms. Curley puts upfront.

She writes a lot about the character's backgrounds, something which is helpful in understanding why her characters behave as they do. But she also managed to rep...more

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May 04, 2010 Larissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Kate has no family history and no past, only her grandmother, her home and her forest where she has always lived. She has always been the odd one out, never fitting in, but despite being unpopular and very different she has long accepted the fact that she is unique and is confident in herself and secure in who she is.

Jarrod is new in town, having moved around a lot with no one place to call home. In spite of this Jarrod has a close and loving family that can trace its history all the way back to...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 26, 2010 Jennifer Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Feb 03, 2010 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was absolutely incredible. I couldn't put it down! One of my favorite subjects is witchcraft and every book I read usually has to have romance in it. Old Magic is done in two different parts. Part One revolves around the main charecters Kate and Jarrod meeting and Kate trying to convince him that he is a very powerful sorcerer. Part Two was mesmirizing and very exciting! It's mainly about Kate and Jarrod traveling back in time to the medivel times and battling an evil sorcerer to chang...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Em-em rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jarrod is the new kid in a small town but there is something different with this boy and Kate catches this the moment Jarrod steps inside the classroom. Jarrod is like Kate but different from Kate because he is unaware of his gift and is in denial about it. However, this new boy has a terrible secret; a curse that tears his family apart. And the only way to break this curse is to accept his gift and the help from Kate.

This book is AMAZING. I never thought that I would love this book as much as...more Jarrod is the new kid in a small town but there is something different with this boy and Kate catches this the moment Jarrod steps inside the classroom. Jarrod is like Kate but different from Kate because he is unaware of his gift and is in denial about it. However, this new boy has a terrible secret; a curse that tears his family apart. And the only way to break this curse is to accept his gift and the help from Kate.

This book is AMAZING. I never thought that I would love this book as much as I did. It was an exciting book. For a change the male character Jarrod is not the perfect kind of guy. He is somebody who is insecure and lacks confidence at the many parts of the story he is spineless while the female lead female character Kate is the confident one who is strong and sure of herself. The roles were switched here and there is non of those damsel in distress kind of thing if there is a damsel in distress the person is a he and he is Jarrod. The guy really needed confidence in a big dose. There were times that I hated him because no matter how many evidences that Kate presented to her he still doesn't believe her. And the times that he blew Kate off I just want to crack his head. But the guy is really sweet and a loyal friend all he needed is just confidence.

The part that I really love about the book is the part where they traveled to the Medieval era. This is the big turning point of the story. Jarrod is starting to grow up and develop self confidence to be able to fight Rhauk. Rhauk is really the definition of evil. Gosh!! I wanted to kill the guy myself. I have seen his kind of evil in movies but reading about it puts me on the edge. I was shouting and really frustrated. I wanted Rhauk to be killed. Oh he was so evil. I was always on the edge with this book. It is one of the exciting books I have read. Full of magic and witchcraft. Totally a different type of paranormal reading journey.

The book caught me off guard I never expected it to be this good. It was exciting and full of action. There was romance in it and friendship. I recommend this book to everyone.(less)

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Dec 28, 2010 Janni (aka Gulde) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2005, read-once-upon-a-time

Beskrivelse: 17 årige Kate bor I en lille landsby ved regnskoven, sammen med sin bedstemor Jillian. Kate har overnaturlige evner som hun prøver at skjule for landsbybeboerne. Huer ikke så populær i skolen, tvært imod.
En dag kommer den klodsede elev Jarrod til at gå i hendes klasse. Hans familie rammes konstant af ulykker, som nær koster dem livet. Jarrod viser sig at have farlige evner, der er langt større end Kates, men han vil ikke erkende dem.
Sammen opdager de at Jarrod er ramt af en forband...more

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Jul 19, 2009 Sara Grochowski rated it 3 of 5 stars

Title: Old Magic
Author: Marianne Curley
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Date Published: 2002
Genre: Young Adult
Main Themes: Magic, Curses, Love, Time travel
Pages: 317
Plot (from back cover):
"Jarrod Thornton is mesmerizing, but Kate Warren doesn't know why.

The moment the new guy walks into the room, Kate senses something strange and intense about him. Something supernatural. Her instincts are proven correct a few minutes later when, bullied by his classmates, Jarrod unknowingly conjures up a freak thunderstor...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 17, 2013 Davina Walls rated it 3 of 5 stars

Would you ever be able to understand an ancient curse put on your ancestors; or a crazy girl trying to tell you that you have some ‘gift’? Friendship and trust are things that can push someone a long way, but curses are put in place to stop happiness.Old Magic by Marianne Curley is a book that explains the life of two teenagers. One that lives with a curse and another that is just trying to help him.

Jarrod just wants to be normal. He doesn’t want his family always getting hurt or having any of h...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Ben Jensen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 11-20

This book reminded me of a "twilight" type of book. It is about this girl that has slight magical abilities and has grown up with out a mom or dad. She lives with her Grandma. When Jarrod moves into her school she senses something odd about him. He too has magical powers but refuses admit to and harness his own powers. His family is cursed and has been tormented by this curse for hundreds of years. every family with up to three sons is clumsy and everything in this person is bad luck. The questi...more

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Mar 09, 2011 nurmawati djuhawan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, romance, buku-eng, supernatural

Tokoh dari "present time" :
-------------------------------------------
Jarrod = clumsy but totaly hot... keluarganya dikutuk sejak ratusan tahun yang lalu...bakal banyak kematian dan kemalangan di keluarganya kalo dia gak memusnahkan kutukan itu..

Kate = an outsider di sekolahnya karena dianggap keturunan penyihir...
Gak tau siapa ayah kandungnya dan dari kecil ditinggal ibunya utk dirawat jillian...
Kate punya kekuatan bisa masuk ke pikiran org lain dan merasakan tanpa org lain tau dia menginvasi p...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, young-adult

This book is told from Jarrod and Kate's point-of-view. Kate is a witch, which only her friend knows. Other people at school think she is but they have no idea. Kate is able to get in people's heads and sense how they are feeling, as well as do minor spells. Jarrod is new in town. His family has moved many times and bad luck seems to have followed his family. On his first day in class, Kate is memorized when she sees Jarrod. When she tries to sense how he is feeling she is blocked, which has nev...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Cana Elene (http://placeofreeds.blogspot.com) rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is your average boy meets girl, girl realizes boy is cursed, boy doesn't believe her until his family are paying the price, and boy and girl fixes the curse. Kate is a witch in training, who has some abandonment issues. Jarrod is a boy who has no belief in magic, and his family has had a string of bad luck, extreme bad luck.

So I orignally bought this book as a discount book at BAM. I was told that there was no one at the store who had read it, but I thought I'd still give it a try. Unfortu...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What's The Name o...: [SOLVED] Modern fantasy with witchcraft for teens. [s]	6	45	Jan 28, 2013 10:09am
What's The Name o...: YA supernatural/time travel: girl can hear thoughts, new boy controls weather [s]	6	27	Jan 16, 2013 08:48pm
Old Magic (spoilers)	5	37	Apr 12, 2012 09:25am

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About Marianne Curley

I was born on the 20th of May, 1959 in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. The youngest of four children, I lived with my family in a small timber house on the banks of the Hawkesbury River. I started my school life at St Monica’s Primary School in Richmond, catching the bus with my brothers and sister every day until a major flood caused the Hawkesbury River to break its banks and sweep the fami...more I was born on the 20th of May, 1959 in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. The youngest of four children, I lived with my family in a small timber house on the banks of the Hawkesbury River. I started my school life at St Monica’s Primary School in Richmond, catching the bus with my brothers and sister every day until a major flood caused the Hawkesbury River to break its banks and sweep the family home away. Along with the destruction of our house, the fierce-flowing river took all our belongings. My parents managed to save only a few precious photos. The year was 1964 and I was five years old.
After the flood, we moved in with relations in Richmond for a few months. It was a tight squeeze with my sister and I doubling up in a big bed with our three female cousins. We then lived with family friends on a farm on the outskirts of Sydney, while my parents purchased a small property at Plumpton where they had a red-brick house built. While my older brothers went to St Patrick’s Boys High School at Blacktown, my sister and I attended Marayong Primary School, then later attended Rooty Hill High School.

I discovered books at school when I was about eight-years-old. The first novel I recall reading was the Charles Dicken’s classic, Oliver Twist. I loved this book, but more than anything, I loved the effect this book had on me. Swept up in the excitement of this other world, I soon became a voracious reader. The Library at school, and then high school, turned into my favourite places. I spent many lunch sessions roaming the aisles and scanning the shelves, always on the hunt for my next adventure. When I was in my teens I liked to read long dramas and devoured most of James A Michener’s lengthy sagas. I think I read every book written by Leon Uris that had been published at that time. Then one day I read a novel written by Anya Seton called Katherine. This novel ignited my love for historical fiction. I still have this book on my shelves at home.

Growing up, I wasn’t big on outdoor activities, but I enjoyed sport and played Hockey for my High School. I also played Squash (Racquetball) with friends every Thursday for many years. After I finished Grade Ten and passed my School Certificate examinations, I went to a technical college and learned secretarial skills. I graduated from my secretarial course in first place and immediately found work for a solicitor in a Government office, where I stayed for the next six years. When I was nineteen, I met a young man named John Curley, and four days after my twenty-first birthday we were married. We had a new house built in a young emerging suburb called St Clair, where I soon chose to be a full-time mother. My first child was a baby girl we called Amanda, born in December 1981. Danielle was born fourteen months later in February 1983, while my son Chris was born in March of 1986.

But the family wasn’t complete yet. Over the next few years we saw many pets come and go - for one reason or another! We started with tropical fish and mice without much success, then a few rabbits that were quickly followed by two guinea pigs. Unfortunately, one night a roaming pack of dogs got into our yard and the rabbit pen, while both guinea pigs escaped from their enclosure and drowned in the neighbour’s swimming pool! After a while we tried our hand with ducks, but the yard just wasn’t big enough so eventually we found homes for them amongst the neighbours. Then we built a fabulous aviary, except a couple of our birds came to a dreadful end when a carpet snake wormed its way through the wire enclosure and ate two of our canaries for breakfast! We then bought a cat from the RSPCA, but it was already sick and kept growing sicker until one day, about three weeks later, it ran away and was never found. And finally we welcomed two character-filled dogs to our home. The first was Chippa, an Australian Silky Terrier that we bought for Chris for his seventh birthday. And then there is Mi(less)

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Quotes from Old Magic

“This wind is mystical yet tame, and it sings to me.” — 61 people liked it

“Not to know what happened before you were born is always to remain a child. For what is a man’s life if it is not linked with the life of future generations by memories of the past?” — 13 people liked it

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