Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman - 3 Stars

[Olivermagnus]

Practical Magic follows sisters Gillian and Sally Owens. They grow up in a town in Massachusetts where their family is shunned by the entire town because they believe that the women in their household are responsible for every bad thing that happens. As adults, the sisters part ways, escaping the town to find better lives, but they’re eventually drawn back together.

While the story was eloquently told it was a little bit slow. I neither liked, nor connected with the main characters. At times the decisions they made had me really irritated with them. I didn't feel like there was even a point to the story until near the end when Gillian arrives back home with a problem that needs to be solved.

These women seem to have had their witchhood foisted upon them. For the most part, they seem like normal, average women. When they have problems, they try to solve them but somehow these solutions never seem to work.

I've heard this is one of the rare cases where the movie is much better than the book. I haven't seen the movie so I might check it out to see if I prefer it. Alice Hoffman is a very versatile and talented author and I'm sure I will continue to read and enjoy her books in the future.

[Book Concierge]

I thought the movie was dreadful and vowed never to read the book. The WPF challenge brought to reading it and I thought the book was better than the movie.