The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman is a prequel to her best selling novel Practical Magic.
For the Owens family, magic is in their blood and love is a curse–neither escapable. It’s the end of the fifties in New York City and three siblings are about to learn the reason for their mother’s strange rules: “No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love.”
Franny, Jet and Vincent are each unique in their own way–Franny has a way with birds and fiery red hair; Jet is beautiful and kind and can read peoples thoughts; and Vincent everybody’s favorite and has a penchant for mischief. When Franny turns 17, the siblings travel to Massachusetts to spend the summer with their mysterious Aunt Isabel and their lives are never the same.
As the Owens siblings grow up they will learn what it means to have magic, how to fight fear and what it means to live and love.
I really enjoyed this one. It was definitely more character driven then plot driven in my opinion–though, I feel many would argue this point. It was really interesting seeing how the aunts from Practical Magic came to be the people they are. You don’t really think about their history too much before this book.
As much as I like Fanny’s and Jet’s storylines, I think Vincent’s really drove the story a lot of the time. I know Franny was supposed to be like the glue to the family but Vincent was just such an interesting character and you really see how he changes and how his future affects his present. It’s been so long since I’ve read Practical Magic, that I can’t remember if he pops up at all, but I really hope there are hints of him that I am forgetting.
This was an enjoyable read. It get’s 4 stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-