The Book of Magic: Book Review
There’s something about returning to the Owens women that feels like slipping into a favorite sweater—familiar, comforting, a little enchanted. The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman is the long-awaited finale to the Practical Magic series, and it delivers exactly what I wanted: family history, a touch of witchcraft, and characters who feel like old friends. Hoffman brings the Owens story full circle in a way that feels honest and heartfelt, whether you’ve read the whole series or you’re just now stepping into their world.
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Quick Look
- the end of an era
- multi-POV
- lush and emotional
- older FMC representation
- witchiness scale:
/5
Published January 6, 2022
Publisher's Synopsis
For centuries, the Owens family has been cursed in matters of love. When beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the sound of the deathwatch beetle, she knows that it is a signal. She has finally discovered the secret to breaking the curse, but time is running out. She has only seven days to live.
Unaware of the family’s witchcraft lineage and all it entails, one of the young sisters of the new Owens generation has fallen in love. As the curse strikes once again, her love’s fate hangs in the balance, spurring three generations of Owens to venture back to where it all began and use their gifts to break the spell that has marked all their lives.
But doing so threatens to destroy everything the family has fought so hard to protect. How much will they give up for the greatest gift of all?
My Review
Y’all… Alice Hoffman has created one of my favorite multi-generational arcs in all of historical-magical fiction, and The Book of Magic felt like the most bittersweet, beautiful farewell to the Owens family I could’ve hoped for.
This book has everything I love about Hoffman’s storytelling: soft magic woven into everyday life, generations of strong and stubborn women, whispers of old curses, star-crossed love, sisterhood, loss, and ultimately the healing power of love. It’s tender and atmospheric in that signature Hoffman way: the kind that makes you want to light a candle, brew a cup of tea, and call the women in your life just to tell them you love them.
We follow several branches of the Owens family as they try one last time to break the curse that has shaped centuries of their history. I especially adored the way Hoffman lets the older Owens women shine in this book. Jet’s storyline gutted me in the best way. The way Hoffman threads in themes of sacrifice, forgiveness, and choosing your own fate, even when the world tells you it’s already written.
If you’ve read the rest of the Practical Magic series, this finale feels like the moment all those loose, shimmering threads finally come together. If you’re new to the series, it’s still immersive and enchanting on its own, but longtime readers are going to feel that extra emotional punch. I definitely did.
My Rating
The Book of Magic is about love in all its messy, magical forms—romantic, familial, ancestral—wrapped in that cozy-gothic Hoffman glow that I've come to love. A gorgeous closing chapter for a series that has meant so much to so many of us. It's by far my favorite of the series, and the ultimate ending to one of my favorite series.
read reviews of the rest of the Practical Magic series here ↓
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