[Review] Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman Review

Title of Book: Practical Magic

Author:  Alice Hoffman

Publisher:  Penguin Group

When the beautiful and precocious sisters Sally and Gillian Owens are orphaned at a young age, they are taken to a small Massachusetts town to be raised by their eccentric aunts, who happen to dwell in the darkest, eeriest house in town. As they become more aware of their aunts' mysterious and sometimes frightening powers -- and as their own powers begin to surface -- the sisters grow determined to escape their strange upbringing by blending into "normal" society.

But both find that they cannot elude their magic-filled past. And when trouble strikes -- in the form of a menacing backyard ghost -- the sisters must not only reunite three generations of Owens women but embrace their magic as a gift -- and their key to a future of love and passion. 

                This book is my March keyword reading challenge. This book is basically about magic and about love. The Owens women are gifted with magic but also cursed. The story follows Gillian and Sally whose parents are died and leaving them with their aunts. Apparently, their aunts have some sort of business which specialized in magic for love problem. Gillian and Sally grow up seeing what love can do to women and they swore not to be like those women.

                Gillian and Sally have very different characters. Sally is a rational girl who only believes in things that could be proven by logic. While Gillian is the opposite. Sally is lovable (in my opinion) and I don’t like Gillian at all. Maybe her characters grow and she learned her lesson but I just simply don’t like her character. She’s like a bother for her sister. Their bond as sisters is so strong that it touches my heart.

                One point that caught my attention is when Hoffman explains the reason why Ben Frye chose magic. It’s explained that he had a fear of people disappearing on him. But in magic act, usually what vanished is always reappeared.

                I enjoy Hoffman’s writing. I’m drawn to the story. When the heroine’s lover died I disappointed a little, but it turns out okay in the end. Whenever I start reading this book, I always want to know the continuation of it. She sometimes uses interesting analogy or idiom. Her choice of words is interesting, and sometimes reminds me of sugar, spice, and everything nice.  Such as the spell that one must recite to get her lover back:

“My lover’s heart will feel this pin, and his devotion I will win. There’ll be no way for him to rest nor sleep, until he comes to me to speak. Only when he loves me best will he find peace, and with peace, rest.”