The Rules of Magic is the prequel to Practical Magic. I’ll admit, I haven’t read Practical Magic YET but I have always been in love with the movie. Naturally when I saw this book I had to read it and it did not disappoint. I devoured every minute of Franny, Jet and Vincent as they desperately attempted to avoid falling in love for fear of the Owens Curse. (Their lover is doomed to death.) But the question begs, are you really living if you can’t fall madly deeply in love?

Hoffman explores themes of family tradition and the struggle between who we were brought up to be and who we ultimately define ourselves as. Is magic a blessing or a curse? I found myself rooting for this whole family, even the distant cousin that makes appearances through-out the book. With her free spirit and ‘damn the rules’ kind of attitude, what’s not to like?

This book is very moody and at times written to read like poetry. “The most glorious hour in Manhattan was when twilight fell in sheets across the Great Lawn. Bands of blue turned darker by the moment as the last of the pale light filtered through boughs of cherry trees and black locusts. In October, the meadows turned gold; the vines were twists of yellow and red.”

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. It had everything I wanted: angst, moodiness, tone, characters I loved and of course magic. If you’re a fan of the movie, this book has all the same vibes and then some. It’s a ‘go get it right now and read every Fall’ kind of book and definitely earned a permanent spot in my library.