The Rules of Magic Review

(Note: This review was originally written at the same time as the Book of the Month review for Future Home of the Living God)

First of all, thanks to my sister for loaning me this novel to read - I'd prefer not to have just a single exceptionally negative review for this month, even if that will happen eventually. looking at my future selections.

Unlike Future Home of the Living God, I read this one fairly quickly after it was loaned to me all those years ago, so this review won't be as in-depth (or as long) as that one. Which is a shame, because I really enjoyed The Rules of Magic.

A prequel to Hoffman's Practical Magic, it thankfully doesn't require the other novel to have been read - it works perfectly well as a stand alone. Following two sisters and their brother as they grow up learning about the magic inherent to them, the novel has a slightly stylized format that, in my opinion, serves it well.

Each of the characters gets long parts of the narrative focused on them, while still weaving together with the overall narrative. The journey of Vincent is my personal favorite, but both Franny and Jet are also engaging characters, so following them for chapters at a time doesn't feel like a chore to get to the character I really want to read.

There isn't a terrible amount of action in the novel, but it still moves at a brisk pace and one could easily make it through multiple chapters without realizing how quickly you made it through the story.

This novel is a definite recommend from me.

4 out of 5

Author Links:

https://alicehoffman.com/