Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published: October 12, 2021
Source: ALC via Publisher
Summary:
Master storyteller Alice Hoffman brings us the conclusion of the Practical Magic series in a spellbinding and enchanting final Owens novel brimming with lyric beauty and vivid characters.
The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work.
A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother. As Kylie Owens uncovers the truth about who she is and what her own dark powers are, her aunt Franny comes to understand that she is ready to sacrifice everything for her family, and Sally Owens realizes that she is willing to give up everything for love.
The Book of Magic is a breathtaking conclusion that celebrates mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, and anyone who has ever been in love.
My thoughts:
I cannot begin to tell you how much I have loved reading this book, and even more than that, this entire series. I am so glad that the book club I co-host online selected this book as one of our October pick because I probably would not have read it otherwise. And now I have an entire series that I just know I will be reading over and over again.
This book, and the Owens family, has my heart. The fact that it is a generational tale is an automatic win for me. Then thrown in the fact that it begins in a library and focuses on books to help break a centuries old family curse and I could not have been happier. This truly made my book-loving heart full.
This book is all about doing everything you can for love. I loved how the entire Owens family comes together to help one of their own. It’s a book filled with history and magic and the writing is just absolutely beautiful. I could not have loved this one any more than I did – as much as I wanted to see how it ended, it was also an instance where I wanted to savor every last minute I had with these characters because I don’t want my time with them to come to an end.
As I mentioned when I started out this series, there is really no wrong or right way to read these books. Each book really does stand on it’s own and the books can be read in the order Alice Hoffman wrote them or you can read them chronologically, which is how I decided to read them.
“Some stories begin at the beginning and others begin at the end, but all the best stories begin in a library.”
If you haven’t had a chance to pick this book up yet, I highly recommend doing so. It will certainly be a yearly reread for me…when it’s just this book or the entire series, I’m not sure, but I do know I’ll at least be revisiting them and I am so looking forward to it!
Audio thoughts:
Listening to this book was just magical. The narrator, Jennifer Ehle, really brought this story to life and I was completely captivated. I found myself glued to my phone/ear buds and ended up listening to this story in just one day because I was so engaged in this story and did not want to put it down.
Books in this series:
Chronological Order –
- Magic Lessons
- The Rules of Magic
- Practical Magic
- The Book of Magic
Publication Date –
- Practical Magic
- The Rules of Magic
- Magic Lessons
- The Book of Magic
