Overall, this was the perfect book for the beginning of autumn. The writing style reminded me of a fairy tale, and I just wanted to curl up under a warm blanket with some apple cider and enjoy it uninterrupted.
Alice Hoffman’s latest addition to the Practical Magic series takes us back to the years of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, and we learn about Maria Owens — her childhood, her first love, her daughter — and more importantly, we learn why she places a curse against love on the future generations of Owens women.
I will admit that while I’ve read several other books by Alice Hoffman, this is actually my first book in this trilogy (although I’m familiar with the future characters from the movie adaptation.) Even so, this absolutely worked as a stand-alone book (even though now I want to hurry up and read the other two.)
I really appreciated that while this book overlapped with the infamous trials in Salem, it wasn’t just another Salem Witchcraft Trials book. The focus was really on the characters themselves and not on the trials or the perpetrators of the executions.
This book was primarily about Maria’s life, but it was also a commentary on society about the prejudice and sexism in the world, especially against strong, independent women. I also liked the balance/ambivalence between the “good” Unnamed Arts that helped people and made the world a better place and the “bad” Dark Magic that helped Faith exact revenge on people who would hurt those weaker than them. Even though the book favored the former, it didn’t necessarily condemn the latter, which is a more realistic look at the world.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for my honest review. It did not influence my opinion.