“When you truly love someone and they love you in return, you ruin your lives together. That is not a curse, it’s what life is, my girl.”

-Alice Hoffman

Cozy books, and books about witches, and cozy books about witches are all the rage now. I’ve tried them, and they’re just not my flavor of books–there’s some missing element that makes them just okay for me.

The Rules of Magic (and it’s better-known sister, Practical Magic) has that missing element. There’s a realness to it that makes my heart ache for these siblings in the most wonderful way. Tension and violence and real history probably take this out of the “cozy” category, but it still has that element of a magical family that truly loves each other. There’s drama without people being unnecessarily awful to each other, which is how I prefer it in family novels, too.

Lyrical and easy to read, but with substance as well, I recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of magical realism or all things witchy. Practical Magic is a sister to this book, and if you’re planning to read both I’d recommend that one first, but you don’t need to read one to enjoy the other!