I love Practical Magic! I love the movie, and as with many fantastic films, it is based on a bestselling book, from Alice Hoffman. I have always adored the movie because it feels like best parts of fall all rolled into a film. It’s cozy and whimsical but also a bit moody and ever-so-slightly creepy. It’s a story about family and sisterhood and a coven…or community…er, well, both! There is magic and spells, there’s humor, heart, and of course love. Not just romantic love, but also love of friends and family, and embracing who you are. It’s the epitome of autumnal vibes, and if you can’t get enough, and are looking for more reasons to curl up on a crisp fall night, may we suggest these reads?
From the minute I picked up The Glittering Edge, I immediately thought it had Practical Magic vibes. 10000% the book you want to read on a crisp fall night, by candlelight. It’s cozy and creepy all at once. Plus there’s rumors that a local family, the De Lucas, might actually be witches. Witches who cursed the wealthy Barrion family as revenge, with a curse that means if a Barrion falls in love with you, you die. It’s eerie and filled with magic and a love story, plus family secrets—and drama—and you’re going to immediately need to pick up the sequel as well, The Neon Sky.
“Don’t summon a ghost without a dead good reason.” Great advice, great read, and absolutely perfect if you’re looking for another moody, mysterious, contemporary story with a whole lot of spirits. After three Long Island teenagers were murdered six years ago, the murders were never solved, but as far as the town is concerned, Evelyn Mackenzie’s father did it. His charges were dropped only because Evelyn summoned a ghost to clear his name, and she swore to never summon a spirit again. Mina Zanetti’s family has used the ocean’s power to guide the dead to their final resting place for generations. But sea levels are rising, ghosts grow more dangerous and Mina is shut out of the family business. When Evelyn performs another summoning but it goes awry, the two must discover who was really behind the murders, before the line between life and death dissolves. So creepy (in the best way)!
If you’re looking for a book that’s part rom-com, part mystery, but still with a dash of witchcraft, try Such a Witch. Embry Woodcross is queen bee at Raven’s Head School for the Magically Gifted. Celebrated fashionista and unrivaled solver of problems big and small, she’s quite popular. Until she’s the lead suspect in a murder investigation. Everyone loves a witch until something bad happens, and then it’s all pitchforks and anecdotal evidence.
If you like Practical Magic for the creepier parts, then you’ll like The Whisperwood Legacy. It’s a twisty contemporary fantasy about an amusement park shrouded in dark secrets, and the family desperate to inherit it at any cost. When the beloved Whisperwood amusement park shuts its gates, it’s a blessing in disguise for Frankie Strauss who would rather distance herself from the park and the corrupt influence that its fortune has had on her family. But when the family matriarch goes missing, Frankie uncovers a lot more than just some family drama. Fairy tales here aren’t just real, they’re deadly.
Romeo and Juliet meets Chinese mythology in this magical novel. Hunter Yee wants to run from his family’s past mistakes, but is sticking around only for his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching new girl at school. Luna Chang dreads the future, suffocating under her parents’ expectations, until she starts to break the rules and everything in her life begins to change. Hunter and Luna must navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, as things fall apart around them. If you’re looking for a story about family, love, and the magic and mystery of the moon that connects us all, you’re in for a treat.
Looking for more tales of modern witchcraft? A possible serial killer? Dayna Walsh is dealing with a lot, including coping with her somatic OCD, being outed as bisexual in her conservative town, and the return of her long-absent mother. But her focus is finally ascending and becoming a full witch. Yet another coven arrives, rumored to have a sordid history with black magic, with premonitions of death. Then a witch turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with a symbol of a serial killer. Dark forces, witches, drama? Check, check, and check! This is one you’ll want to curl up with on a stormy, crisp, night.
Ok this one might not be obvious, but hear me out! Between the star-crossed love, strange happenings, secrets unveiled, and a main character trying to figure out who they really are, then it is totally in keeping with the themes here! A young art student is about to be caught up in an otherworldly war. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters, she goes on mysterious “errands” and she has bright blue hair. Who is she? It’s a question that haunts her. This is the first in the bestselling epic trilogy from Laini Taylor, and you won’t want to miss a single second.
I’m going out on a limb saying you’ve already read and/or seen Practical Magic so you know that there’s perhaps an instance of trying to cast a forbidden spell in order to resurrect someone. And that’s exactly what brings us to Love Me to Death. But instead of bringing back someone who is actually quite evil, Love Me to Death introduces us to a necromancer, a resurrected bride, and her very-much-alive groom. This is also if you’re looking for something a little humorous, a little swoony, and a whole lot more animated. Both in the whole necromancy aspect, but also in the fact that this is a graphic novel with fantastic art that pops off the page. Oh, and of course there is most definitely a cat!
Ok while this is faeries not witches, both stories feature regular humans living alongside some very magical characters. Plus magic, forests, mystery…totally Practical Magic moodiness. In The Darkest Part of the Forest there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake. Until one day, he does…. See! There is always the possibility of magic around any corner! (And isn’t that kind of thrilling?)
