Another day, and another round of Yvo’s Shorties… Bringing more backlog reviews of books I read back in 2017. The first is an ARC I read ages ago, The Rules Of Magic by Alice Hoffman. The second an classic I ended up enjoying way better than I thought I would: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

Title: The Rules Of Magic
(Practical Magic #2)
Author: Alice Hoffman
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
First published: October 10th 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Finished reading: October 12th 2017
Pages: 369

“Why is anything a secret? People want to protect themselves from the past. Not that it works.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***


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I was actually invited to read this title last year and was drawn to both the cover and the blurb. It’s not my typical genre, but something about The Rules Of Magic spoke to me and I decided to give it a go. Sadly it didn’t work out as planned. It might have been due to the fact I haven’t read Practical Magic and wasn’t familiar with the main characters, it might have been because the story simply wasn’t for me, but I ended up having mixed thoughts about it. The pace is quite slow and it took me a lot longer than expected to read this story. I wasn’t able to connect to the characters and this lack of connection resulted in a further estrangement. It’s a shame, because The Rules Of Magic did show a lot of potential and I can see why the right person would really enjoy reading it. The writing is without doubt excellent and if you manage a connection to the characters you will love seeing them grow up and their different ways of accepting magic into their lives. Just don’t expect a lot of magical elements and witchcraft in this story, because you will be disappointed; The Rules Of Magic has more of a coming of age feel with a hint of magical realism.

Title: The Invisible Man
Author: H.G. Wells
Genre: Classics, Science Fiction, Fantasy
First published: 1897
Publisher: Signet
Finished reading: October 23rd 2017 
Pages: 208

“Great and strange ideas transcending experience often have less effect upon men and women than smaller, more tangible considerations.”


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The Invisible Man is one of those classics that has been on my TBR for ages, always getting posponed to read other titles instead. But after a mention that this classic was actually quite entertaining, I decided to finally pick it up. And they were right, because I actually found myself having a lot of fun while reading The Invisible Man. Not only is the prose quite easy to read, but the plot itself is both intriguing and entertaining as things start escalating. The character development has been really well done and shows the effects being invisible can have on a man… If you are looking for an accessible and entertaining classic to read, The Invisible Man is the choice for you.

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