Practically Magic coming August 25th, 2026 from Avon a; 288 pages
Content Warning: Profanity
About the Author: “Jen Calonita is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty books for teens and middle grade. A graduate of Boston College, Jen began her career as an entertainment journalist at Teen People magazine, where she interviewed everyone from Dwayne Johnson to Reese Witherspoon. Her writing also has appeared in Glamour, Marie Claire, Self, TV Guide, and Entertainment Weekly. Jen can be found in New York with her husband, two boys, and a feisty chihuahua named Ben Kenobi. When she isn’t writing, she can be found traveling or dreaming about visiting Disney Parks” (Bio from Bookshop.org).
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Katherine (Kat) Hadley comes from a long line of witches but struggles to perform magic and feels stuck in her sister Harry’s shadow. Having convinced her family to go out of town for Halloween, Kat is left in charge of performing the Samhain ritual—a ritual cast by a witch in order to protect their town, requiring the witch’s soulmate to take part in order for the spell to be successful. As soon as Kat’s family leaves, her sister arrives—leaving Kat upset that her sister doesn’t believe she can complete the ritual alone. This forces Harry to reveal a spell she put on Kat to protect her. With their sisterhood left in shambles, their spells start reversing, including the wards on the town that keep out dangerous creatures. Will the sisters be able to forgive one another and figure out a way to save their town before it’s too late?
This book was overflowing with delightful Halloween vibes and small-town whimsy. Outside the curated atmosphere that successfully transported me to the town of Mystic Hollow, I also loved the sister dynamics. Harry as the older sister felt very relatable to me, expressing feelings of resentment at needing to keep everything together and always looking after her sister. Meanwhile, Kat as the younger sister feels inferior and is clearly struggling with her sister being away at college. As the book progresses, we see them start to realize how powerful and wonderful sisterly love is, giving this book a heartfelt message about the importance of family and those tight knit bonds. The rest of Kat’s family also help to support the importance of family in this book, but in particular her two aunts bring a lot of humor and are always willing to make an appearance to assist their nieces. There was also some romance in this book; we see Kat having lots of terrible experiences with crushes (relatable) and not finding the perfect guy until she is informed about the curse put on her. All of the magical elements were lighthearted and fun—there are vampires, gnomes, a kraken, and a headless horseman all featured in this story that heighten the stakes for the Hadley sisters. This book truly felt like a Disney channel original movie in all the best ways, making me very excited for the fall season to come!
Practically Magic releases on August 25th, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Avon a for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Katelyn Burklow, Pine Reads Review Writer