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Listening while I tackle the to do list

A young girl who is raised in a cult walks into the library (while being forbidden to do so) one day, and it changes her life forever. Feminism, patriarchy, time travel, apples, the love of books, and a puritan-like cult…it‘s all here. This magical story of a young woman finding herself is told in a way that only Alice Hoffman can tell.

“Real life is unbelievable. Souls are snatched away from us, flesh and blood turn to dust, people you love betray you, men go to war over nothing. It is all preposterous. That‘s why we have novels, to make sense of things.” Mia is raised in Community, a cult that bans books. Inspired by “scarlet letter”, Mia is able to run away to lead a normal life. Instead, she finds herself time traveling in love with N Hawthorne author of her sacred novel.

I absolutely loved the beginning of this book. Super interesting and fast-paced. The second part just got very confusing. It was like this book didn't know what genre it wanted to be and just threw everything in. So, everything got confusing and muddled. I think this is a fan fic for Nathaniel Hawthrone. I just did not care. If you're super interested in that author, this will be for you. Unfortunately, this didn't do it for me. 2/5

Beautiful love story that follows Mia who is just trying to find herself and her soul mate. It‘s also magical because somehow Mia is able to go back into time where her true soulmate is. #magical #salemstory #witchstories #lovestory #springreading #kindlereading

I enjoyed this novel more than I expected. I‘m not usually into much magical stuff. Some of the characters were very nice and others not so much. Ivy and Mia were my favorites. I gave it a 4/5. If you enjoy fiction with a magical twist, I believe you‘ll enjoy this story.

“Real life is unbelievable. Souls are snatched away from us, flesh and blood turn to dust, people you love betray you, men go to war over nothing. It‘s all preposterous. That‘s why we have novels. To make sense of things.”

"Sometimes when you read a book it‘s as if you were reading the story of your own life. That was what had happened to me. I woke up when I read the first page. I saw who I was and who I could be."

12-17-23: My 100th finished book of 2023! I thought this was beautifully written. The story of a young woman, who is about to lose her freedom, who runs away only to find herself in a cult like community with no freedom, who eventually has a daughter who learns how to grasp for that freedom because of reading books. One book in particular saves her. One author becomes the love of her life. It‘s true that books can save us and open doors for us💖

I loved reading this riff off of the Scarlet Letter & imagining how love & time can intertwine ❤️✨Alice Hoffman evokes magic again 🍁🍏

Also, the cover looks like Rebecca from aclotheshorse

The first part of the book was wonderful. Part 2 felt like she was trying to cram an entire novel into half of one. She took on too much, and the result was it felt disjointed and rushed.

Really liking her books!🥰

This was an odd one and somewhat hard to review. It truly felt like two different stories bunched in together. It was very well written, mind you, but just felt disjointed. I did love the imagery and the heavy nod to the love of and escape that reading brings as well as the magic of libraries. Not bad but definitely not a favorite. 🌟🌟🌟

3.5⭐️/5⭐️

The Scarlett Letter is the only book I can think of that I was assigned to read multiple times so I‘ve always been intrigued by adaptations of the tale. …I really enjoyed part 1 of this story, and wasn‘t ready to leave it when Nathaniel Hawthorn‘s presence and timeline was introduced in part 2, but of course, it makes perfect Alice Hoffman sense. Beautifully written, as well.

Love me some Alice Hoffman!!! 📚

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of a combination of Hamnet by Maggie O‘Farrell and Hoffman‘s own Magic Lessons. I did get a little confused as to the present day timeline (I truly can‘t remember a year being cited) and the magical element wasn‘t ever really explained, but the historical/literary aspect involving Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter was well done and certainly appealed to the former English major in me.

I‘m so bummed about this book because I love reading Alice Hoffman. It just didn‘t hit for me, felt like I was reading a version of Twilight. Felt like too many different stories happening, just would not recommend. 2.5 ⭐️

No one writes about heartache and renewal like Alice Hoffman. Only about 20 pages into this and I'm hooked. It could help that I enjoyed the The Scarlet Letter, too.

It seems that I pretty much either love or hate Hoffman's works. This is the second of hers toward which I was looking forward anxiously but then bailed. It's even more disappointing than bailing on an author with whom I don't have an established relationship.

[bailed at 20%/53 minutes (but feels like *much* longer) Part 1 Chapter 2—not engaged; cringeworthy storyline]

I‘m not sure I was waiting on a time travel romance starring Nathaniel Hawthorne. I really liked the structure of the book and the way the beginning and end work together. It was a quick read, definitely more enjoyable if you‘ve read The Scarlet Letter.

Happy Monday, Litsy peeps! I'm finally getting ready to start this one! 💕📚 I love Alice Hoffman! 🥰

I so wanted to like this novel. I have loved some of Alice Hoffman's other work, but this didn't work for me at all. Read like a YA romance with an overbearing feminist message. 2 🌟

This novel is a love letter to Nathanial Hawthorne and the power of books. Beautifully written, the entrancing story touches on the rights of women, cults, book banning, romance and the mother daughter connection. Hoffman often includes some magic in her work and in this one it takes the form of time travel to meet Hawthorne himself. I really enjoyed it and having never read “The Scarlett Letter“ I have now added it to my TBR pile. 4.5/5 stars.

Grade: A

Another lovely novel from Alice Hoffman. I felt that this one was written for me as I have always loved The Scarlet Letter and Hoffman uses that work as a basis for this one. My only word of warning is that this is not an “on ramp” for Hoffman‘s work, but rather a gift to those who have read her previous books. #books #bookstagram #magicalrealism #alicehoffman #theinvisiblehour #thescarletletter

Very mystical and fantastic--I was immediately enthralled, then slightly bored, a little incredulous, amused, enthralled, and finally slightly disappointed with the ending.

I'm not a fan of Hawthorne and I couldn't even finish the first chapter of The Scarlet Letter; BUT this book just warmed my reader soul and spoke my language.

Bk8 of my recent #BookMail is the new one from the author of Practical Magic.Unfortunately not one of her magical stories, but still sounds like a wonderful read. 16yr old Ivy is pregnant & alone,until she finds Joel Davis who offers her a better life than her old one in Boston. But Joel‘s the leader of a cult known as the Community. Daughter Mia has only known life in the claustrophobic Community. Until she secretly commits a sin & finds reading.

5 ⭐️'s! I blew through this one and I was captivated by the story, by Alice Hoffmans way of telling a story and the way she brought her characters to life. All the feels. Easily one of my top 10 for the year!

"I began my life for the second time on a June night in the year I turned fifteen."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

You have to love a book about a book changing you. Alice Hoffman is the only one who can make me love a time travel book. This one shimmered in all the right places while also delving into what made someone want to escape.

Looking forward to this!

My Book of the Month box has arrived! 🎉🎉🎉 I still can't believe I picked 5 books this month! 😂 #botm

Mixed feelings - Alice Hoffman can be either a hit or miss and this one fell more towards miss. It‘s a unique story- contemporary fiction mixed with time travel and magical historical fiction. It was just a weird combination of elements. #ARC
#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks #CoverCrush

Recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I never knew that I loved Nathaniel Hawthorne.

@ahoffmanwriter @atriabooks #TheInvisibleHour #bookstagram #recommendsday

Magical realism and feminism combine to form a story of literature and independence. Told in three parts, beginning with an unwed teen mother sucked into a cult and the daughter whose love for books, particularly The Scarlet Letter, that inspires her to freedom. The final part becomes fantastical as Nathaniel Hawthorne himself makes an appearance to present a current metaphor for book banning and women's bodily autonomy.