The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic
Ratings30
Average rating3.1
15
Ratings30
Average rating3.1
For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic. Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel. With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together. As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic? Readers who love the magic of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the sense of community found in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches will enjoy this warm, witchy novel.
Reviews with the most likes.
Maybe I'd expected too much? It's not a bad read but just not what I'd been looking for. My rating's completely subjective to how I felt rather than a reflection of how the book might be.
One star for the recipes and one star for all the rest, because wow was this book an absolute mess. The original claim was that this was going to be a Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls story. I did kind of get a bit of a Practical Magic vibe, at least at the beginning. But GG? Nope. Nada. Nothing. Character development was marginal at best and the world building...well...there wasn't much of that either. There wasn't anything to make me understand or even care about these characters.
Sadie, the MC, had the emotional maturity of a 10yr old. Her long lost “love” Jake (I still don't get the long lost part) alternated between doormat and bully. As for Sadie's depressed, emo twin Seth, he's about as interesting as a wet paper bag. With all the other characters - there are a ton of them - the author seemed to be more interested in giving them all specific magical powers (Think Encanto, except the animated Madrigal Family was more 3 dimensional) than making them fulfledged characters.
I have no idea what this book was trying to be: romance? family drama? magical realism? fantasy? It missed the mark on all of the above. And I still don't understand the whole family of practicing witches goes to church. REGULARLY. Like every Sunday morning. Just one more thing that made this story ridiculous overall.
Such a cute and sweet story about love, family, and working through grief and heartbreak. I especially love all the recipes and how Breanne tied them into the story. I will definitely be trying them all. ♥️
