The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 0/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Women’s Fiction/Magical Realism
Trigger Warnings: Death of a loved one on page, unaliving of oneself attempt
Blurb: For fans of Practical Magic, 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.
The Good:
* The recipes at the end of every chapter because I cannot wait to try some of these out! MC Sadie runs a bakery so some of her recipes are included in the book. Chocolate Pecan Pie? Say less.
* The story suddenly takes a strange turn and there’s a mystery that must be solved and quite urgently. That had me turning the pages like crazy, I stayed up way too late last night reading this.
* The secrets in this family are wild to say the least and they don’t really quit. Stick around, you’ll be entertained by those at the very least.
The Meh:
* The love interest storyline felt sort of rushed because it wasn’t consistent throughout the plot in the book.
Bottom Line:
This book doesn’t have a great rating on Goodreads is because it was marketed wrong. Calling it Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls, while making it very appealing to a wide audience, also leaves the author with huge shoes to fill. Specifically Amy Sherman-Palladino and Anne Hoffman. I’m not saying that the author isn’t talented, that’s just a tall order. Upon reading through the reviews it seemed like a lot of the low ratings were people who came in expecting the Gilmore Girls/Practical Magic that they were marketed and were upset that they didn’t get it. I did my research on this because I saw this book hyped on Tiktok and I was excited for it. I’m just now getting around to reading it because I’ve got an arc of Breanne’s next book that I’m reading next. I went into the book with zero GG/Practical Magic expectations and I will say that my 4 stars are deserved and the Goodreads rating for this book is preposterous. It's due to a bunch of grown women pissed off that it doesn't read like a Gilmore Girls episode. I will say that this is much more like Practical Magic but leaning heavily into themes of finding your sense of self and family. I enjoyed it. This reads like a love letter to her grandmother and I think that’s beautiful. If you’re looking for sunshine and rainbows from start to finish, this isn’t your book but the mystery kept me intrigued. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes witchy books, Practical Magic or stories about the importance of a strong family bond.
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