Scan barcode
A review by amelianotthepilot
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
2.5
Cozy fantasy Gilmore girls and practical magic book this was not.
This book had so much going on man. Gilmore girls and practical magic vibes sorta yes but also Christianity, cancer death, family reuniting, and a baby entrapment plot.
Our main character Sadie is a casual witch in a small town, she runs a witchy bakery with her Grandma in town and all of the townspeople ?are vaguely witchy as well? or at least accepting and don't care. Sadie has been told all her life that in order for there to be balance in the world, as a result of her having magic, she will go through four heartbreaks in her life. She has already been through two heartbreaks, her boyfriend dumping her and leaving town and her twin brother Seth randomly leaving one day, but now she's faced with a family member dying of cancer and the return of both her ex and her brother. All this while learning about an absolutely insane curse on her family and having to solve that too.
This book has so much going on really. Between every chapter, there's a recipe for whatever food was mentioned in that chapter. This was frankly really annoying, but also unwanted. If she wanted to write a cookbook, do that instead? Or maybe include all the recipes in the back, or on a blog? On top of that there's basically three different plots happening: Sadie reuniting with her sibling Seth and reconnecting with her family, Sadie reuniting with her ex and coming to terms with his new relationship but also falling in love again, Sadie coming to terms with her grandmother Gigi's death, and her family's overall curse and restoring balance. Overall definitely needed better editing and maybe a few of the plots taken out completely.
I also found the Christianity element bizarre. They went to church and were part of the church community which is fine and good as character traits and values but what jarred me as a reader was everyone in awhile the author would make some sort of really specific Bible reference that would completely loose me. (I am not religious and only vaguely know Bible stories)
All in all this book was messy and overhyped.
This book had so much going on man. Gilmore girls and practical magic vibes sorta yes but also Christianity, cancer death, family reuniting, and a baby entrapment plot.
Our main character Sadie is a casual witch in a small town, she runs a witchy bakery with her Grandma in town and all of the townspeople ?are vaguely witchy as well? or at least accepting and don't care. Sadie has been told all her life that in order for there to be balance in the world, as a result of her having magic, she will go through four heartbreaks in her life. She has already been through two heartbreaks, her boyfriend dumping her and leaving town and her twin brother Seth randomly leaving one day, but now she's faced with a family member dying of cancer and the return of both her ex and her brother. All this while learning about an absolutely insane curse on her family and having to solve that too.
This book has so much going on really. Between every chapter, there's a recipe for whatever food was mentioned in that chapter. This was frankly really annoying, but also unwanted. If she wanted to write a cookbook, do that instead? Or maybe include all the recipes in the back, or on a blog? On top of that there's basically three different plots happening: Sadie reuniting with her sibling Seth and reconnecting with her family, Sadie reuniting with her ex and coming to terms with his new relationship but also falling in love again, Sadie coming to terms with her grandmother Gigi's death, and her family's overall curse and restoring balance. Overall definitely needed better editing and maybe a few of the plots taken out completely.
I also found the Christianity element bizarre. They went to church and were part of the church community which is fine and good as character traits and values but what jarred me as a reader was everyone in awhile the author would make some sort of really specific Bible reference that would completely loose me. (I am not religious and only vaguely know Bible stories)
All in all this book was messy and overhyped.