Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
36 reviews
lifeasruth's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Boring prose. Overuse of simile.
Too many cliche tropes crammed into one book. Also, Baptist witches? Gimme a break!
Too many cliche tropes crammed into one book. Also, Baptist witches? Gimme a break!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
krsb's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is about a lot of things, and Breanne Randall does them all very well. If I had to narrow this story down to only three words they would be: family, grief, and sacrifice. Magic is a very integral part of the story, and Randall uses it to tackle these topics in a way that doesn't take away from its warmth and draw to its readers.
In addition to their individual magic, each Revelare is born with a curse—and Sadie's is the curse of four heartbreaks. She's already had one, her first love who abandoned her a decade ago, and she's about to have the rest.
Almost all at once, her ex returns to town, her grandmother tells her that she has stage 4 cancer, and her estranged twin brother returns after a year without contact—all of which bring up deep family secrets that start to unravel everything Sadie knows to be true.
This book was so fun and the only reason I gave it a 4.5 is because the beginning was a little slow and hard for me to get into. But once things started moving with the plot I was reading for hours. 😭👍 Randall tells the story of a family coming together in the aftermath of the death of their matriarch—throughout which we follow their grief and sacrifices through the lense of Sadie Revelare, and how she learns to embrace love instead of fearing it.
Overall I loved this story, and it really did have that Practical Magic feel that it was marketed as!
In addition to their individual magic, each Revelare is born with a curse—and Sadie's is the curse of four heartbreaks. She's already had one, her first love who abandoned her a decade ago, and she's about to have the rest.
Almost all at once, her ex returns to town, her grandmother tells her that she has stage 4 cancer, and her estranged twin brother returns after a year without contact—all of which bring up deep family secrets that start to unravel everything Sadie knows to be true.
This book was so fun and the only reason I gave it a 4.5 is because the beginning was a little slow and hard for me to get into. But once things started moving with the plot I was reading for hours. 😭👍 Randall tells the story of a family coming together in the aftermath of the death of their matriarch—throughout which we follow their grief and sacrifices through the lense of Sadie Revelare, and how she learns to embrace love instead of fearing it.
Overall I loved this story, and it really did have that Practical Magic feel that it was marketed as!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Minor: Rape and Murder
that_awkwardbook's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
Okay. I went in blind and I really shouldn't have done that. I wanted something fun and cute and that was not it .
This story is full of heartache , loss and grief. It is also full of family and friends, delicious food with recipes and hope and a sprinkle of sweetness.
This story is full of heartache , loss and grief. It is also full of family and friends, delicious food with recipes and hope and a sprinkle of sweetness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
buffy87's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm just glad it's over.
This is a book for someone who reads for vibes and not for the writing. If you like reading "cozy" witch/wiccan fiction then this may be up your alley. It has romance (no spice), family, magic, curses, spirits, murder, cafe, baking and cooking, coffee and an abundance of recipes. The recipes at the end of every chapter were extremely cool, and though I won't be making any (way too much sugar for me!) they do sound good. It was marketed on TikTok as Practical Magic x Gilmoe Girls. I'd say both elements are there.
However, DAMN. This book is a hot mess express. Literally an everything but the kitchen sink. There is so much happening in this book. Almost every cliche W Network plot line is evident. It's definitely way too much. The pacing of this book is very much one foot in front of the other, things just keep happening and you just keep reading.
And my god the main character is just as likeable as Rory Gilmore LOOOOL. You forget she's an adult and not a whiny teen.
I also found it extremely irritating that EVERY ingredient used also had it's magical benefit listed. After a while it grew extremely tiresome and I found cluttered the entire novel. How many times do we need to know what cinnamon does?? But that's what happens when you have nothing to say and need to fulfill a word count. And on top of that every outfit needed to be described - I find this makes the text feel extremely juvenile.
And also, this is the whitest book I've read. LMFAO. It was SO CLEARLY written by a liberal white womxn. You should make a bingo of how many ethnicities you see represented. When I want inclusion, I mean do your research of you're going to add something. Any South Asian in a SMALL NOSY TOWN would know Gigi is their Nani... they would NOT call her "Dadee." If you know you know. I was shocked there was no disability representation...why stop there if you're gonna throw everything in there anyways?
This is a book for someone who reads for vibes and not for the writing. If you like reading "cozy" witch/wiccan fiction then this may be up your alley. It has romance (no spice), family, magic, curses, spirits, murder, cafe, baking and cooking, coffee and an abundance of recipes. The recipes at the end of every chapter were extremely cool, and though I won't be making any (way too much sugar for me!) they do sound good. It was marketed on TikTok as Practical Magic x Gilmoe Girls. I'd say both elements are there.
However, DAMN. This book is a hot mess express. Literally an everything but the kitchen sink. There is so much happening in this book. Almost every cliche W Network plot line is evident. It's definitely way too much. The pacing of this book is very much one foot in front of the other, things just keep happening and you just keep reading.
And my god the main character is just as likeable as Rory Gilmore LOOOOL. You forget she's an adult and not a whiny teen.
I also found it extremely irritating that EVERY ingredient used also had it's magical benefit listed. After a while it grew extremely tiresome and I found cluttered the entire novel. How many times do we need to know what cinnamon does?? But that's what happens when you have nothing to say and need to fulfill a word count. And on top of that every outfit needed to be described - I find this makes the text feel extremely juvenile.
And also, this is the whitest book I've read. LMFAO. It was SO CLEARLY written by a liberal white womxn. You should make a bingo of how many ethnicities you see represented. When I want inclusion, I mean do your research of you're going to add something. Any South Asian in a SMALL NOSY TOWN would know Gigi is their Nani... they would NOT call her "Dadee." If you know you know. I was shocked there was no disability representation...why stop there if you're gonna throw everything in there anyways?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Grief, and Suicide attempt
skye_era_books's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have so many thoughts on this book. I definitely didn’t hate it, but oh my god it is not at all what it is marketed as. Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls? Where? This was not lighthearted and fluffy like I thought — it actually should have some pretty serious trigger warnings.
Anyway, some things that were… interesting:1. Jake highkey emotionally cheating on his fiancé is wild, 2. His fiancé pretending to be PREGNANT, 3. Florence having a forced pregnancy because some dickwad put a fertility spell on her????, 4. The grandma killing said dickwad was iconic I won’t lie, 5. They all attend church but are involved in magic, 6. HER TRYING TO K*LL HERSELF to save her brother?????? with basically a sleepy time tea?? hello??? There’s so much more but I DID ENJOY all of the recipes throughout the book so at least there’s that.
Anyway, some things that were… interesting:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
stardustandrockets's review against another edition
This book was released in 2023, so tell me why the hell there's a HP mention? It could have easily been replaced with something else.
I picked this one up to see what the hype was about, and I definitely don't think it was worth it. At. All. It was all over the place. Not even bothering to give this a star rating.
I picked this one up to see what the hype was about, and I definitely don't think it was worth it. At. All. It was all over the place. Not even bothering to give this a star rating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy
HP mentionwordwitching's review
I had to come to read the reviews to see if anyone else feels the same as I do about this book.
While I'm relieved to see that many readers do, and I'm grateful to them for calling out the obvious and glaring misogyny, the reinforcement of traditional gender roles, the underhanded promoting of MLM essential oils, the disdain for witchcraft, the insensitive handling of serious and triggering subjects like SA, r@pe, m7rder, and suiçide, which are dropped into the plot like stink bombs only to be brushed off like they don't matter or worse: jokes.
It pains me, however, to see so many positive reviews for this book. I honestly do not understand how it became so popular or indeed how it was published in the first place.
The editing is non existent, the writing shows promise at times, but as with the subject matter, the author does not know when less is more. Instead she threw everything at it, like a cook using every single ingredient in their pantry to make a simple cake. Enough with the overcooked baking metaphors already!
The characters were either stereotypes, purely added to show diversity for diversity's sake, or shallow, childish and infuriating. I love an unlikable female character but Sadie behaves like a teenager. The author is constantly telling us how wonderful she is but everything she SHOWS about her contradicts it. She kidnaps the MMC's dog and it's played for laughs, she uses truth serums on unsuspecting victims and again, this is played off as if it's normal, acceptable behaviour. I have never wanted to shake a heroine more.
There's a completely unnecessary fake pregnancy plotline added just excuse the hero and to demonise another woman. And don't even get me started on everything else the male characters do and say. They are the WORST but everything they do is either excused by other characters or the plot. The internalised misogyny is very loud.
I gather from reading other reviews thatthe FMC ends up losing her magic for one of them, which is just all sorts of NOPE. How are we still publishing books with this tired and sexist narrative in 2023? Head of Zeus, I'm disappointed in you.
It feels like the author took a bunch of toxic positivity quotes and platitudes from social media influencer accounts and just strung them together like flimsy paper doily garlands in a Instagram reel. Pretty to look at but ultimately weightlessly fragile and tissue thin.
Hashtag "Witches Of Instagram"; Hashtag "Trad Wife"; Hashtag "So Blessed".
I'm sorry I cannot find anything positive to say about this book. The recipes might be good, but I cannot bring myself to try them.
I've included cultural appropriation in my content warnings because I truly believe this author is appropriating witchcraft due to her religious beliefs. It is a travesty for this book to be positively compared with Practical Magic.
And on that note, I'll leave this review with a final word from Aunt Jet Owens:
“And this is what comes from dabbling; I mean you can't practice witchcraft while you look down your nose at it.”
While I'm relieved to see that many readers do, and I'm grateful to them for calling out the obvious and glaring misogyny, the reinforcement of traditional gender roles, the underhanded promoting of MLM essential oils, the disdain for witchcraft, the insensitive handling of serious and triggering subjects like SA, r@pe, m7rder, and suiçide, which are dropped into the plot like stink bombs only to be brushed off like they don't matter or worse: jokes.
It pains me, however, to see so many positive reviews for this book. I honestly do not understand how it became so popular or indeed how it was published in the first place.
The editing is non existent, the writing shows promise at times, but as with the subject matter, the author does not know when less is more. Instead she threw everything at it, like a cook using every single ingredient in their pantry to make a simple cake. Enough with the overcooked baking metaphors already!
The characters were either stereotypes, purely added to show diversity for diversity's sake, or shallow, childish and infuriating. I love an unlikable female character but Sadie behaves like a teenager. The author is constantly telling us how wonderful she is but everything she SHOWS about her contradicts it. She kidnaps the MMC's dog and it's played for laughs, she uses truth serums on unsuspecting victims and again, this is played off as if it's normal, acceptable behaviour. I have never wanted to shake a heroine more.
There's a completely unnecessary fake pregnancy plotline added just excuse the hero and to demonise another woman. And don't even get me started on everything else the male characters do and say. They are the WORST but everything they do is either excused by other characters or the plot. The internalised misogyny is very loud.
I gather from reading other reviews that
It feels like the author took a bunch of toxic positivity quotes and platitudes from social media influencer accounts and just strung them together like flimsy paper doily garlands in a Instagram reel. Pretty to look at but ultimately weightlessly fragile and tissue thin.
Hashtag "Witches Of Instagram"; Hashtag "Trad Wife"; Hashtag "So Blessed".
I'm sorry I cannot find anything positive to say about this book. The recipes might be good, but I cannot bring myself to try them.
I've included cultural appropriation in my content warnings because I truly believe this author is appropriating witchcraft due to her religious beliefs. It is a travesty for this book to be positively compared with Practical Magic.
And on that note, I'll leave this review with a final word from Aunt Jet Owens:
“And this is what comes from dabbling; I mean you can't practice witchcraft while you look down your nose at it.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
ahopper7's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was marketed incorrectly. It’s not a cozy witchy small town romance. There was so much potential in the premise but it desperately needed more editing to hone in on a real plot and handle its topics in a thoughtful way.
Pros (kind of):
- It definitely has some cozy elements especially in the first quarter of the book
- I loved the family element it was *trying* to incorporate
- The recipes at the end of each chapter added nicely to the story, not enough to redeem but still cute
- The magic was soo close to being a mix of Practical Magic and Mayfair Witches (depending on character) but it wasn’t executed well
Cons:
- The romance subplot is not done well and the characters or their romance are not developed
- The book very carelessly handled serious topics like rape, murder and attempted suicide which didn’t sit well with me and is the main reason behind my rating
- Overall, the story or the characters were just not developed. The team around this book really should have spent more time fleshing out one or two of the plot points instead of throwing in several different story lines and not executing any of them well.
Pros (kind of):
- It definitely has some cozy elements especially in the first quarter of the book
- I loved the family element it was *trying* to incorporate
- The recipes at the end of each chapter added nicely to the story, not enough to redeem but still cute
- The magic was soo close to being a mix of Practical Magic and Mayfair Witches (depending on character) but it wasn’t executed well
Cons:
- The romance subplot is not done well and the characters or their romance are not developed
- The book very carelessly handled serious topics like rape, murder and attempted suicide which didn’t sit well with me and is the main reason behind my rating
- Overall, the story or the characters were just not developed. The team around this book really should have spent more time fleshing out one or two of the plot points instead of throwing in several different story lines and not executing any of them well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Abandonment
meggy1967's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I did enjoy the book but I felt the dialogue was rather stilted. The main character was likeable as were the majority of the side characters. The ending felt incredibly rushed given the amount of build up given throughout the entire book. There was a LOT of mentions of religion and God, so if you’re uncomfortable with that I’d be aware.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
hlbennett's review
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This read was what, as a Millennial, I imagine mid is. So much attention seems to be paid to parts that don't matter while not enough attention is paid to things that really would. Parts that are uninteresting drag on while parts that are interesting are sped up, like the rushed ending. The things you want explained aren't going to be explained well enough but you're going to get so much detail when Sadie is cooking. The most interesting part of the book is the concept of the magic, the family curses, the origin, who has what magic and what are their curses, but most of those explanations aren't there or aren't explained enough. And not in an artistic, "What did Billie Joe MacAllister throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge?" kind of way.
I'm left with so many questions and I reread these passages several times to make sure that I wasn't missing anything. I thought surely, the explanation is there, I'm just missing it.
Like:
- What's up with the voice at Old Ballier [sp]?
- Why did Jake leave in the first place?
- Is Florence the conduit/amplifier or is Seth?
- And if not Florence, why wasn't she supposed to have children?
- Why was there a death owed for the lives of the twins and then Florence couldn't see them, but she's had Sage without mention of murder and shows up with her in tow?
- What are Florence's powers?
- If it's a life for a life, how on earth did Gigi get out of paying the blood debt without a second murder? And why didn't they just do that again? Or better yet, if sacrificing your magic paid the debt, why didn't Gigi or Florence do that decades ago so that this poor kid didn't grow up going through what he says he went through?
Moving on from poor explanations, there are a number of parts that are supposed to be "twists" that are as straight as a board.
- The ghost in the back yard? Gigi gives some ominous direction to protect the house and we're led to believe it's for this spirit, but really I guess it was for nothing because turns out it was just papaw. The reader learns this in a 5 second conversation Sadie has with her mother.
- The damage to the garden? Turns out it's tied to Sadie's emotions but doesn't manifest during her first or second heartbreaks; no, it waits until she's 28 and feeling sad. Also, it seems a bit late in the year for regrowing entire gardens. Even with the magic of it all, why would Jake, who hadn't had confirmation of Sadie's magic, replant a garden in what, September?
- Sadie's sacrifice? First, Gigi knew of a solution and instead of having a conversation with Sadie about it, she chose to leave it in a letter. Yes, because that's what any responsible parent would do when the life of their child hung in the balance and they had literal months to have these kinds of conversations. Second, we're supposed to believe that everyone who'd read that letter didn't understand it meant Sadie giving up her magic? Come on. Third, Sadie just decides to unalive herself with, I can't remember how much time, until the full moon? Like she's not going to wait until they're sure they've tried everything else?
- I almost forgot it, but THE FAKE PREGNANCY? Are you kidding.
It's just not a well built story. I'm not one of those people who can't suspend a measure of logic to enjoy a story and even so, this has too many loose ends to be worth the read.
I'm left with so many questions and I reread these passages several times to make sure that I wasn't missing anything. I thought surely, the explanation is there, I'm just missing it.
- What's up with the voice at Old Ballier [sp]?
- Why did Jake leave in the first place?
- Is Florence the conduit/amplifier or is Seth?
- And if not Florence, why wasn't she supposed to have children?
- Why was there a death owed for the lives of the twins and then Florence couldn't see them, but she's had Sage without mention of murder and shows up with her in tow?
- What are Florence's powers?
- If it's a life for a life, how on earth did Gigi get out of paying the blood debt without a second murder? And why didn't they just do that again? Or better yet, if sacrificing your magic paid the debt, why didn't Gigi or Florence do that decades ago so that this poor kid didn't grow up going through what he says he went through?
Moving on from poor explanations, there are a number of parts that are supposed to be "twists" that are as straight as a board.
- The ghost in the back yard? Gigi gives some ominous direction to protect the house and we're led to believe it's for this spirit, but really I guess it was for nothing because turns out it was just papaw. The reader learns this in a 5 second conversation Sadie has with her mother.
- The damage to the garden? Turns out it's tied to Sadie's emotions but doesn't manifest during her first or second heartbreaks; no, it waits until she's 28 and feeling sad. Also, it seems a bit late in the year for regrowing entire gardens. Even with the magic of it all, why would Jake, who hadn't had confirmation of Sadie's magic, replant a garden in what, September?
- Sadie's sacrifice? First, Gigi knew of a solution and instead of having a conversation with Sadie about it, she chose to leave it in a letter. Yes, because that's what any responsible parent would do when the life of their child hung in the balance and they had literal months to have these kinds of conversations. Second, we're supposed to believe that everyone who'd read that letter didn't understand it meant Sadie giving up her magic? Come on. Third, Sadie just decides to unalive herself with, I can't remember how much time, until the full moon? Like she's not going to wait until they're sure they've tried everything else?
- I almost forgot it, but THE FAKE PREGNANCY? Are you kidding.
It's just not a well built story. I'm not one of those people who can't suspend a measure of logic to enjoy a story and even so, this has too many loose ends to be worth the read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent