Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

79 reviews

dhanon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Felt the same way reading this book as I do watching Practical Magic--it is fun, magical, emotional but not too dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

taurus411's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Fake pregnancy

tmholsman_1994's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really loved this multigeneration witchy story. I love how deep rooted the magic was and how close knit the family was even if they all left the town they grew up in. I really loved Sadie's character arc. How she went from pushing everyone away for fear of heartbreak and not wanting to lose her magic to giving up her magic to save her brother.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

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!

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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! 

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

shayrain's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Slow start, nice fall read, tugs at the heart strings even though it’s pretty predictable. It’s cute overall. I think other reviews about DNFing are a bit dramatic. The magic was light and the Christianity related more to being in a small traditional town than the characters themselves. Wasn’t overbearing in any way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

lareinadehades's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

Listen, you know how in life there are moments of watching a train wreck in motion and yet, you're unable to look away? Well, that was me with this book.

Every time I thought: "this can't get worse", it did. Uh, and what's up with Christian witches and, " magic doesn't make a witch" vibe? Yeah no. This is my harshest rating to date, but honestly I can't bring myself to pump it up to a full star. Yes, I know I did this to myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape and Abandonment

averyboredsara's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

bookworm14587's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts