Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
12 reviews
luverbyrd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cursing, Rape, Pregnancy, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Terminal illness
tinathesmall89's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Cancer, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Murder
dwhiting's review against another edition
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Toxic relationship
etl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Spoiler
dog kidnappingSpoiler
SA, attempted suicide, murder, and also what essentially amounts to the drugging of an unsuspecting third party... TWICE. SHE DOES IT TWICEThe only reason I finished this book is because I became absolutely obsessed with the frankly absurd similes and metaphors. The writing is chock full of some truly bizarre writing but by chapter two I started highlighting the comparisons to food (specifically sweet treats) just in case the reader forgot that the main character was a baker. My favorites are below for your reading pleasure:
- "the tenuous peace they'd formed in the kitchen cracked like creme brulee"
- "shaking her momentary mirth off like powdered sugar"
- "excitement brushed along her skin like confectioners' sugar"
- "gingersnap laugh"
- "The air turned sweet like sparkle-dusted rainbow cotton candy"
and my number one, the line I will be thinking about for the rest of my life:
- "hugs were passed around like a tray of chocolate truffles, sweet and decadent until too much made you sad for no reason" - huh. huh?I have never ever been sad due to too many chocolate truffles OR too many hugs. sick? yes. touched out? yes. sad...? am I missing something? do chocolates and hugs make people sad?
Overall I counted 41 instances of food-related symbolism, and this doesn't include anything from chapter one or descriptive language like "butter-soft" or "caramel-colored" because at least those descriptions make sense.
I'm sure this book is for someone. That someone is not me.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Pregnancy and Infertility
amandaboyer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Drug use, Death, Suicide, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt
condls27's review against another edition
Everything about this book annoyed me- Sadie was one of the worst FMCs I’ve read in a long time. She’s childish, a doormat with no backbone and manages to be clingy while keeping everyone at arms length. The shit with her brother was so stupid (he was only gone for a year! They way the author described how betrayed Sadie felt you’d think he stole all her money, kicked her cat and slashed her tires before he left town but the poor guy just wanted to explore the world a little bit) Not to mention, their family motto is was “Revelares leave but they always come back” so if you know he’s going to come back why are you acting so betrayed?
Speaking of Seth, if he called her “sister” one more time I was going to launch the book into the sun. We get it, they’re siblings you do not need to constantly remind us. I have 3 sisters and never once in our lives have we ever called each other “sis, sister, little sis, big sister”Why do authors insist on doing this? He’s her fucking twin for god’s sake we’re not going to forget they’re siblings.
Speaking of god, how in the hell are a bunch of witches Methodists?! That whole scene at church was so dumb, I almost DNF-ed right there but what did it was Jake talking about taking gang members to church. Shut all the way up this book has enough going on it doesn’t need white savior evangelizing bullshit on top of it.
I’m so mad I wasted 14 bucks on this conservative coded bullshit.
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
cc_shelflove's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Mental illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
aishoka's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault
roguereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Spoiler
Tw: death, cancer, grief. Having been my father-in-law’s primary caretaker during his last months of life, the scenes of the MC’s grandmother’s rapid decline, death at home, and the grief that followed I was wholly unprepared for. It was incredibly difficult, and painful. If I missed any TW listing, that’s on me, but I was not expecting to relive those experiences from a book that was marketed as Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic.The pacing was wonderful, the magic system fascinating, and I want more abojt this town and it’s founding families!
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness
rowanhill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Special thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC!
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Grief
Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness
Minor: Abandonment, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship