Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

137 reviews

rowan_the_reader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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lareinadehades's review against another edition

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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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averyboredsara's review

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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tiredbutawesome's review

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funny lighthearted

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This book would have been better if it had stayed in its lane: a witchy take on a small town romance with a touch of family drama. I wish the cast of characters had expanded more gradually rather than all at once, or at least been alluded to earlier in the story. Also,

The whole life debt deal with her brother and the very detailed suicide attempt

were way darker than a story of this caliber could have handled well. I think that plotline could have been written out and the story would have been better for it. The romance was cute, the drama was good, but some of the subject matter was inconsistent with the overall tone

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bookworm14587's review

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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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buffy87's review against another edition

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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?

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