Breanne RandallReseñas

There are many books available that tells story of a family of women who share the gift of magic from generation to generation. What’s wonderful about them as a woman reader, and with a line of witchiness in My bloodline, I tend to really enjoy these stories as there seems to be a little bit of truth in each one. The unfortunate side effects of And magic does a really nice job tying together magical abilities with day-to-day antics of a small town with special women inhabiting one house. Enjoy the love story and particularly liked the reconnection of lost family members to our protagonist, Sara. Overall, it was just a fun read, well, written with a hint of truth

Oof I did not like this one. It has too many things trying to happen, from a dying grandmother, an estranged mother and maybe brother, a love interest who maybe isn't, magic that is poorly developed, inexplicably Christian witches, the strangest paragraph about drugs and gangs and trauma from the love interest, morally questionable actions treated as fine, and the cringiest use of swear words.
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is far better for magical baked goods.

The story is all right with likeable characters. I like the idea of balance with Magic, but i am not emotional attached to the main characters. She came across a bit needy and whiney sometime

I thought this would be a fun, cute, and cozy romance, but it wasn't as much like I thought it would be.

This was very much like Practical Magic, etc like, almost too close and too much like it. And, well, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I thought this would be a light-hearted, cozy, fun romance, but it wasn't as light-hearted as I'd hoped, it had some fun parts and some humor, but not quite the light-hearted fun type of romance story I was hoping for.

I know a lot who will like this and if you like this kind of story, then feel free to check it out. This just wasn't what I hoped and not for me.

Thanks to Alcove Press and LibraryThing for letting me read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ever since Sadie Revelare was told about her four heartbreak curse that accompanies her magic, she’s never doubted the price wouldn’t be worth it. But when Gigi, her grandmother, is diagnosed with cancer and only has weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake, returns after being gone for a decade, Sadie’s life feels like it’s unraveling and her magic can’t fix it. Even more, upon hearing about Gigi’s diagnosis, Sadie’s estranged twin brother, Seth, returns as well, uncovering family secrets that will tear her world apart.

Gigi has been the backbone to the Revelare family for generations, and with her death, Sadie must try with everything she’s got, to not only keep her family together, but her magic as well. As her feelings for Jake begin to respark, Sadie must decide if love is more important than her magic.

I don’t actively go about reading romance books, but this had the tagline “for fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls” and I decided to give this a shot. I absolutely called the ending pretty early into the book, especially once everything was established. Though I was a little confused about Sadie’s curse… I still am to be honest. Also - witches who go to a christian church? What?

Overall, the book was okay. The premise of it was excellent, but it fell short for me.

*Thank you Alcove Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

Hello Fellow Readers,

When the read the synopsis and saw that this was a cross between Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls I was so excited. I practically clawed my way to request this, sadly it just wasn't my cup of tea. First I couldn't connect to the MC Sadie, she actually made me want to rip my hair out multiple times. Secondly, I just did not like the romance. Jake was just unlikable, and when we hear about why he's even back sniffing around Sadie it just makes it worse to me. I would have loved it if Sadie actually stayed single, as every interaction between them felt forced and flat. Third, Sadie's grandma was annoying, I might just be tired of the 'Hardass but loving Grandmother' trope. Lastly, while in the beginning I really enjoyed Randall's writing, towards the end I felt like she was adding descriptions to make a word count.

The idea behind this sounded so good, it's just the execution could have been better. There are a lot of themes that I would love to have explored like death and heartbreak and how it would affect magic. Also, Randall's magic system seemed interesting.

Overall, This just wasn't for me but it could be for you.

loved this book. An easy, enjoyable read.

I read this right after I read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. If you’ve read that one or seen Practical Magic (it’s been too long since I’ve read that one to comment on the book bs the movie) then I recommend this sweet witchy read.

This book felt sort of YA for me. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t everything I had hoped it would be. It honestly for me read very much like a rip off of Practical Magic with enough stuff changed that you wouldn’t know it was the same story. I think the magic element was seriously overused because it was mentioned in some way on like every single freaking page. I wasn’t really a fan of any of the characters besides the grandma and even she at times was unlikeable.
We had a small town vibe where everyone knew everyone and all their business. The town was full of elements meant to remind the reader of Gilmore Girls, like a small diner, in this case bakery, everyone went to and town festivals. However, they aren’t really important to the story and really detract from the plot in my opinion. I struggled to get super involved in this one because it didn’t feel like anything at all was happening for most of the book and then we throw in a bunch of stuff but only sort of touch on it.
However, if you want a comfy witchy read this is probably a good one, just be aware it has like an entire chapter that is super sad, especially if you yourself are grieving the loss of a loved one. It also has a suicide attempt which comes out of nowhere and I think it’s important for people that might be triggered to be aware of it. Overall this book was just okay for me.

This was okay. Very predictable. Which can be nice sometimes.

Second chance love, midnight margaritas, twin mind melds, small town community (Combo of Stars Hallow/Mystic Falls).

This book has all the cozy autumn vibes. Sadie owns a small town café with her grandmother, Gigi, and all of her food is laced with magic. Clary sage for clarity, cinnamon streusel cake for stability, orange-infused honey to bring joy, and sachets of snowdrop tea to give hope. Their food provides much needed support to the individuals of the community, even if they don’t know it.

Gigi is the grandmother that we all dream of having. Sweet, sassy, empathetic, but also a whole lot of blunt (“you little pissant”).

Seth, the prodigal twin that left without a word and broke Sadie’s heart.

Jake, Sadie’s first and only love. Sweet, sexy, knows what you need before you even say it. Jake is the boyfriend of most of our adult dreams.

This cozy magical town and family combined with the second chance romance was exactly what I needed this fall. To top it off the author gives a recipe to try at the end of each chapter….and OH MY GOODNESS they all sound delicious.

Thank you to Alcove Press for the copy of the ebook for an unbiased review.½

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a great easy weekend read for the Halloween season. As others have said it's very similar in vibe to Practical Magic and is a great novel to read with a cup of tea.

Sadie Revelare has lived in Poppy Meadows her whole life -- why would she leave, when her family was one of the seven magic founding families of the town? She runs a small cafe with her grandmother, Gigi, selling her magical foods -- scones that can lighten your mood, jams that can clarify your mind, and cakes that can bring you inner peace. Sadie knows how to do some much more sinister things, too, but those stay out of the shop. While the Revelares and the other founding families are magical, most folk in Poppy Meadows have no idea of the magic around them. Sadie was cursed when she came of age to experience four heartbreaks in her life, and she already has two behind her: the first, when her first love Jake left town, and the second, when her twin brother Seth pulled a disappearing act as well. But now, Jake and Seth are both back, complicating her life immediately, and Sadie has a feeling that the next two heartbreaks will be hot on their heels.

I was so excited to win this ER book -- cozy, witchy fantasy romance novels are high on my list for autumn reading. Add food magic to the mix? The details sounded perfect. And honestly, the details were the best part of this book. The food descriptions were perfect, I really liked Gigi's character, and the start with Jake coming back was a promising beginning. Unfortunately, things went off the rails quickly and I had a lot of issues with it in the end. First, you can tell it's a debut. The plot is all over the place, and Sadie's motivations are often unclear because the author is clearly just making her do things for the plot even if it makes no sense for her character. There's a bit in the beginning where she just... steals the love interest's puppy? And I think it's supposed to be kind of cute? But it's just weird? And I couldn't stop thinking about all the stuff you have to do to take care of a puppy, which Sadie was not doing and instead she was just leaving the puppy home alone all day, so that took me out of the story immediately. Anyway, the weird actions with lack of motivations made Sadie's character pretty annoying. Second, I fully did not understand the world of this book -- how the magic/non-magic folk fitted together, the weirdness of Sadie's whole family being far away and then coming home randomly midway through the book. If it was so easy for them all to move back and they all wanted to, why did they move away? I also thought it was weird that all the witches went to church -- like, sure, I bet there's a world where this makes sense, and maybe the author is from a small southern town or something and she couldn't conceive of a world where everyone in the town doesn't go to church, but I needed more explanation there. Finally, there's a bit where Sadie and Seth are working on a spell together, and Sadie says, "Seth, go get the Thieves!" Yes, you read that right. This book features MLM essential oil product placement! This explained a lot to me about the author and why this book is the way it is right away. (If this is coming off as judgmental, it should be -- I am extremely judgmental of any and all MLM product usage and getting pitched an MLM product will turn me off immediately.) So anyway, that knocked some points off too. I'm not even going to get into the weird romance of this book; just know it was kind of deceitful and not very satisfying. So 2 stars from me -- I did finish it, and I liked the cooking. Just very confused how this is getting good ratings and also how it got to be a Book of the Month pick.

4.25
This legit gives practical magic x Gilmore girls.
The use of food magic in this gave me life (and I’ll def be trying out the recipes).
This was cozy but also kinda stormy. Filled with many types of heartbreak.
Warning: Liberal use of the words pissant and shitass.

Reviews: https://youtube.com/@starkissedstories

Many thanks to the author and LibraryThing for my copy of this book. It reminded me of Practical Magic (the original of which remains my favorite in this type of book) but with more adjectives. A good read for a rainy weekend during a full moon and change of season.

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my thoughts in any way.

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a lovely, witchy book. Perfect to start the fall season. It follows Sadie Revelare and her family of witchy folk who live in a charming small town. Sadie and her twin brother live with their grandmother who’s cared for them their entire lives. When she becomes ill, unfortunate events come to light and the entire Revelare clan joins together to help solve the mystery. I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked the recipes that were included at the end of every chapter, some of which I bookmarked to try later.

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is so, so close to being everything I wanted in a book. There's magic! Backstory! A small town where everyone cares about each other! A magical house!

There are moments that ring so brilliantly true that my heart ached a bit reading them.

It's billed as Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls but it's definitely leaning way more on PM than GG, with the house from Encanto thrown in for good measure. The Gilmore ref is definitely for the small town drama vibe, while the PM is so hardcore obvious that I can practically hear Sandra Bullock's Sally narrating the various rules Gigi has laid out through the years. This isn't a bad thing but it's definitely there, but I do tend to think of that as kind of being par for the course with these types of books.

We open to a bit of chaos as Sadie is hit by one harbinger of doom after another, and over time we realize that perhaps more is coming than Sadie is bargaining for at the time.

I loved Gigi's gruff love, the cafe, and the magic in this world.

I'm a little less enamored of Sadie herself, which is a problem since she's our main character. Part of it is probably because we're with her during obviously the worst time of her life (the love of her life ditched her after finally confessing his feelings, her twin brother took off without warning more than a year ago, and more will be revealed) and that's rarely going to bring out the best in people. But the rest leans very heavily on the miscommunication tropes that tend to drive me bonkers. In an effort to save her brother's life, Sadie's given a letter that tells her that as a last ditch effort to save him, she can sacrifice who she is to keep him alive. She spends MORE THAN HALF THE BOOK trying to figure out what this riddle could possibly mean.

Ma'am. You're a witch who has, on MULTIPLE occasions been accused of loving your magic more than you love the people in your life. Your family isn't going to advocate for you to kill yourself, and in fact very clearly says not to, so yeah, the pretty obvious answer is going to be tied to you giving up your magic. And the fact that she doesn't even CONSIDER this, even as a throwaway thought, is infuriating because the book drags this "mystery" out so long. Wtf.

Sadie's repeated refusal to listen as people try to explain things to her is also infuriating because it comes across less as a character flaw and more "the author is determined to drag this out as long as possible, huh" which is never a good time.

She also steals a dog, which isn't nearly as cute as the book thinks it is.

But my biggest issue, and the one that rings the most false in the course of the story, is Jake's tragic backstory for why he came back home. I... do not have words to describe how poorly thought out it is, and how it absolutely reminds me of something I would've read/seen as a kid back in the early to mid-90's. Some story-lines really do feel very much like baby's first stab at dark and gritty and this is one of those. I remember reading it at work and mouthing, "what the actual fuck?" very slowly.

The resolution to their romantic roadblock is also exactly the same one 13 year old me would've thought of so I guess there's continuity there? It just feels woefully out of place in this story and like more care and thought could have gone into the backstory. The romantic obstacle is what it is and there aren't a lot of decent options out of that particular issue so... eh?

Then you've got the twins' mother and I'm still not sure how I feel about her. But I do hope we get a sequel to find out what's going on there. Hell, I think there's enough here to explore the other families in town or the founding of the town and I'm here for it.½

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic: Sadie and her grandmother run a magical bakery, using herbs to help the town. Sadie is from a long line of witches, each with a unique power, as well as a curse. In an effort to avoid her curse of four heartbreaks, Sadie also avoids getting close to people. But everything in her world changes when her old love returns to town and her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer.
Oh man I really loved this book. I couldn’t put it down! What a cozy and moving read! There was romance! Complicated family dynamics! Magic! Cooking and gardening! RECIPES! What more could you want? There is an immersive quality to the descriptions of the town and especially Sadie’s house. I would love to live there and have that garden. I did get to feel like I was there, for a few hours at least.
Sadie’s family is so interesting. I loved the family reunion, especially seeing the various magical powers, and how the powers related to the role each person played in the family. There were so many things happening with her family, including some long buried secrets, and I sincerely hope there will be more books in the TUSEOHAM universe. It ended in a way that it feels possible! I felt like there was so much more to explore because the world building was so wonderful.
Thank you LibraryThing for the ARC!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a perfect cozy read for the fall or any time you’re craving some comfort, mystery, and magic. I love the way the character and her family are written, and I really love how all of the characters are developed/feel real, but are still so interesting. It left me wanting more from Breanne Randall.

It took me awhile to get into this book, but I did like it. I would have liked less detail about the magical properties of all the plants in the garden and the baked goods, and more character development. Instead of telling me who the main character’s best friend is, show me with some scenes (in the present, flashback or both) how close they are and how much they depend on each other. Also, it would have been nice to see a little more romance between Sadie and Jake - after waiting so long for them to get together, it seemed anti-climactic when they finally did.

Sadie has a lot of magic, and she uses it to help a lot of people -- through her baking, her garden. She can't seem to help herself, though. In the Revelare family, all magic comes with a curse, and Sadie's is about the heartbreak. Four heartbreaks, and she loses her magic. Before that happens, though, there are harder things to face right at home.

I love a book with magical realism, but this one was just straight up magic, and there was quite a bit I enjoyed. I loved the town, Poppy meadows, the overall setting, the baking, the secondary characters. I'd like to see other books set in this world, maybe focusing on some of those other residents. I liked Sadie herself. Jake sounded dreamy. The rest of the family was mostly delightful. To be frank, though, I didn't relate to Gigi very well, and she's an important part of the story. Maybe it's a cultural/locale kind of thing, but I never warmed to the idea of a foul-mouthed old lady who says "pissant" a bit too often equaling a lovable grandmother.

The plot wasn't hugely surprising, but it was a nice read, one that kept me engrossed until the end. I highly recommend it if you enjoy a light, magicky read. Bonus for some great recipes, some of which I plan to try.

I don't read cozies with recipes. Ever. This one really drew me in and became more fascinating as I read. It could get schmaltzy and redundant with the romance and the plot line with the scary malevolent presence went nowhere, but I loved Poppy Meadows, a town founded by ten magical families of different ethnicities and religions who, as a result of their differences, have different kinds of magic!

I would just love to live in Poppy Meadows. Main character Sadie lives in the sorta-Baptist magical white family with a phenomenal, loving, foul-mouthed grandmother named Gigi and an enviable extended family with diverse magical gifts. If anything there is too much here for one short book. I can see this as a book series adapted for television.

Sadie's gift, inherited from Gigi, is plants and the ability to cook them into spelled foods. Her twin brother Seth has magic that he longs to be rid of, and the reader doesn't find out what it is, and why he is desperate to escape it until the end.

A flawed but genuinely charming debut novel with surprising depth. Will look for more from Breanne Randall. This author has something special.