As a huge fan of both Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, I thought this book would be an absolute swoon, so it really pains me to say that I really disliked this book. I can certainly see some of the Practical Magic influence in the family curses, heartbreak, matrilineal magic, herbalism, and gardening themes. Beyond the small town setting, I’m not really feeling a Gilmore Girls vibe though. Where was the fast paced witty banter? Where were the strong female bonds and relationships?

The book offers up a lot of information and a bunch of extra characters that seem unnecessary for the plot. Overly detailed descriptions and flowery language are abundant with no real character development. Maybe it is an attempt to set up future books, but I found it hard to keep track of and I found myself skimming through sections. I found the Revelare magic and world building intriguing, but a little confusing. Seemed more magical realism than outright fantasy.

I pretty much hated everything about Jake, besides the spoons - I will admit that was cute (but by no means makes up for a ten year unexplained absence). Unfortunately, it would be hard to articulate why I found the storyline around Jake disappointing without spoilers, so I will refrain. I will say I still don’t quite understand why he left or really what he did to earn Sadie’s forgiveness. Also the story of why Jake finally came back came out of nowhere and sort of seemed like it was there to demonize big cities. The romance was one of my biggest disappointments about this book. Jake and Sadie are pretty forgettable and their relationship falls flat with a vague sense of things being resolved at the end. The romance seems superfluous to the rest of the book and feels added in to appeal to romance readers. It felt more like a family drama than the witchy romance it was marketed to me as. And if you’re looking for steam, this aint’t it. We get one single kiss between Jake and Sadie.

I also keep hearing the book described as cozy, and sure it has included recipes, but to me it reads quite sad. The book deals with cancer, death, grief, heartbreak, abandonment, parental estrangement, suicide, and mental health. By the end of the book the major crisis was averted, but I wouldn’t call the ending happy or heartwarming by any means. The resolutions just kind of happened and I’m left with a number of unanswered questions, some glaring plot holes, and an overall bummed out feeling. Like, what was the point of Simon the cat’s sudden appearance!?

The book includes many biblical references and an emphasis on church that I found off putting and incongruous to a book about magic and witchcraft. I thought maybe I was being overly sensitive, but reading through some other reviews, I see that I’m not alone in feeling this way.

Aligning your book with two beloved and much obsessed over pieces of media like Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls is a big gamble. In this case, expectations were not met and vibes were greatly over promised and under delivered. The bones of this book have potential, but as written it is not for me and I would be reluctant to recommend it.

Magic in the title drew me to pick this book up and when I read the synopsis I knew I would like it. This is the first book I've read by Breanne Randall, but I hope to see more. I think this is her debut novel.

Description:
Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel.

With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together.

As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic?

My Thoughts:
I adored the grandmother for her practicality, her sacrifice, and her love of her family. The entire family is blessed with magical gifts, but each one also has a curse. This is the heartbreaking journey Sadie faced with her curse and her quest to overcome. Sadie's love of her magic was her core and she used it to help others. I loved the cooking theme that ran through the book from the cafe that she and her grandmother owned to their family dinners. Recipes are interspersed through the book - I do wish they had been at the end, but each seemed relevant to the part of the story where they appeared. The romance was at times fun and other times heartwrenching.

Thanks to Alcove Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on September 19, 2023.

This is the book I didn’t know I had been waiting for all year. The author has been hyping this up over on Instagram for months now and it appeared in my feed one day and I was instantly hooked. Marketed as Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic, *The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic* lives up to it’s vibe with it’s whimsical writing, cozy town of Poppy Meadows, and mouthwatering recipes that I definitely need to test out in my own kitchen. I read this book during a girls trip to San luis Obispo and it was literally the perfect place to read this book. I will forever have fond memories of waking up at San Luis Creek Lodge to coffee and scones delivered to our room and just sitting next to the window with sunlight streaming through the trees outside the window and reading this book.

I adored this book. It is a beautifully written ode to human nature, family - found and otherwise, and the utter rollercoaster of just being human.

"Hold on to hope no matter the cost, because as long as there's hope, everything else is just the unfortunate side effects of heartbreak and magic".

I've never watched the Gilmore Girls - it's one of those "tbr" scenarios for my Netflix. I have seen Practical Magic many times (though not yet read it), and can definitely see the similarities between the film and this story.

Our story centres around Sadie, a witch who runs the local cafe and lives with her Grandmother. Her mother left her. Her brother left her. Her first love left her. The only person she has in the world is her Grandmother - until the bridge floods, a sure sign that someone is coming back to town... but who? And what will this return mean for Sadie?

Whilst Sadie deals with a mass return of past heart-breaks, she also has to deal with the crushing revelation that her beloved Grandmother has only weeks to live. If you've lost a loved one, especially if you've lost a loved one to cancer, this part of the story was like a kick in the gut. It physically hurt to read through what Sadie has to deal with, however, even though she loses someone so important to her, a strong sense of hope and the potential in the future help to soften that loss.

This was a lovely, slow-build story full of family intrigue, curses, magic and sacrifice. If you like second-chance love, family centred and community based stories, this is definitely the read for you. Trigger warnings - death, cancer, suicide, fake pregnancy.

I was really excited to read this one and thought it was going to be a funny family fantasy. But I just could not get into this one.

I found the writing long and elaborate. The beginning felt very much like world-building vomit and I was hoping dialogue and action would soon take over. It did not. If you like descriptive, atmospheric, cozy fantasy books, than this is a book for you.

I’ve recently learned cozy fantasy isn’t a genre of choice for me. I need action in my fantasy. So definitely a me thing.

Absolutely tremendous. Such a poignant and beautiful story.

I adore Sadie. And her penchant for baking and brooding. (There are recipes throughout!)

"Some people needed flowers and pretty words. Sadie needed truth and kept promises."

The blurb on this book likens it to Practical Magic, which definitely fits. But I recently read Autumn of the Grimoire, which fits the vibes of this book even more. Dark and magical, but also cozy cottage core. And a bit of consulting the shadows for saving yourself and your family.

I think this book deserves its own subgenre. Cozy magical realism.

In fact, I can probably think of several other books I've loved with the same flavor and feeling.

Let's make cozy magical realism a thing.

"Magic wasn't always spells and curses and charms. Sometimes it was the comfortable silence of a good meal, and smiling eyes that met across the room and spoke more than words."

I have been waiting for this book ever since I saw the author's Tiktok and it did not disappoint at all! Adorable, witchy, and romantic. Perfect for fans of Practical Magic and all things witchy and cozy.

This book wasn't bad. The writing was very good but there wasn't much of a storyline. Pretty good descriptions, but just a little too slow moving for my taste.

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a phenomenal book. Once I heard it was Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls, I knew I had to read it. I also want to thank @book_and_jane for putting this book on my radar.

The book follows Sadie Revelare, who runs a café with her grandmother in the small town of Poppy Meadows. Sadie comes from a long line of witches, and she uses her gifts to add a little magic into everything she bakes. The spells she bakes into her food help the townsfolk of Poppy Meadows in a variety of ways.

The Revelare magic comes with a curse. Each member has their own special gift and their own specific curse. Sadie’s is the curse of four heartbreaks. Her first heartbreak was Jake McNealy, the second was when her brother left town. Once she has her fourth heartbreak, Sadie will loose her magic. She’s been doing a good job of guarding her heart, but Sadie’s life has just been turned upside down. She just found out that her grandmother has cancer and only has weeks to live. Plus her first heartbreak, Jake, has just moved back to town and he seems to want to reconnect. Sadie knows her grandmother will be her third heartbreak and she’s not sure she wants to risk her fourth heartbreak on the man that broke it in the first place.

With the news of their grandmother’s cancer, Sadie’s brother Seth returns to town. His return also brings to light some long buried family secrets. Before she dies, their grandmother has a lot to tell them to prepare them for her passing and what will come next. Sadie and Seth have to come together and put aside their differences or one of them could die.

While trying to figure out how to save her brother and herself from impending doom, Sadie is also dealing with her emerging feelings for Jake. She knows she should forget about him, but there’s just something about your first love.

I loved this book. It was a fun and cozy read, that also has a little mystery thrown in. Plus there are actual recipes of many of the delicious sounding food items mentioned in the book. I can’t wait to try them! I really hope the author returns to this world because the ending left it open for more adventures.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book. I can’t wait to try all the recipes.

Vibes: Practical Magic + Gilmore Girls (cozy, witchy, small town, baking)
Rating: 4/5⭐️

this was so much fun!!
gilmore girls & practical magic are two of my favorite movies/shows.
when i saw this book pitched as that, i knew i needed to read. it truly it just like that!

it’s comforting, fresh, heartfelt & real.
i loved the characters, and watching them progress from start to finish. the small town was So cute. it was full of charm and love.

the plot was adorable. i ate this book up!

So I went into this book expecting “Practical magic/Gilmore Girls” vibe, and didn’t get that at all. Yes it’s a small town book centered around magic & family-but that’s all it had in common. It was still a lighthearted cozy read for a rainy day, and I enjoyed the history of their magic. Would check out a sequel for sure!

The first thing I thought of after reading this novel was how delightfully similar it was to one of my all-time favorite books, Practical Magic. A warm embrace. A cozy afternoon with rain falling outside. A good pillow, even.

Randall introduces us to Sadie, a small-town witch and baker whose magic, just like that of her family, comes with a curse: she will suffer four heartbreaks, each worse than the last, with the fourth resulting in the loss of her magic completely. After only two of these heartbreaks, Sadie finds herself struggling with the return of an ex, the return of mysterious twin brother, Seth, and her ailing, beloved grandmother.

What truly sets this novel apart is Randall's skillful incorporation of the magical elements. The way magic is integrated into the story is nothing short of enchanting. For example, at the bakery that Sadie and her grandmother own, magic is weaved into the recipes themselves, giving the buyer of a carrot cake, for example, a boost of energy and happiness. It serves not only as a metaphor for the unpredictable nature of emotions but also as a catalyst for personal growth and transformation. The author's imaginative portrayal of spells, charms, and magical creatures adds a layer of wonder to the narrative, captivating readers and making the fantastical elements feel as authentic as the emotional ones.

While the novel excels in many aspects, there are a few moments where the pacing may slow down, and certain plot developments could be more tightly woven. Additionally, a deeper exploration of certain secondary characters could have added more layers to the story and enriched the overall experience. I found it difficult to be inside Sadie's head for the entire novel and feel that a third-person POV would have given both more insight and more of a chance to connect to other characters.

Overall, Randall's writing is whimsical and the journey she takes both Sadie and the reader on is introspective, which I do always appreciate.

Thank you to ARC and to the publisher for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute little book!

I loved the storyline and the recipes scattered throughout. The thing I disliked was the “endearing” terms of “shit-ass” and “pissant” as it felt….forced? And out of place?

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know if this just isn't the book for me, or I had completely wrong expectations of this book, but this book felt really flat. With all the promos saying it's Gilmore Girls, Proactical Magic and cozy fantasy I got none of these? There are a lot of grief, dying, and miscommunication leading to harm for it to be cozy. The pacing felt weird, there is a lot of religion (Southern Baptist from what I can tell) for a fabulism book on magic and curses, and the general tone isn't campy small town, but traumatic small town. There is promise and I think the magical town holds promise, but it felt like a bait and switch for a book I don't know that I am the right audience for.

I'll start this by saying that if you're looking for a cozy heartwarming book, this might not be the one. It certainly has most of the elements one would look for in a cozy read. But the plot revolves around grief and death a lot.
That being said, that wasn't the reason why I didn't enjoy this quite as much as I was expecting. I'd say my main issue was the pace. And Sadie.
I really wasn't a fan of Sadie. And we are in her head all the time. I really expected her to be more mature. Instead, she kept pretending not to see things so she didn't have to deal with them. I also didn't enjoy her romance.
Despite not being a fan of our MC and having issues with the pacing, the author managed to pull at my heartstrings more than once.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishing team for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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. Will look for more from Breanne Randall. This author has something special.

I liked the premise for this book and especially enjoyed the character of Gigi and the rest of the family but quite frankly, the book dragged for me which ultimately made the heroine annoying as she just kept going around and around the same plot points and not learning anything. It was an interesting story, I think there is a tighter book here that would have served the story and characters better.

I wish this wasn’t as long and maybe I would have loved it more. For me this was very slow moving but I absolutely loved the story and recipes.

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall was a super light and fluffy Romantasy!