Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

10 reviews

meggy1967's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

I did enjoy the book but I felt the dialogue was rather stilted. The main character was likeable as were the majority of the side characters. The ending felt incredibly rushed given the amount of build up given throughout the entire book. There was a LOT of mentions of religion and God, so if you’re uncomfortable with that I’d be aware. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Infidelity, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Cancer

fancyjess_party's review against another edition

slow-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Body shaming, Infidelity, Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

veroverovero000's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

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

ehoustonmyatt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

1.5

This had potential to be so fun, even with darker themes. It, instead, focused on things that weren’t important and whizzed past the reveals that were supposed to be big. The Bethany of it all was very stereotypical and predictable, the love interest sucked, and it dropped some big dark themes too casually and not very thoughtfully. Also, the diversity included seemed like a performative afterthought. 

It’s sold as a “cozy” read that feels like Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic but it didn’t deliver any of that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Abandonment, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Infertility, Mental illness, Abandonment, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness

Hey, no dogs or cats die so I guess that’s one win!

amyteurhour's review against another edition

1.0

Content warning: cancer, abandonment, rape, infidelity, toxic relationship, murder

This was annoying. The mystery/curse was intriguing, but not intriguing enough that I was willing to get through the whole book. The overuse of "pissant" and "shit ass" was also annoying and not an adorable quirk (like what I think the author was trying to go for). This is compared to Practical Magic, and though I've only read a little of PM, I would agree, in that the sexual assault is just super casually mentioned and then buried in boring nonsense. To be honest, I got further than I expected because I've been in between audiobooks and didn't have any I wanted to start on my shelf, so I just kept defaulting to this when I was doing chores around the house. 

I also didn't love the audiobook, finding the narration to be either very flat and boring, or super grating depending on the character. I ended up skipping the recipes at the end of each chapter because I was tired of the voice and just wanted to be done with the book. But this book is so long for seemingly no reason. 

Stopped at ch 11 (7:37:15). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Murder, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Cancer

littlelizzieborden's review against another edition

It was emotionally exhausting and infuriating 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Cancer, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Cursing

roget's review against another edition

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infertility, Alcohol, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

meredith_williams_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

This was potentially the biggest let down of a book I’ve read in a long time. It was marketed as a Practical Magic-type witchy romance, and for the first 20% of the book, it was delivering on that promise. However, the story takes a sharp left turn and the whole book ended up being a very difficult read. For starters, the characterization and setting seemed at odds with one another. Why was the grandmother constantly using southern phrases, going to a baptist church, and cooking with butter and shortening all for them to be living in…Southern California? Secondly, the pacing was off and the ending felt rushed and undone. There were major characters that came into the story at the last minute and had no conclusion whatsoever. Thirdly, the romance was lacking and became a subplot by the end of the book. The main character’s love interest was problematic, to say the least!

The fact that I was expected to root for the two of them after he revealed that he was ENGAGED WITH A BABY ON THE WAY was absolutely wild! But not as wild as the fact that his fiancé was FAKING THE PREGNANCY or that the FMC was totally fine with TAKING HIM BACK after all of that!!!

Additionally, the undertones were weirdly conservative? There was a lot of missionary white-savior rhetoric, a lot of churchy language, a lot of overly generalized and stereotypical portrayals of people of color, and a literal mention of Young Living Essential Oils. 🙃 Lastly, you could tell the author was trying to speak positively about therapy and mental health, but that was immediately cancelled out by her portrayal of one of the characters trying to take their own life and following that scene up with another character casually brushing it off by saying, “We all have our dark days.” 🥴
All in all, I would not waste your time on this book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment and Infidelity

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

kase's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape

merricatfromblackwood's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

Every Revelare has a curse. It’s the price of their magic. Sophie’s is that if she suffers four heartbreaks she’ll lose her magic. She’s already had her heartbroken twice. She’s happy to close herself off and run her bakery with her grandmother. 

A whimsical book that mixes Practical Magic family magic and curses with the small town charm of Stars Hollow. I loved the world building but do wish we’d seen more of the town. This is also a hetero romance which is not normally my thing. 

Trigger warnings for: Suicide attempt, death, cancer, murder, cheating.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Murder