Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

27 reviews

ahopper7's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was marketed incorrectly. It’s not a cozy witchy small town romance. There was so much potential in the premise but it desperately needed more editing to hone in on a real plot and handle its topics in a thoughtful way.

Pros (kind of):
- It definitely has some cozy elements especially in the first quarter of the book
- I loved the family element it was *trying* to incorporate 
- The recipes at the end of each chapter added nicely to the story, not enough to redeem but still cute 
- The magic was soo close to being a mix of Practical Magic and Mayfair Witches (depending on character) but it wasn’t executed well

Cons:
- The romance subplot is not done well and the characters or their romance are not developed 
- The book very carelessly handled serious topics like rape, murder and attempted suicide which didn’t sit well with me and is the main reason behind my rating
- Overall, the story or the characters were just not developed. The team around this book really should have spent more time fleshing out one or two of the plot points instead of throwing in several different story lines and not executing any of them well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Rape, and Suicide attempt

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

hlbennett's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

This read was what, as a Millennial, I imagine mid is. So much attention seems to be paid to parts that don't matter while not enough attention is paid to things that really would. Parts that are uninteresting drag on while parts that are interesting are sped up, like the rushed ending. The things you want explained aren't going to be explained well enough but you're going to get so much detail when Sadie is cooking. The most interesting part of the book is the concept of the magic, the family curses, the origin, who has what magic and what are their curses, but most of those explanations aren't there or aren't explained enough. And not in an artistic, "What did Billie Joe MacAllister throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge?" kind of way.

I'm left with so many questions and I reread these passages several times to make sure that I wasn't missing anything. I thought surely, the explanation is there, I'm just missing it. 

Like: 
-  What's up with the voice at Old Ballier [sp]? 
- Why did Jake leave in the first place? 
- Is Florence the conduit/amplifier or is Seth?
- And if not Florence, why wasn't she supposed to have children?
- Why was there a death owed for the lives of the twins and then Florence couldn't see them, but she's had Sage without mention of murder and shows up with her in tow?
- What are Florence's powers? 
- If it's a life for a life, how on earth did Gigi get out of paying the blood debt without a second murder? And why didn't they just do that again? Or better yet, if sacrificing your magic paid the debt, why didn't Gigi or Florence do that decades ago so that this poor kid didn't grow up going through what he says he went through?

Moving on from poor explanations, there are a number of parts that are supposed to be "twists" that are as straight as a board. 
- The ghost in the back yard? Gigi gives some ominous direction to protect the house and we're led to believe it's for this spirit, but really I guess it was for nothing because turns out it was just papaw. The reader learns this in a 5 second conversation Sadie has with her mother. 
- The damage to the garden? Turns out it's tied to Sadie's emotions but doesn't manifest during her first or second heartbreaks; no, it waits until she's 28 and feeling sad. Also, it seems a bit late in the year for regrowing entire gardens. Even with the magic of it all, why would Jake, who hadn't had confirmation of Sadie's magic, replant a garden in what, September? 
- Sadie's sacrifice? First, Gigi knew of a solution and instead of having a conversation with Sadie about it, she chose to leave it in a letter. Yes, because that's what any responsible parent would do when the life of their child hung in the balance and they had literal months to have these kinds of conversations. Second, we're supposed to believe that everyone who'd read that letter didn't understand it meant Sadie giving up her magic? Come on. Third, Sadie just decides to unalive herself with, I can't remember how much time, until the full moon? Like she's not going to wait until they're sure they've tried everything else?
- I almost forgot it, but THE FAKE PREGNANCY? Are you kidding.

 

It's just not a well built story. I'm not one of those people who can't suspend a measure of logic to enjoy a story and even so, this has too many loose ends to be worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Death of parent

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

iristeodora03's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

kerryamchugh's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Abandonment

celestepaed's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness and Pregnancy

mysteryspouse's review

emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

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!

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