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Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
17 reviews
readswithcat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, Cancer, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
brandetl27's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
There’s so many spoilers in this, I can’t possibly tag them all. Proceed with caution.
As someone who LOVES cozy, witchy books, this just did not do it for me. The way this was marketed felt extremely inaccurate. Do not serve this to me as a “Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic” & then let me down. Whoever marketed this like that has clearly never seen either of those. If you’re gonna throw those big names around, you better at least attempt to live up to it.
As someone who LOVES cozy, witchy books, this just did not do it for me. The way this was marketed felt extremely inaccurate. Do not serve this to me as a “Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic” & then let me down. Whoever marketed this like that has clearly never seen either of those. If you’re gonna throw those big names around, you better at least attempt to live up to it.
This was painfully overwritten. There were too many descriptions of ingredients and plants & baked goods & not nearly enough details that help explain the actual plot. It was very messy & got confusing at times. The overall plot was too complicated & not cohesive at all. Like what was ever actually going on?
I didn’t like any of the characters really because they were either extremely insufferable or we didn’t get to know them enough in order for me to care about them. I wanted to like Gigi because I love a grandmother character but to be honest, she wasn’t the greatest either. One of your grandkids is going to die & you know exactly what needs to be done to save them & you’re leaving secret messages in letters after you die instead of explicitly telling someone? It’s giving Dumbledore in the worst way possible.
The romance storyline felt like a complete afterthought. What a waste of time that was. I didn’t know Jake or their backstory well enough to care if they got together. But also, you’d think your dying grandmother & impending death of your brother kind of takes priority over your ex boyfriend coming back into town?
There was also some causal murder, attempted suicide, faked pregnancies, sexual assault, drugging (which was done twice btw). Like what? This was too much.
Also things that were brought up regularly but ended up being such a waste because it added nothing to the story & had nothing to do with anything:
•dog napping
•the high school putting on a production of Carrie as their play
•the fall festival
•A mysterious figure constantly being seen in the garden which ended up being their late grandfather
Also, when you really think about it, what was the purpose of the 4 heartbreaks curse? After 4 heartbreaks, Sadie was going to lose her magic. She only had one left, her brother dying would have been her 4th one. They made a big deal about her having to give up her magic to save him but she would have lost it anyway if she died because of the heartbreak curse so it really didn’t seem like that much of a heroic move for her to give up her magic. The heartbreak curse should have never been a part of this because without it, Sadie giving up her magic would have been a huge sacrifice for her to save her brother. They made her out to be so selfless & brave at the end but she literally wasn’t at all. Her choices were: lose your brother & lose your magic or give up your magic & save your brother. It seems pretty obvious to me which one your would choose here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Sexual assault and Murder
etl's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book was.... not for me. Plot lines that go nowhere, confusing and bizarre christian ideology that comes out of nowhere (in a book about a witch...?), plot holes, a bizarre dog kidnapping that I think we're supposed to read as quirky and banter-y, overly-descriptive language while still not actually telling us anything, wildly casual mentions of very serious topics SA, attempted suicide, murder, and also what essentially amounts to the drugging of an unsuspecting third party... TWICE. SHE DOES IT TWICE . I can't believe this was marketed as a cozy read tbh.
The only reason I finished this book is because I became absolutely obsessed with the frankly absurd similes and metaphors. The writing is chock full of some truly bizarre writing but by chapter two I started highlighting the comparisons to food (specifically sweet treats) just in case the reader forgot that the main character was a baker. My favorites are below for your reading pleasure:
- "the tenuous peace they'd formed in the kitchen cracked like creme brulee"
- "shaking her momentary mirth off like powdered sugar"
- "excitement brushed along her skin like confectioners' sugar"
- "gingersnap laugh"
- "The air turned sweet like sparkle-dusted rainbow cotton candy"
and my number one, the line I will be thinking about for the rest of my life:
- "hugs were passed around like a tray of chocolate truffles, sweet and decadent until too much made you sad for no reason" - huh. huh?I have never ever been sad due to too many chocolate truffles OR too many hugs. sick? yes. touched out? yes. sad...? am I missing something? do chocolates and hugs make people sad?
Overall I counted 41 instances of food-related symbolism, and this doesn't include anything from chapter one or descriptive language like "butter-soft" or "caramel-colored" because at least those descriptions make sense.
I'm sure this book is for someone. That someone is not me.
The only reason I finished this book is because I became absolutely obsessed with the frankly absurd similes and metaphors. The writing is chock full of some truly bizarre writing but by chapter two I started highlighting the comparisons to food (specifically sweet treats) just in case the reader forgot that the main character was a baker. My favorites are below for your reading pleasure:
- "the tenuous peace they'd formed in the kitchen cracked like creme brulee"
- "shaking her momentary mirth off like powdered sugar"
- "excitement brushed along her skin like confectioners' sugar"
- "gingersnap laugh"
- "The air turned sweet like sparkle-dusted rainbow cotton candy"
and my number one, the line I will be thinking about for the rest of my life:
- "hugs were passed around like a tray of chocolate truffles, sweet and decadent until too much made you sad for no reason" - huh. huh?I have never ever been sad due to too many chocolate truffles OR too many hugs. sick? yes. touched out? yes. sad...? am I missing something? do chocolates and hugs make people sad?
Overall I counted 41 instances of food-related symbolism, and this doesn't include anything from chapter one or descriptive language like "butter-soft" or "caramel-colored" because at least those descriptions make sense.
I'm sure this book is for someone. That someone is not me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Pregnancy and Infertility
condls27's review against another edition
Spoilers ahead! I never DNF books this far into it, usually I tough it out but good god. This is pitched as a Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls but really it’s annoying Christian witches who bake a lot.
Everything about this book annoyed me- Sadie was one of the worst FMCs I’ve read in a long time. She’s a childish doormat with no backbone and manages to be clingy while keeping everyone at arms length. The ”conflict” with her brother was so stupid (he was only gone for a year! They way the author described how betrayed Sadie felt you’d think he stole all her money, kicked her cat and slashed her tires before he left town but the poor guy just wanted to explore the world a little bit). Not to mention, their family motto is “Revelares leave but they always come back”, so if you know he’s going to come back why are you acting so betrayed?
Speaking of Seth, if he called her “sister” one more time I was going to launch the book into the sun. We get it, they’re siblings you do not need to constantly remind us. I have 3 sisters and never once in our lives have we ever called each other “sis, sister, little sis, big sister” Why do authors insist on doing this? He’s her twin for god’s sake we’re not going to forget they’re siblings.
Also, how in the hell are a bunch of witches Methodists?! At one point the FMC corrects someone who calls her family witches and she says “We’re not witches, we’re magic users, there’s a difference!” You have a potion brewing under the moonlight for a spell you wrote but you’re not a witch? You carry herbs in your pocket to ward off bad vibes but also quote scripture? Pick and choose babe. That almost made DNF right there but what did it was the MMC trying to “save some gang members” by taking them to church. The author made him a literal white savior (firefighter) but of course when his evangelizing didn’t work, he fled the big scary city. Ah yes, evangelizing with a side of white flight, sounds about white, I mean right. Never thought I’d see conservative coded witches but here we are.
I didn’t even get to mention the puppy stealing and the fake pregnancy which reminds me- there are zero trigger warnings. For a story marketed as a cozy rom-com, there are incredibly heavy themes dropped in with zero care. Descriptions of sexual assault/rape, domestic abuse and suicide ideation/attempt. It is so irresponsible to include such triggering themes without warning your readers. I will hate this book until the day I die.
Everything about this book annoyed me- Sadie was one of the worst FMCs I’ve read in a long time. She’s a childish doormat with no backbone and manages to be clingy while keeping everyone at arms length. The ”conflict” with her brother was so stupid (he was only gone for a year! They way the author described how betrayed Sadie felt you’d think he stole all her money, kicked her cat and slashed her tires before he left town but the poor guy just wanted to explore the world a little bit). Not to mention, their family motto is “Revelares leave but they always come back”, so if you know he’s going to come back why are you acting so betrayed?
Speaking of Seth, if he called her “sister” one more time I was going to launch the book into the sun. We get it, they’re siblings you do not need to constantly remind us. I have 3 sisters and never once in our lives have we ever called each other “sis, sister, little sis, big sister” Why do authors insist on doing this? He’s her twin for god’s sake we’re not going to forget they’re siblings.
Also, how in the hell are a bunch of witches Methodists?! At one point the FMC corrects someone who calls her family witches and she says “We’re not witches, we’re magic users, there’s a difference!” You have a potion brewing under the moonlight for a spell you wrote but you’re not a witch? You carry herbs in your pocket to ward off bad vibes but also quote scripture? Pick and choose babe. That almost made DNF right there but what did it was the MMC trying to “save some gang members” by taking them to church. The author made him a literal white savior (firefighter) but of course when his evangelizing didn’t work, he fled the big scary city. Ah yes, evangelizing with a side of white flight, sounds about white, I mean right. Never thought I’d see conservative coded witches but here we are.
I didn’t even get to mention the puppy stealing and the fake pregnancy which reminds me- there are zero trigger warnings. For a story marketed as a cozy rom-com, there are incredibly heavy themes dropped in with zero care. Descriptions of sexual assault/rape, domestic abuse and suicide ideation/attempt. It is so irresponsible to include such triggering themes without warning your readers. I will hate this book until the day I die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, and Death
aishoka's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
Emotional. A bit Mary Sue. Lots of lush garden and food descriptions
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault
readwithria's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic was, unfortunately, not for me.
I went into this book thinking it would be similar to The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, and I was very wrong. I think the blurb made me overestimate how much romance would be in the book. This book is part fantasy, part romance, part family drama, part paranormal mystery, and part cookbook. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of those aspects were quite well developed enough for me.
There were some things that I really enjoyed. I liked the recipes at the end of each chapter. I liked the idea of the magic system (even though I have no clue how it works). I like the prose.
And then, there are the things that didn’t work for me. The pacing was a little all over the place. The MC’s best friend is a bit of a walking stereotype. The resolution to some of the mysteries and questions is a bit lackluster, and the romance is really lacking a spark in my opinion. Everything feels really drawn out, and I didn’t feel satisfied by the end of the book. I also wish this book had listed the trigger warnings at the beginning, as I don’t think it handled every situation with as much care and weight as I would have liked.
This last pain point is VERY much a personal preference, but I personally despise real-world religions in my books and there was far too much for my comfort. I was really tempted to DNF when I got the chapter that was spent entirely inside a church, but somehow I kept going and I’m not sure if I regret that or not. It’s a personal boundary that I really don’t like crossing, so I wish I had known that before going into the book (I hate DNFing ARCs, so I wouldn’t have requested it).
All in all, this book is more of a literary fiction book with a fantasy element than the cozy contemporary fantasy I thought it would be, and that’s not what I tend to like in a book. If that’s what you’re looking for, go for it! Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t for me. 2.75 stars.
Thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
I went into this book thinking it would be similar to The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, and I was very wrong. I think the blurb made me overestimate how much romance would be in the book. This book is part fantasy, part romance, part family drama, part paranormal mystery, and part cookbook. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of those aspects were quite well developed enough for me.
There were some things that I really enjoyed. I liked the recipes at the end of each chapter. I liked the idea of the magic system (even though I have no clue how it works). I like the prose.
And then, there are the things that didn’t work for me. The pacing was a little all over the place. The MC’s best friend is a bit of a walking stereotype. The resolution to some of the mysteries and questions is a bit lackluster, and the romance is really lacking a spark in my opinion. Everything feels really drawn out, and I didn’t feel satisfied by the end of the book. I also wish this book had listed the trigger warnings at the beginning, as I don’t think it handled every situation with as much care and weight as I would have liked.
This last pain point is VERY much a personal preference, but I personally despise real-world religions in my books and there was far too much for my comfort. I was really tempted to DNF when I got the chapter that was spent entirely inside a church, but somehow I kept going and I’m not sure if I regret that or not. It’s a personal boundary that I really don’t like crossing, so I wish I had known that before going into the book (I hate DNFing ARCs, so I wouldn’t have requested it).
All in all, this book is more of a literary fiction book with a fantasy element than the cozy contemporary fantasy I thought it would be, and that’s not what I tend to like in a book. If that’s what you’re looking for, go for it! Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t for me. 2.75 stars.
Thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Cancer, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Unsuccessful suicidal attempt on page, discussion of past, off-page sexual violence, minor manipulation of partner viatofugal's review against another edition
Turns out I’m not the right audience for this book. A pity because I really wanted to love it.
“For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls,” makes me think sisterly bonds, sassy mentor figures, a love curse, a small town with a colorful cast of characters, snappy dialogue, and sizzling chemistry with the romantic lead. Totally is my cup of tea.
This story hit some of those notes. The mentor has moments of sass, there is a love curse, and the town is small, but unfortunately the the sibling bonds, memorable cast, witty dialogue, and romantic chemistry I was hoping for aren’t there.
The story started out promising, with signs something nefarious was on the way and magical baked goods.
The first sign this book wasn’t for me was Sadie’s church attendance, which didn’t make sense. Christianity has a history of leading witch hunts and executing alleged witches. Given that the religion still frowns on witchcraft today, her accepting the church and vice versa while openly practicing magic didn’t ring true without a compelling explanation.
The second sign was Gigi insisting that they’re not witches, they just use magic. It’s a weird distinction that seemed arbitrary. Besides, what’s wrong with being a witch?
The third and final sign was the book’s attitude toward SA and how precious children resulting from SA are (reminded me of the pro-lifer “gifts from God” mentality). I was troubled by Sadie dismay over the predator responsible getting his just deserts, especially since she was entirely unfazed by the trauma he inflicted on his victim.
Since the values of the characters clashing with my own kept taking me out of the story, I DNF a third of the way through at Chapter 7. This book is may be a better fit for readers who enjoy strong Christian overtones in fantasy books, like the Narnia series.
The recipe inclusion was a cute gimmick, but their placement messed with the pacing. This wasn’t a book that had me craving the food mentioned, unlike Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and Legends & Lattes, so including the recipes at the end of the book might have been a better choice.
I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
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