The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

Pages: 336 

Publisher: Aria 

Released: 12th of October 2023 

For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic.

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?

Readers who love the magic of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the sense of community found in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches will enjoy this warm, witchy novel.

What I Have to Say 

So going into this book, I was expecting a warm, cosy baking novel. Which it was. But what I hadn't picked up on was the emphasis on heartbreak in this novel. It was incredibly, incredibly sad. It tackles grief and terminal illnesses and losing the most important family member you have. 

Along with these issues, this book also shows the different kinds of heartbreak you can have. I was so happy to see that the heartbreaks weren't just about dating and romance, the main one of course being the sight of her grandmother being taken from her by cancer. I felt this was really really important especially since family is such a big part of the book. 

And there is cosiness in this book. There's a generous helping of small town charm, a lot of baking magic (with recipes interspersed between each chapter!) and a whole extended family's worth of love. Though I would hesitate to call this a cosy book considering how sad it all is, the cosiness is there to be seen. 

5 stars 

My thanks go to Aria and Netgalley for providing me with this gifted copy for review.