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. 

Hope is Our Only Wing by Rutendo Tavengerwei

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 304

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 3rd of May 2018 

For fifteen-year-old Shamiso, struggling with grief and bewilderment following her father's death, hope is nothing but a leap into darkness. 

For Tanyaradzwa, whose life has been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis, hope is the only reason to keep fighting. 

As the two of them form an unlikely friendship, Shamiso begins to confront her terrible fear of loss. In getting close to another person, particularly someone who's ill, isn't she just opening herself up to more pain? And underpinning it all - what did happen to her father, the night of that strange and implausible car crash? 

What I Have to Say 

This book was so sad! Right from the start it dealt with issues that are familiar, Cancer, grief, in a country that is very different, one that's struggling with it's economy. Zimbabwe is not a country I know that well, so it was really interesting to see it and to feel the issues on a personal level, with the characters caught up in it all. 

The characters were easy to relate to. Shamiso was having to get used to living in Zimbabwe, having to leave all of her friends behind. Her friendship with Tanyaradzwa was interesting, seeing her push her away so much even though Tanyaradzwa had just as much reason not to pursue a relationship. 

The mystery was good, but I didn't really get into it that much. I don't know why but I just didn't really care that much about how it turned out. I don't often get that way about mysteries. 

It was still a good book though. I enjoyed reading it. If anything, it was a bit short and it maybe would have grabbed my attention more if it was longer and the story was more complex. 

My thanks go to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

All the Ways the World Can End by Abby Sher

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 336

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 27th of July 2017 

Lenny is preparing for the apocalypse. Every night, she researches vacuum decay, designer pathogens, that inexplicable sleeping sickness knocking people out in Kazakhstan. Not many sixteen-year-olds are this consumed with the end of the world. But Lenny needs to have some sense of control. Her dad is dying of cancer. Her best friend Julian is graduating early and moving three states away. She's having to rehearse for a toe-curling interpretive dance show at school, and deal with her mum's indefatigable jolliness and smoothie-making in the face of the disaster they are confronting. The one thing keeping her hopeful is Dr Rad Ganesh - her father's oncologist. Surely Lenny can win him round to her charms - and he can save her father? 

What I Have to Say 

This was a good story with a lot of humour. Even in Lenny's obsessive research into the different ways that the world could end, as frightening as they were, there were jokes and comments and things that made them so obviously written by Lenny. It was a nice way to start each chapter and it was interesting to see how they changed with what happened throughout the book. 

All the characters were really strong too. Even though it might seem a little over the top sometimes, especially with the dance teacher, I like having that sort of thing, a character with a real sense of personality that adds to the humour. It makes for a lot of interesting ways in which they react to things and fleshes out the book so it doesn't seem to be just one or two characters who're holding everything up. 

This is a really serious subject, so I was really glad to see how they kept the humour up throughout the book, even when it could have gone really serious and depressing, there was a morbid joke or something to keep the mood up, even though it shouldn't be appropriate. 

This was definitely a really good book to read and I loved Lenny so much. It would be cool to have sequel though I don't know what it would be about. 

My thanks go to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 380

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books 

Released: 1st of June 2017 

Lucy Hansson was ready for a perfect summer with her boyfriend, working at her childhood Bible camp on the lake. But when her mom’s cancer reappears, Lucy falters—in faith, in love, and in her ability to cope. When her boyfriend “pauses” their relationship and her summer job switches to a different camp—one for troubled kids—Lucy isn’t sure how much more she can handle. Attempting to accept a new normal, Lucy slowly regains footing among her vibrant, diverse coworkers, Sundays with her mom, and a crush on a fellow counselor. But when long-hidden family secrets emerge, can Lucy set aside her problems and discover what grace really means?

What I Have to Say 

This was a beautiful, beautiful book. At first the Christianity put me off a bit, even though I understood it and how important it was. Lucy grew up her entire life with Christianity and her relationship with god being a huge part of her identity. But the beauty of it was that as she felt disconnected from her faith, she started to explore the sides of her personality that she's never looked into. At the start, she defined herself too much as the pastor's daughter and it was good to see that fall away and be rebuilt in a way that allowed her to live her life more as she wanted without worrying so much about her parents' or god's approval. 

I loved the friendship group at Daybreak. I loved Daybreak! It had such a sense of individuality and the realness that this sort of place have. The kind of atmosphere that you have to be part of to understand it all. The kids at the camp were so sweet as well, especially the little ones. It was interesting how not all the problems of the children were told, but it was obvious they were there for a reason. 

This whole book was a fantastic story and I can't wait for Emery Lord's next book. 

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

How to Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 352

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 4th of June 2015

When you've had enough of being good, sometimes you've got to try a little bad...

Jesse, Vicks and Mel couldn't be more different. Jesse, a righteous Southern gal who's as thoughtful as she is uptight, is keeping a secret that she knows will change her life forever. Vicks is a wild-child: seemingly cool, calm and collected on the outside, but inside she's furious at herself for being so anxious about her neglectful boyfriend. And Mel is the new girl in town. She's already been dismissed as just another rich kid, but all she wants is to get over some of her fears and find some true friends. 

But for all their differences, the girls discover they've got one thing in common - they're desperate to escape. Desperate to get the heck out of Niceville and discover their true 'badass' selves! Even if it's just for the weekend... One 'borrowed' car later, it's time to hit the road and head for Miami. Hearts will be broken, friendships will be tested, and a ridiculously hot stranger could change the course of everything.

What I Have to Say 

First things first, I completely adored this book. Not as much as Disreputable History as I don't think there are that many books that can reach that level of awesomeness. But I loved it in a fun road trip with a load of drama way. The characters were all great in their own ways though I really think that Mel was my favourite just for her meek, shy contrast to the others. 

The fights that the girls had were all really good developments to the plot and general bonding feel of the book. It didn't feel like they were put in there just for the sake of drama. Even the bit with the alligator felt like it worked well with the plot. 

This is the ultimate road trip book for this year. These three fantastic writers have added to the genre in a wonderful way and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have.