The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

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!) The 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 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 scary big 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 or 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.

This is not at all what it was advertised as and the author tried too hard to make it something it wasn’t.

This book was a lovely combination of happiness, gratitude, longing, grief and love. I read it through the eyes of fantasy and yet it spoke to my soul. Thank you for showing how a messy wonderful life is magical. I hope there is more to come. I’m

The plot of the book was fun. There were quite a few typos and mistakes throughout the book — more than average.

A great story with unexpected twists and turns AND it has recipes! Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a love story or a witty witchy tale