The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

Gigi Revelare is a significant secondary character in the novel. She dies of cancer near the middle of the novel, and much of her characterization occurs posthumously, as other characters share their memories of her. The recipe interludes in the novel are written from Gigi’s first-person point of view, and those characterize her as well.

Gigi is the matriarch of the Revelare family and has five children. Because Florence’s curse kept her away, Gigi raised her grandchildren, Seth and Sadie, as her own. She curses frequently, and affectionately calls her children and grandchildren names like “little shit ass.” Gigi is a smoker and speaks in a deep voice. Sadie notes that her nickname makes “her grandmother sound much more French and much less feisty than she actually was” (6). Physically, Gigi has short hair that is perfectly curled in a “cotton-candy puff” (6). She drives a PT Cruiser “like a bat out of hell” (66). Gigi is a very hard worker, insisting on taking impeccable care of their home and working long hours in the café.

Raquel is Sadie’s best friend. She is “raven-haired” and even when she is still, “somehow seemed to be in motion. Fingers or foot always tapping, eyes so thoughtful you could practically hear her talking even when she was silent” (10). She has bipolar disorder and has made a great deal of effort to manage her condition with mental healthcare. She teaches theater at the local high school and is excited about a production of Carrie the school has just sanctioned as the upcoming musical. She was raised in a very strict family, and has two younger sisters. She is a leader, and firm with Sadie when she is failing to take care of herself or be reasonable. She practices yoga, and Sadie describes her as the most courageous person she knows.

Physically, Seth is slightly taller, broader, and stockier than Sadie. He has freckles Sadie describes as “the face of her childhood. The male version of the one she saw in the mirror every day” (96). Seth’s magic is his ability to hear what everyone wants and sense their secrets and deepest needs. This ability is also his curse, and it causes him to experience anxiety and depression. He leaves Poppy Meadows for a period of time to figure out who he is, and his sudden departure incites the conflict between him and Sadie. He describes his experience as like being in a “black hole. It’s like I have this demon living inside me that dictates when the darkness comes” (125). Seth and Raquel form a romantic relationship, and she helps him decide to seek mental health services. After the ritual, Seth feels that the darkness of his magic has improved. Initially, he distances himself from his magic, but as he matures throughout the novel, he learns to talk about it and begins to process it. Acquiring Sadie’s magic after the ritual also helps him dispel the darkness of his magic.

The twins’ trajectories are therefore the inverse of each other: Sadie focuses too much on magic as her identity and must give it up; Seth initially distances himself from his magic, and must begin to accept it as part of him. The twins function as foils to each other in other ways as well. Sadie remembers a dare from their childhood to draw on a neighbor’s garage door. Sadie draws a “dime-size heart” (159) because she doesn’t want to fail at the dare or disappoint him, whereas Seth “had sauntered over and signed his name in large, looping letters” (160). Whereas Sadie is a rule follower, doesn’t want to leave the town of Poppy Meadows, and knows who she is, Seth leaves town to find himself, and is willing to break rules.

Jake McNealy was Sadie’s first heartbreak. They were in love as teenagers, but he left abruptly without explanation. Near the beginning of the novel, he moves back to Poppy Meadows, provoking emotional turmoil in Sadie. He is a firefighter and is characterized as brave and committed to his work. Randall emphasizes these character traits in Jake’s description of his interactions with one of the families involved in a drug turf war at his previous job. He is clearly invested in those he interacts with in his first responder role. Physically, Jake has “startingly dark eyes” (59), “summer honey-wheat blonde” (66) hair, and shoulders that Sadie thinks suggest that he spends a significant amount of time in the gym.

Sadie often reflects on how much Jake has changed since she first knew him. The “new version of him” is “slow, gentle, [and] kind” (92). Sadie describes Jake as a “constellation of memories and fresh revelations” (147) and is impressed at how he has grown up since she first knew him. Jake listens to Sadie intently. Jake is honorable, committed to marrying Bethany when she tells him she is pregnant. His primary trajectory as a character involves acknowledging that he has always been in love with Sadie, something he is finally able to do when he learns that Bethany faked the pregnancy. Like Seth, he leaves Poppy Meadows to find himself and returns with a new outlook and a new ability to form lasting relationships. Jake’s primary function in the novel is as Sadie’s romantic interest.