Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings

43 reviews

meg_'s review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

My feelings about this book are so complicated that even a week after reading I'm still not totally sure how I feel. 

One thing I know for sure is I love Magnolia Parks as a character. Her every emotion felt so real and despite how insanely rich and perfect she is, she still felt like a character that anyone could connect to based on her experiences. I absolutely loved her. The other element of this book that I felt was worthy of a 5 star rating was the writing. It was poetic and beautiful and made every feeling experienced on page a feeling that was viscerally experienced by the reader at the same time. I feel like I can't even accurately describe it because it just made me feel everything so intensely, even though there are virtually no elements of this plot that I could relate to my reality. 

Things I absolutely hated in this book is where the rating falls. Number one and most hated thing about this book is BJ Ballentine. I hate that man and if I read another book in the story and they end up together I will rip my hair out. I love Magnolia and I understand the soul deep bond she feels with BJ, but after the fuck shit he did and literally

Spoiler

admitted on page to enjoying and not giving two fucks about Magnolia while doing

I do not fuck with that man. I also think the way he behaves throughout the story is deeply immature and infuriating and he continually treats Magnolia (who is perfect and beautiful) like absolute dogshit. The other part of the book I hated so much was how absolutely repetitive and never-ending the plot was. There was genuinely a part of reading this where I questioned whether I was reading After 2.0 because the whole plot here is: fight, make up, immediately fuck up the making up part by rubbing it in the other person's face that your with someone else, feelings are hurt, fight again, make up. Very big yikes and very not entertaining or fun to read. 

So, this is why I have such complicated feelings about this book! The things I loved were things I love so much it hurts my heart and the things I hate are things I hate so much I want to scream and/or rip my hair out. Also, the ending of this book stomped directly on my heart and just to re-iterate, fuck BJ.  And if Magnolia ends up with him I will riot. Okay, that was convoluted and rambling review, but I think I'm done. Can't wait to read the next book in this universe! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Infidelity

Moderate: Gaslighting

appleberry's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, and Alcohol

reneelizabeth_'s review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I instantly fell in love with the friend group and the vibes (love the found family trope), very gossip girl vibes as everyone says. But was not a big fan at all of the writing style - 1-3 similies and metaphors per page is a bit overkill (read page 306 if you want a prime example). The characters and relationships are SO toxic it's ridiculous. 

HOWEVER, I couldn't put it down, I kept thinking about it when I wasn't reading, I was obsessed. I have not read a book this long in such a short amount of time. I devoured it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Addiction and Violence

lizzieundercovers's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It’s super toxic so if you don’t romanticize it and understand that this is not what a real life relationship should look like, it’s a good angsty/pining read! 

But also, justice for Tom, man 🥲 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Violence, Alcohol, and Sexual content

wet_towlette's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

This book needs an editor and a half. On one page she had blue eyes, the next they were green. She was wearing pants and then suddenly it was a dress. Things like that happened literally every chapter lmao. Also all of the characters were awful and I hated all of them and this is just heterosexual bullshit :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders

theaa_reads's review against another edition

challenging sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (wasn‘t actually spicy but the sexual tension..)

omg this book
i cried so much and the end broke me
really i can‘t believe it
i need a happy end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Vomit

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

simixfe's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Medical content, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Drug use

ayushivohra's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Addiction

Moderate: Drug use, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

sadiaa's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

A couple who would not survive after the ending of the book
BJ is insufferable, very 'woe is me', unlikeable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Medical content

booksandlucy_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I ate this like if I was starving, and they put a 3 course meal in front of me and said GO! This is the most toxic relationship dynamic I've ever read, and I couldn't get enough of it! Probably says a lot about me, but I know I have issues, lol. I loved the duo POV because it was needed and the writing was so good. Just look up the trigger warnings on this book before you go into it because mannn! You either love this book or you don't. This was purely entertainment for me and so much fun to read. It's messy, full of drama, really rich rich people problems and I can't wait to read the rest of the series! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders