simixfe's review against another edition
- 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
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
sadiaa's review against another edition
3.0
BJ is insufferable, very 'woe is me', unlikeable
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Medical content
ephemeral_remi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Medical content, and Self harm
kind0fdarkness's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
headinthepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The “will they won’t they” element did get old and I felt like there was too much to and fro,
Spoiler
though I liked the twist with Paili at the end, and to be fair, Magnolias obsession with details made that twist fit nicely. I do wish she’d ended up with Tom. I don’t like BJ at all and didn’t see what attracted them to each other. I do wish more showing, rather than telling was done when it came to the characters. We get told endlessly that Magnolia & BJ are magnetic and people are obsessed with them but no actual personality traits came through that would make me believe that other than them being conventionally good looking & rich. The rest was taking the author at their wordModerate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, Infidelity, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
angeliquelenee's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
If I had read this out of a slump, I feel like I would’ve been able to get through it waaaay faster. And since it took me forever to get through it, it’s kind of messing with how I want to rate the book. I enjoyed the book but it felt so long only because I was in a slump.
I definitely was invested in the characters, more than I usually am with other books. I was feeling the emotions with magnolia and the ending definitely made me cry 🤦🏽♀️
But even with all of that said, I don’t know what star rating to give it. I’ve never had a five star read, so I’m assuming if it was a five star read I would have that feeling so I think I’m going to go with a 4 for now, I might sit on it for a couple days.
But loved it so much 🩶
🌶️🌶️.5/5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Drug use
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Emotional abuse
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There are a lot of things to like about this romp of a book. The world of high society London complete with a cast of filthy rich 20 somethings and 30 somethings was engaging and compulsively readable. Jessa Hastings has a unique but digestable writing style that makes our main characters feel like they're writing confessionals directly to the audience, so in a way, it felt like my favorite parts of reality TV. I don't mean that in a bad way by any means, I just mean that I liked having a front row seat to all of the drama even though the drama toward the end made me feel exhausted. I do think that this book could've been cut in half and it would've been even better. Still, I annotated and tabbed the hell out of this. There were a lot of quotable moments and moments worth reading and re-reading.
On to Magnolia and BJ themselves - I know they shouldn't be together, you know they shouldn't be together, Jessa Hastings probably knows they shouldn't be together, and yet...you want them to be together. There is no logical reason for me to want them to be happy. Firstly, they both have major growing up to do, and secondly, neither of them are very good people. A bad person doesn't mean a bad character, though. I still enjoyed reading their antics and sometimes BJ, even at his worst, was able to squeeze my heart in just the right way, damn him, stupid goblin boy.
I have some slight issues here and there that I can't get into without spoilers, but I overall loved this one and can't wait to read the rest of them.
Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, and Gun violence