A review by meg_
Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home by Jessa Hastings

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • 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

3.0

I have complicated feelings about this book. I'm going to start with my positives. Similarly to the first book in this series, I still am absolutely obsessed with Magnolia Parks as a character. I think she is vibrant and loveable and even when she is being annoying or has her head up her ass I still love her. I also absolutely loved the relationship within this story between Magnolia and
Julian Haites. I LOVE JULIAN HAITES and I truly feel like he and Magnolia are way better suited for one another. 
As I established within my review of book one, I am not a huge fan of BJ so this was a bit of a struggle to get through for me. I do think that this book provided so much more context for their relationship and the reasons they feel so intricately tied to one another. I also think there was a clear reason established for why BJ did what he did that lead to the end of their relationship that didn't just feel like a flimsy excuse. 

On the negative side, I do think that BJ continued to do things to Magnolia that were objectively toxic. That made it really hard for me to feel happy about the overall arc of this book. Especially with the fact that I freaking love Julian.
I think the reason Julian and Magnolia's relationship ended was really dumb and a cop out. It was done in a way that could have been super damaaging to Magnolia considering her history of being cheated on and never feeling like shse's enough for others
Lastly, this book was way too fucking long. It rambled on for five million years and I feel like so much could have been left out without it impacting the plot too intensely. 

The ending was devastating (as is required with the end of all Magnolia Parks Universe books) and as per usual, I can't wait to read the next one!
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