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A review by jelkebooks
Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home by Jessa Hastings
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
After really enjoying Daisy Haites I was really excited to read this book. However, I completely forgot just how exhausting BJ and Magnolia can be, ugh. They just keep going in circles, and this book feels incredibly repetetive because of that. It definitely need to be this long. It is especially frustrating because if they actually communicated for once without running away, or overdramatising everything, this whole book could have been reduced to like 50 pages. It's just incredibly frustrating.
I'm going to be completely fair here though, I feel like BJ in particular really goes through a lot of developement in this book. I like that he's in therapy, and actively working to be a better human. He's still a piece of shit, but at least he's learned to take accountability for his actions. BJ's progression also makes it able for the relationship to start to feel less exhausting. It just feels nice to see someone recognize the issues in their relationship, and try to make them better or even fix them completely. It was an extreme contrast to Magnolia, who did not change at all throughout the book. In fact, she might have even gotten worse. The constant ass kissing by side characters, and their inability to see any flaws in Magnolia are still incredibly exhausting. That's maybe why I love Daisy so much because as little as she appears in this book she does not put up with Magnolia's bullshit, and I ADORE it.
Anyway, besides all those issues I did still enjoy this book fine enough. There's just something about this trainwreck that I absolutely cannot look away from. It is so incredibly drama filled, and entertaining. I also like that in this book we get to see more of the friend group, and their drama as well. It just felt refreshing dealing with other people's shit than Magnolia and BJ even if it's done through their perspective. The ending was incredibly wild though. Maybe a bit too much, but also at the same time it had my heart racing, and I can't wait to continue with this series.
I'm going to be completely fair here though, I feel like BJ in particular really goes through a lot of developement in this book. I like that he's in therapy, and actively working to be a better human. He's still a piece of shit, but at least he's learned to take accountability for his actions. BJ's progression also makes it able for the relationship to start to feel less exhausting. It just feels nice to see someone recognize the issues in their relationship, and try to make them better or even fix them completely. It was an extreme contrast to Magnolia, who did not change at all throughout the book. In fact, she might have even gotten worse. The constant ass kissing by side characters, and their inability to see any flaws in Magnolia are still incredibly exhausting. That's maybe why I love Daisy so much because as little as she appears in this book she does not put up with Magnolia's bullshit, and I ADORE it.
Anyway, besides all those issues I did still enjoy this book fine enough. There's just something about this trainwreck that I absolutely cannot look away from. It is so incredibly drama filled, and entertaining. I also like that in this book we get to see more of the friend group, and their drama as well. It just felt refreshing dealing with other people's shit than Magnolia and BJ even if it's done through their perspective. The ending was incredibly wild though. Maybe a bit too much, but also at the same time it had my heart racing, and I can't wait to continue with this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Classism
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Rape
Minor: Drug abuse