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saramcaps's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Most of the conflict was worked out through very clunky dialogue that left very little room for the characters or story to breathe. But, the plot itself I liked. The setting, family dynamic, internal conflicts, and ultimate resolution were realistic and enjoyable and I related a lot to the main character, Maggie. A few loose threads lead me to believe there’s another book coming so I would love to see the author step up the writing a bit!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, and Medical trauma
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
the main character’s mother is an alcoholic, COVID is mentioned multiple timesslaterj's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Car accident
mishale1's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Just like her mother, Dorothea Benton Frank, Victoria has written a love letter to South Carolina. I thought the first page was beautiful and there was a lot of beautifully written details too but I found one of the characters completely insufferable and that always cuts back on my enjoyment. Please consider this a content warning rather than a spoiler because that’s how I intend it, Magnolia’s mom Lily is incredibly verbally abusive to Magnolia. She says absolutely cruel things to Magnolia. Lily has alcohol issues and I feel like we’re supposed to be empathetic to that but honestly, I just found myself thinking that I understood why Magnolia lived so far away from her family.
Magnolia has been living in NYC for about a decade with her wonderful best friend Jimmy. Jimmy is absolutely the best. When Magnolia, aka Maggie, gets bad news about her grandmother Jimmy books two plane tickets and goes home with her.
Maggie’s grandmother and mother got into a car accident.
Her mom is fine but her grandmother is in the hospital in a medically induced coma. They aren’t sure what to expect.
Maggie tries to fix whatever she can while he grandmother is in the hospital. She tries to help her mom with her drinking, she tries to help her sister with her relationship and she also jumps right in trying to help their family restaurant The Magic Lantern.
When Maggie gets to the restaurant she finds out that her mom has made some very questionable changes.
You could immediately tell that the author of this book has spent time in the cooking world, I loved her descriptions of food. I honestly wish Maggie got her hands on the menu much earlier because that was one of the most fun things to read about.
I struggled reading the parts with Maggie’s mom being awful to her.
And there’s also a lot of scenes in a hospital and revolving around health issues, medical issues and legal issues. That hits too close to home for me right now.
I also kept thinking how the book couldn’t possibly resolve all the storylines before the end. And that turned out to be true because it appears to be the first book in a series.
I enjoyed the book but, to quote the character Jimmy, the family was “lousy with problems”. My god, the dramas just absolutely stacked on top of each other. And there’s another one just loaded up and ready for the next book lol
I’d say just don’t consider this book to be super light reading. It’s a lot heavier than I expected.
Magnolia has been living in NYC for about a decade with her wonderful best friend Jimmy. Jimmy is absolutely the best. When Magnolia, aka Maggie, gets bad news about her grandmother Jimmy books two plane tickets and goes home with her.
Maggie’s grandmother and mother got into a car accident.
Her mom is fine but her grandmother is in the hospital in a medically induced coma. They aren’t sure what to expect.
Maggie tries to fix whatever she can while he grandmother is in the hospital. She tries to help her mom with her drinking, she tries to help her sister with her relationship and she also jumps right in trying to help their family restaurant The Magic Lantern.
When Maggie gets to the restaurant she finds out that her mom has made some very questionable changes.
You could immediately tell that the author of this book has spent time in the cooking world, I loved her descriptions of food. I honestly wish Maggie got her hands on the menu much earlier because that was one of the most fun things to read about.
I struggled reading the parts with Maggie’s mom being awful to her.
And there’s also a lot of scenes in a hospital and revolving around health issues, medical issues and legal issues. That hits too close to home for me right now.
I also kept thinking how the book couldn’t possibly resolve all the storylines before the end. And that turned out to be true because it appears to be the first book in a series.
I enjoyed the book but, to quote the character Jimmy, the family was “lousy with problems”. My god, the dramas just absolutely stacked on top of each other. And there’s another one just loaded up and ready for the next book lol
I’d say just don’t consider this book to be super light reading. It’s a lot heavier than I expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
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