Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home

WHAT JUST HAPPENED. lost for words at the ending and the next book wont even give me any answers :(
at times i did find this book very random like i read a whole 500 page book the other day about this very same couple and not once did 2 very big things from their past get a mention in that book yet it was a focus in this one. i get it for storyline purposes but i did find it a bit hard to believe
thats my only issue with this book really aside from how infuriating bj and magnolia are but thats the point of the book and we love them anyway

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taylorswiftobsessed's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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nathaniacalaee's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

5.0

im changing the rating because oh my goodness i was so frustrated the entire book. tell me why we went back 15 steps... i actually thought about dnfing but i decided to push through. idk if im happy about that decision to be honest. at one point i was reading and got a physical headache trying to process their bs. also there were serious topics brought up in the book that just seemed like shock value tbh.

for example, bj's rape. tell me why i sobbed for him, just to have it mentioned one time and not add anything to the story. he explains to magnolia that the reason he cheated on her was because he saw his rapist only for her to continue to use his cheating against him at all points of the book. idk like babe did you not listen to the entire sob story he just gave you... it rubbed me the wrong way that it was never brought up again and later on in the book he allows her to get mad at him cheating AGAIN when he literally did it because of his trauma like idk. it kinda just seemed at that point that it was just in the book to make it be like "guys bj is a good person even though he cheated on his gf with her best friend" it just didnt seem to be a validating reason for the madness when not even the characters in the novel seemed to care...
then we get the story of magnolia getting SAed. again i felt like it was just added to show that there is a reason for all the madness, but it was only mentioned once and AGAIN didnt add anything to the overall story. jessa couldve just stuck with the narrative that theyre just so messed up mentally because of their codependency, but... she decided to add these serious topics for absolutely NO REASON!!! its so invalidating to include that in the story to not even try to make an effort to emphasize the effect it had on her. like it was never mentioned again...
idk the mentions of SA/rape being completely disregarded was superrr weird *side eye*.

another issue i had with this book was the supposed "lyrical writing". there were so many times when i would have to put the book down due to my cackling. the book was too long for its own good it felt like when you need to write a 10 page paper and start repeating the same bs. this entire book was too. long.

the last point i have to make is JULIAN. julian and magnolia's 'romance' was not giving tbh. i like julian but omg this entire romance just made me annoyed because here we go again its magnolia ruining another man's mental health <3. he didnt deserve the mistreatment from her and the entire storyline couldve just been avoided (ikr shocking)

also the ending... what was that :|

Edit: funnily enough, I’m changing my rating… my old points still stand valid but this book deserves a 5 stars because I actually liked BJ it was just Magnolia that frustrated me. I need that next book right now! I can’t believe I have to wait weeks 😖

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simplystine's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home is the third book in the Magnolia Parks Universe. It picks up a year after the events of the first book. Magnolia is living in New York after the dramatic events of the end of the first book. She comes home for her father’s wedding. BJ has been in therapy to work on his issues and hopefully to win Magnolia back. While she’s in London for the wedding she gets a job offer from Tatler to be their new style editor. She accepts and she and BJ try to navigate their way back to each other.

This was another emotional installment in this series. Big secrets and revelations about Magnolia and BJ’s past get brought to light making you look at the first book very differently. There are once again beautiful passages about their love for one another and how they view their relationship. However, I believe this book is a bit too long. I think it would have been much tighter paced had it had 100 pages or so shaved off. As it was, some things felt very repetitive, such a scenarios and/or phrases. Other than that, it’s another solid edition to the series.

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tamarenee's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-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

4.0

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literaturewithlynn's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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