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mstlove90's review against another edition
dark
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
3.75
Oof
I want to start off by saying that I REALLY love the Magnolia Parks Universe and by no means was this book bad
BUT I just really felt like it was way too back and forth this time around.
I get it… that’s part of the Magnolia/BJ relationship but it’s just so hard to read when you wanna just throw the book at the wall and be like OMG GET TOGETHER ALREADY!
*** spoiler stuff coming ***
I will say that Bridget made the book for me. She is the star of this book. The ending though.. no way do I believe it… not true.. not happening.. nope.
Guess I’m going to have to wait and see what actually happened because there’s no way I read that ending correctly 😅
I want to start off by saying that I REALLY love the Magnolia Parks Universe and by no means was this book bad
BUT I just really felt like it was way too back and forth this time around.
I get it… that’s part of the Magnolia/BJ relationship but it’s just so hard to read when you wanna just throw the book at the wall and be like OMG GET TOGETHER ALREADY!
*** spoiler stuff coming ***
I will say that Bridget made the book for me. She is the star of this book. The ending though.. no way do I believe it… not true.. not happening.. nope.
Guess I’m going to have to wait and see what actually happened because there’s no way I read that ending correctly 😅
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Gun violence, and Death
ines_santos13's review
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Miscarriage
Moderate: Infidelity, Vomit, and Gun violence
Minor: Death
bee_isreading's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Gun violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Child death, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual violence and Vomit
folkofthebook's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
She and I, we’re forever waiting for green. It’s always the red man.
i couldn't stand them in the first book.
i much preferred daisy & Christian in book 2.
and i can't believe it, but i really enjoyed this one 😂
to be fair, i always enjoyed jessa hasting's writing. i was just incredibly frustrated with their back and forth - not that that doesn't change in this book, in fact that only increases in occurrence and severity, but this time the curtains are pulled back on the masterpiece that is bj and magnolia and we learn more and more of their shared history, fully seeing just how intertwined the two are, heart and soul.
“Do you think I’m crazy?” she asked, quietly.
“No.” I shook my head. “I think you’re the best.”
“Even though you know the worst parts of me?”
“I don’t know the worst parts of you.”
I ran my thumb over her scar. “I just know you, Parks.”
There’s a hole in the bottom of the cup where I broke her and all the ways I want her fall through it.
this time around, i learned to just enjoy the ride. these two make chuck and blaire feel like a kiddie ride compared to their emotional rollercoaster. buckle up and have fun. you're never sure who else they pull into their tangled web is just collateral damage, or a real threat to their happy ending.
“In another life I reckon I could have loved you.”
I tilt my head, looking up at him.
“In another life I would have let you."
“That’s Julian Haites. I couldn’t break his heart if I hit it with a sledgehammer.”
“Baby girl—” Gus gives me a look. “You are the sledgehammer.”
“You love him. I love no one. Yeah?”
I shrug, a bit confused. “Okay?”
“Okay.” He nods and drops his weight on me.
And the thought rattles through my mind only for a second, but I wonder whether perhaps I’ve had more loves than I knew of in this lifetime.
i do love magnolia's (and, i'm assuming, hastings's) fashion obsession (i have 129 highlights of clothing descriptions alone) and i really appreciate the dry humor that manages to sneak in to bring some comedic relief to this modern-day, elitist soap opera.
“About as subtle as a brick in the face, you are.”
“You know,” I hear Bridget say as I leave the room, “she can’t spell ‘parallel’ either.”
“I’ll have you know that I am a breeze to live with.”
“She told me you put all her vegetables she just bought into the dishwasher.”
“I was trying to clean them!”
“What the fuck happens to you and I in the next fifteen years that we devolve so heavily that we’re forced to buy our own milk?”
frankly, i was more emotionally devastated by the first ~30% or so than the ending. i don't know how to feel about it... i feel like i've had the rug ripped out from under me. i don't like the decision personally, though i can see why hastings made it storytelling-wise.
i guess i have to see in the next book what comes of it...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, and Miscarriage
Minor: Gun violence, Child death, and Death of parent
headinthepages's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
toofondofbooks_'s review
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Another roller coaster of a book from the Magnolia Parks Universe and while I am extremely emotionally compromised (Jessa, I'll be sending you my therapy bills <3) I cannot say that I am disappointed. When I say I'm emotionally compromised, I mean it, like, I'm not going to sleep tonight, in all likelihood, and if I didn't care about spacing these books out so that they last me longer, I would be picking up Jessa's latest immediately. HOWEVER I'm going to exercise self control and just continue crying and singing the praises of these dumbass characters that I love way too much for my own good. I don't know if this is so much a review as it is just me having a mental breakdown....but I'm going to try and write something actually constructive.
I love how much more in depth BJ and Magnolia were explored as characters, particularly the focus on the shared trauma they've been through as well as individual traumas. I feel like prior to this book neither of them really looked their problems in the eye and saw shit for what it was but they started to make some headway in that department here and I was thrilled to see it. Sure, it was messy as well, but doesn't that make it more delicious?
bj ballentine you are my beloved and you are so important btw *blows a kiss for him*
I love how much more in depth BJ and Magnolia were explored as characters, particularly the focus on the shared trauma they've been through as well as individual traumas. I feel like prior to this book neither of them really looked their problems in the eye and saw shit for what it was but they started to make some headway in that department here and I was thrilled to see it. Sure, it was messy as well, but doesn't that make it more delicious?
bj ballentine you are my beloved and you are so important btw *blows a kiss for him*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Classism, Infidelity, Cursing, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
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