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A review by drey72
The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch
3.0
drey’s thoughts:
Alexandra Lee is sixteen years old and orphaned when her mother’s van goes off a cliff. Two months later, she is moved to Savannah, Georgia, to live with her grandmother. Going from hippy to southern belle is a culture shock to say the least, and she doesn’t intend to acquire any of the seemingly-effortless gentility that her grandmother expects of her.
Then she finds out that not everything that glitters is gold, and all the gentility in the world doesn’t hide the fact that her grandmother’s social club has its fingers in more than a few questionable things–including a partnership with hoodoo practitioners. And now she’s expected to not only be one of them, but eventually lead them…
Is she strong enough to withstand the pressure to conform? Or will this not-quite-rail-thin sassy hippy girl become lost in the glory–real and imagined–of being one of the Magnolia League?
I like Alex, except when she’s all wishy-washy about a boy. A girl who stands up for her vintage t-shirts and ripped jeans in the face of Dolce & Gabbana and Marc Jacobs does not do wishy-washy; she kicks butt with her army boots or smart-mouth witticisms. I like her new friend Dexter and I even like Hayes and Madison–the debutantes assigned to get Alex into the local scene. I’m not sure I like the Buzzards much (what a name, huh?), and I’m definitely sure I don’t like her grandmother all.
The pace starts off leisurely and hardly picks up until you get to the end, where Alex finds out just how devious her grandmother is, and has to decide whether she’ll give it all up–for the boy she’s pretty sure she loves, or for the mother she’s lost. Up till the end, this was just another story about another teenager who finds out that the world around her holds many secrets. But with that ending, I’m waiting to see what Katie Crouch comes up with next for Alex. And what repercussions will flow from her decision.
drey’s rating: Pick it up!
Alexandra Lee is sixteen years old and orphaned when her mother’s van goes off a cliff. Two months later, she is moved to Savannah, Georgia, to live with her grandmother. Going from hippy to southern belle is a culture shock to say the least, and she doesn’t intend to acquire any of the seemingly-effortless gentility that her grandmother expects of her.
Then she finds out that not everything that glitters is gold, and all the gentility in the world doesn’t hide the fact that her grandmother’s social club has its fingers in more than a few questionable things–including a partnership with hoodoo practitioners. And now she’s expected to not only be one of them, but eventually lead them…
Is she strong enough to withstand the pressure to conform? Or will this not-quite-rail-thin sassy hippy girl become lost in the glory–real and imagined–of being one of the Magnolia League?
I like Alex, except when she’s all wishy-washy about a boy. A girl who stands up for her vintage t-shirts and ripped jeans in the face of Dolce & Gabbana and Marc Jacobs does not do wishy-washy; she kicks butt with her army boots or smart-mouth witticisms. I like her new friend Dexter and I even like Hayes and Madison–the debutantes assigned to get Alex into the local scene. I’m not sure I like the Buzzards much (what a name, huh?), and I’m definitely sure I don’t like her grandmother all.
The pace starts off leisurely and hardly picks up until you get to the end, where Alex finds out just how devious her grandmother is, and has to decide whether she’ll give it all up–for the boy she’s pretty sure she loves, or for the mother she’s lost. Up till the end, this was just another story about another teenager who finds out that the world around her holds many secrets. But with that ending, I’m waiting to see what Katie Crouch comes up with next for Alex. And what repercussions will flow from her decision.
drey’s rating: Pick it up!