A review by folkofthebook
Daisy Haites by Jessa Hastings

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Sitting next to him saying nothing feels like taking off a corset. A great undoing, if you will, and he will. In every way.

while i couldn't stand magnolia parks, i am firmly team daisy.

i think i can chalk up liking daisy haites MPU2 much more than its former counterpart for a few reasons.

one, we watch the culmination of daisy and christian's relationship from fairly early-on. with magnolia and bj, it's very much second chance, which is not a trope i enjoy much to begin with. we're also thrown right into the angst with them, without seeing what exactly we're supposed to be rooting for, why we would want them together, or really believe them to actually be the loves of each others' lives. with daisy and christian, we get to experience the highs and not just in brief references of memory.

“He has a lot of ‘just friends’,” I say out loud accidentally.
BJ follows my gaze. “Yeah, he does.” He gives me a look. “But you’re not one of them.”

secondly, daisy was much more relatable to me. magnolia is an archetype i don't care for. they both rely a lot on validation from men, but magnolia has this added quality of overachieving perfectionism and, while mostly well-meaning, ultimately self-serving, put-on miss sunshine personality that i don't care for. i didn't like magnolia in her own book from her own perspective, and that was only compounded by seeing her through daisy's and christian's eyes.

And actually, the more I think about it, the more I think about Magnolia these days—and in a lot of ways, I actually think about her a lot less—I think that maybe she’s just trash.

(omg drag her Christian lmfaoooo)

daisy did have a bit of that girl-everyone-loves syndrome with a dash of not like other girls, but ultimately i connected w her more personally. she's sassy, determined, and tough as nails. she can be a petty queen, especially when it comes to magnolia, but it only made me love her more.

I think I understand for a fleeting moment why everything that’s bad and painful and sad is worth it if you love someone, because I’ll remember how he’s looking at me now forever.

overall, i was immediately more invested in this story, esp having been teased at it in book 1. there was a bit of an area where it started to slow and lag for me about 50 - 65% through, but it starts to pick up again. i really liked the choice of having julian's POV. i don't think i've read a romance with one of the romantic lead's siblings POV and i think it helped color the story. a lot of people love julian, i can't say i care for him bc i don't care for the contemporary crime trope and i didn't like what he did near the end, but i don't hate him.

with this book, i lost myself in their story and really got to appreciate jessa hasting's writing. i do love her attention to wardrobe detail especially, and i for one thought daisy's footnotes were really fun.

i'm not loving the idea that i will have to revisit magnolia and bj before i get more daisy & christian, but i've heard some things that have intrigued me about book 3, so i'll dive in soon.

“There is a fatal flaw to your normal plan, you know,” he tells me.
I turn to face him, lift my brows but make sure he doesn’t let me go. “And what’s that?”
He locks the door behind me. “You have that face and that brain and you’ll never be normal—” Shakes his head. “Couldn’t be if you tried.”
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