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kcmg710's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book was like an awful reality TV show, like I hated pretty much every moment of it but COULD NOT, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, STOP READING. Pretty much everything about this book irked me so much, but I could not put it down which is the only reason it got nearly 3 * otherwise it would be a solid 1* or 2* at a push (which is pretty harsh for me).
I also found there were ALOT of typos but I don’t know if that was just my version on the kindle? And some of the sentences genuinely gave me a headache trying to read
eg. “He’s at uni. He never feels like my little brother, just feels like brother.” ———>> Like WATTTT, is that a typo or am I the problem. Is it meant to feel like some deeper sentence with meaning behind it? Because there were many similar to this and it felt like an 8 year old wrote it.
You could kinda tell the author wasn’t British there’s literally a guy called TOM ENGLAND (loved him though, the only one who had an ounce of sense). The characters used a lot of phrases that we wouldn’t actually use. It was abit cringe like watching an American do an awful impression of us
Another strange thing (not totally important but just kinda bugged me) was that there would be in-depth descriptions about each of the characters clothes (because it was a ‘quirk’ of Magnolias) but would always throw the lads in vans or converse? Like Hastings basically gave us the barcodes for each individual item of clothing and then topped off the outfit with a pair of vans or converse. If it was once or twice maybe but not EVERY SINGLE OUTFIT for the lads
I also found there were ALOT of typos but I don’t know if that was just my version on the kindle? And some of the sentences genuinely gave me a headache trying to read
eg. “He’s at uni. He never feels like my little brother, just feels like brother.” ———>> Like WATTTT, is that a typo or am I the problem. Is it meant to feel like some deeper sentence with meaning behind it? Because there were many similar to this and it felt like an 8 year old wrote it.
You could kinda tell the author wasn’t British there’s literally a guy called TOM ENGLAND (loved him though, the only one who had an ounce of sense). The characters used a lot of phrases that we wouldn’t actually use. It was abit cringe like watching an American do an awful impression of us
Another strange thing (not totally important but just kinda bugged me) was that there would be in-depth descriptions about each of the characters clothes (because it was a ‘quirk’ of Magnolias) but would always throw the lads in vans or converse? Like Hastings basically gave us the barcodes for each individual item of clothing and then topped off the outfit with a pair of vans or converse. If it was once or twice maybe but not EVERY SINGLE OUTFIT for the lads
Character wise, Bj pretty much won me over within the first few chapters, after that it was a VERY quick descent into the pits of hellll. I hatttttttteeeeeeeee him! Hes a liar, a hypocrite, just a general piece of shit and he constantly contradicted himself. “I’d do anything for that face” but would then proceed to do some of THE most HEINOUS things ever to the girl he’s supposed to love!? Make it make sense, like he has the audacity to play the victim like he doesn’t fuck Magnolia over every chance he gets as if it isn’t all his fault from the get go. “You sullied my name for a Chanel bag?” Like he didn’t sully his own name the instant he cheated!?
Magnolia was very meh to me, and really kinda annoyed me the way she kept going back to BJ but at the same time I kinda felt sorry for her because she put up with so much shit from the lads ( BJ, Chris and Jonah ). They were awful to her and she just accepted it most of the time and cracked on. Could never be me.
The only characters I liked were Tom England 👑, Henry and I guess Magnolias sister was okay too. I liked how Tom and Henry both had Magnolias back no matter what especially Henry. He was always ready to call his brother (Bj) out in defence of magnolia.
Overall, I’d say not a great book and everyone on booktok was saying it gets better in book 2 and onwards but it’s the risk of wasting more time on this ^^^^^ for the small chance it gets better. I’m still undecided whether I will actually carry on with the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Medical content, Vomit, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
sebradley29's review
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Physical abuse, Blood, Eating disorder, Abandonment, and Death
wet_towlette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
This book needs an editor and a half. On one page she had blue eyes, the next they were green. She was wearing pants and then suddenly it was a dress. Things like that happened literally every chapter lmao. Also all of the characters were awful and I hated all of them and this is just heterosexual bullshit :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders
booksandlucy_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I ate this like if I was starving, and they put a 3 course meal in front of me and said GO! This is the most toxic relationship dynamic I've ever read, and I couldn't get enough of it! Probably says a lot about me, but I know I have issues, lol. I loved the duo POV because it was needed and the writing was so good. Just look up the trigger warnings on this book before you go into it because mannn! You either love this book or you don't. This was purely entertainment for me and so much fun to read. It's messy, full of drama, really rich rich people problems and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
headinthepages's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I have absolutely no idea whether I enjoyed this book or not 😂 I found it compelling and easy to read though somehow. It felt like an episode of Made In Chelsea, and I liked reading about the lavish lifestyle but the constant descriptions of what people were wearing got a bit old, though I understand it aided Magnolia’s characterisation.
The “will they won’t they” element did get old and I felt like there was too much to and fro, though I liked the twist with Paili at the end, and to be fair, Magnolias obsession with details made that twist fit nicely. I do wish she’d ended up with Tom. I don’t like BJ at all and didn’t see what attracted them to each other. I do wish more showing, rather than telling was done when it came to the characters. We get told endlessly that Magnolia & BJ are magnetic and people are obsessed with them but no actual personality traits came through that would make me believe that other than them being conventionally good looking & rich. The rest was taking the author at their word
The “will they won’t they” element did get old and I felt like there was too much to and fro,
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, Infidelity, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
matilda_holroyd_'s review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
deelightfulreads's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Cursing, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Addiction
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