Hey All,
How has your week been going so far? Mine has been pretty uneventful. Mainly just chilling watching TV, writing for NaNoWriMo and getting some exercise to try keep the crazy at bay. Do you have any suggestions for lock-down activities?
Anyway, I read this book ages ago after having found it in my first ever Friday Finds post. I always planned on doing a review but never managed it so I’m finally getting to it. I hope you enjoy.
Title: Magnolia (Magnolia Branch #1)
Author: Kristi Cook
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: August 5th 2014
Pages: 306 pages
When I Read It: June 5th 2019
Goodreads Rating: 3.79 Stars
Goodreads Description:
In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived. Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist. But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.
My Goodreads Review:
It was a cute and quick read but nothing to write home about. The characters seemed well developed and the premise was sweet. I loved the hints to Romeo and Juliet. It lacked in substance i felt occasionally, especially as the blurb basically tells you the entire plot.
Characters: As I mentioned above this book, which cute and wholesome and good. It wasn’t much to write home about and that’s generally the same with the characters. Ryder was meh…well he was the typical boy heart-throb that you root for. And Jemma, well I have more of an issue with her. She was so judgemental and rude and self-obsessed. When she get’s some horrific family news she makes it all about herself. Like come-on now, there is more to life than just you.
Characters = 4/10
Humour: Now this might be my fault because I read it quite a while ago but I don’t remember it being funny…or me laughing at all really. And usually that’s something I remember pretty vividly cause it’s such a big part of the overall enjoyment for me. So…I’m going with little to no humour here and I feel that in a sweet, heart-felt stereotypical teen romance you really need the humour to balance out the obviousness and cheesiness of them.
Humour = 3/10
Atmosphere: I love a southern romance. I wish I could have grown up in America and experienced it cause it seems cuter and quainter than anything. I love it as a setting. And this is a really redeemable section of the book for me. The atmosphere and setting were just a joy to read. You could feel the hot sun through the pages, and it pulled you in.
Atmosphere = 7/10
Writing Style: I liked the writing style. It was pretty standard, it wasn’t bad by any means. But it also wasn’t the jaw dropping writing style of other authors that makes me want to rave about it.
Writing Style = 5/10
Plot: If you read the blurb you knew exactly how the plot played out. There was so wow plot twist moments and while I don’t have a massive issue with this cause sometimes you don’t need a plot and you just want to romantic cuteness I feel that it left the book really lacking in drive and intrigue cause you knew everything that was going to happen. While I liked the idea of the twist on Romeo and Juliet I felt that it could have had something that made it more dramatic or wow.
Plot = 5/10
Intrigue: I’m just going to refer to my above point…the blurb tells you everything so there is no intrigue to this book.
Intrigue = 4/10
Logic: It was pretty logical, at least by stereotypical cheesy romances go. I love a cheesy romance even if it isn’t logical because sometimes you just need to aww at a cute couple you know, so I don’t necessarily feel like this is an integral feature of the book for me to want to read it.
Logic = 7/10
Enjoyment: If you couldn’t already tell, this wasn’t my favourite. It also wasn’t the worse thing I ever read. Did I regret reading it…no. Would I read it again…no. Do I recommend it? Yes…if you’re looking for a cheesy romance with a happy ending.
Enjoyment = 5/10
Relationships: While there romance satisfied my craving for a cute couple, part of it left me a little cold. Like I felt that they stayed away from each other, not because they truly disliked each other but just to annoy their parents. That shouldn’t be a reason. But ultimately when they both got over themselves, they were kind of cute.
Relationships = 6/10
Overall Score = 46/90 or 5.1/10
Star Rating = ⭐⭐⭐
That’s the end of the review, no spoilers below. If you give it a try or have read it, tell me your opinions below or tell me on twitter cause I want to know what you think. This wasn’t my favourite but maybe it will work for one of you! Anyway, see you tomorrow!
Hawthorn Book Reviews 