Kirkus Review
Magnolia Parks
By: Jessa Hastings - Release Date: July 13, 2021
With her debut novel, Jessa Hastings gives readers a heartbreaking story of two individuals who keep finding their way back to one another.
Taking place in London, Magnolia Parks is a dual point of view story with characters Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine. Parks and Ballentine are well-known socialites that have fallen out of love, or have they? This novel takes place in the time period after their fall out. Parks is trying to move on, while Ballentine continues to break her heart over and over again. Even with all the heartbreak, Parks and Ballentine continue to attempt at being friends, which is an inevitable failure. BJ sleeps around, even sometimes in front of Magnolia. To them, it's almost a joking matter, but there are real feelings involved. Magnolia knows what happens on the nights they don't spend together, but attempts to find excuses for his mistakes. Even with all the destruction they do to one another, everyone believes they will come back together. Their parents, their friends, their followers all believe they will end up back together. Everyone believes they are meant for one another. But, Parks is tired of Ballentine breaking her heart. And BJ is tired of Magnolia breaking his heart. In attempt to get over BJ, while also getting back at him, Magnolia finds herself in a fake relationship. This starts off as a good idea, until feelings get thrown into the mix. The question keeps coming up, "How many loves do you get in one lifetime?" This story takes us through their relationship rollercoaster, which gets quite messy.
This piece of art is so well composed, and so beautiful. The story of Magnolia and BJ is heartbreaking, inspiring, exciting, relatable, and above all else, emotional. Hastings does a magnificent job at writing a novel that is sympathetic and tragic.
Published: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1737281108
Page Count: 506
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Categories: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
Kudos to you for highlighting a debut author! I think you got the format down overall. I would have liked a little more description of the style in the middle. As a I read the summary, I was thinking the book sounded awful based on the plot (I'm not a romance reader) but then your conclusion says its beautiful and inspiring. I didn't get that feeling until I read the last lines, so maybe some of that description could be worked in earlier?
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a complicated but interesting. You wrote the review well and I now want to look into this book because it sounds like an interesting read.
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