pagingserenity
Written on Jul 27, 2019
To read my full review (it's way longer than this), visit Paging Serenity.
High school seniors Ryder and Jemma have been at odds for four years, despite their mothers' lifelong plan that they will marry one day, but when a storm ravages their small Mississippi town, the pair's true feelings are revealed.
- ISBN10 1442485345
- ISBN13 9781442485341
- Publish Date 5 August 2014
- Publish Status Active
- Publisher Simon & Schuster
- Imprint Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 336
- Language English
Reviews
To read my full review (it's way longer than this), visit Paging Serenity.
jnikkir
Written on Jul 19, 2014
-----------------------------
First off, full disclosure: Before starting this book, I'd jokingly said to Meredith on Twitter, "I'm hoping it's the kind of book I’ll be up until 2AM reading" - and guess what? I somehow managed to stay up until 2am with this book. I never in a million years thought that would actually be the case. WISHES DO COME TRUE. I haven't stayed up that late reading a book in years, but I started reading it at 9:30pm and then... 2am happened. Time just didn't exist while I was reading, and I. Couldn't. Put. It. Down.
Everything about Magnolia was just... perfect. The whole idea of these polar opposites of Romeo and Juliet - a pair whose family wants them together, but they can't stand each other - and then they get trapped together during a hurricane?! It's so full of delicious potential! But there was so much that could've gone wrong. So with this review, I want to alleviate any fears you might have that this book might not be awesome in some way. Because it is awesome in EVERY way. It was exactly what I wanted it to be, and so much more.
"The idea of a feuding couple sounds good, but how are they really?"
Jemma and Ryder are fantastic. I am so freaking picky - I need to see realistic characters, realistic dialog, realistic people in my books, or I can't love the book. I might like it, it might be 'okay', but I can't love it. And I love Magnolia. From the very first page, I totally believed these characters - their dislike of one another, their banter, their growth... their everything. They're both so well-developed and their relationship progresses at a totally believable speed.
"What about the secondary characters/best friend(s)?"
Ahhhhhmazing. Jemma's two best friends play wonderful secondary roles. Seriously, this is probably my favorite BFF-dynamic since Bianca/Lainey in The Art of Lainey. This group of girls loves and supports each other through everything, and even though most of the book (or at least a good chunk) is just Jemma and Ryder, these girls still made an impression on me with their believability - and sass. XD
The other secondary characters are great as well - we meet a lot of Jemma's friends and classmates from school and they all come across as very believable. I'm especially impressed with Kristi Cook's ability to write flaws into her characters. Nobody was perfect and everyone was more complex than I normally expect from secondary characters.
"How are the family dynamics?"
EXCELLENT. Jemma's parents and sister are all fully fleshed-out characters and really important parts of Jemma's life. They may not be present a huge amount, but their presences are felt very strongly throughout the book.
"What about the whole "absent parents" scenario?"
Yes, Jemma's parents leave her alone, causing her to be stuck in the storm with Ryder - another case of absent parents in YA while Important Stuff Happens. Well, I can't spoil anything, but trust me, they have to leave for a very good reason which is very important to this family's story. So I had no problem with this particular situation.
"But this book sounds so predictable . . . "
Yes, the premise of this book is pretty high-risk because of its predictability. The synopsis tells you that Jemma and Ryder hate each other, until they're forced to weather a storm together - but no one wants unbelievable things to happen in order to throw these two "enemies" together, only for them to miraculously change their minds and fall in love over the course of one storm. And luckily, that is not what happened in Magnolia, and that's why I loved it.
The great thing about Magnolia is that even with the predictability, Jemma and Ryder's story doesn't feel forced or contrived. They don't move from hate to love over the course of one storm - not really. I've said it a couple times now already, but I believed this book. I believed the characters, their actions, their circumstances, and their growth. Yes, it's pretty predictable, but in a way that makes you go, "I totally know where this is going, but I'm loving every second of the journey."
In conclusion...
I realize I was a little sparse on details in my review above, but that's honestly just because there's so much awesome in this book, I didn't want to spell it all out for you before you read it. It's just... ugh. It's SO good. This is probably one of my most anticipated contemporaries this year, but also my most dreaded, because so much could've gone wrong - but it didn't, which is why I flipping loved it. Seriously, guys. If the idea of contemporary romance + Romeo & Juliet polar opposites + major weather disaster where the MC's get stuck together -- if that sounds good to you at all, pick up this book. It will not disappoint.
--
There were books involved...
Leah
Written on Jul 10, 2014
Magnolia is one of those books that just hits ALL THE RIGHT SPOTS. Chemistry up the wazoo; a charming, romantic story; a freaking hurricane that makes way for the most awesome scenes I've ever read in a book... It's the kind of book that gives me butterflies in my stomach, and warms my cockles (if I have cockles - what are cockles?). I rather loved the fact that Ryder and Jemma's families are like as tight as any non-family-related people can be, that it goes back decades, to a time when one of their family members saved a member of the other family. TIGHT. So I could kinda understand Jemma and Ryder's reluctance to give in to the fact that they were the right age to marry each other (like, not immediately, but you may as well pick out the china as far as Jemma and Ryder's mama's are concerned, ya know? That kinda pressure can rather push you in the other direction (and you'd think their mama's would be well aware of that!) I think it's a bit of a Romeo-and-Juliet-type affair, especially as the text is interspersed with quotes from the great William Shakespeare but someone who has actually read the fella will have to confirm.
Magnolia really gets into its stride once the storm hits. There's playful looks before then, and a thin veneer of hatred (which may or may not be actual hatred because that is such a tough word) but the storm took down all of Jemma's defences, as a big hurricane whipped through Magnolia Branch, and with her parents at a hospital in Texas with her sister, Nan, it's just Jemma and Ryder in Jemma's house to wait out the storm. That was where the novel really hit it for me, because we got to see both Jemma and Ryder at their most vulnerable, and honest. AND OH HOLY MAKE OUT SCENE!!!!!! The make out scene was totally cliche, and the novel very much fills a lot of the cliches on the market, but it's flipping cute, alright? Sometimes you just want a bit of anger, followed by some hot kissing. What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants and my heart REALLY WANTED Jemma and Ryder to make out because the tension, at times, was unbearable. Delicious, but unbearable, and I liked that Cook didn't keep it until it had gone past boiling.
I absolutely adored the Southern setting in Magnolia. It's such a quaint setting, so old-fashioned, almost as if you've stepped back in time 50 years, and I know that probably sounds so daydream-y of me, but I just darn love the idea that you can go into your backyard and shoot a gun (named Delilah, btw) and kayak up the river. It's so bloody charming. I absolutely adored Magnolia; it's sweet, charming, warm, just simply delightful. I adored the setting, I adored the characters (oh, Ryder, be still my beating heart), I loved the Star Trek-inspired cats, and I LOVED the romance. I can always tell how much I love a novel by how invested I am in the romance, and I can tell that via the butterfly in my stomach effect, and they were out in full force when I was reading Magnolia. Kristi Cook is an awesome writer, if Magnolia is anything to go by, and I'll be looking out for her future books - and her backlist, because I just adored Magnolia, it was amazing, pure and simple.
This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read