The Magnolia League
By: Katie Crouch
Published by: Poppy (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
ISBN #: 978-0-316-07849-8
Back Cover: When her free-spirited mother dies in a tragic accident, sixteen-year-old Alexandria Lee is forced to leave her West Coast home and move in with a wealthy grandmother she's never known in Savannah, Georgia. By birth, Alex is a rightful if unwilling member of the Magnolia League-Savannah's long-standing debutante society. But white gloves and silk gowns are a far cry from the vintage t-shirts and torn jeans shorts she's used to.
Alex is the first in decades to question the Magnolia League's intentions, yet even she becomes entangled in their seductive world. The members enjoy youth, beauty and power...but at what cost? As Alex discovers a pact between the Magnolias and the Buzzards, a legendary hoodoo family, she discovers secrets-some deadly-hidden beneath the glossy Southern veneer.
New York Times bestselling author Katie Crouch's poignant and humorous voice shines in this enchanting and mysterious story about girls growing up in a magical Southern city.
Alex is the first in decades to question the Magnolia League's intentions, yet even she becomes entangled in their seductive world. The members enjoy youth, beauty and power...but at what cost? As Alex discovers a pact between the Magnolias and the Buzzards, a legendary hoodoo family, she discovers secrets-some deadly-hidden beneath the glossy Southern veneer.
New York Times bestselling author Katie Crouch's poignant and humorous voice shines in this enchanting and mysterious story about girls growing up in a magical Southern city.
Review: Alexandria (Alex for short) lives on a community farm called RC, in California, until her mother dies in a car accident and she is shipped off to go live with her grandmother, Miss Lee. Miss Lee lives in Savannah, Georgia which is a completely different world to Alex. For starters, her grandmother is extremely wealthy and the head of a very prestigious society called The Magnolia League. She forces Alex to join, and signs her up for classes so she can prepare for her debutante party. The rest of the story is Alex questioning and challenging the Magnolia League's intentions.
At first this book was hard to get into, Alex was a bit of a cliché and her 'bad-girl' persona was very easily pushed aside during the course of the book. The first eighteen chapters felt very rushed and confusing to me, as a reader. I felt like the author kind of jumped all over the place. She would let you into the Magnolia League's conversations but you would have NO idea what was going on or what they were talking about.
At first this book was hard to get into, Alex was a bit of a cliché and her 'bad-girl' persona was very easily pushed aside during the course of the book. The first eighteen chapters felt very rushed and confusing to me, as a reader. I felt like the author kind of jumped all over the place. She would let you into the Magnolia League's conversations but you would have NO idea what was going on or what they were talking about.
Another thing that I didn't understand was Alex's relationship with Madison and Hayes. I never understood their intentions. When they first met her they didn't like her at all, and then a couple pages over they were fawning over her. It was very confusing, and I never felt like it was a genuine friendship. Even though it seemed like at the end they were extremely close. Those chapters are kind of a blur to me, but once you hit the nineteenth chapter you get really hooked on this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it after this point. I couldn't put the book down! In the end The Magnolia League was an absolutely fascinating read.
All in all, I adored this book. I cannot wait for the next one! It left the reader salivating at the end of the book with a satisfying ending. She didn’t leave you hanging on the edge of a cliff! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quick and fun read with magic all throughout. Don't miss this one at the bookstore, definitely take this one home!
About the Author (taken from here):
Katie Crouch is the New York Times bestselling author of Girls in Trucks. Her other novels include Men and Dogs, two young adult novels, and Abroad, a literary thriller set in Italy. Julia Glass wrote of Abroad: With uncanny psychological precision and a dark, dead-on wit, Katie Crouch explores how the casual follies of youth all too quickly turn tragic" Katie covered the Amanda Knox appeal for Slate magazine, and has also written for The Guardian, the New York Times, McSweeney's, Tin House, and Salon, and she has a regular column on The Rumpus called "Missed." A MacDowell fellow, Crouch teaches at San Francisco State University and lives in Bolinas, California with Peter Orner and their daughter Phoebe.
Other Books by the Author:
About the Author (taken from here):
Katie Crouch is the New York Times bestselling author of Girls in Trucks. Her other novels include Men and Dogs, two young adult novels, and Abroad, a literary thriller set in Italy. Julia Glass wrote of Abroad: With uncanny psychological precision and a dark, dead-on wit, Katie Crouch explores how the casual follies of youth all too quickly turn tragic" Katie covered the Amanda Knox appeal for Slate magazine, and has also written for The Guardian, the New York Times, McSweeney's, Tin House, and Salon, and she has a regular column on The Rumpus called "Missed." A MacDowell fellow, Crouch teaches at San Francisco State University and lives in Bolinas, California with Peter Orner and their daughter Phoebe.
Other Books by the Author:
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