I really enjoyed the beginning of this book but then as I read more and more I started to dislike it. The plot was interesting and I liked learning more about Hoodo and the importance of a debutante ball in the south is. I like Alex but I did not like how when something strange happened in the book to one of the characters or something it was just brushed off on the next page. For example when one of the girls at a party got bit by a snake and then in the next moment that encounter was just brushed off as nothing serious or anything and the girl just quickly and miraculously recovered. I knew that something was going on in this book but I just would have preferred that there was some sort of an explanation, generally speaking that explanation is explained at the very end of the book. Throughout the book we (readers) learn about where Alex grew up and what happened to her mother. Alex has been through a lot of things and wears outfits that to the people of Georgia make her an outsider. She does not wear the outfits that all the girls at her school wears and when she does occasionally dress up she combines old 'ratty' shirts with designer clothes. She also rides a bike around town when its in the upper 90 degree weather. Alex had a lot of stubbornness in her in that she did not conform to the ideal southern debutante and was constantly trying to evade doing anything that her grandmother wanted her to do. Personally, I liked Alex's grandmother who she calls Miss. Lee, head of the Magnolia League. The one thing that I did not like about Alex is her boyfriend. There is a scene in the book where Alex goes back to her 'boyfriend' and she is riding with another girl on the bus who is also going to meet her boyfriend. An interesting and imaginative tale featuring an awkward 16 year-old hippie who grew up on communal farm in California being thrown into the world of Savannah debutante balls and an elite society of Southern ladies. The Magnolia League has everything they could ever ask for but there's one tiny string attached: a hoo-doo curse that will keep you in Savannah forever or kill you if you leave. Creative and intriguing, this tale of magic is woven with romance, subterfuge, and family dysfunction.I'm immediately starting the second book in this series.
What do You think about Magnolia League, The (2011)?
It was good, but not great. I was basically distracted while reading this.
—micky
