Magnolia Parks series by Jessa Hastings

Magnolia Parks ****

Daisy Haites *****

Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home: TBD

 

I am on book 3 of this series and enjoying it so far. Its a little bit of a miscommunication trope, but with some darker themes intertwined in the lives of these young elite. If you like the show Gossip Girl, this is right up your alley.

The second book has been my favorite. The first book follows the life of Magnolia Parks, a 20-something rich girl in love with her childhood crush. 

The second book follows the life of Daisy Haites, also a young 20-something rich girl, but in a very different way; Daisy comes from an organized crime family. Her story is a bit darker; however, both girls have had traumatic things happen in their lives. 

 

The Invention of Wings *****

This book was eye-opening. It follows two similarly aged girls through their lives. They grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1800s.

One girl is a slave, the other a slave owner.

This is a great book showing how truly horrible slavery was and the strength required to survive it, as well as the perseverance of one young girl to fight against slavery. When it was so widely seen as wrong to do so. 

 

Direbound *****

For the fantasy lovers. This is a hunger games, twilight esque book, but with wolves. I loved it. There is a bit of a love story as well, that we will hopefully see more of in the next book!! Releasing in May 2026.

I cannot give too much away, but this book follows a strong female character living in a poor town, who joins the forces to go and fight the Siphons, which are essentially the enemy of those in her Kingdom Nocturna and these Siphons are basically vampires. Nocturna is the home of fighters who are bonded with dire wolves and they lead the forces in battle.