the magnolia league

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure why I picked up this book.  I have read Katie Crouch’s adult fiction novel Girls in Trucks and was not fond of it at all, but the cover for The Magnolia League looked interesting and I’m a sucker for Savannah so I guess that’s it.  I should have stuck with my instincts.

Alexandria is basically forcibly moved from Mendocino, California where she was living on a communal farm with her mother to Savannah, Georgia after her mother is killed in a car accident.  Alex is a dreadlocked, Phish concert t-shirt wearing hippie who smokes pot (even though she really doesn’t like it) and pines for her free living home back in California.  Immediately introduced to The Magnolia League they set to work on remaking Alex into an MG (Magnolia Girl).

Alexandria is close to one of the most annoying characters I have had the displeasure of reading.  As I type this I’m about halfway through the book so I don’t have high hopes for her changing any time soon.

At least twice in every chapter she says something like ‘At the RC we did…’ or ‘they never did this at the RC’ or something along those lines.  And then she’s so forced granola crunchy it’s painful.  Sure I care about being socially conscience, but she takes it to the extreme and does not shut up about it.  She reminds me of Zara from the Need trilogy by Carrie Jones with her letters Amnesty International letters.  Well, Zara on steroids is more accurate.  Zara was never this zealous or obnoxious about her causes.  Alex doesn’t have a cause, she just wants to bitch about everything that isn’t the RC.

Madison says it best at one point in the book:  “Alex,” Madison says through clenched teeth, “if you keep talking in bumper stickers, I am going to stab you in the face.”

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Katie Crouch’s foray into YA fiction is so one dimensional and frustrating.  Girls in Trucks was one of my least favorite books and while this is a completely different genre it still has the same dry tone.  We don’t really get the opportunity to get to know the other characters other than the base knowledge Crouch allows.  The relationships that Alex forms with potential boyfriends and the Buzzards leaves you wondering why?  Everything feels rushed despite time moving on through the book.  It’s as if she couldn’t bother with character development.

All in all I gave the book 2 stars on GoodReads and Shelfari.  While interesting, it wasn’t enough to guarantee that I’ll read the next book in the series.  Alex annoyed me far too much, but maybe she’ll have grown up a bit in the next book?