Daisy Haites (Magnolia Parks Universe) Paperback – November 23, 2021

Drama drama drama!!! I never thought I would enjoy this toxic material so much. It’s a nice reprieve from heavier stuff I typically read. I do enjoy it and unlike most drama filled toxic love stories I enjoy the writing. You would think this style is “junk food,” but it’s not. The author does a good job of weaving in some poetic moments & metaphors that keep it from feeling cheap.

“I think I understand for a fleeting moment why everything that’s bad and painful and sad is worth it if you love someone, because I’ll remember how he’s looking at me now forever.”•d a i s y h a i t e s. my god, this book.before I dive into my bound-to-be lengthy review, I have to say that this cover gives me major Baz Luhrmann’s "Romeo + Juliet" vibes, and I loooooooove that.this is quite possibly my favorite book ever, and I promise you that’s not an exaggeration. ask me why I am enamored with two idiots that won’t just tell each other they love each other, and I don’t know that I can give you an answer, but here we are. I’m obsessed.if Magnolia and BJ’s story (book one of the Magnolia Parks Universe) is about two people that love each other too much in a crushingly unhealthy way, Daisy and Christian’s story is about two deeply-feeling and proud people that are oblivious to how much the other loves them.Daisy and Christian come from the two most dangerous crime families in the UK. their inner circles are relatively small, and they end up becoming friends with benefits. seems simple, right? one of the problems is they are both in love with other people. so, when each of them begin developing feelings for the other, neither of them know what to do.in general, I don’t love a miscommunication trope, and I really hate love triangles; however, both of those are fully present throughout the entirety of this story, and I don’t care. this book gripped me and made me question everything I thought I knew about my own reading preferences.Daisy Haites isn’t just about the relationship between Daisy and Christian. this book is layered and dimensional. it’s about loyalty and love and family, and it makes you question how far you’d go, how much of a blind eye you’d turn to protect the people you love. it’s a story about identity and how much of one’s identity is tied to those they love. it’s a story about a bunch of kids (now adults) that were all thrust into a life they didn’t ask for; they were born into it, and as such, they are expected to carry on the family businesses.circling back to the identity aspect of this book, we’ve got:Julian: Daisy’s older brother that raised her since he was 18 years old. yes, he’s a gang lord, but a gang lord with rules. his rules are in place because of his sister. as the book goes on, he feels more of a need to exert his dominance over those that would defy him. it’s the unraveling that does it for me. watching such an aware and appealing person unravel is a wild, and devastating ride.Daisy: thinks that being a doctor can help wipe away the blood her family has shed. but she struggles with the concern that if her family is innately bad, she must be, too. she knows she’s got to escape, but can she leave behind all that she loves to save herself? and even if she can, should she? what about loyalty? what about love? what does it say about her? who does it make her?Christian: on the outside looks like he has it all together but is still dealing with the trauma of losing his little sister and the absentee parenting from his father. not to mention, he’s been completely screwed up by his love for one of his best friends (who happens to be in love with his other best friend). his concept of love is so warped, he doesn’t even recognize a good love when it’s right in front of him.I really love the intimacy of this book; there is so much vulnerability between so many characters in all aspects: friends, families, lovers. the humanity of each person is splashed across the pages from the beginning, and you experience every emotion they do.I haven’t mentioned it yet, and I won’t linger on it, but this book is sexy. it’s not an in-your-face type of sexy. it’s in the small moments: the reciting of freckles, the simple dates, the teaching her how to drive.oh, and as someone who desperately wishes she would have been an art history major, I absolutely loved reading about all the art and museums. Julian’s and Daisy’s passion for them made me feel even more connected to the characters.simply put: I’m obsessed. obsessed with Daisy. obsessed with Christian. obsessed with Julian. I don’t know what else to say. I love it, and I hope you do, too.•read if you like:>♡ a great opening line♡ multi-povs (3)♡ friends with benefits♡ lots of banter♡ crime families♡ touch her and I’ll kill you♡ solid inner monologue♡ jealousy trope♡ teach her how to drive♡ art / art history♡ tight-knit families♡ london♡ wanting to shake your characters and tell them to stop being silly♡ love triangles♡ miscommunicationtrigger warnings:☞ gruesomeness murder and violence☞ self-harm☞ loss of loved ones☞ absentee parents☞ kidnapping☞ using sex as a coping mechanism☞ drug use☞ sexual assault•Daisy Haites is full of heart and hurt and hope. let it burrow into your mind, and cherish it forever!

"Sitting next to him saying nothing feels like taking off a corset. A great undoing, if you will, and he will. In every way."i think i can chalk up liking daisy haites MPU2 much more than its former counterpart for a few reasons.one, we watch the culmination of daisy and christian's relationship from fairly early-on. with magnolia and bj, it's very much second chance, which is not a trope i enjoy much to begin with. we're also thrown right into the angst with them, without seeing what exactly we're supposed to be rooting for, why we would want them together, or really believe them to actually be the loves of each others' lives. with daisy and christian, we get to experience the highs and not just in brief references of memory.“He has a lot of ‘just friends’,” I say out loud accidentally.BJ follows my gaze. “Yeah, he does.” He gives me a look. “But you’re not one of them.”secondly, daisy was much more relatable to me. magnolia is an archetype i don't care for. they both rely a lot on validation from men, but magnolia has this added quality of overachieving perfectionism and, while mostly well-meaning, ultimately self-serving, put-on miss sunshine personality that i don't care for. i didn't like magnolia in her own book from her own perspective, and that was only compounded by seeing her through daisy's and christian's eyes."And actually, the more I think about it, the more I think about Magnolia these days—and in a lot of ways, I actually think about her a lot less—I think that maybe she’s just trash."(omg drag her Christian lmfaoooo)daisy did have a bit of that girl-everyone-loves syndrome with a dash of not like other girls, but ultimately i connected w her more personally. she's sassy, determined, and tough as nails. she can be a petty queen, especially when it comes to magnolia, but it only made me love her more.I think I understand for a fleeting moment why everything that’s bad and painful and sad is worth it if you love someone, because I’ll remember how he’s looking at me now forever.overall, i was immediately more invested in this story, esp having been teased at it in book 1. there was a bit of an area where it started to slow and lag for me about 50 - 65% through, but it starts to pick up again. i really liked the choice of having julian's POV. i don't think i've read a romance with one of the romantic lead's siblings POV and i think it helped color the story. a lot of people love julian, i can't say i care for him bc i don't care for the contemporary crime trope and i didn't like what he did near the end, but i don't hate him.with this book, i lost myself in their story and really got to appreciate jessa hasting's writing. i do love her attention to wardrobe detail especially, and i for one thought daisy's footnotes were really fun.i'm not loving the idea that i will have to revisit magnolia and bj before i get more daisy & christian, but i've heard some things that have intrigued me about book 3, so i'll dive in soon.“There is a fatal flaw to your normal plan, you know,” he tells me.I turn to face him, lift my brows but make sure he doesn’t let me go. “And what’s that?”He locks the door behind me. “You have that face and that brain and you’ll never be normal—” Shakes his head. “Couldn’t be if you tried.”

love the mob vibes but missing magnolia tons. Christian and Julian kept me going. I don’t know if I like Daisy or not…