The Magnolia League-- Katie Crouch

When her mother dies suddenly, Alex Lee is forced to leave the California commune where she was raised and move to sultry Savannah, GA where her grandmother lives. Grandmother Lee, descended from the famous general, is the leader of the most exclusive social club in the south: The Magnolia League. Dread-headed, pudgy, fashion eschewing Alex not only experiences a strong sense of culture shock when she enters society for the first time, but she also knows that her morals and values differ from the debutantes who now surround her.

Still, the longer she spends with Hayes and Madison, the two young Magnolias Grandmother Lee arranges for Alex to learn from, the more Alex realizes what she was missing her whole life on the commune. The temptation to be thin, rich, pretty, and popular is hard to resist when you're a high school girl. Although some strange supernatural occurrences scare Alex, she is still seduced by the benefits power and privilege bring. But when Alex takes things too far, and has to choose between the two most significant people in her life, she knows it's time to stop letting the Magnolias dictate her journey and she must make her own path.

This was a nice fluffy read, something I needed after months of slogging through "good literature." I would promote this book as a read-alike for the other recently published southern-magic-romance series, Beautiful Creatures being the first. The Magnolia League isn't going to win awards, and it's not particularly compelling, but it was fun enough. I would recommend this books to teen girls who enjoyed Beautiful Creatures, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and similar series, or any of the magic book series that were popular before vampires took over the world.

Beautiful Creatures-- Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Ethan Wate dreams of the day he can kiss his sleepy southern town goodbye. His mother died last year, his depressed father literally never leaves his study, and the family housekeeper Ama is getting crazier by the moment. When beautiful outsider Lana moves to town, Ethan can't get her out of his mind. Ama warned him to stay far away from Lana and her family, but Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her.

When I say Ethan can't get Lana out of his head, I truly mean that. They have a strange telepathic connection, and from the moment he meets her, Ethan's life is totally changed. He no longer cares about being popular, being a basketball star, or any of his friends except his BFF Link. Add in some voodoo, Daughters of the Revolution, magic, and graves and you've got Beautiful Creatures.

I'm kind of torn about this book. On one hand, I did enjoy it, and there will likely be a sequel which I will likely read. On the other hand, it was advertised as a southern gothic book, and while it was indeed southern, I felt it was a bit lacking in the gothic part. Either way, I would recommend this book to teen girls who are into the whole supernatural fiction thing, especially if they want books about witches.