the conditions of will by jessa hastings

an auto-buy author if I ever had one

all week i’ve been thinking about what could be / should be my next sunday piece book recommendation and i came up empty. then i was like, light bulb moment!!! the conditions of will by jessa hastings!! who, in case you don’t know, is like the greatest author of my life????

so yes, this week’s book rec is obviously the conditions of will—but will you just stay for a bit so i can tell you why I loved it AND WHY you should read all her books? especially the magnolia parks universe, but more on that below.

and thats how we arrive at the point in which i convince you why this author is amazing. she’s greaaaaaat. and like, some people hate her because she’s very direct on instagram, but is she direct or are the people just incompetent? anyway! today we discuss the conditions of will.

dude literally ignore my photoshop!!!

“Sam Penny doing any of those things would be poetry, but him like that on the bed with a book is Shakespeare.”

about the book:

we follow georgia carter—london-based, emotionally repressed, human lie detector—who has been estranged from her wealthy south carolina family for years. she’s the black sheep (one of two, actually), with a gay, alcoholic brother she adores and a set of conservative, emotionally unavailable parents she very much does not.

when their father dies suddenly, georgia is forced to return home for the funeral... where she comes face to face with sam penny—her brother’s aa sponsor. and, surprise surprise, there’s instant tension. the good kind. except: her brother might have feelings for sam too. and georgia? not exactly looking to break the heart of the one family member she still claims.

while the family unravels and secrets start to surface, georgia’s superpower—reading people, body language, vibes, lies—becomes crucial. especially when their father’s will leaves part of the estate to a total stranger no one saw coming.

this book is about grief. addiction. sibling loyalty. old money. and figuring out whether love can survive a past like yours.

“And I think to myself, wouldn’t it be so lovely if we viewed ourselves through the same lens as the people who love us?”

my thoughts & why I loved it:

as i said before, in my eyes, jessa hastings can do no wrong. of course, i don’t think any of her books will ever top the magnolia parks universe—but this one, for being a standalone, was amazing.

jessa’s writing always feels like peeling back someone’s skull and settling into their brain. it’s raw and personal and completely immersive. reading this felt like scrolling through georgia’s private thoughts—like we’d been best friends for years and she was finally letting me in. there’s no emotional distance, and that’s what makes it so powerful.

sam calls georgia the most complicated person he’s ever met, and honestly, that’s what makes her lovable. jessa is so good at writing characters who are messy and layered and deeply real.

what stood out the most for me, though, was how the book explored the emotional landmines of family. it opens like we’re walking through the debris of something huge—everyone’s reeling, everything’s tense, and you’re just watching these characters try to find their footing again. the dynamics are fractured, full of miscommunication and - resentment, but watching how some of those relationships shifted and slowly repaired themselves? so satisfying. so well done.

you should read this if you like:

• messy family dynamics—think deep-rooted favoritism, religious tension, estranged siblings, substance abuse, grief, secrets, and a whole lot of emotional damage (classic jessa hastings chaos)

• single POV (georgia’s)

• a main character who’s basically a walking lie detector—her ability to read people is both fascinating and essential to the plot

• an immediate, intense connection between the leads (yes, it’s insta-love and no, we’re not mad about it)

• different versions of grief playing out after the death of a parent—some loud, some silent, some nonexistent

• faith-based trauma and the fallout that comes with questioning what you were raised to believe

• a richly southern setting—welcome to south Carolina!!!

a bit about magnolia parks

ok so. if you’re new to jessa hastings, let me just say: the conditions of will is great—but the magnolia parks universe is a personality trait. a lifestyle. a core memory.

i read the first magnolia parks book about four years ago, and it absolutely ruined me. not exaggerating—it wrecked me so badly that it took me two full years to even consider picking up the next one. i was emotionally devastated, confused, angry, heartbroken. i hated every single character (except two—you know who you are), and i couldn’t imagine continuing without spiraling.

that’s the magic of this series though. it’s not just drama for the sake of drama. it’s heartbreak in couture. it’s gossip girl if everyone was richer, pettier, and actually suffering. there’s betrayal, addiction, love triangles, insane wealth, and the constant question of “why are you all like this?”

and yet—you can’t look away.

i really don’t want to get into it much because i tend to spoil, but you should definitely add them to your tbr. i must warn you though—you have to get through the first book to enjoy the rest. trust me. suffer a little. it’s worth it.