How not to be a Mary Bennett should have been the title. I really enjoyed this story. Marnie is tired of being the middle child, the one no one pays attention too. She’s also tired of being negative and alone. When she allows her new roommate Adhira to become her friend, she’s able to see what life should really be like. She learns to rewrite her life, learning that the one she obsessed over for years truly was a creep and that the boy who helps her to achieve her goal of being a finalist for the Hunt Prize, is the one who catches her heart. She also realizes that her sisters/family were always there supporting her but her “pride” wouldn’t allow her to see it. She was more of a Lizzy Bennett than a Mary Bennett, but truly just Marnie. At first I thought the character of Marnie was way to stubborn and whiny to change, but with the help of her best friend and her connection with her older sister Lindy, she was able to break out of the Mary mold and truly discover who she could be. ( )

Marnie is not the easiest character, she frequently gets in her own way, she says some fairly cringe-inducing things and it’s a toss up as to which was more frustrating, how she mishandled her only friendship or how she mishandled a sweet burgeoning romance, the girl self-sabotages all over the place to a sometimes maddening degree.

But I really did like Marnie. I found her endearing with her bookishness, her awkwardness, her cat-centric taste in clothes and her fragile self-esteem that has taken far too many hits courtesy of her mother, so even in Marnie’s moments that tested my patience, that hurt characters I love (Adhira and Whit), I still had a real soft spot for her and an eagerness to see her turn things around.

With five girls in Marnie’s family, there wasn’t really room to delve as deep into all of the sisters and their bonds (or lack thereof) as I might have preferred, still the family dynamics were well-crafted, playing an important emotional role in the story, in how Marnie sees herself and in the arc of her relationship with her sister Lindy.

If you like character growth at a gradual two steps forward one step back pace, then Marnie’s your girl, she’s plenty flawed but that just makes her progress all the more rewarding in this strong debut novel. ( )

Box 2 - 35
Hardcover ISBN-10 ‏ 0063060132 ISBN-13: 978-0063060135
PZ7.1 .P455B 2022 AUHS made by Ms Friedman, LT did not have LCC entered by Ms Mastron age ‏ : ‎ 13 - 17 years Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12
https://www.amazon.com/-/he/J-C-Peterson/dp/0063060132