Being Mary Bennet

by J. C. Peterson

Hardcover, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

813.00

Publication

HarperTeen (2022), 384 pages

Description

Romance. Humor (Fiction.) Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzy Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. A less acknowledged truth is that Mary Bennet might be a better fit. For Marnie Barnes, realizing she's a Mary Bennet is devastating. But she's determined to reinvent herself, so she enlists the help of her bubbly roommate and opens up to the world. And between new friends, a very cute boy, and a rescue pup named Sir Pat, Marnie finds herself on a path to becoming a new person entirely. But she's no Lizzy, or even Mary�??instead, she's someone even better: just plain Marnie. With a hilariously sharp voice, a sweet and fulfilling romance that features a meet-cute in an animal shelter, and a big family that revels in causing big problems, this charming comedy of errors about a girl who resolves to become the main character of her own story (at any and all costs), is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Becky Albertalli...and Jane Austen, of course.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member SJGirl
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
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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.
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

384 p.; 8.5 inches

ISBN

0063060132 / 9780063060135

Barcode

6275

Other editions

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