Merciless Marlena Review
Throughout the duration of our blog there's been books we've loved, and books we've hated. Unfortunately this book favors the latter.
We didn't have a problem with the style of writing or the setup, but the content. The characters were not likeable or relatable. It seems almost cliche that Cat's world was destroyed just because her parents got a divorce. Half of marriages end in divorce in America. If every one of those resulting children dropped out of school and began hanging out with people who literally cook crack, we'd have a big problem on our hands. Her reactions or overreactions are unbelievable and frankly unrelatable.
It's hard to believe that a private school/straight A student can be so derailed by a divorce and relocation. From someone who loved studying and learning to someone who skipped school for six weeks and got high in a dog house behind the school instead. It’s frankly amazing to us that the author is suggesting these extremes.
Marlena has reasons to be so fucked up. Her dad cooks crack behind their house, she was probably raped by his friend, she has an addiction to pills especially Oxy, not to mention the pot and alcohol. She has to ask the neighbors for food because her dad spends all their money on his vices. She has a reason. Cat does not. She needs to pick herself up by her bootstraps and fight for herself. She needs to work for what she wants, maybe get a job, or at least go to school and fight for a scholarship for college. She needs to grow up instead of expecting everything to be handed to her. She becomes passive, allowing herself to become an accomplice to cooking meth, to becoming a chainsmoker. She had a chance to get out, Marlena might not have, but Cat did. And she let her crush on Marlena overpower her sense of right and wrong.
We think all this pent up criticism (carried for almost 300 pages) from us consists beyond the unlikelihood of Cat’s action due to her background. We believe we stomach most of the aversion for Marlena due to Cat’s overwhelmingly low self-esteem. This in turn causes Cat to spiral out of control, which is truly painful to watch. This novel was a struggle to get through, but we could see a certain type of reader possibly enjoying it or maybe relating to it at least.
We wished it would be more Riverdale-esque and it didn't deliver. The death of Marlena seemed to be only a small detail in big picture too. It seemed as though we were sold on the book because it was supposed to be a Murder Triller type, but it was actually Young Adult Fiction. Bare that in mind for future picks.
Rage Rants (Spoilers Included):
Their favorite location to get high and drunk was a fucking church gymnasium. They couldn't have picked a more inappropriate location? Maybe a cemetery? Hospital? Daycare center?
We hate untapped potential and wasted talent, and this book is full of it.
To Cat, Marlena wasn't a friend, she was a vice. A feeder of her addiction.
For us, disrespecting Culver’s is a shit show. Get your act together and love Culver’s.
Daddy problems, chain smoking, masturbation, selfishness and mom hate make the list of: Too Much Fucking (fill in blank with previous examples)
It seems a juvenile subject for a 30 year old married professor to be writing about.
The angst was annoying, the only thing getting us through the book was the fact that we had to review it, otherwise we definitely would have abandoned it very early on.
They had a party at a house the mom cleans, then she got fired and everyone in the neighborhood fired her, so congrats Cat, we hope your binge drinking and smoking was worth it. Not to mention she slept with the boyfriend of the girl she idolizes.
Ultimately, this book is not one we would recommend, but we are glad we took the bullet and not our readers.
In exchange for a fair and impartial review we were provided with a reading copy of the novel Marlena by Henry Holt & Co. Big thanks to Henry Holt and their Marketing Director and we look forward to working with you in the future!
Better Read Than Dead,
Geneva and Addie