zer0spaceghost's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jadesg1's review
5.0
I loved this book. It’s probably my favorite novel that I’ve read all year, and I finished it within about 6 hours in a single evening. I almost wish I had taken more time to savor it more, but it was that compelling.
It gave me major Stranger by Camus vibes, mixed with French film noir. I absolutely love a story with an unreliable or morally ambiguous narrator, which forces you to step back from the perspective you’re aligned with sort of by default, to realize “oh, objectively their actions and these circumstances are all a little fucked up, aren’t they?”
Marie makes objectively “bad” decisions—running away with her bank robber boyfriend after a heist goes awry and leads to the death of a security guard, seducing her childhood friend’s husband, running away with their child… etc.
At the same time, she has a hustler and survivor mentality, living spontaneously in the moment with a foresight that mostly extends to where her next meal is coming from. She is unapologetic in her decisions and behaviors, with a real “it is what it is” attitude about the issue at hand. Her brutal honesty is what, ultimately, makes her likeable.
I will reread this book on vacation, 100%.
It gave me major Stranger by Camus vibes, mixed with French film noir. I absolutely love a story with an unreliable or morally ambiguous narrator, which forces you to step back from the perspective you’re aligned with sort of by default, to realize “oh, objectively their actions and these circumstances are all a little fucked up, aren’t they?”
Marie makes objectively “bad” decisions—running away with her bank robber boyfriend after a heist goes awry and leads to the death of a security guard, seducing her childhood friend’s husband, running away with their child… etc.
At the same time, she has a hustler and survivor mentality, living spontaneously in the moment with a foresight that mostly extends to where her next meal is coming from. She is unapologetic in her decisions and behaviors, with a real “it is what it is” attitude about the issue at hand. Her brutal honesty is what, ultimately, makes her likeable.
I will reread this book on vacation, 100%.
servemethesky's review
5.0
Oops, I flew through Bad Marie! A friend gifted me this book as a light distraction in a difficult time and OMG WHAT A FANTASTIC ROMP OF A NOVEL IT IS! Dermansky is masterful at continuing to escalate the situation. After reading a novel recently that was light on plot, this one was fun and refreshing because the plot is relentless. The hits keep coming! Shit gets crazier and crazier with no signs of stopping.
Marie is such an entertaining protagonist, and despite how horrifying her actions are, she’s not remotely despicable. You’re so in her head, you’re almost like “yeah that seems reasonable” until you distance yourself for a second and are like “WAIT WHAT?!” At no point did I know where this book was going.
This novel is hilarious and smart, would definitely recommend it.
Marie is such an entertaining protagonist, and despite how horrifying her actions are, she’s not remotely despicable. You’re so in her head, you’re almost like “yeah that seems reasonable” until you distance yourself for a second and are like “WAIT WHAT?!” At no point did I know where this book was going.
This novel is hilarious and smart, would definitely recommend it.
editrixie's review
4.0
The title doesn't lie! Dermansky's protagonist has few redeeming qualities, but she didn't alienate me: I kept hoping Marie would make a good decision, though I have to say I enjoyed the twists and turns of her bad ones. I'll certainly seek out Demransky's first novel, Twins.
lola425's review
4.0
Bad Marie, but also Sad Marie. Marie is simulatneously completely self-aware and totally clueless.
mattgjohnson's review
I dunno, it started cool and she was "bad", but then she kinda faded from the story and wasn't "bad", and it got plotty and kinda felt like B- Confederacy of Dunces
marlenabeata's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kjboldon's review
4.0
I didn't think I'd like this, but I did. It is very much like a French film, and thus not much like real life. Since I went with this, it worked for me. Those who expect or want realism are going to have a very strange, possibly unlikeable, read.
kasiabrenna's review
2.0
I didn't really get this one... it was interesting enough that I read the whole thing in one day, but I'm not really sure I got the point. It introduced an interesting character, and then never really developed her and the story didn't go anywhere. The whole thing felt rather hollow.
pwbalto's review
4.0
DAMN. Literature with a capital L, and you know, it's idiotic of me, but I always forget that Literature with a capital L is frequently just as entertaining and readable as Literature with a capital Crap. Why do I forget that? How do I not remember that, even though I read Chelsea Cain and Christopher Moore and John Burdett, my FAVORITE books are by Cormac McCarthy and Updike and Walker Percy and Liz Jensen?
I don't know. Blame Marie. Everyone else does.
Marie is too much. She is beautiful and greedy, a thirty-year-old child in a tall, titsy body, moving through life at the whim of adults who treat her like some kind of badge. When we meet her she's working as a nanny for her childhood friend Ellen, a super-successful Manhattanite with a brownstone, a toddler, and a French novelist husband.
Marie gets everything but the brownstone, of course.
I don't want to give too much away, but Marie, despite being a homewrecker and a kidnapper, a thief and an adulteress, is not the worst character in this book - and the badness of the others is breathtaking. Short, picturesque, and mesmerizing. Bad Marie: good novel.
I don't know. Blame Marie. Everyone else does.
Marie is too much. She is beautiful and greedy, a thirty-year-old child in a tall, titsy body, moving through life at the whim of adults who treat her like some kind of badge. When we meet her she's working as a nanny for her childhood friend Ellen, a super-successful Manhattanite with a brownstone, a toddler, and a French novelist husband.
Marie gets everything but the brownstone, of course.
I don't want to give too much away, but Marie, despite being a homewrecker and a kidnapper, a thief and an adulteress, is not the worst character in this book - and the badness of the others is breathtaking. Short, picturesque, and mesmerizing. Bad Marie: good novel.