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A review by brighroosh
Marlena by Julie Buntin
1.0
I have read books that place you within the world of a young person very successfully. Take My Brilliant Friend, for example. Which in a very small way this book mimics the Ferrente novel with the overly adoring feelings of a teen for her slightly older friend.
The older friend Marlena is a prescription pill addict but Cat, the friend, only begins to realize it slowly because of her adulation for her looks and her "coolness?" The friends drink, have sex, and entirely skip high school classes. If it is supposed to be a cautionary tale, it fails because the author spends a lot of time describing Marlena's superior physical appearance and independence as something to be admired. All the while my stomach was churning at the deceptions that were very evident on Marlena's part, and Cat's mother's blase attitude about her daughter spending time with her.
There was no humor, no redemption, and lots of gloomy writing about Marlena's impending death. I felt there was no upside to reading this book. Maybe people who want to wallow in this sort of depression because they know alcoholics in their family may want to read this. But it added nothing to that discussion.
The older friend Marlena is a prescription pill addict but Cat, the friend, only begins to realize it slowly because of her adulation for her looks and her "coolness?" The friends drink, have sex, and entirely skip high school classes. If it is supposed to be a cautionary tale, it fails because the author spends a lot of time describing Marlena's superior physical appearance and independence as something to be admired. All the while my stomach was churning at the deceptions that were very evident on Marlena's part, and Cat's mother's blase attitude about her daughter spending time with her.
There was no humor, no redemption, and lots of gloomy writing about Marlena's impending death. I felt there was no upside to reading this book. Maybe people who want to wallow in this sort of depression because they know alcoholics in their family may want to read this. But it added nothing to that discussion.