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A review by emfreih
By the Book: A Novel of Prose and Cons by Amanda Sellet
3.0
2.5/5
I have never read anything where I hated the main character to a point where I was more excited to hear the minuscule details of all other side characters. Mary Porter-Malcolm was by far one of the most irritating and grating characters that have ever been read or ever been written. Yes, I understand that she spent fifteen years of her life sheltered and shaded by her private school but being the youngest daughter in the Porter-Malcolm family, her naivety is unbelievable. Even with her reading! I learned a good majority of everything I knew in middle school from the books I poured over at every free minute. You cannot honestly tell me that she acted like that in public and it was just OKAY!
Don't get me wrong, I was extremely satisfied with her characterization by the end of the book but it just didn't make sense for how she started out. She just leaned over and kissed Alex in a brazen manner while surrounded by an ENTIRELY FULL AUDITORIUM and she was just okay with that. Only a few months before, Mary couldn't even walk through the cafeteria without overthinking everything.
I have never read anything where I hated the main character to a point where I was more excited to hear the minuscule details of all other side characters. Mary Porter-Malcolm was by far one of the most irritating and grating characters that have ever been read or ever been written. Yes, I understand that she spent fifteen years of her life sheltered and shaded by her private school but being the youngest daughter in the Porter-Malcolm family, her naivety is unbelievable. Even with her reading! I learned a good majority of everything I knew in middle school from the books I poured over at every free minute. You cannot honestly tell me that she acted like that in public and it was just OKAY!
Don't get me wrong, I was extremely satisfied with her characterization by the end of the book but it just didn't make sense for how she started out. She just leaned over and kissed Alex in a brazen manner while surrounded by an ENTIRELY FULL AUDITORIUM and she was just okay with that. Only a few months before, Mary couldn't even walk through the cafeteria without overthinking everything.