Marlena - by Julie Buntin: Book Review

Title: Marlena
Author: Julie Buntin
Nr. Pages: 288
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Release Date: 4.04.2017

{This review contains spoilers.}

Tell me what you can’t forget, and I’ll tell you who you are.

This is the story of an alcoholic woman who had a friend with a serious drug addiction back when they were teenagers in high-school. This is the plot.

The writing is good, I liked the words the author used to tell the story. However, some things made me raise an eyebrow.

For a person who is so clingy to the past and who can't seem to move past the friendship that lasted less than a year and a half when she was fifteen years old, a friendship that was the basis of her alcohol addiction, Cat sure managed to create a good life. I was surprised that she could not control her drinking problem, but this did not prevent her from making a career, receiving promotions after promotions, getting married and maintaining a relationship for over ten years, and fooling many people around her. Maybe this is possible, but I found it hard to move past and buy into it.

Although it doesn't usually bother me, I wanted to know the year Cat was living in in the present. Because 2016 or 2017 can't be with those mentions of technology. As she is telling the story of what happened with Marlena twenty years before, Cat is almost 36 years old. She mentioned Greg posting a video on YouTube at her prompting back then. YouTube was created in 2005. If she is telling the story in 2016, in 2005 she would have been 23-24 years old, and not 15. This was irksome, however the author kept refering to this aspect.

I can't understand two things: why was the mention of the girl in the library necessary if it led nowhere and why decide to create the whole plot around Sal's upcoming meeting with Cat if the whole meeting turned out to be anticlimactic. I was expecting those two things to reveal something, and it probably would have brought a fresh breath to the plot, since the past retelling got monotonous with all that time wasting, getting drunk and high, and classes skipping. And Sal is so normal, not at all as affected as you would have expected based on Cat's dramatic perspective on things.

Despite all these, I kept reading. It kept me curious, but I wasn't satisfied with where it took the story. The public for this novel is someone with a similar background and life, maybe they would relate better with the characters.

I received a free e-book copy of this book from the publisher Henry Holt & Company via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own based on the reading of the novel.


List of Characters:
Marlena Joyner
Cat (Catherine)
Jimmy - Cat's brother
Roger - Jimmy and Cat's mother's second husband
Ryder - Marlena's boyfriend
Greg + Tidbit - a couple, friends of Cat, Marlena, Ryder's
Randall Joyner - Marlena's father
Sal Joyner - Marlena's younger brother
Bolt - Randall's friend, Marlena's "boyfriend"
Micah & Courtney - schoolmates
Mr. Ratner - science teacher
Liam - Cat's husband - New York

The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko - by Scott Stambach: Book Review

Title: The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko

Author: Scott Stambach

Publishing date: August 9th 2-16

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Page Nr.: 336

It read like a coming of age novel. I liked it, I was curious most of the time where the story will lead. I expected for the character to be emotionally destroyed, but this is because I read about the novel likened to The Fault in Our Stars. 

I liked the main character, Ivan, but I didn't like Polina. She comes as a breath of fresh air for Ivan, sure, but reading about her and her personality - meh. Of course she had to be bubbly and go over the top in everything she did. I see how this was a good thing for Ivan and for the redundant life of the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children, but looking back I realize I didn't like her that much as a character. As for a "love" between them - I think Ivan was the one in love, while Polina clung to Ivan in her desperate few last months.

Ivan, on the other hand, was a person with many drawers. He looked for ways to make his life bearable at the hospital, and managed to somewhat come to terms with his physical deformity. He was funny and normal, which is always a good thing, if you ask me. 

I am so glad the author chose to write about a teenage boy, and not about a teenage girl. I was clear he knew the ins and outs of a boy's mind. However, one thing I though was not necessary was Ivan and Polina's sexual... moment, should I call it? For some reason it seemed cliche and gave their relationship an ordinary feel. I thought the same about Augustus and Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars, by the way.

The writing of this novel is pretty good, I liked how the author made you feel the grayness of the communist hospital with its seclusion from the world. There were a few characters that didn't stand out to me, but they had their place in the world of the hospital. Some developments in the novel's action were unexpected and I liked them {{spoiler: Ivan is Mikail's son with an ex nurse at the hospital}}. I also liked how the novel ended. {{spoiler: nurse Natalya takes Ivan in her home and cares for him until his death.}}

It was a nice read. At the time I was very interested in reading it, but a few weeks after I finished reading it I am no longer that impressed, although I can't say for sure why.

I received a free ebook copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.