Skip to main content

Book Review: When Marnie Was There

Title: When Marnie Was There
Author: Joan G. Robinson
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 out of 5
Reviewer: Julia


Anna is using her "ordinary face" more and more often, and is told by her teachers at school that she is not-even-trying. She doesn't have any friends, and is on the outside of an imaginary social circle. Her foster parents, worried about her, send her away to the Peggs, some family friends, to get better. There, she is free to wander about the land around her, and starts to feel a strange connection with the old marsh house that seems to be empty. Or is it?

Soon she meets Marnie, who lives at the house, and the two become friends, bonding and sharing their secrets. But soon Marnie vanishes and a new family is at the house, and Anna begins to question what's real and what's not.

The plot would definitely be interesting, had I not already known what had happened because I had seen the movie adaptation first. Luckily, there were some changes, so I was able to still enjoy the book a bit. Although I didn't really find it too interesting, whether that be because of the writing style or because I had seen the movie first I cannot really say.

I did like the idea behind the book, though. There's a theme of forgiveness in the book that I like, although I wish it was shown more. Love was definitely a concept that was covered, and I think that that was nice as well.

I wasn't all too fond of how the book ended. It felt a bit rushed to me.

Still, the book was nice. I think I might just be viewing it in this way because I saw the movie first. Perhaps I'll try reading it again.

Comments

This Month's Popular Posts

Quotes: The Nightingale

I realized that, over a year ago, I wrote a post called "Quotes: Audacity" , and that this post did really well (it's actually Reading is Inevitable's most read post!), and yet I never wrote another post of quotes from a book. I liked writing that post, too. I like sharing quotes I like from books. That's why I started doing it on our bookstagram page . So why did I never write another one of these "quote blog posts"? I don't know. But I intend to write at least another one. And that's why I'm here today. Well, there's that, and then there's also the amazing book that is The Nightingale.  If you've read some of my recent blog posts or have poked around a bit, you would know that exactly a month ago I published my book review on The Nightingale , in which I explained my love for it and why you should read it yourself. And while I actually have another post in the works on that book because it definitely deserves more than on...

Welcome

Welcome to Reading is Inevitable! This blog is run by two teens--Em and Julia--and will mainly be about books, but will also include posts about art, games, and whatever else comes up in our lives! Our first actual post will be posting tomorrow (it will be a book review!) and we would love for you all to check it out! We also have an Instagram page ( @readingisinevitable ) and an e-mail address ( readingisinevitable@gmail.com ), so if you wish to contact us, please do so through one of those or through the comments section. Now, we could just leave it at that, but we think that it would be nice for you to get to know us a bit more first!

Book Review: Symptoms of Being Human

Title: Symptoms of Being Human Author: Jeff Garvin Genre: Realistic Fiction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Reviewer: Julia Why is Symptoms of Being Human such a great book? I am not sure if I have enough space in this post to tell you all of the reasons why I love it. In general, this book by Jeff Garvin is so wonderful because of the "different-ness" of the book. Not every teen book you come across will address anxiety, depression, the LBGT+ community, friendships, bullying, and more in only 330 pages. Yet somehow, Garvin accomplishes this and so much more.

Quotes: Audacity

As some of you may know by looking at my posts on our social media page (@readingisinevitable on Instagram), I am currently reading Audacity by Melanie Crowder. It is a beautiful book written in free verse, and follows the life of Clara Lemlich, a female Jewish immigrant who came to America in the early 1900s. (For the full summary of the book, click here .) I absolutely love books written in free verse, or any type of poetry, in fact! This book is so lovely that I have decided to dedicate a whole post to some of my favorite quotes or parts! (Note: I am only on page 294, and there are 366 pages, not including the extra content at the end of my local library's copy.)