My second finished book of the year was a random book selected from the shelf. I state this because my yearly books will be made up of random books, books suggested to me and book club selections.
I read 40 books last year based on challenging myself to read more. This year I have challenged myself to read 50!
Marlena by Julie Buntin is a fiction novel. The story revolves around 2 families of 2 teenage girls. Both girls live on the same property and are friends based on proximity and income. One is only slightly better off then the other. Both girls missing a parent in their life but the similarities end there.
One girl Catherine whom is enchanted with the older and more rugged Marlena form a unbreakable bond that gets them feeding danger together. School becomes unimportant. Trips to vacant hotels, church tunnels and doghouses are just part of the day. Eventually too much school skipping is found out all because of a spontaneous pizza lunch.
The teens indulge in drugs and alcohol. Catherine is concerned with her friend but, still follows the bad behavior of her friend. The setting in a rural town with minimal entertainment other then finding trouble makes the drug abuse seem almost expected.
This book gives you a glimpse of teens and drugs. Misguided teens, unsupervised teens. It's kind of a sad story when you read about the drug abuse and how it's obtained, made and sold to other teens.
There is tragedy and more tragedy and as much as I would like to state comedy I can't think of one spot. You don't know where the book is going to take you from start to finish; so you have to read it to the end.
It was a good book. The plot was easy to follow. There was a point to the whole book. All in want from my books is to not get me lost. It ends not the way you expect. The two girls do part ways and you don't expect that from bestfriends either.
Now I will end with that I have not spoiled the book if you choose to pick it up! I'm off to read book number 3!
