Friday, May 13, 2016

Will You Won't You Want Me? by Nora Zelevansky





What They Say....Marjorie Plum isn't your average washed up prom queen. After all, her New York City prep school was too cool for a royal court. Yet, ten years after high school graduation, she is undeniably stuck in the past and aching for that metaphorical tiara.

But when her life takes an unexpected turn, she is forced to start over, moving in to a tiny box of an apartment in Brooklyn with a musician roommate who looks like a pixie and talks like the Dalai Lama. Desperate to pay rent, she starts tutoring a precocious 11-year-old girl-who becomes the unknowing Ghost of Marjorie Past, beginning a surprise-filled journey towards adulthood, where she learns about herself from the most unlikely sources: a rekindled childhood love, a grumpy (but strangely adorable) new boss, even her tutee.
In Nora Zelevansky's charming second novel, Will You Won't You Want Me?, Marjorie soon realizes only she can decide: who is the real Marjorie Plum?


What I Say.....This book started off slowly.  Like, really slowly.  Like, I almost DNF this book.  

Marjorie Plum is the most uninspiring of characters.  It's referred to frequently that she was the most popular girl in school, but there is really no back story to make this an interesting part of the story.  She is still friends with most of here high school crowd, and lives in Manhattan, working in a PR job that she is unqualified for by education or experience.  Her friends call her "Madgesty", but that didn't seem to ring true.  There didn't seem to be any backstory that she was a Regina or that she lived any type of charmed life.  And "Madgesty" kept reminding me of old, jerky armed Madonna - yuck.

Suddenly, Marjorie loses her job, loses her roommate, discovers that her parents are remodeling her bedroom and refuse to let her stay with them.  All signs point to rock bottom.

But her mother sets her up with a friend's kid who is looking for a roommate.  So Marjorie meets Fred.  A strange (in a good way) little musician who has a cute apartment in Brooklyn who welcomes Marjorie with open arms.  So, Marjorie begins to make some new friends.  She also meets a new man, around the same time that the rich, childhood love decides to bare his soul and make a long term commitment to her.

In between romantic and career concerns, Marjorie covers a tutoring session for Fred, and begins a friendship with a young girl who is wise beyond her years.  Only since it's Marjorie, and she can't really commit to starting or stopping anything, she keeps tutoring her without ever making her parents aware that she doesn't work for the tutoring service.

This is when the book became more interesting to me.  I really liked the romantic triangle with Gus and Marjorie, and he made her much more likable.  

Of note, my least favorite word makes another appearance!  SMIRK - Eleven times!!  I just can't even with this word.  People who smirk, need to be biffed in the back of the head.

The other thing that I really disliked was the two page long rants about politics and current affairs, especially since it didn't seem to be a part of Marjorie's daily life.  She wasn't political, she wasn't volunteering or donating to any liberal cause, but then seemed to go on these long rants of the world around her, when she wasn't really even participating in her own life.

There were other areas where the writing seemed disjointed, such as when they are hiking and she sees a guy with a tattoo of a Chinese symbol "that he thought meant "success" but actually translated to "vacuum cleaner".  Huh?  This had no impact on the story at all.  Or "Marjorie threw on her outfit in record time.  So much so that a drill sergeant at West Point felt a jolt of inexplicable joy.".   Once again, huh?  It just seemed like the author's voice got lost at times.

It wound up being a fun read, so I'm glad I kept plugging on!  But maybe some better editing would benefit the next book by this author, keep her in the same voice.


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