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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
reflective
the cones are supposed to be this great carefree family that feels like a breeze of fresh air but they’re just irresponsable and neglectful in my opinion, couldn’t get attached to them. they acted like actual teenagers and it pissed me off
this story lacks nuance it’s all black-and-white…you’re either a conservative christian family or one full of irresponsible adults that let actual addicts into their home with their five year old daughter (daughter who’s clearly neglected throughout the entire story…without mary jane (a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL) she wouldn’t even have food in her belly.)
i did like mary jane tho. she’s likeable.
this story lacks nuance it’s all black-and-white…you’re either a conservative christian family or one full of irresponsible adults that let actual addicts into their home with their five year old daughter (daughter who’s clearly neglected throughout the entire story…without mary jane (a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL) she wouldn’t even have food in her belly.)
i did like mary jane tho. she’s likeable.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
💘“To feel something was to feel alive. And to feel alive was starting to feel like love.”💘
🎵synopsis:
In 1970s Baltimore, 14 yr old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway record club. Shy and quiet, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, IMPEACHMENT: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. Dr. Cone is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job-helping a famous rock star dry out. Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.
🎸thoughts:
OMG I loved this. I read it in one day, I could not stop reading. It kind of felt like Virgin Suicides meets Judy Blume in a way?? Mary Jane was such an endearing character and I resonated with her coming of age shock finding out how people live outside of the bubble you grow up in. All the characters in this were so much fun, I was so amused at the entire Cone household. I really like how the author tied up the end too. I definitely am looking into other books by this author as I don't think I've heard of any others!
5/5 ⭐️
📚320 pgs
🎵synopsis:
In 1970s Baltimore, 14 yr old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway record club. Shy and quiet, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, IMPEACHMENT: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. Dr. Cone is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job-helping a famous rock star dry out. Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.
🎸thoughts:
OMG I loved this. I read it in one day, I could not stop reading. It kind of felt like Virgin Suicides meets Judy Blume in a way?? Mary Jane was such an endearing character and I resonated with her coming of age shock finding out how people live outside of the bubble you grow up in. All the characters in this were so much fun, I was so amused at the entire Cone household. I really like how the author tied up the end too. I definitely am looking into other books by this author as I don't think I've heard of any others!
5/5 ⭐️
📚320 pgs
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
i haven’t read a character driven book in so long where there is barely any plot and just pure vibes. this book was good i fell in love with all the characters and their little found family <33
Like others will be as a music fan I was suckered in by the image of the vinyl record on the cover. This is a beach read at best. It’s too simple; I felt dragged along by the flimsiest of detail….and this happened, then this, she wore that, then they went here; it lacked depth, too thin, too naive. The characters were fun but overall superficial. Unremarkable. Read it in a day.
4.5! Such a great coming of age story. You really feel like you are in Mary Jane’s head as she discovers so much about the world. Izzy is such a cute little girl, and so funny, she made me laugh out loud more than once. Overall, I loved this book and the characters. A great read!
My friend and I are always swapping book recommendations back and forth and usually I just add them to my Goodreads TBR. With Mary Jane though, I immediately found the audiobook on Scribd and jumped right in based on her description: “it was like Judy Blume meets Daisy Jones”. And let me tell you, I don’t know a better way to describe this book.
Mary Jane is told from the perspective of a high-school girl who’s spending her summer break nannying for a neighboring couple whose daughter is 4 years old. While she doesn’t know at first why they need help that summer in particular, Mary Jane learns almost immediately that the father, a psychiatrist, is going to be spending the summer treating a famous musician with a heroin addiction, and that his wife will be busy entertaining the musician’s wife, leaving Mary Jane to take care of their daughter Izzie.
Mary Jane is a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old girl discovering who she is when caught between her uptight home-life and at the Cohens’ with no rules or structure to speak of. Neither house is what I would describe as entirely appropriate for a 14-year-old, much less a 4-year-old, but the combination helps Mary Jane to figure out who she is.
An added bonus of reading this on audiobook? At the end of the book there’s a recorded version of one of the character’s original songs!
Mary Jane is told from the perspective of a high-school girl who’s spending her summer break nannying for a neighboring couple whose daughter is 4 years old. While she doesn’t know at first why they need help that summer in particular, Mary Jane learns almost immediately that the father, a psychiatrist, is going to be spending the summer treating a famous musician with a heroin addiction, and that his wife will be busy entertaining the musician’s wife, leaving Mary Jane to take care of their daughter Izzie.
Mary Jane is a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old girl discovering who she is when caught between her uptight home-life and at the Cohens’ with no rules or structure to speak of. Neither house is what I would describe as entirely appropriate for a 14-year-old, much less a 4-year-old, but the combination helps Mary Jane to figure out who she is.
An added bonus of reading this on audiobook? At the end of the book there’s a recorded version of one of the character’s original songs!