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A review by ssshira
Mary Anne's Revenge by Nola Thacker, Ann M. Martin
2.0
this is my first time reading this book.
in the latest volume in the saga of mary anne trying to grow a backbone by ghostwriter [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], she is working on the features section of the yearbook, which will have a “most” and “best” section (like most likely to succeed, etc) based on student votes. cokie is a jerk to mary anne for no apparent reason (see lowlights/nitpicks) and is very competitive with her. she rigs the voting system so she and her friends will get as many of the most and best votes as possible, but when it’s very obvious that it was rigged they do a better job monitoring the revote and neither cokie nor mary anne ends up winning any of them. cokie also spreads rumors about mary anne that she begged logan to get back together, and that she begged cokie for an invite to a party when she found out logan would be there. logan, meanwhile, has started dating dorianne wallingford (an sms student who is periodically mentioned throughout the series). mary anne enlists cary’s help getting revenge on cokie: they fill out a ton of magazine subscription cards for cokie, and mary anne holds onto them with the intention of possibly sending them out. then she sneaks out while grounded to go to cokie’s party, where cokie openly gossips about mary anne in front of her. so finally, she tells cokie off at her own damn party and everyone there applauds. and she doesn’t end up using the subscription cards, because just telling cokie off was revenge enough for her. meanwhile, mary anne is having conflicts with everyone in her life, because she is finally standing up for herself, and because she’s still tormented by the memories of the fire. she gets mad at her dad for picking out furniture without consulting her, and at kristy for picking their movie theater seats without asking her. in the end, after she sneaks out to go to cokie’s party and gets busted coming home, she and her dad confront the fact that they are both still freaking out about the fire. mary anne can’t sleep because she keeps having nightmares about it, and richard stays up all night walking around the house because he’s convinced there’s going to be another fire. so they become more sympathetic towards one another.
highlights:
-mary anne mentions that austin is named after two cars (austin and bentley) and how did I never notice that before?
-cokie comments that mary anne is upset that she and logan are no longer eligible for best couple. mary anne dwells on it until she later on that day thinks of a good comeback: "no, cokie. I'm just upset because we'll have to have a page for you for Least Likely Ever to be Part of a Couple." it’s basically exactly like george costanza:
-cokie pretends to be sympathetic to mary anne and mary anne snaps at her and says "when they were handing out awful, you were first in line." okay, no that comeback is the same as the jerk store line.
-abby voted for herself six times on the most and best ballot. lol, I love abby.
-this better take on the love story quote: "I think being cokie means never having to say you're sorry."
-neither mary anne nor cokie ends up winning any of the most or best, a detail I appreciate considering how much of the book is dedicated to wondering which of them will win. it’s like when we think buffy or cordelia is going to win homecoming queen and it ends up being a tie between holly charleston and michelle blake.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-why does richard pick out mary anne’s furniture without asking her? I thought he said she was going to actually have a hand in designing her new home.
-abby advocates for most beautiful referring to a boy and a girl, but the yearbook team doesn't agree and make the boy one most handsome. I like that abby says this, but for real, it’s so annoying how devoted to the “girls=pretty, boys=handsome” thing kids are.
-why is cokie still acting competitive with mary anne? she’s not dating logan anymore, so shouldn’t she be mean girl-ing dorianne wallingford instead?
claudia outfit:
-"She was wearing wide-legged purple pants cut off at the ankle, flat back shoes, striped socks (purple and white), and a white crossed top over a purple camisole. She'd pulled her hair back with papier-mâché decorated combs that she'd created herself: two little figures were holding on to the combs as if they were being blown backward. It was pretty funny. And very creative."
no snacks in claudia’s room.
in the latest volume in the saga of mary anne trying to grow a backbone by ghostwriter [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], she is working on the features section of the yearbook, which will have a “most” and “best” section (like most likely to succeed, etc) based on student votes. cokie is a jerk to mary anne for no apparent reason (see lowlights/nitpicks) and is very competitive with her. she rigs the voting system so she and her friends will get as many of the most and best votes as possible, but when it’s very obvious that it was rigged they do a better job monitoring the revote and neither cokie nor mary anne ends up winning any of them. cokie also spreads rumors about mary anne that she begged logan to get back together, and that she begged cokie for an invite to a party when she found out logan would be there. logan, meanwhile, has started dating dorianne wallingford (an sms student who is periodically mentioned throughout the series). mary anne enlists cary’s help getting revenge on cokie: they fill out a ton of magazine subscription cards for cokie, and mary anne holds onto them with the intention of possibly sending them out. then she sneaks out while grounded to go to cokie’s party, where cokie openly gossips about mary anne in front of her. so finally, she tells cokie off at her own damn party and everyone there applauds. and she doesn’t end up using the subscription cards, because just telling cokie off was revenge enough for her. meanwhile, mary anne is having conflicts with everyone in her life, because she is finally standing up for herself, and because she’s still tormented by the memories of the fire. she gets mad at her dad for picking out furniture without consulting her, and at kristy for picking their movie theater seats without asking her. in the end, after she sneaks out to go to cokie’s party and gets busted coming home, she and her dad confront the fact that they are both still freaking out about the fire. mary anne can’t sleep because she keeps having nightmares about it, and richard stays up all night walking around the house because he’s convinced there’s going to be another fire. so they become more sympathetic towards one another.
highlights:
-mary anne mentions that austin is named after two cars (austin and bentley) and how did I never notice that before?
-cokie comments that mary anne is upset that she and logan are no longer eligible for best couple. mary anne dwells on it until she later on that day thinks of a good comeback: "no, cokie. I'm just upset because we'll have to have a page for you for Least Likely Ever to be Part of a Couple." it’s basically exactly like george costanza:
-cokie pretends to be sympathetic to mary anne and mary anne snaps at her and says "when they were handing out awful, you were first in line." okay, no that comeback is the same as the jerk store line.
-abby voted for herself six times on the most and best ballot. lol, I love abby.
-this better take on the love story quote: "I think being cokie means never having to say you're sorry."
-neither mary anne nor cokie ends up winning any of the most or best, a detail I appreciate considering how much of the book is dedicated to wondering which of them will win. it’s like when we think buffy or cordelia is going to win homecoming queen and it ends up being a tie between holly charleston and michelle blake.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-why does richard pick out mary anne’s furniture without asking her? I thought he said she was going to actually have a hand in designing her new home.
-abby advocates for most beautiful referring to a boy and a girl, but the yearbook team doesn't agree and make the boy one most handsome. I like that abby says this, but for real, it’s so annoying how devoted to the “girls=pretty, boys=handsome” thing kids are.
-why is cokie still acting competitive with mary anne? she’s not dating logan anymore, so shouldn’t she be mean girl-ing dorianne wallingford instead?
claudia outfit:
-"She was wearing wide-legged purple pants cut off at the ankle, flat back shoes, striped socks (purple and white), and a white crossed top over a purple camisole. She'd pulled her hair back with papier-mâché decorated combs that she'd created herself: two little figures were holding on to the combs as if they were being blown backward. It was pretty funny. And very creative."
no snacks in claudia’s room.