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A review by finesilkflower
Mary Anne's Revenge by Nola Thacker, Ann M. Martin
1.0
Mary Anne decides she needs an attitude makeover. She’s having PTSD fire dreams; her father is picking out all her furniture for the new house; Cokie Mason is walking all over her in yearbook meetings. Cokie spreads a rumor that Mary Anne begged Logan to take her back, then fixes the yearbook superlative elections. Mary Anne asks for Cary Retlin’s help because it’s not a FF book if Cary Retlin isn’t plot-pivotal. The series should be called BSC: Cary.
Cary, in his infinite wisdom, urges restraint; he gives Mary Anne a bunch of magazine subscription cards made out to Cokie, but tells her to keep them in her back pocket unless and until she really needs them. As Cary predicted, knowing she has a weapon she can deploy at any time gives Mary Anne confidence. But Cary strains Mary Anne’s patience by continually hinting that he has a big revenge plan, without letting her know what it is or when it will happen. Mary Anne and the BSC decide to take matters into their own hands, bringing some dumb standard gags (fake spiders, saran wrap, etc.) to Cokie’s party. But after watching Cokie flirt shamelessly (and fruitlessly) with Logan, Mary Anne calls off her goons. She tells of Cokie, asking her why she’s so mean all the time, and calling her “Most Likely Not To Succeed.” Cary then dances with Mary Anne and tells her that “by telling the truth, you just got the sweetest revenge of all.”
There’s also a family subplot where Mary Anne becomes sullen and irritable with Richard. She has to sneak out to go to Cokie’s party because she’s grounded. Finally Sharon yells at them both, which is kind of a cop-out, in my opinion--shouldn’t Mary Anne being resolving this with her newfound confidence?
Overall this book makes very little sense. While I like that speaking up for herself straightforwardly, not goofy pranking, is Mary Anne’s true confidence-booster--and that Cary places a premium, not just on mischief, but on doing mischief in a poetically just and individual-personality-satisfying way--Mary Anne’s final climactic speech is not sufficiently different from an earlier tiff with Cokie to show any kind of meaningful character development or to warrant Cary’s notice or praise. It might have worked if Mary Anne had either (1) refrained from doing anything to Cokie at the end, deciding that Cokie’s own patheticness was its own punishment, “I use my turn to feel sorry for Pierce” style; or (2) totally let Cokie get away with everything up until that point, and then gave a really serious, scolding speech with no trace of meanness and tons of moral authority. I think that was the intention, but because both Mary Anne’s earlier interactions with Cokie and her final speech were laced with irritating, peevish barbs, the whole thing just carries no weight.
Timing: No specific temporal markers. Some outdoor scenes suggest springtime. Working on the yearbook suggests the end of the school year, although it could be early spring if they have an early printing deadline to meet.
Revised Timeline: March or April of third academic year post-grad. The yearbook makes no sense by this point of the revised timeline, but it’s not really necessary. Perhaps Mary Anne is feeling the injustice of a fellow grad student stealing winning a grant through underhanded dealings.
Cary, in his infinite wisdom, urges restraint; he gives Mary Anne a bunch of magazine subscription cards made out to Cokie, but tells her to keep them in her back pocket unless and until she really needs them. As Cary predicted, knowing she has a weapon she can deploy at any time gives Mary Anne confidence. But Cary strains Mary Anne’s patience by continually hinting that he has a big revenge plan, without letting her know what it is or when it will happen. Mary Anne and the BSC decide to take matters into their own hands, bringing some dumb standard gags (fake spiders, saran wrap, etc.) to Cokie’s party. But after watching Cokie flirt shamelessly (and fruitlessly) with Logan, Mary Anne calls off her goons. She tells of Cokie, asking her why she’s so mean all the time, and calling her “Most Likely Not To Succeed.” Cary then dances with Mary Anne and tells her that “by telling the truth, you just got the sweetest revenge of all.”
There’s also a family subplot where Mary Anne becomes sullen and irritable with Richard. She has to sneak out to go to Cokie’s party because she’s grounded. Finally Sharon yells at them both, which is kind of a cop-out, in my opinion--shouldn’t Mary Anne being resolving this with her newfound confidence?
Overall this book makes very little sense. While I like that speaking up for herself straightforwardly, not goofy pranking, is Mary Anne’s true confidence-booster--and that Cary places a premium, not just on mischief, but on doing mischief in a poetically just and individual-personality-satisfying way--Mary Anne’s final climactic speech is not sufficiently different from an earlier tiff with Cokie to show any kind of meaningful character development or to warrant Cary’s notice or praise. It might have worked if Mary Anne had either (1) refrained from doing anything to Cokie at the end, deciding that Cokie’s own patheticness was its own punishment, “I use my turn to feel sorry for Pierce” style; or (2) totally let Cokie get away with everything up until that point, and then gave a really serious, scolding speech with no trace of meanness and tons of moral authority. I think that was the intention, but because both Mary Anne’s earlier interactions with Cokie and her final speech were laced with irritating, peevish barbs, the whole thing just carries no weight.
Timing: No specific temporal markers. Some outdoor scenes suggest springtime. Working on the yearbook suggests the end of the school year, although it could be early spring if they have an early printing deadline to meet.
Revised Timeline: March or April of third academic year post-grad. The yearbook makes no sense by this point of the revised timeline, but it’s not really necessary. Perhaps Mary Anne is feeling the injustice of a fellow grad student stealing winning a grant through underhanded dealings.