Being Mary Bennet

By: J. C. Peterson

Narrated by: Sarah Beth Pfeifer

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzy Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.

A less acknowledged truth is that Mary Bennet might be a better fit.

For Marnie Barnes, realizing she’s a Mary Bennet is devastating. But she’s determined to reinvent herself, so she enlists the help of her bubbly roommate and opens up to the world.

And between new friends, a very cute boy, and a rescue pup named Sir Pat, Marnie finds herself on a path to becoming a new person entirely. But she’s no Lizzy, or even Mary—instead, she’s someone even better: just plain Marnie.

With a hilariously sharp voice, a sweet and fulfilling romance that features a meet-cute in an animal shelter, and a big family that revels in causing big problems, this charming comedy of errors about a girl who resolves to become the main character of her own story (at any and all costs), is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Becky Albertalli…and Jane Austen, of course.

Loved

I loved the character evolution in this book. So many books feel predictable and redundant but Being Mary Bennet had the charm of the young adult genre with more interesting characters and a focus on personal development and friends and family relationships rather than just romantic ones (but it has that too!). Would definitely recommend.

A wonderful twist to P&P!

The writing and narration of Being Mary Bennett held my attention so well that I stayed up til the wee hours of the morning to try and finish it. Marnie can be a bit much at times, but she is realistic. So much so that's I found myself responding to her thoughts out loud! I love that J.C. Peterson made this their own story while beautifully paying homage to Jane Austen's original. I'm looking forward to Lola's story and hope for many more!

Wonderful

I loved this new look at Mary Bennet through the lens of Marne Barnes whose painfully embarrassing coming of age moments mixed with some hard truths about miscarriage, harassment, and sisterhood fit together like a perfect puzzle all the way to the ending final piece. The romance was a slow burn and definitely second to Marne's slow growth into her potential, but I think it made perfect sense that way.

While some reviewers took umbrage at some of the harder themes in the novel, I wondered reading those reviews what rock they've been living under. What woman hasn't experienced harassment, hardship, and maybe not the specifics but similar types of hurts hurled at Marne, her sisters, and her friend? If you read this and don't realize how needed and fully appropriate it is to talk about the harder subject matter in this book, I think you must have lived a very sheltered life, or are blind to reality.