Straightlaced, bookish Marnie is convinced that she is "Mary" in her family of 5 sisters. Her successful older sisters are the "Lizzie" and "Jane" and that is just how it is. As Marnie persues the big Hunt Prize at her private girls school, she starts to wonder if being Mary is holding her back. She decides to shed her Mary persona to become a more outgoing and positive person.

The Hunt Prize is Marnie's main goal for her senior year. Her sister won it years ago and she feels that she must win it to prove to her family that she is as worthy as her older sister. She decides on service project that involves reading to animals, which introduces the adorable Whit to the picture. Whit is so easy to talk to but Marnie's heart is with the gorgeous friend of the family, Hayes. As she becomes more involved with her project, she starts to include her family members. She finds that they are more than a "perfect" older sister and aloof dad. And that they like her a lot more than she realized.

Adhira, Marnie's roommate, is her main cheerleader and support. Although Marnie initally sees her as an irritant (she wanted a single!), their friendship grows into one of the most important relationships in Marnie's life.

Loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, Being Mary Bennet is a fun and sweet YA novel about a young woman exploring who she is as well as accepting and loving her family for who they are. There is some drinking and minor swearing but no drug use or sex.

Being Mary Bennet is a fun look into the life of an 18 year old girl who has yet to embrace herself and does not fit in with her peers or even in her own family. Literary lovers will enjoy the Jane Austen and other references and analogies. I will admit to not always loving the protagonist and being angry with her selfishness at times. The author draws a great parallel to Mary Bennet which is a very creative twist since most young girls wish to be Lizzy Bennet! Overall, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend.

One person’s “witty and acerbic” is another person’s “smug and unpleasant,” I suppose.. This one just didn’t do it for me.

The main character's inner monologue is hilarious and refreshing, and I can genuinely say the interaction between two characters has me rethinking an important scenario in my own life, which is an awesome takeaway. My complaint is that there are times when the main character is truly insufferable. She should be, her redemption arc wouldn't work otherwise, but it makes some of the reading a little bit wince-worthy.

CW: harassment, loss of a child
This book wowed me. I don’t know what I loved more: the literary references or the swoon worthy romance. It was such a beautiful story about family and self discovery. You start out with a really unlikeable protagonist and as the book goes on you really start to root for her and see real growth in her character. The side characters were strong, fully-developed and dynamic; I’d love to see them get their own books in the future! Absolutely fantastic debut.

This was cute and heartfelt. I really enjoyed the characters, particularly the development of Marnie's character. Her character was relatable and realistic. There was plenty of plot to keep me engaged, but it occasionally felt a bit chaotic. I loved the reimaging of the Bennet family because they were different enough so it didn't feel like I was rereading Pride and Prejudice but they definitely fit into the classic archetypes of each character. The message was one that will stick with me and one that I think is so important especially for young readers. The only thing keeping me from giving this five stars was I wish there were more depth to the characters as I felt that from most of them we really only got surface-level detail.

Marnie makes decisions and mistakes that I could very easily see myself making as a teen. She wants to live up to the image of her "perfect" sibling in order to gain attention from her parents and that causes her quite a lot of grief and leads to the realization that no one, including her precious childhood crush, is as perfect as they seem! I thoroughly enjoyed following Marnie's train of thought and seeing her eyes get opened to the realities around her. I also loved Whit! He makes very mature decisions and is so conscious of what Marnie needs even when it would be so much easier for him to make selfish decisions.

The opposite nature of her and Adhira, the heartbreak and growth that comes from that friendship, is simply beautiful!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the twist on the classic and the character development Marnie exhibited. The friendship with her sisters and roommate felt real and left me rooting for her throughout the novel. The writing was well done, and I loved the banter throughout!
The only thing that kept this from being a five star read for me was that there were a few times the plot seemed like it was trying to do too many things at one time which left me feeling a little lost along the way.
All in all, I thought it was a cute read and look forward to seeing other work by this author!