Lenny Marks is excellent at not having a life.
She bikes home from work at exactly 4pm each day, buys the same groceries for the same meals every week, and owns thirty-six copies of The Hobbit (currently arranged by height). The closest thing she has to a friendship is playing Scrabble against an imaginary Monica Gellar while watching Friends reruns.
And Lenny Marks is very, very good at not remembering what happened the day her mother and stepfather disappeared when she was still a child. The day a voice in the back of her mind started whispering, you did this.
Until a letter from the parole board arrives in the mail—and when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel. As long-buried memories come to the surface, Lenny’s careful routines fall apart. For the first time, she finds herself forced to connect with the community around her, and unexpected new relationships begin to bloom. Lenny Marks may finally get a life—but what if her past catches up to her first?
Equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming, Kerryn Mayne’s stunning debut is an irresistible novel about truth, secrets, vengeance, and family lost and found, with a heroine who's simply unforgettable.
The Sexy Nerd's Review. . .
This is one of those stories that fell into my pet peeve bucket, but having said that, I actually enjoyed it.
To start off, this story was too long for my tastes. Yes, unfortunately, this is one of those novels that fell into my pet peeve bag, but the more I learned about Lenny Marks the more I began to love the story. Does that sound crazy to you? Well, no worries, I’m about to show you some understanding.
Lenny Marks and I have a great deal in common. She’s a loner. You can time her by her schedule. She’s very meticulous about how her things have to be done. Her sense of humor is often mistaken for being rude. Her brutal honesty often takes people back and they find her super weird. She makes up stories about having friends and an exciting life, when in actuality, she’s a bit lonely, attractive; although she doesn’t think so, and she enjoys her job as a teacher. For me, what’s not to love about Lenny Marks. I identified with her totally and would love it if she were real because she and I would have some laughs because I'm a lot like her. That being said, where our similarities end is I’ve never had to think about murdering someone—to the point of actually carrying it out. Umm, no ma’am I’ve never had to deal with that. I have had bad thoughts, of course, but not actually the life Lenny has had to live.
She received a letter from a place she never expected to hear from again. In fact, she took said letter and stuffed it deep down in her purse so she wouldn’t have to ever think about it again. But for whatever reason, the letter kept coming to the surface. There’s something profoundly serious Lenny Marks must do, but she’s not sure she has the energy to deal with it. Her stepfather is finally being released from prison and Lenny isn’t exactly thrilled to learn of this news. Why would he be getting out of prison? I mean, all he did was kill her mother and brother. Certainly, a matter as sinister as that wouldn’t warrant anyone being released from prison, right? Hmm, yes, that’s what Lenny thought too.
As Lenny is trying to understand her feelings, she strikes up a rare friendship with the owner of a grocery store and discovers they have a great deal in common. The only problem is he’s dating her coworker. Bummer, right. She soon finds out that she’s not as alone as she once thought and her moods and idiosyncrasies aren’t as far out there as she may have once believed. Lenny Marks may not live an exciting life, but she’s living!
I absolutely loved Lenny Marks. Like I said, I wish she were real because she and I would have so much to talk about. I totally got her. She was so misunderstood by her peers, although her parents understood her enough. Her feelings and direct approach threw off so many people she encountered but that was only due to the fact they didn’t get her intellect. She was super smart and that scares people when you have that type of intelligence. Once again, I totally got Lenny.
Could this story have ended sooner than it had, of course, but I really didn’t care because I took my time reading this story and really enjoyed it. It’s not the type of story you come across every day. It was actually refreshing to read about a character that wasn’t popular and how she dealt with the everyday situations we all face in this thing called life.
The Sexy Nerd gives Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder four extra circumstances for her to get over. This was truly a delightful story, although it was quite long, but some journeys are worth the time to get through and this is one such story. Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder goes on sale Tues., July 9, 2024, at your favorite book retailers or wherever books are sold. Until next time, Nerds, you know how we do!
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