For the Love of Mary
Ratings1
Average rating2
15
Ratings1
Average rating2
Fifteen-year-old Jacob feels almost on the inside: almost smart, almost funny, almost good-looking, almost worthy of falling in love. His sister is too busy dating guys in Whitesnake jackets to notice, and his best friend is occupied with his own painful pubescent crisis. Jacob's mother has just started a curious (and rather un-Christian) holy war with the church across the street, while his father has secretly moved into the garage. Everything changes when Jacob meets Mary. Jacob thinks Mary is the most beautiful girl in the world. If only Mary's father wasn't the minister at the enormous rival church. If only she wasn't dating a youth pastor with pristine white teeth and impeccably trimmed hair. If only Jacob could work up the courage to tell Mary how he feels . . . As the conflict between the churches escalates, a peeping Tom prowls the neighborhood, a bearded lady terrorizes unsuspecting Dairy Queen customers, a beautiful young girl entices Jacob into a carnal romp in a car wash, and the church parishioners prepare their annual re-enactment of Operation Desert Storm. For the Love of Mary is sidesplitting satire with a surprising amount of heart.
Reviews with the most likes.
I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley.
There's nothing I dislike more than a book—or a movie or any other type of media—that leaves next to no impression. This isn't a bad novel, it just felt so utterly bland to me that its positive elements barely stood out. As a coming-of-age story, it's forgettable with characters that aren't all that interesting or well-written. It felt like the author was blending a bunch of disparate sitcom plots together, and the result is over-the-top without the fun you'd expect from that. As a satirical look at religion and self-righteousness and church “culture” as a whole, it has a few scattered moments that stood out as clever. You can feel it building toward some smart observation or funny scene, but it sputters out before it gets there.
I don't think this is a very good book, but the worst thing about For The Love Of Mary is how unremarkable it is.
