Marie’s World

Marie dances. It’s her life, the way she keeps sane, the infrastructure of her soul. In a life clouded with secrets, the little clarity Marie carves out for herself is precious. So, it comes as no surprise that a book written by her twin sister revealing Marie’s secrets is a danger to…everything. It forces Marie to come back to her home town, Aberdeen, and face her past. The problem with big secrets is that they tend to come out explosively, wrecking everyone in their wake. Marie, her lover, sister, father, former husband and many others will be caught in the blast – but who will walk away with the least damage, or at all?

The promise of wrestling, dance, love and shadowy secrets make cracking this book open irresistible! Unfortunately, this novel just doesn’t realize its potential. The first thing that might take a reader off balance is the need for more thorough editing. The second may be the info dump in the form of Marie’s memories, which consumes the first third of the book and makes reading a tiring and confusing experience. Perhaps a novella prequel explaining the events in Marie’s past would be a better option. The secrets being hinted at in the memories don’t quite manage to be titillating, rather than bothersome. Also, the overabundance of characters and events make it difficult for one to be drawn to anyone but Marie, who is not an easy character to like or sympathize with. The hope remains that the ending is a preview of a sequel which will resolve everything and tighten up this series! 

Mimi Smith