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Marybell's Story

Roselys Polanco
iUniverse, 54 pages, (paperback) $8.95, 9780595355778
(Reviewed: November, 2013)

In Roselys Polanco's coming-of-age novel, 15-year-old Marybell is trying to cope with her troublesome and turbulent life.

Removed from her parents' custody because of her father's abhorrent abuse and adopted by Jenny and Allan—her "so-called" mom and dad— Marybell "was forced to grow up at an early age" and keep a dark secret. She finds comfort in writing, and she's composed this story—her story—for "you[,] dear reader to figure out who the real victim is, who Marybell truly is, what she's truly about. How much pain she is really feeling. And if she truly does care."

This is a heavy and peculiar directive with which to begin the book, given that Marybell's emotional state is never explicitly described and the majority of the book's action is a rundown of Marybell's exploits with her boyfriend, Angel, and her day-to-day arguments with Jenny. However, it's not a failed technique. Polanco makes a clever switch in point of view by the book's end, thereby bolstering the effect of the direct address and shrouding the cheeky conclusion in mystery.

Regrettably though, this 54-page debut is flawed by a lack of punctuation, awkward transitions between scenes and chapters, and inconsistencies in word usage (i.e. "ok," "okay," and "O.K."). Spelling mistakes also detract from the book's enjoyment: Polanco uses "except" for “accept”; "brake up" for “break up”; and "baby's" for “babies.” Choppy prose, such as, "Yes ok what ever you want baby, lets just leave now and then we have more time together..." thwarts readers' engagement. And, a free-form structure confounds: The book concludes with an entry from Marybell's journal and seven poems written presumably by Marybell.

An extensive edit of Polanco's tale prior to publication would have corrected these missteps and allowed its worthy themes of surviving abuse, transition, and self-awareness to emerge. As it stands, the book's mechanical errors are likely to overpower any reader's attachment to the story.

Also available in ebook.

Author’s Current Residence
New York, New York

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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