Review: The Marbury Lens

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury. There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them. Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind. Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay.But it’s not. Andrew Smith has written his most beautiful and personal novel yet, as he explores the nightmarish outer limits of what trauma can do to our bodies and our minds.




I had never heard of this book before I entered a giveaway held by Lady Reader's Bookstuff. It sounded interesting, and it recieved high praise from a lot of people. I won the book and was SO excited when it arrived at my house. I started it right away, but less than halfway through, I ran into a problem every reader dreads. I couldn't connect with the characters. This really upset me, because I can't really explain why. There's nothing wrong or dislikable about them, so I guess it's just me. Luckily for me, the story was so good that I was never bored. So much went on. Some weirdo came and handed him a pair of glasses, and it went back and forth between Jack trying to fight his inner demons to fighting and escaping real-life ones. After his multiple traumatic experiences, he struggles with keeping his most precious friendship alive, and  trying not to scare off his new lover. Then there is a ghost named Seth, who did help out.  I did connect with him. I adored him in fact. He has such a tragic story, and I felt so unbearably sad while reading it. The book had the perfect ending, which made me exremely happy and glad that I did finish the book. I would definatly recommend it to all my reader friends.