Marlena
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Emma Galvin
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By:
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Julie Buntin
About this listen
An electric debut novel about love, addiction, and loss; the story of two girls and the feral year that will cost one her life and define the other's for decades.
Everything about 15-year-old Cat's new town in rural Michigan is lonely and off-kilter until she meets her neighbor, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. Cat, inexperienced and desperate for connection, is quickly lured into Marlena's orbit by little more than an arched eyebrow and a shake of white-blond hair. As the two girls turn the untamed landscape of their desolate small town into a kind of playground, Cat catalogues a litany of firsts - first drink, first cigarette, first kiss - while Marlena's habits harden and calcify. Within the year Marlena is dead, drowned in six inches of icy water in the woods nearby.
Now, decades later, when a ghost from that pivotal year surfaces unexpectedly, Cat must try to forgive herself and move on, even as the memory of Marlena keeps her tangled in the past.
Alive with an urgent, unshakable tenderness, Julie Buntin's Marlena is an unforgettable look at the people who shape us beyond reason and the ways it might be possible to pull oneself back from the brink.
©2017 Julie Buntin (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
In Savannah Espinoza's small New Mexico hometown, kids either flee after graduation or they're trapped there forever. Vanni never planned to get stuck - but that was before her father was diagnosed with Huntington's disease, leaving her and her mother to care for him. Now she doesn't have much of a plan at all: living at home, working as a performing mermaid at a second-rate water park, distracting herself with one boy after another. That changes the day she meets Leigh.
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Does she have HD or not?
- By Jennifer Greenlees on 11-20-17
By: Rebecca Podos
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Our Little Secret
- By: Roz Nay
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Angela is being held in a police interrogation room. Her ex's wife has gone missing, and Detective Novak is sure Angela knows something, despite her claim that she's not involved. At Novak's prodding, Angela tells a story going back 10 years, explaining how she met and fell in love with her high school friend HP. But as her past unfolds, she reveals a disconcerting love triangle and a dark, tangled web of betrayals. Is Angela a scorned ex-lover with criminal intent? Or a pawn in someone else's revenge scheme?
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Amazing
- By lisa on 12-31-19
By: Roz Nay
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The Good Goodbye
- By: Carla Buckley
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn, Suzy Jackson, Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Two cousins, Rory and Arden, lie unconscious in a hospital burn unit. The fire, which broke out in their shared college dorm room, killed another student, and the police want answers. Tension between Rory and Arden's parents was already at an all-time high before the fire, owing to a recent financial crisis and the decline of the family business. As the parents huddle anxiously in the waiting room, carefully avoiding the subject of their own unraveling relationships, disturbing truths come to light.
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I could not stop listening.
- By Amy Davis on 05-29-16
By: Carla Buckley
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Breaking Night
- A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
- By: Liz Murray
- Narrated by: Liz Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age 15, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. Then, when Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny.
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unbelievably inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-12
By: Liz Murray
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Why Can't I Be You
- By: Allie Larkin
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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When Jenny Shaw hears someone shout "Jessie!" across a hotel lobby, she impulsively answers. All her life, Jenny has toed the line, but something propels her to seize the opportunity to become Jessie Morgan, a woman to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. Lonely in her own life, Jenny is embraced by Jessie’s warm circle of friends - and finds unexpected romance. But when she delves into Jessie’s past, Jenny discovers a secret that spurs her to take another leap into the unknown.
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Silly
- By Hilary on 05-20-15
By: Allie Larkin
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Side Effects May Vary
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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When 16-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs - however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, who she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that's as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her archnemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger).
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Listening Experiences May Vary
- By The Reading Date on 05-18-14
By: Julie Murphy
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Whiskey & Ribbons
- By: Leesa Cross-Smith
- Narrated by: Larry Heron, Joe Bearor, Tunisia Hardison
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in contemporary Louisville, Leesa Cross-Smith's mesmerizing first novel surrounding the death of a police officer is a requiem for marriage, friendship, and family, from an author Roxane Gay has called "a consummate storyteller". Evi - a classically-trained ballerina - was nine months pregnant when her husband Eamon was killed in the line of duty on a steamy morning in July. Now, it is winter, and Eamon's adopted brother Dalton has moved in to help her raise six-month-old Noah.
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Beautifully Tragic and Heart Healing
- By Jennifer Glover on 08-17-18
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Darling Days
- A Memoir
- By: iO Tillett Wright
- Narrated by: iO Tillett Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Born into the beautiful bedlam of downtown New York in the eighties, iO Tillett Wright came of age at the intersection of punk, poverty, heroin, and art. This was a world of self-invented characters, glamorous superstars, and strung-out sufferers, ground zero of drag and performance art. Still, no personality was more vibrant and formidable than iO's mother's. Rhonna, a showgirl and young widow, was a mercurial, erratic glamazon. She was iO's fiercest defender and only authority in a world with few boundaries and even fewer indicators of normal life.
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Can’t wait for more from this Author!
- By Team Hobson on 07-24-19
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Before I Fall
- By: Lauren Oliver
- Narrated by: Sarah Drew
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last. Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact.
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Beautiful.
- By Penny on 03-20-10
By: Lauren Oliver
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Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See
- By: Juliann Garey
- Narrated by: Dan Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In her tour-de-force first novel, Juliann Garey takes us inside the restless mind, ravaged heart, and anguished soul of Greyson Todd, a successful Hollywood studio executive who leaves his wife and young daughter and for a decade travels the world giving free reign to the bipolar disorder he's been forced to keep hidden for almost 20 years.
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Psychosis or Syphilis?
- By Vira on 04-02-13
By: Juliann Garey
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My True Love Gave to Me
- Twelve Holiday Stories
- By: Stephanie Perkins - editor
- Narrated by: Various
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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You're going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.
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Nice Holiday Read
- By Doha on 11-23-16
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Ramona Blue
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever. Since then it's been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall, with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: She likes girls, she's fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she's destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family.
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Where was this book ten years ago?
- By S. F. Wilson on 05-08-18
By: Julie Murphy
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The People We Keep
- By: Allison Larkin
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Little River, New York, 1994: April Sawicki is living in a motorless motorhome that her father won in a poker game. Failing out of school, picking up shifts at a local diner, she’s left fending for herself in a town where she’s never quite felt at home. When she “borrows” her neighbor’s car to perform at an open mic night, she realizes her life could be much bigger than where she came from. After a fight with her dad, April packs her stuff and leaves for good, setting off on a journey to find a life that’s all hers.
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Absolutely loved this book!
- By chatteycathi on 08-09-21
By: Allison Larkin
What listeners say about Marlena
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 09-03-21
great story teller
I really enjoyed this book, it was very believable. The Audible reading was also excellent.
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- M. R. Aceto
- 11-27-17
Not for casual listening
I mostly listen to books while at work; I have a fairly rote job that allows me to do so. I can mostly pay attention to what I'm listening to but of course will at times be paying more attention to my work and half-listening. The writing of this book was so beautiful that I had to wait to listen to it in the car on long thruway drives so that I didn't miss a word. The material was relatable to me in many ways, and coupled with the magical writing made for a listening experience that was deeply enjoyable.
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- Sudi
- 06-06-17
A Brilliant, Agonizing Portrait of a Young Woman
When first listening, I thought I would not be able to relate to Buntin's characters because I am so far beyond (in years,) in trying to figure out my teen years and because Buntin's antagonist is much more into drugs than anyone I ever knew. That character would be Marlena, a vibrantly limned but frenetic young woman who befriends and is befriended by a new, younger, neighbor, Cat.
Marlena is on the road to destruction and because of recent family transformations in Cat's life, Cat is drawn into Marlena's orbit of uncentered living -- which has few boundaries but much potential for dissolution.
In short, this is a well written book (told from Cat's viewpoint,) about what it's like to grow into adulthood when your best friend is spiraling into oblivion... while you are simultaneously dealing with the trials which just about every teen girl confront's about self esteem, "coolness" and body image. Not to mention how to relate meaningfully to guys.
Buntin is a very skillful and talented writer. Cat becomes very real and her observations are fully fleshed out, three dimensional and bring all her relationships to life.
As far as being drawn into the book...It seems everyone has a "Marlena" of some sort in their maturing, early years. Someone who pushes boundaries and doesn't care about consequences but whose core of "self" is somehow either so protected and sealed away because of prior abuse that they never let you really "know" them -- or their real self has been damaged into emptiness and you never think you can know them for who they are.
But through your friendship, you grow to love them, despite feeling like they are always trapped beyond you, beneath glass or ice.
This is a well written portrait of two young women and it will grab you... I promise.
PS The narration by Emma Galvin is perfect.
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41 people found this helpful
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- B. Black
- 11-28-17
Beautifully written
There is so much beautiful writing in this book: descriptive, catching feelings in words. Stream of consciousness is not my favorite style, however. I did not care for the performance by the reader - too flat. I wish I had read the book!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Gary & Jay
- 11-05-17
This book gets under your skin.
The honest longing for the lost in life: a friend, a time, a sense of self--all made this book resonate strongly with me.
The theme of immediacy--of recognizing the dangers, and even the love and goodness in life, in time to hold to us what is dear, speaks to all of us. I actually think that everyone has a story like this one.
Beautifully and forcefully read by Emma Galvin.
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- Rochelle
- 10-27-17
Stunningly Beautiful Writing
Marlena is so much more than a coming-of-age novel. From the beginning, I was swept into Cat's story of friendship, family, connection, guilt and loss. Julie Buntin's prose is pure beauty which would be worth listening to as poetry, even if the story weren't as compelling as this one is. Expect emotional complexity with moments of euphoria and heartbreak, as occurs in real life. Rarely am I compelled to buy the book version of an audiobook, but I will with Marlena so I can read and re-read it and will gift it to those whom I think will love it. Thank you for making this an Audible deal of the day.
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- K BROWN
- 04-13-18
Sounds like poems
I am not a typically a lover of poems. But while listening to this book, I repeatedly felt like the words were so well placed that it sounded poetic. This is a book that you will keep thinking about long after you've finished.
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- cyndi
- 03-02-20
loved it
I loves this read. Great story line. Very sad but true. I was disappointed when it ended.
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- kim
- 12-13-17
Don't stop
couldn't put down this story. look for it on audio and listen till the end
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- Scott Johnson
- 11-12-17
Interesting but depressing
This story really helped me to think about, and feel sympathy for rural teenagers and the drug problems they experience. Such crazy downward spiral lives. Nice to know escape is possible, though difficult.
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