The first few sentences of Marionette hooked me right away. Paige tried to kill herself by cutting her wrists, but she failed. And she hates herself for failing. In the beginning she seemed pretty introverted and introverted me appreciated that. You don’t often find introverted characters in a book. (I don’t know if she really was or not, but that was my impression and it made me enjoy this story even more.) On top of that, Paige is a very interesting character. All of T.B. Markinson’s characters are great. They feel so real and that’s what I love about reading her books. But Paige really stuck with me. She was developed so well. Her internal dialogue is dark and sarcastic, which was entertaining. A few parts read like rambling thoughts, but it was all information we needed to know to understand Paige’s relationship with her family.

Paige’s girlfriend, Jess, makes her promise to go to therapy during college and Paige doesn’t break her promises. In her therapy sessions we learn about her past. I enjoyed those moments because it gave us a deeper look into Paige and revealed a dark history involving her parents, twin sister, and her best friend who died years ago.

There are secrets galore in this story, and a ton of tamales. If you like characters with dark, secretive pasts, unfolding mysteries, and stories about college students, I highly recommend this book.


Note: There is talk of suicide and there are gay characters. I mention this only for the readers who won't like that. Oh and if you don't like farting...there's a lot of farts in this story. (Haha!)