![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brianfarreybooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/marbury-197x300.jpg\" "\\"marbury\\"")
<\/p>\nSo what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first thing I do after saying I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be posting book reviews on the new blog? I post a book review.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Except it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n
A review would give a thorough synopsis and talk about what the author did right and what the author did wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 I can only talk about what the book did to me.<\/p>\n
It blew me away.<\/p>\n
THE MARBURY LENS is about a teen named Jack who is kidnapped early in the book, escapes, and begins to question his sanity as a result.\u00c2\u00a0 While visiting London, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tricked into putting on a pair of glasses that let him see a sort of alternate world, a hellish place called Marbury. \u00c2\u00a0In what we might call reality, Jack struggles to go on with his life, hanging out with his best friend, Connor, and exploring a burgeoning relationship with Nickie, an English girl. But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s haunted by the events surrounding the kidnapping, besieged by memory blackouts, and fighting an overpowering, self-destructive compulsion to return to Marbury where he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on a quest to lead two young boys to safety.<\/p>\n
THE MARBURY LENS is one of the most original, mind-bending books I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read in a long time.\u00c2\u00a0 It made me paranoid and uncomfortable. But no matter how paranoid or uncomfortable I got, I had to keep reading. Just like Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s compulsion to return to Marbury, this was the first thing I picked up whenever I had free time.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And the minute I finished, I went online and ordered the author\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two previous books.<\/p>\n
That said, this book is not for everyone. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s graphic and violent. And it really, truly messes with your head. \u00c2\u00a0But I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recommend it enough. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worthy of study just to see how Andrew Smith crawls under your skin and sets up shop.\u00c2\u00a0 It keeps you guessing and just as Jack questions his sanity, you start to question what you think you know about the book as well.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s masterful and intense and I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget it anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Obviously I read a lot. Some stuff is same ole, same ole. Other stuff is well-written and entertaining. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s truly, truly rare when a book shakes me up and stands out in ways I find hard to describe. This is that book. I hope to see\/hear people talking about THE MARBURY LENS for months to come.<\/p>\n