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A review by maggiestraveledbookshelf
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
๐ The One Hundred Lives of Lenni and Margot
โ๐ป Marianne Cronin
โ๏ธ Contemporary Fiction
Rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐ซ | 4.5
โ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐, ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ก๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐ฉ๐ค๐ช๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐จ, ๐ค๐ง ๐ก๐ค๐ซ๐๐ ๐ช๐จ, ๐ค๐ง ๐ง๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ช๐จ. ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ.โ
Oh my goodness, what a sweet and tender story. Lenni burrowed her way into my heart!
Overview:
โขSet in a Hosptial
โขThemes of Death and Friendship
โขFound Family
โขMultiple Timelines
โขMix of Humor and Somberness
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ, ๐ญ๐ณ-๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ป๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ด๐ฏ-๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ผ๐, ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฝ ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐๐.
This story is full of life and vibrancy, which is a bit ironic considering it takes place in the May Ward of the hospital - a place where patients are โlife-limitedโ.
Lenni is such a gorgeous character. She carries herself with such vivacity, all while being frank about her fear of dying. It was beautifully vulnerable.
โ๐พ๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ, ๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐โ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฃ, ๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐?โ
Then we have Margot, who has lived so many lives in her time. She experiences unspeakable grief and joy and hardship and love. Hearing her stories was a gift.
And her friendship with Lenni? The journey with their art? I loved every moment of their interactions.
โ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ข. ๐๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช?โ
โ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ง๐ช๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฎ.โ
โ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ง๐ช๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ง๐ช๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฎ?โ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ช๐๐๐๐.
Father Arthur and Lenniโs bond became one of my favorite parts of this story! The way Lenni questioned him about faith and the way he responded with honesty and compassionโฆ I loved it.
Plus, it showed that unexpected friendships can help us grow and find ourselves in entirely new ways.
โ๐๐ค ๐โ๐ข ๐๐๐ข๐ค๐ช๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ?โ
โ๐ผ๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฅ ๐ค๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐จ, ๐ฎ๐๐จ.โ
โ๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ข.โ
I have to applaud the author at this beautifully crafted story! She intertwined moments of tenderness with scenes of levity, and it struck the perfect balance.
I just loved her writing style, including quotes like this:
โ๐ฝ๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ?โ
๐๐ ๐จ๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ. โ๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ก๐ก, ๐๐๐ง๐๐ค๐ฉ. ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐ค๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค๐ค ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ช๐ก ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ.โ
I believe that this book celebrates friendship and finding joy in unexpected places. Itโs definitely not a happy story, but I thoroughly enjoyed every page.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book to everyone who enjoys books that make them feeeeel and reflect.
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