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lizbethandthelifeinbetween 's review for:
Mosquitoland
by David Arnold
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The author has a strong voice, which is hobeslty the only good thing I can say about this book. His voice doesn't suit this type of book and only servers to try and distract the reader from how dry the plot it by dragging it out with flowery prose.
I was expecting something more to happen. I kept waiting for a big reveal like MIM being an unreliable Narrator but it never came. it ended the exact way I expected it to from that start.
MIM is not a character, but she is THE Main Character. she has no personality outside of being the main character through which the author can use for his flowery prose. it's hard to connect with her because she has 0 substance, a character of what it's like to be a teenager. She thinks she's so strange because she's watched Lord of the Rings and no on rthe planet has ever heard of Lod of the Rings except her.
The road trip lacks any sort of adventure. it's buried under flowery prose that make it hard to sort out what's happening let alone get invested in the adventure. there's no Suspense because MIM, despite being the smartest human and most thoughtful and introspective person to ever live, can't piece together what the reader does within the first 10% of the book.
Everything around MIM including MIM herself is awful.
MIMs parents are awful too. she trues to give us stories to like her dad but it's just her dad showing her how to smoke and then getting her to kill fireflies with a bat. MIM mocks the appearance of everyone she meets, calls her friend with a disability her "pet" (she takes him to the vet too but given that the hospital was closed it does kinda feel like something a bunch of worried teenagers would do but that was not necessary for the story at all), and uses lipstick as "Cherokee warpaint". There's more, but this book certainly doesn't treat anything with empathy or sensitivity.
also it's so unbelievable. there's a bus crash and no police involved? she gets caught by the police and just lies and runs away? she can't be tracked by the name she used to pay for the bus ticket in the first place (MIM is too obsessed with calling herslef Mary Iris Malone I don't think she could handle using a fake name to buy a bus ticket).
I'm not sure the author has ever ridden a long haul bus anywhere in his life. as someone who serially has taken 8h overnight busses, none of this is accurate.
I was expecting something more to happen. I kept waiting for a big reveal like MIM being an unreliable Narrator but it never came. it ended the exact way I expected it to from that start.
MIM is not a character, but she is THE Main Character. she has no personality outside of being the main character through which the author can use for his flowery prose. it's hard to connect with her because she has 0 substance, a character of what it's like to be a teenager. She thinks she's so strange because she's watched Lord of the Rings and no on rthe planet has ever heard of Lod of the Rings except her.
The road trip lacks any sort of adventure. it's buried under flowery prose that make it hard to sort out what's happening let alone get invested in the adventure. there's no Suspense because MIM, despite being the smartest human and most thoughtful and introspective person to ever live, can't piece together what the reader does within the first 10% of the book.
Everything around MIM including MIM herself is awful.
MIMs parents are awful too. she trues to give us stories to like her dad but it's just her dad showing her how to smoke and then getting her to kill fireflies with a bat. MIM mocks the appearance of everyone she meets, calls her friend with a disability her "pet" (she takes him to the vet too but given that the hospital was closed it does kinda feel like something a bunch of worried teenagers would do but that was not necessary for the story at all), and uses lipstick as "Cherokee warpaint". There's more, but this book certainly doesn't treat anything with empathy or sensitivity.
also it's so unbelievable. there's a bus crash and no police involved? she gets caught by the police and just lies and runs away? she can't be tracked by the name she used to pay for the bus ticket in the first place (MIM is too obsessed with calling herslef Mary Iris Malone I don't think she could handle using a fake name to buy a bus ticket).
I'm not sure the author has ever ridden a long haul bus anywhere in his life. as someone who serially has taken 8h overnight busses, none of this is accurate.