Friday 17 July 2015

Mosquitoland

by David Arnold

Mosquitoland_FINAL.jpg
Image from: www.davidarnoldbooks.com

I really wanted to like this book. I was intrigued by the synopsis on the back and the About the Author was funny. This book was also recommended to me and is getting quite a bit of attention so I was excited to check it out.

In the book's favour, the writing is well done and some parts of the book resonated with me.

Unfortunately, there were many things about this book that I did not like. Mim, the main character, goes on a road trip to find her mother. Along the way many serious things happen to her and I felt like they were glossed over and not always handled well. For example, the bus that she is on crashes, people die and the survivors get on a new bus the next day and keep driving.  This felt very unrealistic and forced to me. Similarly, I didn't like how the author handled topics like assault and mental illness, although I suppose the story tells us how Mim handles these things and each person would respond differently to any given situation.

This book was a "one weeker" for me; when I can't get into a book it always takes me longer than a book that I really like. I was disappointed with this book and would recommend checking out other reviews online before delving into this one.

Parent Point: Includes mature themes and language. Recommended for high school students.

No comments:

Post a Comment