Swamplandia!

I tried to like this...and then I was just trying to finish it. I finally got to the scene with the Bird Man. Now I'm tapping out - I quit.

The first half was good, interesting and well-written. There was this magical realism idea floating through the book and then, then it disappeared and there was rape and attempted suicide.

I would not recommend.

Great kid's stories show kids or young people left to their own resources and devices, with no reliable adults to protect them and solve their problem. A few of my favorite examples of this: [b:The Outsiders 231804 The Outsiders S.E. Hinton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442129426l/231804.SY75.jpg 1426690], [b:The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon 11564 The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580235339l/11564.SY75.jpg 1836389], and [b:Coraline 17061 Coraline Neil Gaiman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493497435l/17061.SY75.jpg 2834844]. The kids in Swamplandia! are teens left to cope and make their own decisions and of course they make horrible, life-endangering mistakes. As a mom, I want to beat the living crap out of the dad who abandons and endangers Ava, and Ossie. However, I can still put myself in the place I was as a young person though and appreciate that these were the kind of tales I loved the best.The two lead characters, Ava and Kiwi, are endearing and clever but both overestimate themselves. When the chips are down, though, they come up with the courage they need. Swamplandia! Has a unique setting and story elements and is cute and quirky and an easy read. It's definitely a YA book, I'm not seeing the horror, magical realism, or fantasy aspect. Most of the “weird stuff” that happened, supposed ghosts etc., are easily explained as a projection of the character's minds.The Prose is a bit much at times with needlessly obscure descriptions that don't feel right in the “voice” of the character telling the story. They sound self-consciously like a writer and not at all like the thoughts of the person they're supposed to belong to. Also, and this is just my personal pet peeve, but I hate it when writers flip from a first person narrative to a third person without any compelling reason. Russell could have just stuck to third-person omniscient and we still would have known Kiwi and Ava's thoughts and feelings. This would be good for young adult readers who like offbeat stories.

When I was living in Seattle this book was everywhere and I never read it. Now I finally have!

Beautiful and sad, but there is new life in the end. It is a family story that you will be happy that you know.

A beautifully written book with very interesting characters. Funny and unusual. I was just sorry it was so sad at the end.

Giving up on this one. On first glance, I should love everything about this book, but after 100 pages, I'm still finding it a slog. I've had it for weeks and keep putting it down to read other stuff, and the library wants it back, so into the DNF pile it goes.

The author could have cut out about half of the description of the swamps during Ava's search; it's like filling in a really detailed background when all the audience wants is the portrait of Mona Lisa. Also, the ending left me unfulfilled. It seems like the author just ran out of steam and cut off the story without giving a good explanation for it all, or any sense of how the characters felt about their experiences.

Countering these negatives is the main positive: the characters. I really was interested in them, and related in my own ways with each of their personal dramas. Even the times when I was like, “Come on! Get your head out of your ass!” I still understood a little why they could not, in fact, get their heads out of their asses.

Over-esteemed. Pretty good, yes. Great premise. Great first half-chapter. But quickly I found the alternating chapters/stories distracting, whole sections boring, and the reunion on the lake greatly unbelievable. Very interesting aspects (the Chief's secret life/job, anything that would explain Osceola's behavior, the arc of Kiwi's story that actually carries him forward) lose out to the overly long dredgeman's story (a throwaway for me), meaningless visits with Sawtooth, the tale of Mama Weeds that's a useless tangent, and other tedium. I should probably read the author's short stories, as her weaknesses for me – deviating story ideas, uneven pacing, character gaps – seem reserved for novel writing while her strengths – unique concepts, sudden shimmering language – seem perfect for shorter bursts.

Not much to be happy about in this book. Grim.

I'm sitting here trying to think of critiques or compliments to give this book. None are coming to mind. That's how I feel about the entirety of Swamplandia!: I read the whole thing, I was interested enough in the plot, but in the end I can barely remember what happened - except, of course, that I was disappointed in the resolution of Ossie's plot line (I'd hoped it would go in the opposite direction, which would have made the book a lot more interesting to me), and there's a scene toward the end with Ava that came out of nowhere. Since the two things I remember most are both plot points I disliked, I'm not at all inclines to rec the book to anyone.

Didn't think that I'd be interested in the strange plot, but the writing kept me going. And I'm glad I did. It turned out to be a sort of coming-of-age tale of the kids in the Bigtree household, with the memories of their dead mum being the strength that carried them through their trials.