Mosquitolândia

by David Arnold

Após o inesperado divórcio dos pais, Mim Malone é arrastada de sua casa em Ohio para o árido Mississippi, onde passa a morar com o pai e a madrasta e a ser medicada contra a própria vontade. Porém, antes mesmo de a poeira da mudança baixar, ela descobre que a mãe está doente.

Mim foge de sua nova vida e embarca em um ônibus com destino a seu verdadeiro lugar, o lar de sua mãe, e acaba encontrando alguns companheiros de viagem muito interessantes pelo caminho. Quando a jornada de mais de mil quilômetros toma rumos inesperados, ela precisa confrontar os próprios demônios e redefinir seus conceitos de amor, lealdade e sanidade.

Com uma narrativa caleidoscópica e inesquecível, Mosquitolândia é uma odisseia contemporânea, uma história sobre as dificuldades do dia a dia e o que fazemos para enfrentá-las.

“Um livro que fala da doçura da vida, da coragem de quem ama e do que precisamos nos afastar para enxergar o que está ao nosso redor.”Wall Street Journal

“Absolutamente sensacional. Não falta humor, cenas delicadas ou surpresas de tirar o fôlego. A trajetória triunfante dessa garota de 16 anos vale a leitura.”Publishers Weekly

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Mental Health, Coming Of Age, Mental Illness

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

David Arnold is the New York Times bestselling author of Mosquitoland, I Loved You in Another Life, The Electric Kingdom, Kids of Appetite, and The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik. He has won the Southern Book Prize and the Great Lakes Book Award, and was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for his debut. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with his wife and son. Learn more at davidarnoldbooks.com and follow him on Instagram @iamdavidarnold.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange."

Before anyone wants to tell me - yes, I know that John Green did not invent a new style of book. But he is well-known enough that he's good to use in comparisons.

So I'd say you would like this if you enjoy John Green's books, particularly TFiOS. This is the kind of book where the extremely philosophically-minded teen protagonist pauses at least once a paragraph to ruminate on the nature of the universe, people, and her own tumultuous emotions.

But, for me, this didn't feel like a story. It felt like a collection of thoughts and conversations that are all meant to show how smart, deep and expertly snarky the narrator is. Everything that happens to her - from nearly getting sexually assaulted to going to eat at a gas station diner - has a message behind it. And it feels like it too.

Nothing feels natural. Emotions feel like plot tools or an excuse for a dally into a pretty writing exercise. Conversations feel like another opportunity for the author to show how witty and snarky Mim is.

I've read a number of reviews since finishing this book that all say something like "I liked it but just didn't connect for some reason" or "It's well written but there's something I can't put my finger on". I felt the same way, except I'm pretty sure I know what it is.

On a technical level, the book is well-written and it deals with some serious subject matter. But I never felt any emotional connection. Mim is a flat cardboard cutout used as a mouthpiece for the author's philosophy and snark.

I said the characters in The Fault in Our Stars didn't feel like teenagers and some people got pissy because I was implying that teens weren't smart/wise/etc., but I'm starting to think that's not what I mean anyway. It's not that these characters don't feel like teenagers, it's that they don't feel like people, period. They feel like a commentary on the world or on literature or on philosophy. Or science. They feel like an author trying too hard to be clever.

But I guess that's just me. Many people seem to love these kind of books.

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[Jesse (JesseTheReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) still not sure how I feel about this one yet...

[Whitney Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book for what it was-- a book about a girl going on a journey to find herself, both physically and mentally. Mim is such an interesting character because she is crazy in the most indescribable way, yet she's relatable and rational and witty and intelligent and a perfect main character. Watching her journey is addicting and you grow to love her, even though you can blatantly tell she has her flaws. I was in love with this book because the writing was incredible. It takes a lot for me to notice an author's writing style, but Arnald definitely gets two thumbs up from me. It was so intricate that I found myself putting down the audiobook and picking up my physical copy because it was a much more enjoyable experience to let the words sink in. Overall, I though the storyline was great and the inclusion of a disabled side character was a unique and gratifying addition. Although I felt like the end of this was just a little bit anti-climactic and as far as road trip books go, this was slightly unrealistic, the book's writing and characters make up for it. I can totally see how this is making it to some people's Top of 2015 list.

[Eve · Rating 2 out of 5]

UUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH.

What have I done to deserve this, universe? I'm a decent person! I take short showers! I preserve water! I eat healthy! I donate to charities! I floss every night!

----

Dearest David Arnold,

I understand the attractiveness of becoming the "next John Green". Writing powerful stories that touch the hearts of thousands, nay, millions of readers between the ages of honey boo boo and betty white. Your books being adapted into films, those films starring up and coming actors, those actors becoming your new posse, your posse inviting you to the most extravagant hollywood parties, and let's not forget - money money money and money. While I applaud your attempt at trying to be as devastatingly intelligent & witty as the great Green Giant, it is evident that you are trying way too hard.

Not every paragraph has include some wild tangent to prove your quirky personality and OMG HOW DID HE WHAT HOW DOES HIS BRAIN WORK LIKE THAT thought process. Stop trying to be sooo intelligent, sooo witty, and sooo profound, cause, newsflash - I'm not buying it.

I admire your determination to write the next TFIOS, but if I may, I suggest you stop writing to appeal to YA audiences and start writing to appeal to yourself. Make sense?

Sincerely,

a very peeved, very tired, and very hungry,

J-reezy

(PS - your depiction of a teenage girl makes me personally insulted.)

(PSS - I am always going to refer to this book as a "knockoff John Green novel")

(PSSS - road trips don't work like that.)

[Steph Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Writing reviews for contemporaries are the hardest for me, especially the ones that involve Important Topics About Life. Mosquitoland is such a novel, so if this review seems lacking, it's because of my inability to properly convey thoughts. But I'll humor you.

The running motto of Mosquitoland is "Mim is not okay," and she really isn't. She's a hot mess, if I'm being perfectly honest. The girl has had a rough life, one that many teens her age have to deal with: she's watched her family crumble and it, ultimately, led to her parents divorcing, her dad remarrying a month later and moving from Ohio to Mississippi. So when Mim learns her mom is sick, she steals her stepmom's tin can filled with $800 and purchases a Greyhound ticket. Along the way, she runs into an interesting and strange cast of characters that leave significant impressions on Mim.

The strongest part of Mosquitoland, and the part that immediately impressed me, was the writing style and Mim's voice. The novel is narrated two ways: What's actually happening to Mim on her trip and diary entries that form a letter to a character named Iz. The latter tells of her life prior to the move and allows the reader to see what happened to her family. This coupled with a few flashbacks from Mim from time to time, paints a picture of the life she desperately misses with her mom. She also gives a List of Reasons for why she is embarking on the journey in the first place. Many of them range from seemingly pointless (her "war paint"--more on that later) to the obvious (her mom may be dying). The two narrations never felt jarring and worked well to compliment each other. Together they pieced together Mim's life without resorting to the dreaded info-dumping that commonly plagues many YA novels.

Mim is also very pretentious, in my opinion, but not annoyingly so like a John Green novel. Simply put, she has a very realistic and fresh voice. She's witty, and while she doesn't always make the best decisions--because let's be honest, her entire trip to Ohio was probably a bad idea in hindsight--she learns and grows a lot.

But back to the writing because I just realized I completely dropped that teaser and moved on. (See, I told you I'm terrible at this Reviewing Contemporaries thing.) The best thing I could say about Mosquitoland in this regard is that I just wanted to quote the hell out of it. Beautiful, beautiful writing galore.

I'll take this time to fill this spot with a few of my favorite quotes.

I think about how quickly things have changed for me. But that's the personality of change, isn't it? When it's slow, it's called growth; when it's fast, it's change. And God, how things change: some things, nothings, anythings, everything... all the things change.

You spend you life roaming the hillsides, scouring the four corners of the earth, searching desperately for just one persons to fucking get you. And I'm thinking, if you can find that, you've found home.

I swear, the older I get, the more I value bad examples over the good ones. It's a good thing, too, because most people are egotistical, neurotic, self-absorbed peons, insistent on wearing near-sighted glasses in a far-sighted world. And it's this exact sort of myopic ignorance that has led to my groundbreaking new theory. I call it Mim's Theorem of Monkey See Monkey Don't, and what it boils down to is this: it is my belief that there are some people whose sole purpose of existence is to show the rest of us how not to act.

So those are some things I loved about Mosquitoland and because this is a review, regardless of its Blog Tour Status, I must mention to you some of the negatives and possibly confusing qualities of the novel. There's a little controversy surrounding the trailer.

Mim has this thing she does when shit gets really rough: she takes out a tube of lipstick (her "war paint") and paints her face in the tradition of Native Americans, mostly in secret and never in public on purpose. Now, to be fair, Mim is partly Native American. I say "partly" because her mom's mom is part Cherokee. Mim herself acknowledges that this makes her one-sixtieth Cherokee, but it never stops her from continuing to play up the Native American whenever she feels like it. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that Mim was not raised knowing much of anything about her Native American heritage.

But even today, there are times--most notably when I wear my war paint--when I really feel that Cherokee blood coursing through my veins, no matter its percentage of purity. So from whatever minutia of my heart that pumps authentic Cherokee blood, I pass this phrase along to you: have a vision, unclouded by fear.

So from what I gather, her "war paint" is a way for her to feel strong in situations that are tough. What's even more interesting, for lack of a proper word, is that she does seem to know this is wrong and potentially problematic:

I wonder: What would it be like if she walked in the room right now? If she found me painting my face life some politically incorrect Cherokee chieftess? What would I tell her? The truth, I hope. That in my longing for originality and relational honesty and a hundred other I-don't-know-whats, this action, while strange and socially awkward, makes more sense that just about anything else in the world. And even though it's cryptic and more than a little odd, sometimes cryptic and odd are better than lying down for the Man. Maybe I would tell her how the war paint helped get me through a time when I felt like no one else cared about what I wanted, or who I was. Maybe I could muster the courage to speak those words so few people are able to say: I don't know why I do the things I do. It's like that sometimes.

This might not be an adequate explanation for some readers, and I don't blame them. It's puzzling and I still don't think I get why she chose to use the lipstick as war paint of all things (and a good deal of me would have preferred that she didn't do that at all). However, it makes me question if that was the point. Did Arnold include this to make us question Mim and her actions?

I will now take you back to more good from Mosquitoland: We also have a fascinating cast of characters, none of which are completely good or evil: Walt, a teen boy with Down Syndrome; Beck, and older college boy who Mim crushes on; Kathy, Mim's stepmother who Mim chooses to label as The Bad Guy; and Mim's Dad who believes she is mentally ill. They all serve purposes that are woven into Mim's journey to Ohio, allowing Arnold to touch on a variety of topics such as mental illness, personal accountability and even rape.

There's a lot of that goes on in Mosquitoland and it's pretty much impossible for me to go into it all without writing my own book, and I've already written so much more about it than I thought I had in me, so I'll just leave you with this: Read it for yourself. It's certainly readable, enjoyable and will definitely make you question a multitude of things. It's deep and layered, one of those books that might make you consider reading it a second time to pick up on the things you missed the first time around. But there's one thing I do know: I'll be watching David Arnold for future books (in a totally non-stalkerish way, I assure you) and you should, too.

Win a copy here.

Finish copy was provided by the publisher for review. No monies or favors were exchanged for a positive review.

More reviews and other fantastical stuff at Cuddlebuggery.

[Becky Albertalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know where to begin. This book is as weird, wonderful, and unforgettable as its title. Mim is such perfectly drawn teenager: whip-smart, hilariously observant, and almost heartbreakingly vulnerable. Her voice is irresistible, and it will be singing in your head for weeks (months? years?) after you finish this ridiculously awesome book. One of my all-time favorites.

[Lily (LilyCReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed opinions on this

Review to come.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird yet kind of wonderful little book.

It is a coming of age story dealing with broken homes and medicated minds. Of running away only to find out you are running home. Of facing a society with many dangerous perils, but where a few genuine diamonds in the rough more than make up for it.

Sometimes it felt like the book was trying to be too whatever it was trying to be, but I think the characters you meet and the experiences they have more than make up for it.

If you love YA. If you love road trips. Give this one a go.

Side note - I loved the chapter about the Cincinnati skyline. I grew up near there and it was a perfect description!

[Jeff Zentner · Rating 5 out of 5]

If we judge the quality and success of novels by how completely they allow us to temporarily step outside ourselves and inhabit a new skin, then MOSQUITOLAND is an incredible book and a tremendous success.

I loved every minute of my time dwelling in the consciousness of Mary Iris Malone, MOSQUITOLAND's compulsively puking, half-blind, world-judging, odyssey-going, often-infuriating, wounded, vulnerable, precocious, hilariously quirky heroine. I loved learning her private vocabulary and seeing the world through her left eye. Living in her mind was the best sort of fever dream. We read books to experience this sort of wondrous, fractured, manic, magical madness. When we’re done, we lament that our time is finished, while at once thanking our lucky stars that this condition is something we can remove like a piece of clothing.

Mim is a Huckleberry Finn for the age of the Greyhound bus with unnervingly sticky seats, traversing America's blacktop rivers. She's a Holden Caulfield for the era of chlorpromazine, thioridazine, and mesoridazine.

WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley, LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green, A SNICKER OF MAGIC by Natalie Lloyd, and THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt all spring to mind as debut novels that heralded the arrival of a fully formed writer into the world. MOSQUITOLAND merits a place in this company. It is a satisfying journey indeed.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Hey look, it's a book everyone else is rating 4 or 5 Stars. That means I'll love it, right?



I guess I missed the memo that stated orange is no longer the new black. Apparently orange has been replaced with mental illness. Mosquitoland was (unintentionally) the third book I've read in two weeks that tried to tackle the "crazy" . . .



Yeah.

However, there is one thing that seems to always earn a 5 Star rating from me:



Road Trip!!!!! I love road trips. Unapologetically. Add on to that a bunch of Chicago Cubs references and I was thinking "does it even get any better?!?!?!?!?"



Sadly, it does. It gets a lot better than Mosquitoland. The writing wasn't awful and I read the entire book in three hours, but it was just so "meh." I didn't like Mim, the plot was completely predictable, heck I was almost begging for a bit of instalove in order to add some kind of depth to Mim and Beck's relationship. For me, this book was the equivalent of eating unbuttered toast - it's probably not going to make you chuck in a bucket, but you don't really enjoy it either. Everyone else seems to love it, though, so maybe it's just me?

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a little bit to get into this book but when I did, I fell in love with the characters so much. Mim was so original and different and everyone else was just as interesting. The writing style is insanely awesome and I can't wait to read more books from this author. The overall road trip aspect was fairly unrealistic but I didn't think that was a big deal. I was so engaged in the characters and I loved the story.
Overall, I loved this book. I was so sad when I finished it because I wanted to keep reading. Mosquitoland is everything I look for in a book and I highly recommend it.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, so not only did I just intensely dislike the main character (I don't think you're supposed to?), but there are some extremely problematic issues of cultural appropriation in Mim's use of "warpaint" (justified because she's "part Cherokee") and debasing of a homeless teen with Down syndrome, whom Mim and her friend actually take to a veterinarian when he gets sick and the nearest clinic is closed. It's distressing to me that so many reviews are ignoring these issues.

Aside from those problems, I strongly identified the character of Mim with the character of Holden Caufield - it's her against the world and the world is full of phonies and assholes - which is not a good thing to me (but may be a good thing to some!). She's intensely judgmental of everyone and it grated on my nerves.

There are definitely some perceptive moments and Mim does have a strong voice. But it was not for me.

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breeding with my favorite person ever on my favority favoritest website (goodreads) ever!!!

Honestly, I just laughed and cried throughout this entire book.

[♛ may · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review posted:

Just trying to explain to you what mosquitoland is, is probably impossible bc the book is like someone got the letters of the alphabet and threw them in the air and just shrugged and walked away BASICALLY I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE BOOK IS

- It’s about a quirky, edgy teenage girl that is //not// okay
- Mim is honestly a collection of oddities, from her defiance of following rules to camping out with homeless boys to throwing up on demand, honestly no one knows what on earth she’s planning next
- I quite liked mim’s character, she had that strong external layer of iron but she’s also a softie who would make sure a wooden box reached a certain gas station owner
- This book was so confusing I wasn’t sure 99% of the time what I was reading but then the ending came and everything kind of had a spot and I touched my cheeks and there were tears and I was like gosh dammit REALLY???!!
- W A L T is the most precious, sweet, little cinnamon bun around and if in a few seconds he break through mim’s hard exterior and give her some random blooming maternal instinct then he bloody hell can do it for you too
- AND BECK
- SWEET GORGEOUS BECK
- Thinking back to the theme, it’d say a lot of it surrounded family
- And that’s a pretty good theme for any book to express
- A pretty hard one too
- But mim is this little ball of adventure and courage and even though the book left me in a puddle of confusion, it also mended some wounds that I didn’t know even existed
- This book really seems like a hit or miss bc the more I look the more I see how either people DETESTED mim’s character or they ADORED her
- (im the latter if you couldn’t tell)
- Her warped sense of humour
- The hella strange adventures she embarks on
- The plot twists that no one sees coming
- Its all great man
- My only complaint is that it did bore me from time to time and I had to force myself to read, even though there were SO MANY adventurous activities but it kinda felt frivolous until the VERY end when it all came together
- It really is an epic coming of age tale



“I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.”

4 stars!!


Buddy read with contemporary trash

[Kaylin (The Re-Read Queen) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars

Overview:

In a word: quirky.

Just so, so, so quirky.

(Was there more going on? I couldn't understand it between Mim's rambling metaphors, whimsical lists and other quirks.)

Pros:

Surprisingly, I liked this writing. Independent from the story, I really love several paragraphs and sentences. Most of them are really beautiful and well-constructed metaphors. Some of my favorites:

“I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.”

“I'm feeling reckless - or honest, maybe. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference.”

“You spend you life roaming the hillsides, scouring the four corners of the earth, searching desperately for just one persons to f*cking get you. And I’m thinking, if you can find that, you’ve found home.”

Cons:

It was all too much.

It took so much effort to figure out this kaleidoscope, and when I did… I was disappointed. The actual plot itself is very predictable and not unlike several books I’ve read recently (Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Paper Townsto name two). I think for such fantastical writing, I was expecting more substance.

This whirlwind of whimsical paragraphs doesn't just hide the lackluster plot, but makes it hard to understand at all. At one point, there’s actually a car crash and I could not tell. There was a lot of mumbo-jumbo about flying and soaring and how to tell up from down. I didn’t know what was real and it took me literal pages to decipher.

There’s something really squicky feeling about taking a man with down-syndrome to a vet (because everything else was “closed”) and then comparing him to your pet.

In Conclusion:

Really gorgeous and whimsical paragraphs, but not a lot of substance.

[Daiane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Booooooooooooring zzzz
Details of how bored I was coming soon. :/

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 4.5 stars. "Mosquitoland" is UNCONVENTIONAL. Unlike any other young adult novel I've ever had the pleasure of reading. "I am Mary Iris Malone, and I am not okay." She might not be the most "normal" girl in the world but she's definitely the bravest. There were some minor incidents/details that irked me (like Mary's crush on Beck) but overall, I thought "Mosquitoland" was a beautifully-written coming-of-age story full of sass, wit, and unexpected warmth.
P.S. I love Walt! He's the cutest thing. Ever. :) "Hey, hey I'm Walt." Aww. :)

[Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I so badly wanted to love this, but I just didn't. I couldn't get into the writing style at all and I found a lot of the things that happened to be too unbelievable to enjoy. Womp womp :c

[Mary Deacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mim Malone lives in a small city in Mississippi called Mosquitoland where nothing happens. Mim's parents are divorced with her mother living in Ohio and Mim living with her dad and stepmom. Mim is not the most outgoing person per say but knows when to do something that is right. Mim does not agree with her new stepmom and has always admired her mother who is back in Ohio. When Mim is in school, she overhears that her mother is sick. When Mim heard that she knew that she had to go back to Ohio and check in with her mother. Instead of telling her parents Mim takes all the money she can find and hops on a Greyhound bus on route to Ohio. While on the Greyhound bus Mim encounters a lot of strange personalities that make her trip very interesting. Through the bus ride, the reader learns more and more about Mim and who she is through the letters that she writes. The letters not only company the experiences she encounters but gives the reader an insight into why Mim behaves the way she does through past experiences. But as the story progresses, we learn more and more about Mim that leaves us in shock.


Mosquitoland is a book about coming of age and leaves the reader wanting more. This unique book ventures the reader to understand the struggle of being a 16-year-old girl with anxiety living with divorced parents. The book is excellent in the sense that the storytelling is phenomenal, but from a reader's perspective, it was hard to relate to the characters. It was difficult for me to understand where Mim was coming from because her story was so unique. But none the less the story is great because as you continue reading you continue to learn more and more about Mim through her letters and the experiences that she goes through. I would recommend this book to anyone for the great storytelling. And although it might be hard to connect with Mim, the story provides us with many opportunities to understand Mim and where she is coming from without needing a direct understanding of the character.


All in all, Mosquitoland is an excellent read for anyone who loves literature, it tells a great story is such a unique way that can only make the reader leave wanting more.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whelp...that was adorable. I'm just going to go curl into a corner now and try to process my feelings. I am usually very picky about road trip novels but I did like this one. The main character is quirky without morphing into a manic pixie dream girl.

The plot was a little sparse but still enjoyable,your typical coming of age novel. I thought that the portrayal of mental illness, and the stigmas surrounding it were well portrayed. Mim's relationship with her dad was unfortunately very realistic.

Overall this is a great book with whimsical yet believable characters and important life lessons. I would love to read a sequel to this. * fingers crossed*

Buy, Borrow or Bin Verdict: Buy

Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Alysa · Rating 1 out of 5]

What. the. hell.

This is the epitome of everything that's wrong with this whole "John Green" genre (minus the good intentions of the man himself). Because this book made me so angry I'm going to itemize my major complaints here:

1. PILLS ARE NOT A BAD THING FOR MANY PEOPLE STOP DEMONIZING THEM
2. You are not special because you have a nickname
3. Cherokee warpaint? Can we just not with the cultural appropriation?
4. "Or you're sitting in the cafeteria, pondering the complexities of the latest Christopher Nolan film while the nearest table of cheerleaders discusses whatever reality TV show is popular that week, then argues over who gives the most efficient blow job" HOLY. SHIT. Clearly David Arnold has literally NEVER talked to a teenage girl before, much less a cheerleader. I am so damn sick of the whole 'I'm not like other girls' bullshit, and this is one of the worst offenders I've read.
5. Twenty-one is too old for sixteen. 21 is too old for 16. TOO OLD.
6. Seriously no one drives PT Cruisers any more.
7. The ending is so insanely cliche I wanted to throw the book straight into the trash.
8. There are just so many things wrong with how Walt is presented, I can't even start in on this one.
9. One last time: PILLS ARE NOT A BAD THING FOR MANY PEOPLE STOP DEMONIZING THEM

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fell in love with the young MIM, who sneaks out of school after overhearing her dad and step mother talking about how ill her mother is. She is fearless, feisty, and so likable. So, this sneak peak definitely did what it was supposed to do, give is enough of the story to go out and get the book. And I will.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. So worthy of 5 stars!

Mary Iris Malone (aka Mim) is probably one of funniest narrators I've ever encountered. Her voice is HILARIOUS, I was laughing out loud for the majority of the book. That being said the humor of this book goes hand in hand with the tough situation that Mim is facing. The author created a really satisfying mix of humor and seriousness that was so realistic and also relatable.

"I am Mary Iris Malone, and I am not okay."

This book starts off with Mim leaving on her journey to find her mother. Mim has recently moved to Mississippi with her father and step-mother, Kathy. Mim's parents have just been divorced and her mother had stayed in Ohio where Mim had lived with her parents before everything changed. Mim discovers that her mother has moved to Cleveland, Ohio and it becomes Mim's mission to reunite with her mother, no matter the cost. Mim's journey isn't just about finding her mother it's about discovering herself as well.

"And as simple as it sounds, I think understanding who you are--and who your are not--is the the most important thing of all Important Things."

The other people she meets along the way are also very important to the story, specifically Arlene, Walt and Beck. Each of these characters help Mim understand who she is and who she is not during her journey and it's really just wonderful to watch. I'm just in love with everything about this book.

I don't want to say too much about it because I feel like it's one of those books where you just need to go straight into it. All you need to know is it's about a tough girl who doesn't take crap from anyone. It's about a girl who is hilarious but also really loving and caring. It's about a girl who finally finds people that understand her and because of this she discovers so much about herself. It's just really an amazing book and I am recommending it to EVERYONE! Seriously, if you have the time go pick this up. I don't care if you already have a huge TBR pile, put it aside and read this.

Also if you think you have this story figured out and it sounds like any other YA contemporary, you're WRONG. There are interesting and unpredictable revelations that worked so well in this book. Mim always keeps you guessing!

"There's nothing I hate more than a predictable ending."

Just read it friends. You won't regret it. ;)

[Stefani Sloma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Mosquitoland,

Reasons are hard. Trying to put into words the reasons why I love you is hard, but I’ll try.

Reason #1: You are weird. Like, SO weird. But you’re that special kind of weird that I absolutely love. You’re unique and strange and beautiful and funny and emotional and just brilliantly weird in the best possible way.

Reason #2: David Arnold’s writing is incredible. Like, mind-blowingly incredible. I cannot believe you are his debut novel. How is that even possible? I cannot wait to see what comes from him next if YOU are his FIRST book. Parts of you felt like poetry. I was torn between racing through you and taking my time to savor David’s writing. I’ll definitely be rereading you in the future.

Reason #3: Mim. MIM! Oh my goodness. She is just an incredible character. David NAILED her voice. She’s this perfect blend of hard and vulnerable. Sassy, independent, scared, sad, smart. She is such a teenager. I can’t believe how well David wrote her. I love her so much that she’s made it onto my short list of favorite characters ever.

Reason #4: You are the definition of perfect story telling. Your characters’ voices are spot on, your writing is beautiful, but that’s not the best part. You are just a good story. Entertaining, engrossing, fascinating, exciting. I just want to list all the best adjectives to describe you.

Reason #5: This is what my book looked like when I finished. Green flags are from RachelMarie at Nerd Herd Reads; pink are from me. This is what a book looks like when you LOVED it wholeheartedly.



The bottom line: Reasons are hard. Mississippi is hard. But you? You’re beautiful and quirky and plain ol’ strange, and I love you.

Signing off,
Stefani Sloma
Reluctant Mosquitoland Resident and Mosquitoland Lover

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t read a whole lot of YA, but the voice of this one captured me right away. Like Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars, Mim (Mary Iris Malone) is a lovably sarcastic oddball – she describes herself as “a young Ellen Page” à la Juno – with some hidden issues that come out over the course of the book. Here Mim’s journey takes the form of a road trip from Mississippi, where she lives with her father and new stepmother, back to Ohio to be with her sick mother. She meets a kooky cast of secondary characters along the way, narrowly escapes danger, and even gets a chance at romance. I especially liked the quasi-epistolary format: Mim is writing a journal in the form of letters to Isabel. Especially for a first novel, Arnold balances humor and serious themes very well.

Favorite lines: “At some point, and I don’t know when, I accepted isolation. I curled into a ball and settled for a life of observations and theories, which really isn’t a life at all.”

I won a free signed copy in a Maximum Pop! Books Twitter giveaway.

[Renée Ahdieh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book from an astoundingly talented writer. Look out for this one, guys. It will knock you down and drag you around. By the heart.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

oof. What a let down. The first 100 pages were very intriguing, but wow did this lose it's way. Once Mim got off the bus I was done. This tried way too hard to be too many things. If we could have stuck with the simple concept of a girl on a long multi-state bus ride to see her sick mother, that could have been a great concept. But there were too many ideas that were put in this book and they didn't gel together well at all. Arlene and the bus are great. Beck (aka the most pointless character) and the truck are not.

Mosquitoland is also frankly very overwritten. Mim is painfully "not like other girls". It's perfectly fine to like alternative music and classic novels, but holy shit that doesn't make you better than girls who like cheerleading and fashion. There are lovely moments of introspection, but naval gazing is like cilantro. A little goes a long way.

There are a lot of little things Mim says and does that are semi-problematic. Things I could probably excuse if it was a one time thing, but all of the little things add up to a character that I was very uncomfortable with, and I do not think that was the intent of the author.

The super awkward 1/16th Cherokee princess is super cringey, and even though Mim has no knowledge or practice of that side of her culture, she appropriates the use of "war paint" (literally painting lines on her face with lipstick).

There's a lot of casual fatphobia, like many reference to people looking like whales, tubs of lard, and jabba the hut.

Mim refers to a transgender person as a he-she.

There's a a very awkward and unnecessary sexual assault side story. The character growth Mim has from it felt very after school special PSA. The way this book deals with the traumas Mim faces on this journey (assault + fatal bus crash) were total throw away plot points. ick.

And Mim's instant love for a character with an intellectual disability read very forced, like look at how selfless Mim is because she's friends with someone with a disability. But Mim does some pretty horrible things to Walt (takes him to a vet when he's sick and refers to him as a pet, are you kidding me).

The immediate dislike and mistrust of therapists and mood disorder medication. Taking medication for an illness is not bad. I wish Mosquitoland had addresses Mim's real problem, her overbearing and uneducated father, instead of vilifying medication that is life saving for a lot of people.

ugh. at least the cover is pretty.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner) · Rating 5 out of 5]

More like 4.5 but I felt weird giving it just 4 stars but a full FIVE is something I rarely hand out.

From the "Final Thoughts" section on my review:


Mosquitoland was just delightfully offbeat in the most charming of ways. Mim is a heroine wherein no adjectives can quite pin down the essence of Mim. She will test your patience but you cannot help rooting for her on her journey. And the writing?! It made me up my dog-earring game! Gut-bustingly funny at times, punches you in the gut at other times. David Arnold is a brilliant author who DEFINITELY brought out the big guns with his refreshing and vibrant debut. What next, David, WHAT NEXT? I cannot wait to see what else he can do.

Read my full, detailed review on my blog The Perpetual Page-Turner

[Donalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I added a 2015 Nerdy Book Club shortlist shelf (6 weeks early) just so I could put this book on it. Mosquitoland is an incredible book because of the voice of its protagonist, Mim, who is maddening, strange, hilarious, and honest. A funny book that will make you cry. An emotionally heart wrenching book that will make you laugh. Memorable.

[jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically, this is how I feel about Mosquitoland. (My review is here, though.)