Book Review: Mosquitoland

Hey everyone! Today, I am going to review the book Mosquitoland by David Arnold. Originally, I heard of this book because my friends who are in my school's book club told me about it. I didn't want to buy this book because I thought that I can probably borrow from many people because I believe this book is now a best seller. I saw this book in the Lost & Found auction at my school and decided that it was time to read it.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the "wastelands" of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland.

So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.

Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, Mosquitoland is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.

My Thoughts:
   
 I really liked Mosquitoland because it was quick, fun read and it kept me hooked. I was doing a summer camp for a week, and every morning and afternoon I would read this book. It took me about four days to finish because I was so interested in it.

The plot, basically, is a sixteen year old girl wants to get from Mississippi ("Mosquitoland") to Cleveland to go see her mother. The main character has been through a lot in the last year; her parents were divorced, her father remarries, and her mother has a "sickness" that isn't uncovered until later in the book. Mim has a very active imagination throughout the whole story, and most people in her life are afraid she is borderline schizophrenic which makes her point of view even better. Mim is a tomboy who loves Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Talking Heads (*the band*). She is the narrator od the whole story and makes many references to musicians, especially when she is on her journey.The thing I found annoying about the main character is that she is too rash, and spends most of the book hating adults. To be fair though she deals with some very bad characters on her journey i.e a child molester and other characters. Also you don't find out about why she runs away until the last few chapters of the book. One other thing I don't like about Mim is that she caused a rather serious injury to herself (I'm not saying what because I won't spoil it) a few years back and she told no one. Overall, Mim is a great character though because she brings to life some of the plots of the book that would have been boring without her version of the story. 

Many of the characters have stories that aren't fully developed, but the reader meets more teenage runaways. It's bit frustrating at times to read because the characters either lie a lot about who they are or they don't get to the point very fast. Even the main character, Mim, gets frustrated when people take too long to answer. Most of the adult characters are written as villains with the exception of a few that Mim changes her opinions on. 

I really liked the book, and it was very quick to read. I feel like the plot is so unique that once you get past the first few pages, you'll be absolutely hooked. I recommend this book as a summer read for when you are just relaxing by a pool or have some free time. 

Some Favorite Quotes:
“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.” 


 “Every great character, Iz, be it on page or screen, is multidimensional. The good guys aren't all good, the bad guys aren't all bad, and any character wholly one or the other shouldn't exist at all. Remember this when I describe the antics that follow, for though I am not a villain, I am not immune to villainy.”

“When you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries while you rejoice.”  

“I swear the older I get, the more I value bad examples over 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 how not to act.”

“As simple as it sounds, I think understanding who you are—and who you are not—is not the most important thing of all Important Things.” 

Questions: Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

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                                                     Christina Madeleine