I'm still trying to wrap my head around how I feel about this book. There are so many facets to this book that threw me for a loop, so it's hard to nail down one thing that I loved or hated about the book.
Quick synopsis: Swamplandia! is about a family of alligator wrestlers and their theme park. The matriarch of the family (and star performer) has passed away and the family has to cope with her death and also keep the park alive in her absence. Each family member has a very unique way of coping with the impact of their mom's death. The son, Kiwi, goes to work for a rival "hell" themed waterpark, World of Darkness. The sister, Ossie, believes she can communicate with ghosts and eventually falls in love with one. And our 13 yr old main character, Ava, is trying to take her mother's place as a championship alligator wrestler and simultaneously deal with Ossie dating a ghost.
The book is narrated by Kiwi and Ava. I preferred Kiwi's side of the story...He's a 17 year old boy who has not been socialized and has been on his family's island for the majority of his life. When he goes to work at The World of Darkness, he very quickly (and comically) realizes what everyday teenage boys are like. He is very wide-eyed and naive at first, but quickly learns the ways and lingo of 17 yr old boys. Ava, on the other hand, was a very precocious narrator. I can't tell too much about her because I don't want to give the book away, but a lot of people compared her to Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.
I'm still debating if this is a good thing or bad thing, but the book is very beautifully written. The author used language that made me feel as if I tromping in the swamp alongside Ava. This is a good thing (for me) because it makes it easy to get engrossed in the story, but at the same time - if the author gets carried away with it...then it gets waaaaaay to wordy. There were times that Ms. Russell walked a very fine line of being really descriptive and just including too much copy.
I think it's worth saying that this is the first book that I dozed off while reading it. Maybe it was because I was legitimately tired...but I think a lot of it was because I was wading through a buttload of descriptive language and needed something exciting to happen vs. reading about the pattern of the buzzards in the sky.
I believe my indecision about the book comes from the preconceived notion I had about the book. I thought it was going to be a mix of Middlesex and Water for Elephants...a story about a dysfunctional family mixed with the oddness of life on a swamp-filled theme park. I was wayyy off. Both of those books gave me a sense of finality and goodness. This book ended and I felt empty towards it...maybe I'm used to reading more airy-fairy books and this was too deep for me. I don't know.
Overall, it's a good book. Not great. But good. I recommend reading it for the description/language alone.
Rank: C
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