What's this? What's this?
It's a book review day! Yes, an actual book review day!
It's been so long, hasn't it? Well, while I have not been writing reviews, I've still been reading, and now I have vowed to catch back up with all the reviews!
Starting now.
Plus, it was something from my endless TBR list/pile/room! An added bonus, of course.
And an even further added bonus? Something I actually liked! Something kind of fun... with a bit of heart...
The Flying Troutmans.
“If, along the way, something is gained, then something will also be lost.”
The book centers on Hattie and her 15-year-old nephew, Logan, and 11-year-old niece, Thebes. Hattie swoops in when called to try and, well, do something. Her sister, the kids' mother, is hospitalized again because of her mental illness. It's something she's struggled with her whole life, and one of the strengths of this novel is the accepting, and at the same time questioning, way that Hattie responds to her sister, both the sister of her memory and the one in the present day.
In an effort to take care of the children, find some direction, and just do something, Hattie hits the road with the kids in an effort to find their father somewhere in the States.
The dialogue is the real star of this text. The characters are heartbreaking, quirky, witty, and so very realistic.
There were moments in this book that I cried. There were moments that I laughed aloud. It's irreverent and beautiful and filled with both grief and comedy. There is distinct pacing and tone to it that is not a typical linear style. You may need to suspend some disbelief in it if you've never known a precocious youngster or angsty teen or anyone trying to stumble their way through ongoing trauma. But I maintain the realism in all the unusual details of the characters.
“When we got back to the house Logan grabbed his basketball, threw it really hard against the hallway wall, knocked the framed family photo to the floor-it didn't break, he didn't pick it up-and left with a couple of his friends. Thebes picked up the photo, hung it back on the wall, sighed heavily like she'd travelled to every corner of the world, on her knees, with a knife in her back and a boa constrictor wrapped around her chest, and then made us a couple of blueberry smoothies.”
The characters may not be 100% typical. They may not even be all that likable. But they're kind of loveable in their cacophonous "trying".
This might be a love-it or hate-it book. But if you liked Little Miss Sunshine, if you embrace the road trip plot, and if you love zany but heartbreaking characters and idiosyncratic dialogue, then you'll likely be on the love-it side of the argument.
Recommend me some road trip stories! We went on one this summer (not why I read the book, though!) so I'd love to hear what you've got!
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