Let me start by saying that I've always wanted to travel the country on my own, even if it was by a bus. Just the thought of roughing it on my own fills me with excitement, particularly since I know that I would meet the new people and possibly even face dangers along the way. Despite the danger, it helps in being an adult with good common sense.
I say this because that's what this story is about. It's about taking a risk and having it pay off in a way that you didn't really picture. "Mosquitoland" is about a girl named Mim (Mary Iris Malone) who constantly claims that she "is not OK." Despite this constant almost hypnotic phrase she says, she makes the decision to steal her stepmother's money and catch a Greyhound Bus to return to Cleveland from her new Mississippi home. She meets a plethora of characters along the way, some of whom she loves, and some she comes to hate and loath, and everything in between. She learns about how people view the world differently, and that despite rebellious nature, that it's sometimes OK to do what those above you say, particularly if they have your best interests at heart.
I have mixed feelings about this book, particularly because I can't tell if Mim is a great character or a frustrating one. When she is moving and doing something, she is propelling herself forward and becoming dynamic. This is what happens during the second half of the book. During the first half of the book, she really seems like a philosophical puppet for whatever Arnold seems to be trying to teach us, and she comes across as a bit pretentious and kind of a know-it-all. Still, she's a very interesting character that I was heavily invested in. It just seemed like she knew too much all the time, though.
I loved the other characters, however, particularly Beck and Walter. Mim meets Walt first around the middle of the story, and he is a down-syndrome boy who is homeless. He ends up helping her escape from a dangerous criminal, and later with Beck, helps Mim along on her journey. I thought Mim shone the strongest as a character when she was surrounded by Walt and Beck, the latter as an elder figure and the former as a figure of kindness and innocence.
Arnold is a talented writer, and his book shows it. He has great conventions and style, and his voice through Mim is excellent from the standpoint of catching a readers' attention. Despite this, like what I said before, he seemed to have some kind of motive to make Mim his philosophical mouthpiece. I'm totally all for having a book teach the reader a lesson, but there's a line that must be drawn between author and reader.
John Green's "Looking for Alaska" taught us that it was human to grieve, and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" reminded us that the world is unforgiving even to the tenderest of individuals. While reading this, I couldn't help but think that Arnold wanted to go down so many paths with Mim that he ended up creating this web of philosophy and channeled thoughts that it became hard to follow the story. I wanted Mim to succeed, even if that meant she would bring her mind to a rest for once.
Despite these things, I still enjoyed this book. It portrays Mim as a sympathetic character, and she really is. It gives us a look into mental illness, as well as loneliness, forgiveness, coping, drug use, and the power of being alone sometimes. I would still recommend this book, even though there were times I was ready to lose my patience.
Final Rating: 3.5/5
