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What Members Thought
Swamplandia! is the story of a family that runs an alligator tourist attraction in the Thousand Islands of Florida. When Hilola Bigtree, the main attraction at Swamplandia, passes away her husband and children struggle to keep the park open and the family together. This book had a lot of potential. The setting is wonderful and the author does an excellent job of setting the scene and describing the swamp. I had no problems at all imagining myself there with Ava (one of the main characters). The
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I was enjoying this book for the setting and the discussions of alligators and even for the side story of Kiwi moving to the mainland and trying to find work and send money home. The swamp descriptions really created a sense of place and the Swamplandia amusement park was great. But the way the book went off the rails toward the end really didn't fit with the rest of the story. There was a lot of potential here, but it never quite filled out. The readers for the audiobook did a fine job with the
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I flew through most of this book in one day, working to finish in time for book club. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was dark and a but disturbing, not really funny at all. I feel like I would like Ava Bigtree I real life but I would wish for her better life!
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I wrestled with myself on whether to go with 3 stars or 4. In the end, I went with 3 stars. Why? I liked the story and I found the writing was worth 4 stars.... but I just was not motivated to read it. In the beginning, I found the story pretty consuming, but then it slowed down and I found myself coming up with excuse after excuse not to pick the book up. I am not sure why, but I did not want to know what happened. It became a chore to finish it. I do have to say that thankfully, the end was go
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Interesting but predictable. Thought provoking but weird. I didn't really like it a lot but I didn't dislike it. I give it a C-.
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Dec 12, 2010
Heather
marked it as to-read
Apr 06, 2011
Heather (DeathByBook)
marked it as to-read
Jan 29, 2012
Minttu
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Mar 06, 2012
Marsha
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Mar 06, 2012
Mmars
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Jul 14, 2012
Blue Eyed Vixen
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Feb 13, 2013
Kim DeCina
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Jun 20, 2015
Lindsay
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Jun 29, 2017
Carrie
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Dec 22, 2017
Mimi
marked it as to-read
