" I really, really wanted to like this book. A "magical realism" book about girl power set in Appalachia and blurbed by Karen Russell? Yes, please. Unfortunately, this book fell short in just about every way I can think of and I'm wondering if I need to re-think my trust in Russell. I think that all the components were there to make this an awesome book, but the writing just didn't come through. Most of the main events happened so quickly and were so easily brushed by that it didn't even appear as though they were important (for example, Mason's suicide happened so quickly and garnered so little attention, that I kept expecting him to pop back up). Another example, Kate's hair cut, which I guess should have been a big deal, but didn't play any real role in the actual story. And then there were all the things that happened that didn't really seem to matter at all. Why did Kate lose her virginity to Mason? (I mean, I know why the person Kate would have, but why was that relevant to the story?)
A few more issues:
I never could get a good grip on where this was meant to be set. Swan River, yes, yes, but where? Not Tennessee, but south of Tennessee, so maybe North Carolina? Georgia? I don't know. There were deltas, but also mountains (and also a fancy private school inexplicably in the middle of this dying town).
The fact that the town was dying was repeated, over and over, but there was no real answer other than that there was some bad juju going on there. This is such a missed opportunity, and actually a little insulting to those of us who do live in Appalachia, witness the poverty everyday, and know that there are very real and important reasons why towns like this are in trouble. I thought, for a moment, there was maybe a glimmer of hope when Maggie talked about becoming mayor to help Swan River, but then at the end, she'd given up on that dream and they'd all just left (as did the narrator, who apparently never wanted to return, even though Clancy was apparently pining for her).
Also, the very real environmental issues mentioned in the book were so glossed over that I don't think most readers would even give them a second look.
Again, I think that this could have been a great book; unfortunately, it wasn't even a very good one. "
— Natalie, 1/27/2014