#i met a guy on the 85 bus and he was bringing home a big tin of olive oil

[queen-mabs-revenge]

No. I’m too young to have memories from less than 10 years ago sneak up like that and convince me they’re not real.

[booksaremyoxygenn]

Mosquitoland: Book Review and Best Quotes

Rating: 4

SPOILERS: 

Another beautiful coming of age story. There were cute parts like when she met the old woman, Arlene, on the bus and the crazy parts like when she ran from Caleb, Shadow Kid, and ended up on the roof with the Karate Kid. (My love for Albert and his whole essence as a character is overflowing.) That was lots of fun. Then there was some intense parts like when she has to puke in that man’s mouth so that he would stop trying to kiss her and potentially rape her. Most of all I appreciated Beck and Walt and the family they created. I was really sad when they left at the end so she could grow up and I just wish there was no goodbye even though I understand the need for a liquid goodbye. (It also made it more realistic, which I appreciated.)

I liked the reveal that all the letters were to her little sister that she didn’t originally want. I also love the war paint / lipstick, I have one like that too that when I put it on makes me feel invincible. I think that should be a staple for all women, to own something that you can put on at anytime and feel stronger.

I really appreciated that the author put in the scene in on 195 where Mim realizes that if she would have spoken up about Poncho Man sexually coming after her in the girl’s bathroom that she could have saved the hispanic girl from having to go through the same thing. I will not pretend to know what it’s like to be in the shoes of someone who has been sexually assaulted in that way BUT I think in any form of bullying or related topic it highlights why it is important to speak out. I loved how realistic this was whole story was and relatable. Beck is much older than Mim and they fell in love anyway, a message of how love knows no age. However, if Beck is available anytime soon I’m only 1 year younger.... just saying. Haha I love his character so much. 

Quotes: 

“A thing’s not a thing until you say it out loud.” (3)

“Every great character, Iz, be it on page or screen, is multidimensional. The good guys aren’t all good, the bad guys aren’t all bad, and any character wholly one or the other shouldn’t exist at all. Remember this when I describe the antics that follow, for though I am not a villain, I am not immune to villainy.” (p6)

“I loved it when she was like that, all young and fun and eager to keep being young and fun, and it didn’t matter what happened the day before or the day after, all that mattered was the Young Fun Now. Such a rare thing.” (15)

“I think my dad is a good man who has succumbed to the madness of the world. . . “So many do, my dear. So many do.” (23)

“I’ve developed a theory I like to call the Pain Principle. The gist of it is this: pain makes people who they are.” (43)

“And neither enormity nor shit-stank could be found in a pancake breakfast. Pain is what matters. Not just fast cars or big words or fabulous stories in exotic settings. . . I guess what I’m saying is, I’ve learned to accept my pain as a friend, whatever form it takes. Because I know it’s the only thing between me and the most pitiful of all species - the Generics.” (44)

“I wish wishing were enough, but it’s not. Sometimes you need a thing.” (49)

“Even Picasso used a little rouge.” (57)

“The girl who took matters into her own hands, figuratively, literally, fucking finally.” (71)

“Because life is rarely what you imagined it would be.” (85)

“Help is help to anyone, Mary. Even if they don’t know they’re asking for it.” (95)

“Have a vision, Mary, unclouded by fear.” (100)

“When you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries while you rejoice.” (101)

“In a moment of heavenly revelation, it occurs to me that detours are not without purpose. They provide safe passage to a destination, avoiding pitfalls in the process. Floating in this lake with Walt is most certainly a detour. And maybe I’ll never know the pitfalls I’ve avoided, but I can say this with certainty: a sincere soul is damn near impossible to find.” (131)

* (After Iz sneaks out and comes home to find her parents didn’t notice.) * “No one was awake. No one was mad. No one cared. My God, Iz . . . I hope you don’t know what that feels like.” (142)

“I didn’t know her all that well, not really. I didn’t know her favorite color or movie, or what kind of music she liked, or if she prefered lakes to oceans. I didn’t even know her last name. But maybe those aren’t the things that channel love. Maybe the true conduit is more elusive than that.” (165)

“I had people. Who love me. People who cheated to lose. There’s really something to this, Iz, something that separates me from Shadow Kid. And I think this is what makes the storm pass.” (174)

“I want so badly for him to be real, to be good, to be a person of major fucking substance and despair.” (190) 

“Opening scenes are funny, because you never know which elements will change over time and which will stay the same. The world was, and is, mad.” (191)

“Life can be a real son of a bitch sometimes, bringing things back around long after you’ve said goodbye.” (196)

“And I cry. I cry thinking about the Rickys and Walts of the world, smiling in the face of all those Ty Zarnstorffs. I cry because I’ve never smiled like that, not once in my life. I cry because I love. For some reason, I always have.” (197)

“Frayed, worn, stringy, faded . . . It’s all just proof of a life lived well.” (211)

“I guess I just think life is more mysterious than death.” (228)

“You spend your life roaming the hillsides, scouring the four corners of the earth, searching desperately for just one person to fucking get you. ANd I’m thinking if you can find that, you’ve found home.” (250)

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be, like, a solid good-bye, you know?” “As opposed to a liquid one?” “Yes, actually. I much prefer liquid good-byes to solid ones.” (250)

“I’m done roaming hillsides. I’ve scoured the corners of the earth. And I’ve found my people.” (251)

“You ever have the feeling you lost something important, only to discover it was never there to begin with?” (258) 

“I play the What If? game all the time. But it’s rigged, is the thing. Impossible to win. Asking What If? can only lead to Maybe Things Could Have Been Different, via Was It My Fault?” (259)

“Sure, I’d love to kiss-hug-marry-hold Beck, but for now, I’m happy just to be with him. Sometimes being with gets overlooked I think.” (260)

“I swear, the older I get, the more I value bad examples over good ones. It’s a good thing, too, because most people are egotistical, neurotic, self absorbed peons, insistent on wearing near-sighted glasses in a far-sighted world.” (264)

“Life, it seems, delivers the best punch lines only after we’ve forgotten we were part of a joke.” (276) 

“Beck is teaching me how to be a better person, and when you find someone who inspires you like that, you hold on for dear life.” (283)

“And I think of all the times I thought I wasn’t okay, and all the times maybe I could have been, if I’d had Beck Van Buren around to tell me otherwise.” (311)

“Home is hard. . . It’s more than a storage unit for your life and its collections. It’s more than an address, or even the house you grew up in. People say home is where the heart is, but I think maybe home is the heart. Not a place or a time, but an organ pumping life into my life. There may be more mosquitos and stepmothers than I imagined, but it’s still my heart. My home.” (322) 

“Because even though honesty is hard, you really have to murder people with it if you expect to be a person of any value at all.” (323) 

“I was lovely once, but he never loved me once.” (326)

“Did God mess up?” I asked “Nope,” said Bubbly Skinned Man, smiling like a fool. “He just got bored.” (327)

“Maybe there is some black and white, though. In our choices. In my choices.” (340)