Tea and Tales with Cate and Allison discussion

Hey book lovers!

I can't believe we're finally at the end of our first book! What did you all think of Mosquitoland? Would you recommend it to a friend? Here are some more in-depth questions to think about and discuss:

-How does Mim grow up and develop while on her cross country journey to find her mother? How does this journey and the characters she meets affect her outlook on life, and what lessons does she learn about life, love, family, and being herself?

-Does finally meeting Mim's mom change your outlook of her and Mim's situation? If so, how?

-Toward the end of the novel, we learn that Isabel is not Mim's Aunt Isabel, but rather her future baby sister. What is the significance of this revelation and the fact that Mim is writing to her sister?

-What is the significance of Mim's choice regarding her medication at the end? How does this tie into larger themes about mental illness?

-What do you think happens to Walt and Beck? Do you think Arnold might write a sequel focusing on them? Who else wants to know more about them?

I loved this book and I would defiantly recommend it to a friend! I think Mim changes a lot throughout the novel. I think Mim's biggest battle was coming to terms with what her family and people at home think of her vs what she thinks of herself. I think because Mim didn't know what happened to her mom, she could romanticize her. I defiantly think that finally meeting her mom changes that. She sees what life has done to her mom and I think that let's Mim begin to heal. I liked that it was Kathy who is there with Mim when she's with her mom. I also like that story ends with Mim and Kathy. Kathy is also a good indication of Mim's growth. In the beginning, Kathy was the enemy, the woman who is replacing her mother. But in the final moments of the novel, Mim tells Kathy about being partially blind, and I think that was such a huge step for Mim, and to have that step be made with Kathy, is huge! And when Mim places the last of her red lipstick, her war paint, on her mother's vanity, I think that showed her accepting her reality. It was like her letting go of that part of fiction in her life. Mim writing to her baby sister was such a revelation! I just thought it was so brilliant that it was her little sister! Like Mim says in the book, her father feels as if he failed his sister, and I think Mim writing to her little sister was her way of trying to not fail her. I really hope David Arnold write a sequel! I also love the idea of the story being focused on Walt and Beck, like you suggested! That would be awesome!

Hello Everyone!

I just want to start off by saying that I really loved participating in this read along with you all! It enhanced my love for reading by having me slow down my pace and reflect upon what I have read. It was so interesting and fun to hear so many different opinions and reflections on the book! I'm really looking forward to the next book! :)

I really enjoyed Mosquitoland, and I would definitely recommend it to my friends. It is completely outside the realm of what I typically read, and it was refreshing to read something different. It was very well written and so unique to anything I have ever read.

I think that the biggest discovery for Mim throughout the book was that she is in charge of herself and she has control over her life. Even though she cannot control the things that happen to her or around her, she can control how she reacts and handles the situations put in front of her. I think by the end she overcame much of her victim mentality, that I thought was apparent throughout much of the book.

I think that at the beginning of the book, Mim was running away from her family and life, and hoping that by getting to her Mom, everything would be solved and answered for her. However, I think that her journey to get to her Mom and the relationships she formed along the way helped her find the answers to all of her questions inside herself. I think that by the time she got to her Mom she saw the reality of her Mom's state of mental health that she was not aware of prior to her journey back to Cleveland. I think had Mim not made the journey back without her Dad and Kathy, she may not have been ready to cope with the situation or accept it for what it was. I think the journey was so necessary to her own personal growth, which I guess was the point of the story!

I don't think that finally meeting Mim's mom changed my outlook on their situation. If anything, it confirmed it. I had a feeling that Mim glorified her relationship with her Mom in some aspects. I don't think this is a fault, seeing only the good in a person. I think that perhaps Mim's mom was very good at concealing the state of her mental health from Mim to protect her. I loved that at the end of the book, Mim was able to accept what her Mom is going through and decide to keep moving forward with her own life and relationships, while her Mom is healing.

I was very shocked when it was revealed that Mim was writing to her soon to be baby sister Isabel, and not her Aunt. David Arnold did a great job with this plot twist, as I had no idea it was coming! It totally connected all the dots at the end of the book and it made me want to go back and read it all over again with the new knowledge. I think this is very important for the reader to know that although Mim is going through a very tumultuous time in her life, and that she has definitely been affected by discovering her Aunt's suicide, she still has hope for the future and values the life of her unborn sister. I knew at the beginning and throughout the story that there was more to the story with Kathy and Mim's Dad, and I was so grateful that the author kept the truth hidden to the very end.

I really appreciated at the end of the book that Mim was able to own her decision to stay off her medication, but allude to the fact that she would seek help from other support avenues. I think it was important that she acknowledged that no mental illness is identical to the other and that medication has helped saved the lives of those suffering from mental illness.

I think that while I am curious about Walt and Beck's journey, I appreciate that David Arnold left it open in a way that allows the reader to ponder, but know that they were headed in a positive direction. There a lot of stories where I wish I could follow the characters afterward and see where their journey takes them next. But, on the same hand I think that sequels can sometimes be disappointing when they don't go the way you had pictured or hoped to. So I guess I'm saying that because this book explored so many different facets of human relationships and emotions, I don't see how a sequel could live up to the first. I would definitely read it though, should David Arnold create one! :)

Anyway,

Signing off,

Casey Kathleen