READING THROUGH THE UNITED STATES...FLORIDA

Florida...

When I think of novels set in Florida I picture cheesy beach reads. Books that cluttered my grandmother’s bedside table. Books filled with muscle bound bronzed men and string bikini clad women who really should eat something before a hurricane blows them away. Books with overly passionate romances but no real substance to the plot. Books that quite honestly make me nauseas. So when I began my search for my Florida read I was pleasantly surprised to find so many different options that I honestly had a little trouble choosing. 

So how did I ultimately choose? At first it was the color of the book that caught my attention. This deep blue, like I had stepped into the middle of the ocean or wandered off into the cosmos. This beautiful blue. Is that weird? To be drawn to the book by the color. The title...intriguing. If the color caught my attention and the title was intriguing, then it was the book’s description that finally drew me in...para insomnia, scandal, and a mute child.  Why was the child mute...what happened? Was it autism or something else. How would this story unfold? The possibilities of what could happen had my imagination turning cartwheels. They seemed endless. 

The novel, Sea Creatures by Susanna Daniel, begins with Georgia, Graham, and the son Frankie moving to Florida as their lives seem to spiral out of control. In Florida, a failed business, a husband who just lost his job, and selectively mute child all seem to be fading into the past as life slowly changes for Georgia and Frankie while Graham is away. I’ll leave the rest for you to find out on your own. If you do choose to read the book then you should stop reading here...and then form your own opinions. If not or if you are just curious then by all means continue.

This book was beautifully written, the language like poetry. Here’s the thing...I love words. I love how they can be twisted and woven together to create something out of nothing. Like magic. This book has that...a wonderful tapestry of words. I was enthralled with how the words flowed, but ultimately disappointed in the novel itself. There was so much promise...yet I was left in the end with a story about a woman regretting the husband she chose and falling for another man. A cheesy romance novel, sugar coated with beautiful words.