I LOVED THIS BOOK – but I’m also realistic. There are some major flaws with this novel that you can’t help but notice. If you were like me though, you choose to overlook them because the story felt so original and interesting you didn’t want to hate it. (ha) 

Do I think the author wanted to attempt to make the next greatest, visionary novel ever? Yes! Did she do that? No… And that’s okay! Really – why wouldn’t you want the author to put their all into it and attempt to create something absolutely beautiful. So let’s start with what she got wrong. The author got a few things wrong in the setting. I’m not sure why Asheville/North Carolina in general were chosen as the setting… when there are way more realistic locations the author could use. I did, kind of, chose to ignore the ‘mistakes’ made when it came to location. …. I pictured…. ‘Outer Banks’ setting. Asheville though? When I hear Asheville.. I think… mountains. I wouldn’t think Tobacco Farms or while in Asheville wonder if we can go see some marshes nearby. Kind of …. bonkers. Wish an editor would have helped out. A quick ‘replace all’ with a different location would have been better as the name of the location didn’t even matter …

There are some major southern biases here that I could see offending some people. More or less because they seem unnecessary.
     If you really want to get into what is unnecessary… the ‘sex’ scenes made my skin crawl. I quickly scanned and moved on wanting them to be over with. ‘Gross’ isn’t the right word, more… ‘uncomfortable’ than anything. 
      Now… the good parts. The whole story was wonderful. The idea of a ‘marsh girl’. The idea of her surviving on her own. Trying to figure out how to deal with society. Befriending people in ‘Colored Town’… the actual story itself, without all the painful details, is what drew me to this book. Not only did the story at a high level make me enjoy the book but also made me overlook the (many) annoying mistakes.
     So for me, going with 4 stars because AGAIN, I couldn’t help but love the story.