Well, I just finished this one up a few minutes ago. I'm having some mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I really liked the imaginative set up. Russell's choice to focus on a brood of alligator wrestlers is certainly unique. The setting was also neat and I think had a lot of potential. With that being said, I can't say that I ever ended up relating to any of the characters. Despite the novel being written in 1st person for large sections, I feel entirely disconnected from Ava. Also, the novel really lacked any closure. It never answered any questions regarding the magical realism aspects of the book nor what happened to the characters.
I'll give it a B-
I started this book yesterday and I've been really looking forward to reading it.
So far though, I'm not crazy about it. I feel disconnected to the characters.
But, it's still too early for any final verdicts. We'll see how the rest of the book goes...