Review: The Flood Girls

Reviewer: Kristen
Author: Richard Fifield
Pages: 336
Format: ARC - thank you so so much Simon & Schuster Canada! 
My Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (you da best, Goodreads): This snappy, sassy redemption story set in small-town Montana is “a wild and crazy debut novel by a talented young writer” (Jackie Collins), filled with an uproarious and unforgettable cast of characters you won’t want to leave behind.

Welcome to Quinn, Montana, population: 956. A town where nearly all of the volunteer firemen are named Jim, where The Dirty Shame—the only bar in town—refuses to serve mixed drinks (too much work), where the locals hate the newcomers (then again, they hate the locals, too), and where the town softball team has never even come close to having a winning season. Until now.

Rachel Flood has snuck back into town after leaving behind a trail of chaos nine years prior. She’s here to make amends, but nobody wants to hear it, especially her mother, Laverna. But with the help of a local boy named Jake and a little soul-searching, she just might make things right.

In the spirit of Empire Falls and A League of Their Own, with the caustic wit of Where’d You Go, Bernadette thrown in for good measure, Richard Fifield’s hilarious and heartwarming debut will have you laughing through tears.

My Thoughts: I've literally just finished this novel, and I'm a little scatter-brained because it made me feel all the things, so I'm just going to tell you whatever comes to mind. The gist: I freaking loved this book. So much. It was honest and powerful and funny. It was unexpected and relatable and I can't say good enough things about it.  I've decided that going into books blindly is the best way to go. I honestly didn't know much about this book before I dived in - and I'm so glad that I read it this way. It dealt with some pretty big issues (like alcoholism) in such a smart way, and it really illuminated the lives of everyone in Quinn. A super small town, where everyone knows everyone, and Richard Fifield made me feel like I lived there too. I could totally be a fly on the wall of The Dirty Shame - the bar that one of the main characters own.  

The characters were so rich and, I don't want to be cheesy, but three dimensional, that you felt like you literally knew them. I would absolutely love it if the author did little spin offs of other characters that we are briefly introduced to in The Flood Girls. These characters take on everything. They are so realistic and fascinating that you literally cannot put the book down once you've started it - believe me. I neglected my school readings to finish this because I just could not get the story out of my head. 

That ending, by the way? Yeah. It killed me. I'm writing this from beyond the grave. The wi-fi here is surprisingly fantastic.

Final Thoughts: This book is definitely going to be one of my favourite books of the year. It's a small town populated by bad-ass women who continually took me by surprise. I need you to go pick this bad boy up so I can talk about it with someone! 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annnnnd, because I read #KickAssWomen, I thought that I should introduce you, Bad-Blood style, to Red Mabel! 

She was one of my favourite characters to read in The Flood Girls! She is definitely bad-ass, and you should get to know her better! Flood girls was a fantastic read, and you should definitely definitely definitely check it out!