Finally! I thought I'd never finish slogging through this book. --- That's been my one clear, consistent thought while reading The Brides of Rollrock Island, that reading it was a slog. My other feelings are much more ambivalent. I'm a fan of the subject matter, enjoy the dark tone, and recognize her beautiful writing. Yet I found the style of the writing remote and inaccessible, the characters unengaging and difficult to sympathize with. Too much focus on detailed descriptions of mundane surroundings and happenings to create the atmosphere, not enough focus on getting me inside the characters' heads. The only reason I didn't give up on it after the first third of the book was because I want to be able to join in during our Mock Printz discussion; and because I did, for the same reasons, give up after reading the first third of Lanagan's previous book, Tender Morsels, which I'd also heard excellent things about, and I wanted to give at least one of her books a complete consideration. --- In a way, I'm glad I took the time to finish it, since the further I went the more I became pulled into the story and wanted to see how it all worked out, yet reading it remained work to the end. Consuming the story was an intellectual exercise for me, not an emotional one, which is a shame since she's such a good writer. She's just not my style, it seems. Because it's a fascinating take on the selkie myths, a dark exploration of human motivation and greed with meaty themes and a satisfying thread of the tragic. I enjoyed the tale, just not the telling.

This is a novel based on the Selkie legends, and is one of many published with the new “mermaid” theme so popular now with YA writers. While the island of Rollrock is fictitious, the book is written in a voice similar to that of any Maritime novel. Shunned for her ugliness by most everyone in her tiny fishing village on, Misskaela Prout becomes a sort of witch, using her gift of magicking human forms out of seals. Enchanted by lust, the Rollrock men soon forsake their wives and pay Misskaela to conjure their mates.Told in a variety of voices across several generations in what is essentially a series of linked short stories, the book depicts the consequences of men loving women who, despite their affection for their husbands and children, struggle with their innate desire to return to the sea. Like her last Printz award winning novel—which I LOVED—this is a beautifully written book and is hard to compare to anything else out there. For fans of fractured or remade fairy tales. (AL)

Until about 2/3 through, I really didn't like it- really blah and seemingly pointless. The last 1/3 of the book really pulled it together though- 4 1/2 stars. The author finally conveyed an opinion, and really gave the book a heart that the beginning lacked. Ultimately, the dragging majority of the book made me give it a 3.