This book held so much promise but (for me) it just didn’t deliver. The pacing was not quite right and I found myself skimming at points to move forward.

I was looking forward to reading this one but I was left with too many unanswered questions and overly knowledgable of the descriptions of marshes. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC digital edition.

Unfortunately, I was unable to read this in the time allotted.

Thank you for letting me read this book. I was disappointed in that I had expected to become involved in the characters and care about their difficulties. I did not find that to be the case. I will not be blogging about this book because another person may react entirely differently, and I don’t want to take away their pleasure.

there was a good story buried here but the atmospheric writing, while beautiful, became really excessive. I also felt like a lot of it went around in circles as if the author was trying to meet a word count

The concluding paragraphs of my RTE review:

These plot turns are what permit the novel to be classified as mystery fiction. Unfortunately, readers who pick the book up expecting it to conform to certain expectations of the crime fiction genre are likely to be disappointed. There are mysteries, certainly, but they are almost peripheral to the central concerns of the book and it is questionable whether they are ever fully resolved. This is not, however, a criticism of the novel itself, merely of how it's been tagged. THE FLOATING GIRLS is a remarkable debut, regardless of how it's classified.

The language is the charm, especially in the difference between how the grownup Kay expresses herself while still allowing her twelve-year old self the liberty of her blunter, less nuanced, but heartfelt expression. A sympathetic reader will be cheering young Kay on, hoping that she can navigate her way through the muddy waters of her childhood and relieved to hear in the more modulated language of the adult Kay that she has survived intact.

Unless you are a reader who will find the absence of any real detection or firm explanation a deal-breaker, THE FLOATING GIRLS is exceptionally engaging, even if in fact only one of them really floats - the other has her feet planted firmly on the soggy ground.

I'll admit that I spent some time looking at other reviews of The Floating Girls before writing my own. They tended to focus on the same aspects of the novel, whether they were enthusiastic or lukewarm. The evocative descriptions: readers either delighted in them or felt they became repetitive. The menace of too many things unspoken and repressed: readers either appreciated the build up of tension or felt overwhelmed by the unknown. The powerful voice of the twelve-year-old girl, Kay, who is the narrator: she was either remarkably bright and engaging or ill-used and irritating. And in a way, all of these observations are true.

• Evocative Descriptions: The descriptions do go on and on and on, but the point seems to me to be creating an ongoing sense of discomfort that needs repeating to be effective. Because I'm a wimp about hot weather, I found this aspect of the novel particularly vivid. I could easily feel myself in bayou country experiencing the torpor, the sense of everything weighing more than it should, and of my body becoming a prison I couldn't escape from.

• The Menace of Too Many Things Unspoken or Repressed: The piling up of unanswered question after unanswered question was frustrating, but necessary, given the writer's choice of narrator. I *think* I figured everything out by the end, but the fact that I still harbor some uncertainty was probably the result the writer was aiming for.

• The Powerful Voice of the Twelve-Year-Old Girl Who Is the Narrator: For me this was one of the novel's clear, compelling strengths. Kay speaks truth to power. Kay never shuts up. Kay goes her own way regardless of what she's told. Kay is embedded in family complexities she's far too young to understand. Kay has at least a dozen chips on her shoulder. Kay's imagination is running about ten miles in front of her with ideas about love that are both naive and all-consuming. If I had to spend time in person with her, she would exhaust me. But as a narrator, her presence is a gift.

I'm a bit in the middle on this one—but definitely more enthusiastic than lukewarm. Reading this book is like dropping yourself into the middle of an interesting puzzle that's missing a good number of pieces. Readers never get the whole picture, but they can enjoy fitting individual bits together.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

I’m going to keep this brief and to the point. This book was not for me. I love Southern fiction set in the marsh or backwaters: think Crawdads, Before We Were Yours, and The Girls in the Stilt House. This was not those. This felt like rambling. There was a strange mystery at play that could have been solved in one page by simple communication. The MC seemed intentionally annoying, although I can’t imagine that actually was the intention. Unfortunately, this book gave me a headache and is my first ever one star 😔 But, I promised myself when starting this account I would always be honest.

⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the complimentary ebook. I appreciate the opportunity.

Pub date: 7/12/22 Available Now

This book left me with a lot of mixed feelings. I loved how it was told by a sassy 12 year old. The story flowed nicely and the characters were well developed. Some of the story became repetitive at times. All in all a good read.

Having loved Where the Crawdads Sing, I was excited to read The Floating Girls.However, I was really disappointed. While Kay and her siblings are well developed as characters, the constant description of the marshlands ended up being irritating. The tone of this novel is dark. And that’s okay if there are other redeeming qualities. I’m sad to say that they were lacking. I don’t feel like the mystery was handled well and it left me unsatisfied.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I thought this was a well-written and interesting story. The marketing seems on-point -- I think it will appeal to Delia Owens readers. We will definitely be purchasing for the library.

I'd like to give this 4.5 stars if it would let me. I really dove head first into this book and almost didn't come up for air. It was entertaining, sad, freaky, and bittersweet all rolled up into one. I'm not familiar with the southern or southern novels but I could see the marsh, the backwoods and the people as vividly as if I were sitting in the house on stilts. There were a few twists I didn't see, but there were also ones I did. The author allows the reader to put the pieces together of the mystery way before the MC does and I found that entirely intriguing. Like we were all in on a little secret that she just couldn't grasp until years down the road. I liked the fire in her, even if she was always trying to get a rise out of her father and brothers. There's nothing wrong with a strong-willed woman.

This is a debut novel and I hate that I'm writing this. I don't see how anyone can compare this to WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING.. No comparison what so ever.

This book did not do it for me. I read the whole thing and truly was left scratching my head. The young lady telling this story, Kay, is only twelve years old. She's rude to everyone. Has the vocabulary of a sailor. Treats her family like they are less than dirt. There is absolutely nothing about her was likable. She talks about getting married multiple times so she can have different experiences. She says things that no twelve year old I have ever met or read about. If the author had made her sixteen or even fifteen I would have found it more believable. This kid was horrid not funny or feisty. She was very disrespectful and hateful. She was also sneaky and had no respect at all for her parents, who are another whole mess. The parents were for the most part useless. A dad who would not work and the mother who was "tired" all the time. Not because she did anything either. Just useless. One time it mentions the dad working and all he did was put the mom down while complaining about his back and the hard work he did while it took her all day to cook potatoes. No wonder Kay was useless.

I didn't like any of characters in this book. Maybe the son Freddy and only because he was super smart and wanted to go to a special school for gifted kids. This book is told strictly from Kay's pov and boy does she have a lot to say. Her biggest problem is her mouth. She never shut up and she wanted to be the center of everything. Anything and everything.

I don't get where the title came from and I must have missed something because I don't get what the very beginning was all about with the two different things about the swamp and people being in it. Were they dead? Murdered? Still alive? What? I thought the couple was doing something they shouldn't have been doing and that was not murder. If you get my drift. lol

I just didn't enjoy this book. I kept turning the pages all the way to the very end hoping something would happen to make me understand why everyone seems to think it's so great. I'm so sorry but it's not. It was just ok. A brat with a gutter mouth. Parents who were useless. Siblings that I felt sorry for. Neighbors who had secrets and I still am left wondering about. A cop that talked to a twelve year old like she was an adult. A lost child that I missed something about because I still wonder who did what to her. I know she was found but what happened. Or who happened I should say. I just didn't think this book was that good. It was just ok.

If this kid would have been older it would have been a good book. Still lacking, but good. It just left me scratching my head. I don't like that.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Sourcebooks for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

2.5-3/5 stars for me. I up it to 3 because I know it takes a lot of work to write and I appreciate that. I will try this author again if she writes another book. This one was just not for me.

THE FLOATING GIRLS
By Lo Patrick
Psychological Thriller
Release Date: July 12th, 2022

Twelve-year-old Kay Whitaker thought she knew everything there was to know about her family and marsh life, but that was before her parents became suspects in a kidnapping and murder. Kay stumbles across a stilt house in a neighboring marsh and upon Andy Webber, who’s about her age. Her father tells her to stay away from him, but she doesn’t listen. Kay becomes curious when a rumor of a suspicious drowning death of Andy’s mother that took place years earlier comes to light. But, when Kay’s sister goes missing, and the death of Andy’s mom is investigated, her parents have a potential role in both. Kay and her brothers must navigate the secrets about their family and the world that they thought they knew.

I loved the voice of Kay and the mystery behind this thriller. It had me laughing at her fiery personality and how she viewed the world. I was also curious about her as we unravel the domestic nature of the dysfunction and trauma held within this family. This book kept me turning pages. I highly recommend this book!

Floating Girls is a story told by a 12 year old girl who is trying to make sense of the world. Kay lives in the marshland of Georgia in poverty. There is a lot of family drama and she is trying to fit into the family. She meets a new boy who moves into a rickety house and wants to become friends. She is told to stay away. Kay does not understand and is pushing back against authority.

This was an interesting book. A 12 year old trying to make sense of her dysfunctional family. She wants to have friends and wants to escape the confines of this family. Tensions from the past have changed her family dynamic and she is unsure of where this will end. This book will definitely make you remember what it feels like to be 12.

Thank you to #netgalley, #LoPatrick, and #Sourcebooks for a review copy of this book.
#TheFloatingGirls

2.5 ⭐️‘S
While many will enjoy this coming of age story, I am not among them. There were parts of the story that were well done, while others suffered with repetitiveness. Depressing and bleak at times, the young narrator, Kay, did remind us a bit of Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird, but her profusive use of profanity got old quickly. Things were alluded to throughout, but never cleared everything up. All that teemed with an unsatisfactory ending left this reader disappointed.

This is a coming of age novel set in Georgia. The story is told by twelve year old Kay. She lives in the marsh with her dysfunctional and strange family. Kay is running through the marsh one day when she encounters another child close to her age. Kay is eager to strike up a friendship with Andy once she realizes how close they live to each other but Kay’s parents immediately tell her to have nothing to do with him. It is so heartbreaking to see Kay living like she does when she craves more human interaction but everyone is suspicious to her parents. There are so many secrets and problems within this family but Kay is a delightful and engaging character. The setting is written so atmosphericaly that you can feel the heat and humidity. If you like a slower paced character driven novel you will enjoy this one.

Read this one with a chilled glass of your favorite while in a cozy perch, and time to appreciate the loquacious writing style and signature country coastal Georgia setting. I was looking for a slow going quintessential Southern fic for a summer read on the porch. Not many pages in and I felt this book by new to me author was living up to the blurb’s promise.



The muggy air, the scents of the swamp, the cool treat of a fountain soda with ice, bugs buzzing, and the lazy, sluggish watery scenery all came through even as the youthful, crude, curious, and funny narrator, twelve-year old Kay tried to make sense of the mysteries within her own backward family and the new neighbors who came to the house on stilts deeper in the swamp. Kay notices things, but struggles to interpret what she is seeing about her recluse of a mom, temper-driven lazy father, older brothers, and odd, silent older sister let alone what she reads off the boy and his dad just moved back from California. For some reason, her parents want her to stay far away from Andy and his dad and that just gets Kay more interested than ever in forbidden fruit. Kay’s curiosity eventually tears the secrets into the open and tears up her own family- secrets that were hidden for many years. Meanwhile, her life is growing up poor and a little wild in a small, slow Georgia town on the edge of the swamp.



The Floating Girls was delightfully atmospheric and drew a picture across the mind’s eye that assaulted the reader’s senses. There was a heavy weightiness and a sense of something just out of sight, but felt. I loved how the author was able to achieve that with the writing.

Kay is a shocker in her irreverent, uncouth talk and her way of accepting her life in an ‘it is what it is way’, but also not seeming to care of the rest of her family ignored her or caring for their opinions when she had an urge to say or do something. I found her smartmouthed attitude and ideas funny, outloud at that, a few times, but she’s twelve so I had the itch to give the girl an ‘act like you got some raising’ lecture while sadly knowing that this was part of the problem. Kay hadn’t received any real parenting. The reader is the one who interprets what Kay is seeing and experiencing and knowing something big, possibly associated with a death, is being hidden out there in the swamp and will come to light as Kay pokes into matters.

Alas, there was a point where I needed the slogging and and stringing out of matters to get going. I felt it stalled out particularly when the same thoughts and depictions were swirling around that had already been churned over. Some of what happened left me unsure if it could have happened that way and some of the resolution, particularly to the mystery, wasn’t as crisp and cut as I would have liked.



But, in the end, this book did what it set out to do and I felt I got what I expected and appreciated. It hit the emotions and senses and took me to a timeless, different place where a girl and her family story had me interested and curious. For those who enjoy gentle-paced, southern set, personal dramas that Southern Fiction can give, I can recommend adding The Floating Girls to your list.

I went into this expecting something of a thriller but this wasn't thrilling. I don't understand the title of Floating Girls either.... The main character was really annoying and rambled most of the time. The other people in the book seemed to know things to solve the mystery but for whatever reason didn't reveal anything until closer to the end. It became very repetitive. I felt bad for the kids for having such a depressing life and bad parents. The suspense only continued because people didn't communicate. I was also really trigged with the father hitting his daughter. It was really too much for me and I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. The ending felt unfinished. I'm still not completely clear on what happened to Sarah-Anne.

The Floating Girls by Lo Patrick is being billed as the next Where the Crawdads Sing with a modern-day Scout Finch as its narrator. To approach this book that way will lead to disappointment as the only thing it has in common with the other book is that it is most definitely Southern literature, with this story taking place in the fictitious Bledsoe, Georgia. Kay Whitaker is no Scout as boy-crazy Kay constantly disrespects her father Clay, and she could really use a bar of soap to wash out her mouth. Touted as “wickedly funny,” this book is not the least bit humorous as readers learn about the Whitaker family: Clay, Sue-Bess, Sarah-Anne, Kay, Peter, Freddy, and the late Elizabeth.

The Floating Girls is a book in which the marshy setting is as much a character in the book as any other. The description throughout the book is luscious, and the writing is superb in this debut novel. Kay leads the reader into the marsh where she discovers a father and son living in what she calls “a high heel house,” a house on stilts. For some reason he does not explain to her, Clay forbids Kay from seeking a friendship with Andy Webber, who has just returned to the marsh after living for some time in California with his father Nile.

Kay begins to understand that she does not know all about her family and the life they live. She cannot comprehend what might have happened in the past that should keep her from being a friend to Andy. She does not identify with the super quiet ways of her mother Sue-Bess and the strange ways of her sister Sarah-Anne. She is puzzled about the death of Andy’s mother 10 years ago, which may be solved with the arrest of her own parents, which causes Peter, Freddy, and Kay to be shuffled off to foster care while both parents await a trial for kidnapping and murder.

This novel stands alone as a piece of Southern fiction with a smart-mouth, 12-year-old girl leading the reader through the marshes and the complicated life of her backwoods family.

Lo Patrick, born and raised in Georgia, is a lawyer-turned-novelist who lives in the Atlanta suburbs. Her debut novel was published on July 12, 2022.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 14, 2022.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.