This was a wild and funny story that was completely unexpected. I don't often like humor in my writing, but I was laughing out loud during this and loved every page.

I'm a fan of Dave Barry's humor writing, and I looked forward to his new novel, Swamp Story. But when I first started reading it, I found it hard to get into -- the humor was so broad it was almost slapstick, and the target audience seemed to be frat "bros." So, I set it aside and tried again a few months later.

It didn't get any better.

Set in the Everglades, the story follows two out-of-work media losers who get entangled with two bait-shop deadbeats who join with two would-be-YouTube-influencer stoners to create a fake "Melon Monster" roadside attraction. Meanwhile, two cons are stumbling around looking for buried gold bars in the same swamps. That's a lot of loser bros for one novel.

Oh, and there's a young woman with a baby, who gets abused and cuffed around by several of the losers. Charming.

Apart from a few groanworthy attempts at jokes and a bit of repetition, Barry's writing is good, and the novel's overall pacing is OK. Unfortunately, the misogyny -- lines like, "I'm gonna cut off her tits with her own [effing] machete…" -- plus violence, drug-taking, and overall obnoxiousness of almost every character make it an unappealing story.

I've been a longtime fan of Dave Barry and his quirky sense of humor. That being said, "Swamp Story" fell flat for me. It lacked the sharpness that has long put Barry at the end of the line for authors with a quick wit. Tipping my margarita glass in hopes the next novel will be more Barry-esque.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for my opinion.

What's the last book that surprised you? It's 100% Swamp Story for me. I skipped this for another pick in a subscription box but thankfully I was gifted a copy. I'm so grateful because I would have missed out on this hilarious gem. I don't have a "rating system" but I've decided if a book entertains me to the point I can't wait to pick it up, it's earned 5 stars.

Swamp Story has a whole eclectic cast of characters. The main character is Jesse, a young mom trapped in the Everglades with her freeloading boyfriend. When she finds a hidden trove of gold bars while on a walk one day, she realizes it may be her ticket out of the cabin and to a better life for her and her daughter.

The other plot revolves around a mix of guys who come up with a plan to make a viral video in order to make money. It involves a giant Dora the Explorer head, an Everglades Melon Monster, and Tik-Tok.

I'm not sure if this book will be for everyone, but if you enjoy dark comedy please add it to your list. It's so ridiculous at times but it's like one of those addicting guilty-pleasure reality shows: you just can't stop watching/reading 😂

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so fun to read! I really enjoyed it! I laughed so hard in many places. it was such a joy to read.

Swamp Story by Dave Barry is an over the top TRIP of a story. It's all about Florida, reality TV, cons, monsters, and more. It is really fun and comedic, but it is also all over the place. I personally enjoyed and if you need an escape from the realities of Florida, this is a perfect one to pick up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC - Swamp Story is out now!

Recommend with caveats: I love that Dave Barry is writing about Florida, but was taken by surprise at how sweary it is! That's not necessarily a bad thing in a book but it was unexpected.

A story so far, fetched and comical that one should read it. There’s several different stories going on at the same time. Were they all interconnect in the Everglades. There’s a little bit of gold, fighting monsters, and of course several people after the same thing.

Dave Barry is one of those authors that I always know I am in for a laugh out loud good time reading. This book was no exception. Interwoven subplots and outrageous characters that you would expect from Barry are fantastically on display throughout the book. A great fun read! Thank you Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my review.

I normally love Dave Barry but this book just didn't make me laugh. It came close, but alas something was missing.

What a crazy ride you experience when you open up Swamp Story and get sucked into the pages. Quirky characters, crazy antics, desperation, greed, a myriad of animals, developing relationships, a “comedy of errors” ... a little bit of everything. You will be laughing and rolling your eyes at the absurdity. I am a big fan now and can’t wait for another Dave Barry adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

A tired retread of previous books. The Florida oddball genre has been worked to death and by much better writers than Barry. Not my cup of tea but should prove amusing for fans of this type of book.

Funny, funny, funny. Dave Barry does not disappoint. Crazy characters in crazy situations made believable because it happens in Florida where crazy is an art form. I live in Florida, so I can say that. From the creation of a scheme to lure tourists to save a failing family business by making viral videos of the “Everglades Melon Monster,” to finding lost gold, to politicians visiting Florida the insanity never stops. If you have a sense of humor, you will not be disappointed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for this gifted eARC! I’ve heard so many great things about both this book and author, so I’m so excited to dive in. I’ll be going in blind for the most part, which again is quite rare for me to do, but I’m ready for whatever comes my way nonetheless.

Sometimes you just need to laugh and this is the book, that will help you with that.. Starting out with a birthday party for a girl who wants Elsa and her sister, instead she gets a 6foot man in a costume. The knocking down of the birthday cake had me laughing out loud. They will do anything for money and they had the costume and they develop Mellon man with some of the craziest characters, I ever read. Barry is a genius and always good for a laugh. Just buy this book and laugh, it’s good for the soul.

“What am I supposed to say, Bruce?” “Florida. Just say it’s Florida.”

Jesse Braddock is trapped in a tiny cabin deep in the Everglades with her infant daughter and her boyfriend, a wannabe reality tv star who turned out to be a lot prettier on the outside than on the inside. Broke and desperate for a way out, Jesse stumbles across a long-lost treasure which could solve all her problems — if she can figure out how to keep it. The trouble is, some very bad men are also looking for the treasure, and they know Jesse knows where it is.

Meanwhile, Ken Bortle of Bortle Brothers Bait & Beer has hatched a scheme to lure tourists to his failing store by making viral videos of the “Everglades Melon Monster.” The monster is in fact an unemployed journalist named Phil wearing a Dora the Explorer costume head. Incredibly, this plan actually works, inspiring a horde of TikTokers to swarm the swamp in search of the monster at the same time villains are on the hunt for Jesse’s treasure.

What follows are 300 pages of sheer absurdity. Bonkers in the very BEST way. Bumbling criminals, a more-looks-than-brains man with his sights set on creating a hit tv show (starring his chiseled abs), buried treasure, a swamp monster-turned-TikTok sensation — it was absolutely everything I want (and expect) from a novel set in Florida and I loved every minute of it. I honestly laughed out loud multiple times and was genuinely sad when it was all over.

SWAMP STORY isn’t an introspective litfic full of symbolism and deep thoughts. And it’s not trying to be! Instead it’s exactly the kind of novel that would have a cartoon alligator on the cover: an absolute blast of a weekend read and a perfect start to summer. Super short chapters and a highly entertaining plot turned me into a major fan. So recommended!

While it provided a lot of laughs and some great characters and concepts, Swamp Story was a decidedly mixed romp through the Everglades. I like Barry's characters, an handsome but ne'er do well acting wannabe, a "filmmaker" a gorgeous woman, Jessie, who is pretty much done with the actor and their infant daughter, a couple of brothers who own a beer and bait store that has seen better days and an alcoholic and his buddy who inadvertently make a viral video. That video inspires the dumber brother to come up with a very stupid plan to go viral on TikTok and a collaboration arises. Jessie has reason to believe she can get away from all this, but she attracts a couple of blundering bad guys because of her finding something valuable that they want. So, all this was kind of fun to read and follow, albeit very uneven in its appeal.

I do not understand that point and would have left out an entire side story about a US Secretary of the Interior and an event he uncharacteristically goes to in the Everglades to try to make himself more accessible for political reasons. It just seemed like Barry felt like adding an irrelevant story. It had the dumbest action and it was just boring. I expect Barry to be juvenile in a good way. This whole story just belly flopped in a painful way.

Such is humor that I do recommend Swamp story. Barry can write. At his best he's hilarious and parts of this novel rise to that level. 3.5 rounded down.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the free physical copy, as well as digital Netgalley, of SWAMP STORY for review! This was such a fun book to read!

Between Dave Barry’s dedication at the front of the book, and the comical praise from Steve Martin on the back of the jacket, I had a feeling I was in for a humorous caper!

SWAMP STORY just radiates “Florida Man” vibes. It’s also a bit of an “everything but the kitchen sink” book - and I mean that in the best of ways! There are so many wacky and different plot lines going on that appear unrelated, but you just know they are bound to come crashing together in the most crazy of moments!

The scenes with Phil running around in his modified Dora the Explorer costume head to act as the Everglades Melon Monster had me cracking up!

And then you have Slater constantly whipping his shirt off to point at nature while trying to sell his “Glades Man” show, as if he was God’s gift to man (or at least woman).

Of course there is also Jesse, who manages to stumble across buried gold, then goes through a real ringer of events not only trying to keep the gold but also keep her and her daughter alive. Think “lions, tigers, bears - oh my!”…but more, “camo creeps, mobsters, swamp men - oh my!”

Mix in a python catching contest gone wrong, a failing beer and bait store, and an unexpected hero, and this still doesn’t even scratch the surface of everything going on in SWAMP STORY.

This book hit shelves at the beginning of the month and is absolutely worth the read! You will laugh out loud and be on the edge of your seat wondering what insane thing will happen next!

#simonbooksbuddy

Dave Barry gets Florida and it’s crazy inhabitants. I was born and raised in NY but have lived in Florida for 20 years and let me tell you.. you can’t make have this stuff up. In Swamp Story, Dave tells multiple stories, within one plot and they work together perfectly. He is funny, articulate and accurate of how Floridians can be crazy. In this particular story people live around the Everglades. We have drunks, Tik Toc influencers, drug dealers and random others joining in the fun. Plus gold.. who doesn’t want gold?? Read this book. It was a 4 star read for me. It was funny and well written. This is not my first Dave Barry book and it won’t be my last. I want to thank Netgalley and the author for my copy of Swamp Story, for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this book.

My new favorite book!!!!

I have never laughed so hard while reading in my entire life. I fell in love with all the characters, no matter how ridiculous or bad they maybe. They were complex and complicated but their motives were simple.

It's a story about doing whatever it take to make money to survive and greed. It's told in a humorous and sometimes dry third person narrative.

If your in a reading slump I would recommend this book 100% of the time. It fun, it's fast, and you'll laugh out loud.

Thank you Simon & Shcuster for this ARC!!!!

#SwampStory #SimonBooksBuddy @SimonBooks @Simon.Books @FunnyDaveBarry @rayadverb