The River

A novel

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published March 5, 2019 by Knopf.

ISBN:
978-0-525-52187-7
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4 stars (10 reviews)

7 editions

Review of 'The River' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I was sorely disappointed by this book. The whole premise of the book interests me greatly so I figured I would enjoy it. I didn't.
Even with very few characters in the novel, the author didn't do a good job developing some of them.
The author included too many "flashbacks" in the book and some didn't seem necessary.
I rated it a 3 star but I'm being generous with that rating.

Review of 'The River' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Not quite literary, not quite genre.

The book is very readable. The genre elements sustain the reader in lizard brain agony: what happens next? Who dunnit? Is there a twist? These aspects held me to the book and I really couldn't put it down. If compulsively readable is what you are looking for you'll find it here. Unfortunately, after I put the book down I wasn't left with very much at all. There were no genre innovations. No shocking reveals. No gateways to a larger epic. There wasn't much of anything in the way of plot. So the book is meant to be propped up by literary mechanisms. There's a poem quoted here. We get some tragic backstory... we get... uh... no interesting questions to ponder about these characters. Actually, I could hardly tell the two main ones apart. Perhaps there is something here about fear and faith in the …

Review of 'The River' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Best friends Jack and Wynn are canoeing down the Maskwa River, a big adventure into the Canadian wilderness, when a wildfire starts licking at their heels. They go back to warn others, only to find the fire isn't their greatest threat.

The River was one of those books where I liked the sound of it before realising I'd read the author before. The Dog Stars made my top ten list in 2012 and I wasn't disappointed with Peter Heller's latest. I thought the fire might be a bigger part, but it's always in the background, herding them into the human danger ahead.

Jack lost his mother in a riding accident, but he never turned his back on the wilderness that took her. He recollects his loss and grief throughout the journey. Wynn is much simpler, kind and gentle, never wanting to assume the worst of people.

If you've not got …

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