Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - The River We Remember

“Our lives and the lives of those we love merge to create a river whose current carries us forward from our beginning to our end. Because we are only one part of the whole, the river each of us remembers is different, and there are many versions of the stories we tell about the past. In all of them there is truth, and in all of them a good deal of innocent misremembering.”

There is something special when a small town police procedural is written by a masterful author. A simple case of murder becomes something altogether more complex, and in this case, the interwoven stories and character depth made all the difference.

William Kent Krueger writes detailed and nuanced characters, and the setting is almost a character in itself. Each character is carefully crafted within the story to feel realistically flawed and scarred and layered, and the diversity (and struggles that come with that) in his novels make sense to the time period. With these characters come very real issues, and some of the ones explored in this book include generational wealth or poverty, the ravages of war, gender roles, buried secrets, infidelity, systemic prejudice, land ownership, and the pitfalls of terrible people gaining more wealth and power. We see the best and worst of human nature through the insightful writing, and we are given time to ponder characters’ motives and the potential outcomes resulting from them.

While I figured out the “who” and “why” pretty early on, there was more than enough plot action and character development to keep me engaged throughout the book. I found myself wanting to race through the chapters, but also to slow down and savor the writing craft.

Thanks so much to Atria and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

** Please check the trigger warnings, as there are several.

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