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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars rounded up. What an abhorrent and pathetic main character. Unlikeable is an understatement. And poor Abby, she didn’t deserve anything she got.
Gone to See the River Man was not at all what I thought. I thought it would be more about blood, guts, and glory, but it was more psychological.
I had one of the big reveals ruined for me, but it was still disgusting and heartbreaking.
This book delivered horror on a silver platter, but I can’t get over how much of a shitty person Lori is (and that’s the entire point). There are no redeeming qualities about her.
Gone to See the River Man was not at all what I thought. I thought it would be more about blood, guts, and glory, but it was more psychological.
I had one of the big reveals ruined for me, but it was still disgusting and heartbreaking.
This book delivered horror on a silver platter, but I can’t get over how much of a shitty person Lori is (and that’s the entire point). There are no redeeming qualities about her.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide
Worst character award goes to Lori!
If you’re reading this, know that it’s a bad sign when the main character is far worse than the titular character, The River Man. Know that it’s an even worse sign that this review exists, because I never write reviews but wanted to write one for this book to warn other potential readers. I would HIGHLY recommend taking a look at trigger warnings before reading this. I went into it thinking I knew what it was but was very caught off guard. To be clear, I don’t really have an issue with gore. Of course I expect it in a horror story. And yes, there definitely is some, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was the depraved, disgusting aspects of the story that had nothing to do with murder or death. Lori’s actions throughout the book are truly unforgivable.(Obviously the things that Edmund did are terrible and sadistic and unforgivable as well, but we know he’s a serial killer just from the description, so I knew to expect that). What I wasn’t prepared for was Lori. The way the book is set up is so we read parts in the present that have scenes from the past mixed in. Everything she did as a teenager just made me feel sick. Physically ill. And she only regretted her actions after the consequences inconvenienced her. I understand that we’re not really supposed to like Lori, but come on. I promise you, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unlikable main character. I think a key component of horror is a (at least somewhat) sympathetic main character. This was severely lacking that. I have no empathy or sympathy for Lori and I don’t want to read a book about the perpetrator of such terrible things. In my opinion this book veers into the extreme horror category, which isn’t for me. I’m a diehard horror fan of both books and movies, but this was just sick. If you’re concerned about some of the content based on this review or others, PLEASE look up the trigger warnings in advance.
To those of you who really enjoyed it: I’m not trying to invalidate your opinion, it’s just that I personally cannot appreciate anything about this book. I don’t feel like the book glorifies any of the content that I found disturbing, I just don’t want to read about it.
If you’re reading this, know that it’s a bad sign when the main character is far worse than the titular character, The River Man. Know that it’s an even worse sign that this review exists, because I never write reviews but wanted to write one for this book to warn other potential readers. I would HIGHLY recommend taking a look at trigger warnings before reading this. I went into it thinking I knew what it was but was very caught off guard. To be clear, I don’t really have an issue with gore. Of course I expect it in a horror story. And yes, there definitely is some, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was the depraved, disgusting aspects of the story that had nothing to do with murder or death. Lori’s actions throughout the book are truly unforgivable.(Obviously the things that Edmund did are terrible and sadistic and unforgivable as well, but we know he’s a serial killer just from the description, so I knew to expect that). What I wasn’t prepared for was Lori. The way the book is set up is so we read parts in the present that have scenes from the past mixed in. Everything she did as a teenager just made me feel sick. Physically ill. And she only regretted her actions after the consequences inconvenienced her. I understand that we’re not really supposed to like Lori, but come on. I promise you, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unlikable main character. I think a key component of horror is a (at least somewhat) sympathetic main character. This was severely lacking that. I have no empathy or sympathy for Lori and I don’t want to read a book about the perpetrator of such terrible things. In my opinion this book veers into the extreme horror category, which isn’t for me. I’m a diehard horror fan of both books and movies, but this was just sick. If you’re concerned about some of the content based on this review or others, PLEASE look up the trigger warnings in advance.
To those of you who really enjoyed it: I’m not trying to invalidate your opinion, it’s just that I personally cannot appreciate anything about this book. I don’t feel like the book glorifies any of the content that I found disturbing, I just don’t want to read about it.
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Tension I was hoping for got touched lightly by the exploitative and sad backstory of the main Character. I just wish the Plot itself would have been equally unsettling in its own way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Blood
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Eating disorder, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Murder
Trigger warnings aplenty. Apart from gruesome murder scenes and insight into the deranged killer's reasoning for "why" he mutilates, rapes and murders women - there are other trigger warnings that need to be looked into before going in blind. (I feel if I mentioned them, they'd give the story away.)
It wasn't the deranged murderer's stuff that disturbed me, funnily enough. It was the mind fuck of how this book is written. We have the set up for the evil character pretty early on, Edmund the convicted murderer, rapist and mutilator of women. Seems like a straight forward story, right?
Not that fast! The hook of this book is that the MC loses all credibility and relateable likeness after it is revealed she's not a reliable p.o.v for this story. She's quite a twisted and unlikable character herself.
What disturbed me was the family ickyness, I get that the twist was to make her unlikeable and twisted as fuck but it could have gone anywhere else for her to still be on par with Edmund's evil. But then it was meant to unsettle and disturb, so the story did what it was supposed to.
I really enjoyed the set up and lore of The River Man and the blues curse tie in to it. For a bit I thought there wasn't going to be any entity so I'm glad that actually followed through.
I was annoyed by Lori's naivety at the end though, I wouldn't have called her naive the whole journey up to see the River Man, even after what she does to get her wish granted but then becomes a completely different character once that part happens. What did she think was going to happen when she finally got to be with Edmund?
It wasn't the deranged murderer's stuff that disturbed me, funnily enough. It was the mind fuck of how this book is written. We have the set up for the evil character pretty early on, Edmund the convicted murderer, rapist and mutilator of women. Seems like a straight forward story, right?
Not that fast! The hook of this book is that the MC loses all credibility and relateable likeness after it is revealed she's not a reliable p.o.v for this story. She's quite a twisted and unlikable character herself.
What disturbed me was the family ickyness, I get that the twist was to make her unlikeable and twisted as fuck but it could have gone anywhere else for her to still be on par with Edmund's evil. But then it was meant to unsettle and disturb, so the story did what it was supposed to.
I really enjoyed the set up and lore of The River Man and the blues curse tie in to it. For a bit I thought there wasn't going to be any entity so I'm glad that actually followed through.
I was annoyed by Lori's naivety at the end though, I wouldn't have called her naive the whole journey up to see the River Man, even after what she does to get her wish granted but then becomes a completely different character once that part happens. What did she think was going to happen when she finally got to be with Edmund?
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don’t even know how to rate this so let’s just go bang in the middle