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kelly_e's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Title: River Mumma
Author: Zalika Reid-Benta
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: August 22, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Penguin Random House Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Mythical • Energetic • Original
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Alicia has been out of grad school for six months. She has no career prospects and lives with her mom, who won’t stop texting her macabre news stories and reminders to pick up items from the grocery store.
Then, one evening, the Jamaican water deity, River Mumma, appears to Alicia, telling her that she has twenty-four hours to scour the city for her missing comb.
Alicia doesn’t understand why River Mumma would choose her. She can’t remember all the legends her relatives told her, unlike her retail co-worker Heaven, who can reel off Jamaican folklore by heart. She doesn’t know if her childhood visions have returned, or why she feels a strange connection to her other co-worker Mars. But when the trio are chased down by malevolent spirits called duppies, they realize their tenuous bonds to each other may be their only lifelines. With the clock ticking, Alicia’s quest through the city broadens into a journey through time—to find herself and what the river carries.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Discovering new voices in Canadian literature is one of several guiding forces behind what books I am picking up, so it will come as no surprise I was excited to be gifted an advanced reader copy of River Mumma. I knew very little, beyond the magical aspect, about what this book was about prior to picking it up and I would have that was a gift in itself.
Spanning a single day, the author combines Jamaican folklore with Toronto culture to explore race, gender, ancestral ties, colonialism, eco-existentialism, and desire. The idea of reconnecting with our ancestry and histories appealed to me on so many different levels and the author is able to combine the MCs current reality with magical elements of her past in such a fascinating way. The exploration of diasporic community is equally interesting.
I also listened to the audio while reading and it was absolutely fantastic narrated by Tymika Tafari. The narrator brings the characters to live and livens the story in such an entertaining way. I was engaged throughout the entire story.
River Mumma is a a whirlwind coming-of-age adventure and a love letter to the city of Toronto. As someone who lived there for close to a year, I could easily picture so many of the areas the characters explore. And of course, the many references to traffic and transit struggles had be chuckling to myself. Reid-Benta has a fantastic story-telling ability and I will definitely be keeping an eye on this emerging voice in Canadian literature.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• the city of Toronto
• Jamaican folklore
• quests
⚠️ CW: slavery, racism, violence, murder, death, injury/injury detail, blood, vomit, cursing, colonization, cultural appropriation, classism
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Water heals, water nourishes, water has power."
"I'm in a cab, the TTC is down... yes, again."
Author: Zalika Reid-Benta
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: August 22, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Penguin Random House Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Mythical • Energetic • Original
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Alicia has been out of grad school for six months. She has no career prospects and lives with her mom, who won’t stop texting her macabre news stories and reminders to pick up items from the grocery store.
Then, one evening, the Jamaican water deity, River Mumma, appears to Alicia, telling her that she has twenty-four hours to scour the city for her missing comb.
Alicia doesn’t understand why River Mumma would choose her. She can’t remember all the legends her relatives told her, unlike her retail co-worker Heaven, who can reel off Jamaican folklore by heart. She doesn’t know if her childhood visions have returned, or why she feels a strange connection to her other co-worker Mars. But when the trio are chased down by malevolent spirits called duppies, they realize their tenuous bonds to each other may be their only lifelines. With the clock ticking, Alicia’s quest through the city broadens into a journey through time—to find herself and what the river carries.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Discovering new voices in Canadian literature is one of several guiding forces behind what books I am picking up, so it will come as no surprise I was excited to be gifted an advanced reader copy of River Mumma. I knew very little, beyond the magical aspect, about what this book was about prior to picking it up and I would have that was a gift in itself.
Spanning a single day, the author combines Jamaican folklore with Toronto culture to explore race, gender, ancestral ties, colonialism, eco-existentialism, and desire. The idea of reconnecting with our ancestry and histories appealed to me on so many different levels and the author is able to combine the MCs current reality with magical elements of her past in such a fascinating way. The exploration of diasporic community is equally interesting.
I also listened to the audio while reading and it was absolutely fantastic narrated by Tymika Tafari. The narrator brings the characters to live and livens the story in such an entertaining way. I was engaged throughout the entire story.
River Mumma is a a whirlwind coming-of-age adventure and a love letter to the city of Toronto. As someone who lived there for close to a year, I could easily picture so many of the areas the characters explore. And of course, the many references to traffic and transit struggles had be chuckling to myself. Reid-Benta has a fantastic story-telling ability and I will definitely be keeping an eye on this emerging voice in Canadian literature.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• the city of Toronto
• Jamaican folklore
• quests
⚠️ CW: slavery, racism, violence, murder, death, injury/injury detail, blood, vomit, cursing, colonization, cultural appropriation, classism
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Water heals, water nourishes, water has power."
"I'm in a cab, the TTC is down... yes, again."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Cursing, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed this book. It felt really grounded in Toronto and I loved the inclusion of Jamaican folklore as a magical realism-type element. Our three primary characters were fun and had great chemistry together - you could absolutely buy them as colleagues turned friends thrown together to steal back a comb for an ancient water deity in less than 24 hours. They all had their little character development moments, though I would have loved to see more of Alicia's by the end as she now seems to have a better sense of purpose in life. That said, she was my favourite - I related to some of her quarter-life crisis feelings (even if we had very different experiences overall) and she had real strength of character in some pretty fucked up moments.
River Mumma herself was very cool - I think it's difficult to portray a deity on page and Reid-Benta generally succeeded in emphasizing that sense of awe, respect, and frustration with a figure like River Mumma. And the duppies were scary - I'd lose my shit if I came face to face with any of them, but especially the Whooping Boy.
Overall, I think the author had a fun time with this story and so did I!
Also it's set in winter, which I was <i>not</i> expecting... I totally thought it was a summer book! If you're looking for a readalike, I think there's some similar vibes and general plot points between River Mumma and VenCo by Cherie Dimaline. There are significant differences between the two, but that overarching idea of a young woman stuck in her life who ends up tasked with something of a magic-adjacent nature and goes on a somewhat dangerous adventure... those books remind me of each other.
CW: mentions of slavery, violence/blood/emesis on page
River Mumma herself was very cool - I think it's difficult to portray a deity on page and Reid-Benta generally succeeded in emphasizing that sense of awe, respect, and frustration with a figure like River Mumma. And the duppies were scary - I'd lose my shit if I came face to face with any of them, but especially the Whooping Boy.
Overall, I think the author had a fun time with this story and so did I!
Also it's set in winter, which I was <i>not</i> expecting... I totally thought it was a summer book! If you're looking for a readalike, I think there's some similar vibes and general plot points between River Mumma and VenCo by Cherie Dimaline. There are significant differences between the two, but that overarching idea of a young woman stuck in her life who ends up tasked with something of a magic-adjacent nature and goes on a somewhat dangerous adventure... those books remind me of each other.
CW: mentions of slavery, violence/blood/emesis on page
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Slavery
tamara_joy's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Slavery
Moderate: Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Death, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
kimwritesstuff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
You guys, this is my first 5-star read in a long time. I absolutely devoured this book. I love a book that is outside my culture and provides a viewpoint that I'm not familiar with. Alicia is a young Black woman with Jamaican heritage, and that heritage is like another character in this book; I absolutely loved it.
I loved learning more about Jamaican beliefs and culture. The relationships that Alicia had with her family and friends, as well as the use of Jamaican patois, were chef's kiss. The River Mumma herself was described so beautifully that it sent me on a Google spiral searching for more information about Jamaican/Caribbean culture. River Mumma is a water deity that senses Alicia has the gift and summons her to help her find her stolen comb. If Alicia fails, all the world's waters will dry up.
After meeting the River Mumma, Alicia starts her quest both physically and spiritually. Alicia ropes her coworkers/friends Mars and Heaven (who are also Jamaican) into her quest. What follows is a journey that is more about finding yourself and generational trauma. I don't want to spoil anything, but I literally could gush about how beautiful this book is. Seriously, no notes.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books/Erewhon for the ARC.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery and Vomit
momma_needs_to_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book was definitely interesting but it just wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t connect to the book. I felt lost at times while reading, it felt kind of hectic. One wild thing happened right after another. However, I really enjoyed reading and learning about different Jamaican legends and culture.
Reading this was, at times, difficult. Between the Jamaican language and/or slang and the millennial/gen Z slang, it was hard to understand. I am a millennial and I still don’t understand the dialogue half the time. And with that being said, I think for those with dyslexia or anything else that can cause issues with reading, it will likely be very difficult for you to read.
The genre here is Magical Realism and while it definitely fits the magical part, I also felt that it was maybe trying too hard or pushing closer to fantasy. The writing was okay, although it felt rushed. There wasn’t really any slow down in the story, which I’m sure for some would be great, but for me. I just felt that it all read kind of chaotic.
Reading this was, at times, difficult. Between the Jamaican language and/or slang and the millennial/gen Z slang, it was hard to understand. I am a millennial and I still don’t understand the dialogue half the time. And with that being said, I think for those with dyslexia or anything else that can cause issues with reading, it will likely be very difficult for you to read.
The genre here is Magical Realism and while it definitely fits the magical part, I also felt that it was maybe trying too hard or pushing closer to fantasy. The writing was okay, although it felt rushed. There wasn’t really any slow down in the story, which I’m sure for some would be great, but for me. I just felt that it all read kind of chaotic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
2treads's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I loved how the author incorporated her diaspora identity with her cultural identity. She wrote characters who though are of the land, were not raised there and have only a link through their mother and grandmother of certain cultural aspects. But through this story and the search for Riva Mumma's comb, she begins to learn more about herself and her ancestral history.
The pace moved quickly and descriptions were used to reveal more of the story and in no way bloated the plot. Everything was used with precision and the characters were engaging and honest in their interactions and existence.
The darker or scarier parts of the story were highlights for me as she drew directly from folktale, spinning it in her own interpretation which was greatly appreciated. It infused the story with not just new life but a reverence for who and what came before, allowing us to weave new tales from old, in new spaces and with new people.
The social commentary was on point and I loved that she used these three friends to show different sides to how one can view the world and some societal aspects.
A fantastic read for me!
The pace moved quickly and descriptions were used to reveal more of the story and in no way bloated the plot. Everything was used with precision and the characters were engaging and honest in their interactions and existence.
The darker or scarier parts of the story were highlights for me as she drew directly from folktale, spinning it in her own interpretation which was greatly appreciated. It infused the story with not just new life but a reverence for who and what came before, allowing us to weave new tales from old, in new spaces and with new people.
The social commentary was on point and I loved that she used these three friends to show different sides to how one can view the world and some societal aspects.
A fantastic read for me!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism