Reviews

The Riverman by Aaron Starmer

gmamartha's review against another edition

2.0

I like the detail and insight into these characters' emotions, but I truly do not 'get it.' Like "my" middle school kids will not 'get it.' That is the reason I will be recommending this to our Mock Printz group instead of Newbery here, even though they do not typically like reading about 12-year-old characters. Perhaps they can explain and analyze this plot better than I can.

timna_wyckoff's review against another edition

2.0

Read for mother-daughter book club. Ended up having way more to talk about than I thought. But, still, I didn't love this.

tayberryjelly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

thebrainlair's review against another edition

4.0

I have no idea what just happened. I want to start over again. Slower this time!

gator468's review against another edition

I feel a little dumb because this book is YA "middle grade" and I was a bit confused at the ending lol but I enjoyed it and will keep reading the series

thestoryowl's review against another edition

4.0

Something about is seriously spooked me. I had a hard time getting through the story, I kept mentally flinching waiting for something horrible to happen. This felt a lot like Abarat by Owens. It had good writing and nuanced characters. I'll read the next one.

missbookiverse's review against another edition

2.0

Das Einzige, was mir an dem Buch wirklich gefallen hat, war die Auflösung der Identität des Riverman und seiner Ansichten

Spoiler

Alistairs Freund Charlie ist der Riverman, er sieht das alles aber eher wie eins seiner Computerspiele und hat ein total creepy Notizbuch über die "besiegten" Kinder geführt

. Bis dahin ist es ein steiniger Weg. Das Konzept der Fantasiewelten ist ganz passabel, aber die Handlung wabert ziellos vor sich hin und langweilt. Es dauert eine gefühlte Ewigkeit bis sich endlich die Zusammenhänge erschließen und dann bleibt das Ende doch viel zu offen. Dazu kommt, dass weder Alistair noch Fiona besonders lebendige oder interessante Charaktere sind. Was mich weniger gestört hat, war, dass Alistair nicht wie ein 12-Jähriger klingt und dass die Geschichte 1989 spielt, ich davon aber nichts bemerkt habe. Ich frage mich nur, wozu dann das Alter und das Zeit-Setting.

mlejmeyer's review against another edition

4.0

I don't always mind ambiguous endings, but this one didn't work fully for me, although I loved this book--the premise, the characters, the mystery. Then I read that this is a planned trilogy and I felt a bit better.

ashley_choo's review against another edition

4.0

Gorgeous cover and intriguing characters!

jwinchell's review against another edition

I tend not to like speculative fiction. Even though this was was grounded in realistic stories, I couldn't make myself get going on it. 5 attempts at getting into a book and falling asleep after 1 minute each time... I abandoned this one.