Reviews with content warning for Rape - Follow the River

2 / 5

TW: mentions of SA in this review.

Honestly, I should’ve DNF’d this book. It was not good - I just can’t bring myself to DNF books a lot of the time. Well, now that I’ve finished it, I have to see it through to the end of the sequel and read another 400 pages of this Wattpad-esque angst. Because unfortunately, that’s how my brain works - I need to see everything to it’s end, even train wrecks.

Follow the River by C.E. Ricci was kind of all over the place. After just reading Don’t You Dare by the same author, I had decently high hopes going into this one - especially after seeing some hype for this duology. However, the characters were sooo wishy washy for most of the book. They both are wildly unlikable for reasons that were not on purpose. Intentional angst and toxicity aside, these two were just damn near unredeemable characters who never faced consequences for their actions & we are expected to root for them.

Spoilery thoughts ahead but PLEASE see trigger warnings if you are someone who needs them.

I’m a big supporter of “write whatever you want” and this absolutely applies here too. However, you have to take SOME care with what you’re writing when publishing it to the masses. I don’t like how certain themes of SA were portrayed here and then forgiven almost immediately or glossed over, then in the literal next sentence the characters talk about deeply traumatic child SA. Then have sex. I just… it didn’t feel like anything was handled with care, and it’s very hard not to compare how it was handled here against a book like A Little Life or even All for the Game (didn’t think I’d be comparing those two in my lifetime…). One main character sexually assaults the other and never apologizes or feels regret. The other brutally rapes the first and that barely causes ripples in their relationship in the long run. Again - write what you want, it isn’t the acts in the fiction that bothers me, it’s how the rest of the story shapes around the acts that does.

I guess the best thing I got out of reading this was seeing how C.E. Ricci has improved between this book and her newest release, Don’t You Dare. I enjoyed her writing in that book, and will likely keep trying to pick up her works but this one was a disappointment. Hopefully the sequel is better?

Content Warnings

tankytoon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What an emotional roller-coaster! This book is not your usual enemies-to-lovers romance as it is packed with so much pain and revelation that you can help but feel for the characters.

The sizzling chemistry between Rain and River is palpable from the get-go but one of them is fighting it, so much it turned into physical aggression that their Football coach had to intervene and send them both to a month's worth exile in order to bond. And bond they did.

There's so much heat, passion, hatred, submission, suffering, affection, confusing feelings to be unpacked by both Rain and River that it's a wonder if they will ever survive being together or being without.

This book has so much angst to get through that can leave the reader emotionally exhausted or overwhelmed, especially if one is sensitive to trigger content. But it's such a beautiful and heart-rending story that, if one can get past some of the traumatic passages, this book will give you a realistic narrative about how broken people can survive so much hate, and still manage to live through it. Or do they?

Author does not want to specify triggers but I do think it's warranted as I wasn't prepared for what I read and in some ways it's good, but it was difficult even for me who has read other deeply jarring books.

Content Warnings