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The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

4.12 AVERAGE

tinabean's review against another edition

4.5
challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

whiteeemily's review

DID NOT FINISH: 10%
Got this book from a buy nothing group and almost didn’t even pick it up after DNFing This Tender Land due to religious propaganda. This one is different but really has the feel of a book written by, for, and about men, which is largely uninteresting to me. 
markbgomez's profile picture

markbgomez's review

5.0
adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

erasmus45's review

4.0
dark mysterious medium-paced
janp's profile picture

janp's review

4.5
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rileydriscoll's review against another edition

2.75
Loveable characters: No
 
Overall: 2.75

Jimmy Quinn, the wealthiest landowner in Jewel, Minnesota, is found dead in the river on Memorial Day from a shotgun blast. Quinn was well-hated by the town's people and it's up to Sheriff Brody Dern to figure out what happened. The manner of his death rocks the small town and tensions are high as many people begin to suspect Noah Bluestone, a Native American war veteran, is the perpetrator. Set in 1958, a running theme of the book is how the characters adjust in post-WWII America, especially with Bluestone returning to town with a Japanese wife.

This was my third William Kent Krueger book might be the weakest of the three (Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land). Not a bad audiobook, but there were so many characters to keep track of and it wasn't super gripping. 

Liked: 
  • Kreuger has good prose and creates a lot of good scenes and a few wow moments in this. He captures small-town America well 
  • Scott was my favorite character and I liked his story (minus a few parts).

Didn't Like: 
  • I didn't like Brody that much as a main character. I get that he has trauma from the war and is a complicated character, but he was kind of boring. How could he ever think he could rule the death as an accident or suicide and expect anybody to go along with it?
  • The level of violence in this was surprising and the
    attack on Kyoko
    wasn't needed for the plot.
  • Like Ordinary Grace, the mystery kinda takes a back seat to the lives of the townsfolk with clues being revealed slowly.
  • I wasn't satisfied with the resolution of the mystery.
  • We're introduced to just about every resident of the town, which creates a few too many side characters who ultimately don't add much.
 
readingfourme's profile picture

readingfourme's review

2.0
So wildly tired of the mythologizing of the average white person and allowing them off a happy ending while only people of color pay the price. Just gross. 

ashleeh611's review

4.5
emotional informative inspiring reflective

martin_sav's review

5.0
emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kokocolorado's review

3.5
challenging hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes