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greatexpectations77's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I have about 4K words of thoughts about this that are more appropriate for elsewhere, but I am absolutely baffled that other reviews didn't mention the fact that this book uses violence against a Native person to prompt personal growth from a white woman. Wil shows up, gets called slurs, has no characterization,gets Tori pregnant, is vaguely magical, and then dies in less than 100 pages. He only exists to be pined for as like an ethereal being. He is written as essentially something other than human who also provided a baby. it made me REALLY uncomfortable. Also, I felt like the end was a whole different story that got tacked on. I just cannot believe Read talked to Native folks before writing this book, as she states in her acknowledgements. Because I really feel like she just went and checked off all the tropes of writing about Native people in the kind of "magical Negro" trope. The character is there to further the story, but they're not really a full person. I'm just really mad about this. First time I've been burned by a blind date with a book. Sigh. The action kind of trickles out too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Abandonment, Bullying, and Child death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Murder, Blood, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexual content, War, and Death of parent
alexisgarcia's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
this was so so disappointing. the characters are incredibly one dimensional and stereotypical, the plot is incredibly unbelievable and boring, and the author used the singular Indigenous American character is barely featured and simply used to further the main characters story and then thrown away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Racism, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Abandonment, Blood, Pregnancy, War, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Violence
allerd's review
Didn’t feel like anything was keeping me interested. I wasn’t very invested in anything that was happening
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Racism
maryfranvs's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, Death of parent, Death, Hate crime, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Sexism, Miscarriage, Drug use, War, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual content and Infertility
proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
40-tal i Colorado, USA. Familjen Nash äger en persikofarm och tonåriga Victoria är ensam kvinna kvar efter moderns död några år tidigare. En dag möter hon en främling på gatan, Wilson Moon, och de blir blixtförälskade. Wilson är indian och illa sedd av de flesta i samhället så de håller sitt förhållande hemligt. När Victoria upptäcker att hon är gravid måste hon fatta ett svårt beslut.
Den här boken har jämförts med Där kräftorna sjunger och jag skulle absolut säga att den är i samma anda, men det här med jämförelser är alltid riskabelt. Det är vackra naturbeskrivningar och Victoria är en kvinna som i många fall får klara sig själv. Hon får uppleva många svårigheter och hon håller all sorg inom sig. På något sätt upplevde jag tempot i boken som både snabbt och långsamt. Tidsperioden är mellan 1948 och 1971 och så gör vi nedslag vissa år, så jag antar att det är därför.
Slutet kändes lite abrupt och jag hade gärna sett att boken varit lite längre. Samtidigt så var det på sätt och vis naturligt att den slutade där den gjorde. Vill inte säga mer för att undvika att spoila.
Jag lyssnade på ljudboken i uppläsning av Anna Maria Käll och hon gjorde som vanligt ett riktigt bra jobb.
Den här boken har jämförts med Där kräftorna sjunger och jag skulle absolut säga att den är i samma anda, men det här med jämförelser är alltid riskabelt. Det är vackra naturbeskrivningar och Victoria är en kvinna som i många fall får klara sig själv. Hon får uppleva många svårigheter och hon håller all sorg inom sig. På något sätt upplevde jag tempot i boken som både snabbt och långsamt. Tidsperioden är mellan 1948 och 1971 och så gör vi nedslag vissa år, så jag antar att det är därför.
Slutet kändes lite abrupt och jag hade gärna sett att boken varit lite längre. Samtidigt så var det på sätt och vis naturligt att den slutade där den gjorde. Vill inte säga mer för att undvika att spoila.
Jag lyssnade på ljudboken i uppläsning av Anna Maria Käll och hon gjorde som vanligt ett riktigt bra jobb.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Death, Grief, and Racism
mdavis26's review
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Murder, War, Cultural appropriation, Car accident, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy
alixcallender's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I have great affection for Victoria, and I loved the slow, reflective, mournful pacing. But I do take issue with a few things:
- Far to many peach metaphors. We get it.
- Where is Wilson Moon’s actual personality?
- The near-end was overly fluffy and convenient. (Without giving anything away, I will just say that I am not convinced that Victoria could have imagined *that outcome* with such accuracy, nor do I believe that two people can glean such perfect and correct meaning from a pile of rocks.)
It was very much like Where the Crawdad’s Sing, so if you liked that story you’ll probably like this one too. It’s a poolside read. I read it quickly, and enjoyed it!
- Far to many peach metaphors. We get it.
- Where is Wilson Moon’s actual personality?
- The near-end was overly fluffy and convenient. (Without giving anything away, I will just say that I am not convinced that Victoria could have imagined *that outcome* with such accuracy, nor do I believe that two people can glean such perfect and correct meaning from a pile of rocks.)
It was very much like Where the Crawdad’s Sing, so if you liked that story you’ll probably like this one too. It’s a poolside read. I read it quickly, and enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Abandonment, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Violence, Colonisation, Miscarriage, War, Sexism, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident, Body shaming, Infertility, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content
astoriareader's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
SYNOPSIS:
- It is the 1940s at a peach orchard in rural Colorado in a town called Iola. Victoria Nash is 17, and she is the woman of the house, as her mother & aunt died about 5 years ago. Due to gender roles of the time period, Victoria is expected to fill the gaps that her mother’s absence left (e.g., domestic duties, cleaning, cooking, etc). Without any choice of her own, she mindlessly fills the roles, and she becomes an adult as a child. She lives with her father, her uncle Og, and her troubled brother Seth.
- One day, Victoria meets a handsome Indigenous man, Wilson Moon aka Wil. **Note: We never learn Wil’s community or nation of people, so I wish I could provide a better description.
- From their first meeting, Victoria and Wil have a spark & chemistry. Sadly, Iola’s community is filled with racism, and Wil quickly becomes an outcast. He becomes a forbidden love for Victoria.
- We follow Victoria’s life from 17 year old to an adult woman. The story spans about 20+ years.
MY THOUGHTS
- I started this book on a Tuesday night, and I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I woke up early the next morning to finish, so I ended up reading it all in 13-14 hours.
- This is the author’s debut novel, and I am surprised, as the writing is top-notch. Read skillfully paints the landscape with words and weaves a beautiful story together. I loved how easy it was to visualize & empathize with the characters.
- Impressive character development. Victoria is a likable, relatable, & capable main character. I felt emotionally connected to the lows and the highs of her story. Also, loved the choice of a diverse love for Victoria. When we meet Victoria, she is only 17, and we get to see her beautiful journey over a few decades.
- Victoria’s story is a heavy read, as there are many heartbreaking moments. I found myself forgetting to breathe in a few parts. As we experience lows, we get to see the rise from the ashes & follow Victoria into adulthood.
- Although the initial part of the book starts slow & sets the stage, it’s worth it. It’s a well-plotted book, and if you trust the process, it becomes an enthralling ride.
- There were so many intriguing themes flushed out in this one: racism, discrimination, prejudice, self-esteem, self-acceptance, gender roles, women’s roles, friendship, loss, grief, motherhood, strength, perseverance, resilience, love, loneliness.
- Coming-of-age story. Although, after finishing, I did look into some of the historical points mentioned by the author (such as the town of Iola), so in a way, this also would fall into a historical fiction category.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Ended up finishing in 13-14 hrs. Sweeping coming-of-age tale of Victoria in 1940s in rural Colorado. Masterfully written & plotted. Emotionally hard to read in some parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Sexism, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Miscarriage, War, Animal death, and Car accident
shelfofunread's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
1948. Iola, Colorado. When Victoria ‘Torie’ Nash bumps into Wil Moon at the intersection between Main Street and North Laura, her life changes forever.
Seventeen-year-old Torie has been keeping house for her father, uncle and younger brother on the family peach farm ever since her mother died. It’s a quiet life – and not an entirely satisfactory one – but Torie never questions the rhythm of it until one fateful encounter with a stranger.
Wilson Moon is an enigma. He says he’s just a drifter: that he moves through life as a river and lives life as he chooses. But Wil is Native American and to others in the small town of Iola, that means trouble. Soon Torie isn’t the only one trying to find Wilson Moon. Her troubled brother, Seth, and his friends are after the reward that has been placed on Wil’s head. As Torie and Wil are drawn into a love affair as passionate as it is dangerous, tragedy shadows their footsteps. And when it arrives, Torie will need every ounce of her inner strength and courage to follow Wil’s advice and go as a river, wherever her life leads.
Go As A River, the debut novel from Coloradoan author Shelley Read, is as lyrical as it is is moving. It is clear that this novel has been written by an author who knows and loves the landscape of Colorado. I sometimes struggle with long paragraphs of description but the luscious rendition of the mountains, canyons, and creeks are an absolute delight to read, and Read’s depiction of small-time life means that Iola and its inhabitants leap off the page.
The characters are, for the most part, wonderfully drawn, especially Torie herself who comes of age and flourishes into a strong and independent woman as the novel progresses. I also found Seth, although abhorrent as a human being, to be a convincing antagonist, driven through life by envy and resentment. I was a tad less convinced by Wil who, at times, seems almost too good to be true but, as the novel is told from Torie’s perspective, it’s natural that she would see him as this ‘perfect’ figure given the events that take place and her own experiences up until that point in her life.
The novel deals with some very difficult issues so trigger warnings for racism/racial hatred/racial slurs, discrimination, alcohol abuse, PTSD, death of a parent, childbirth/birth trauma, abandonment, and mentions of violence, domestic violence and violent death. For the most part these issues are navigated sensitively although there were one or two areas where I felt the novel would have benefited from slightly more nuance. There’s a lot packed into 300 pages and although it is by no means a ‘pacy’ book – with lingering, lyrical descriptions throughout and a relatively sedate opening section – there were times when I felt the story needed a little more room to breath.
The need to move the plot forwards occasionally detracted from some of the larger themes that the novel engages with, such as the treatment of Native peoples, the effects of poverty in small-town rural America, and the impact that developments made in the name of ‘progress’ can have upon communities and individuals. This is a shame because Shelley Read writes so beautifully and clearly has a great passion for Colorado, it’s history, its landscape, and its people. I honestly can’t believe that this is a debut novel because the quality of the writing is exceptional.
As a coming-of-age novel, Go As A River is a compassionate and moving portrait of a young woman finding her place in the world. Richly descriptive and evocative, this is sure to appeal to fans of writers such as Kristen Hannah. Although I didn’t find all the characters as fully-drawn, the focus upon one women’s journey and her interactions with the world also has similarities to Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, and the lush descriptions of the landscape are sure to appeal to anyone who has loved Where the Crawdads Sing.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com as part of the Blog Tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Seventeen-year-old Torie has been keeping house for her father, uncle and younger brother on the family peach farm ever since her mother died. It’s a quiet life – and not an entirely satisfactory one – but Torie never questions the rhythm of it until one fateful encounter with a stranger.
Wilson Moon is an enigma. He says he’s just a drifter: that he moves through life as a river and lives life as he chooses. But Wil is Native American and to others in the small town of Iola, that means trouble. Soon Torie isn’t the only one trying to find Wilson Moon. Her troubled brother, Seth, and his friends are after the reward that has been placed on Wil’s head. As Torie and Wil are drawn into a love affair as passionate as it is dangerous, tragedy shadows their footsteps. And when it arrives, Torie will need every ounce of her inner strength and courage to follow Wil’s advice and go as a river, wherever her life leads.
Go As A River, the debut novel from Coloradoan author Shelley Read, is as lyrical as it is is moving. It is clear that this novel has been written by an author who knows and loves the landscape of Colorado. I sometimes struggle with long paragraphs of description but the luscious rendition of the mountains, canyons, and creeks are an absolute delight to read, and Read’s depiction of small-time life means that Iola and its inhabitants leap off the page.
The characters are, for the most part, wonderfully drawn, especially Torie herself who comes of age and flourishes into a strong and independent woman as the novel progresses. I also found Seth, although abhorrent as a human being, to be a convincing antagonist, driven through life by envy and resentment. I was a tad less convinced by Wil who, at times, seems almost too good to be true but, as the novel is told from Torie’s perspective, it’s natural that she would see him as this ‘perfect’ figure given the events that take place and her own experiences up until that point in her life.
The novel deals with some very difficult issues so trigger warnings for racism/racial hatred/racial slurs, discrimination, alcohol abuse, PTSD, death of a parent, childbirth/birth trauma, abandonment, and mentions of violence, domestic violence and violent death. For the most part these issues are navigated sensitively although there were one or two areas where I felt the novel would have benefited from slightly more nuance. There’s a lot packed into 300 pages and although it is by no means a ‘pacy’ book – with lingering, lyrical descriptions throughout and a relatively sedate opening section – there were times when I felt the story needed a little more room to breath.
The need to move the plot forwards occasionally detracted from some of the larger themes that the novel engages with, such as the treatment of Native peoples, the effects of poverty in small-town rural America, and the impact that developments made in the name of ‘progress’ can have upon communities and individuals. This is a shame because Shelley Read writes so beautifully and clearly has a great passion for Colorado, it’s history, its landscape, and its people. I honestly can’t believe that this is a debut novel because the quality of the writing is exceptional.
As a coming-of-age novel, Go As A River is a compassionate and moving portrait of a young woman finding her place in the world. Richly descriptive and evocative, this is sure to appeal to fans of writers such as Kristen Hannah. Although I didn’t find all the characters as fully-drawn, the focus upon one women’s journey and her interactions with the world also has similarities to Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, and the lush descriptions of the landscape are sure to appeal to anyone who has loved Where the Crawdads Sing.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com as part of the Blog Tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
Moderate: Medical trauma, Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Hate crime, and Medical content
Minor: Cursing, Alcohol, War, and Abandonment
louisekf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Grief, and Hate crime
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident and Miscarriage