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A review by billyjepma
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
As much as the setting awakens the archeologist I imagined myself growing up to be as a kid, the writing and plotting are too familiar, too reliant on tropes and drawn-out tensions to fully capture my attention. Admittedly, I'm not the target demographic for this, as it's far more of a YA-read than I expected going in, so feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt. That said, I read and love quite a bit of YA, and I still struggled to connect with Inez as a protagonist. I found her consistent aloofness more frustrating than endearing, and the characterizations as a whole rely so heavily on well-trodden tropes that they never quite find a personality of their own. It doesn't help that the biggest "twist" of the story is incredibly obvious and painfully belabored. I have no problem with a predictable twist—many of the best ones are!—but this one is especially easy to see coming and takes so long to reveal itself that it plays out with little fanfare or impact.
There is some solid commentary around Inez's class affording her certain privileges, and I appreciate how Ibañez leans into the sexist rules society was forced to abide by at the time. Ultimately, the book's historical accuracy (or inaccuracy, when appropriate) is one of its greatest assets. In its best moments, the book is almost immersive because it thoroughly places you in the setting, encouraging you to see the world as Inez does—big, mysterious, and full of promise. And once the book finds its momentum in the final stretch, it really starts coming alive. The archeological-adventure elements finally show themselves, and perhaps most importantly, the romance begins to generate some genuine heat. Both characters still come off as thinly sketched fantasies, but they find enough of a spark that I want to see where their dynamic goes next, especially if it revels in the pulpy melodrama of it more, which the tease at the end seems to suggest it will.
It's too bad that this nearly 400-page book amounts to 2/3s of a story, but credit where credit is due: I'm absolutely picking up the sequel later this year. There's quite a bit of charm here, and with the more genre-heavy elements seemingly primed to take more of the spotlight in the next chapter, I'm excited to see where it could go. I hope Ibañez leans into the fantasy angle because it's one of the most interesting ideas she plays with here, and I want to see more of it.
There is some solid commentary around Inez's class affording her certain privileges, and I appreciate how Ibañez leans into the sexist rules society was forced to abide by at the time. Ultimately, the book's historical accuracy (or inaccuracy, when appropriate) is one of its greatest assets. In its best moments, the book is almost immersive because it thoroughly places you in the setting, encouraging you to see the world as Inez does—big, mysterious, and full of promise. And once the book finds its momentum in the final stretch, it really starts coming alive. The archeological-adventure elements finally show themselves, and perhaps most importantly, the romance begins to generate some genuine heat. Both characters still come off as thinly sketched fantasies, but they find enough of a spark that I want to see where their dynamic goes next, especially if it revels in the pulpy melodrama of it more, which the tease at the end seems to suggest it will.
It's too bad that this nearly 400-page book amounts to 2/3s of a story, but credit where credit is due: I'm absolutely picking up the sequel later this year. There's quite a bit of charm here, and with the more genre-heavy elements seemingly primed to take more of the spotlight in the next chapter, I'm excited to see where it could go. I hope Ibañez leans into the fantasy angle because it's one of the most interesting ideas she plays with here, and I want to see more of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and War