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A review by writingwwolves
Where the River Runs Gold by Sita Brahmachari
4.0
Rating: 3.5
When I was searching on my shelves for my next read Where the River Runs Gold jumped out at me & as soon as I started reading I was incredibly curious about where the story would go. This is a story about love, climate change, oppression & being strong. Main character Shifa encourages, within the reader, a pure joy for flowers & nature & the world where we live & her brother Themba fills you with hope & love. There were some hard scenes in this book that made me very angry & made me cry (more below), but overall, I loved the message of this story & the fact that I thought I knew where it was going, but I really did not. If one thing had been different then this would have been a five star read for me because the descriptions were beautiful, there was brilliant character development & the plot kept me on my toes.
⚠️ The consequences of global warming/climate change, aftermath of a Hurricane & vicious storm, some violence (mainly off-page), bullying, a form of child labour/slavery, a character with dementia struggling with her confusion & scenes of almost drowning ⚠️
‼️There is a character in this book, Themba, who appears to be Autistic (it is never stated outright), & in several chapters he is bullied & abused by other children, as well as adults who should be caring for him. There is some violence & rough handling in an attempt to “control” Themba & he displays signs of distress throughout much of the book. Themba does have friends looking out for him, & his sister loves him very much, & by the end of the book he is happy & safe, however there was one scene (in chapter seventeen) that made me cry & feel sick. I do feel that some of the scenes should have been softened as they did not need to be as full-on as they were, & that the evilness of the “Crows” was portrayed well-enough without Themba suffering like he did. Had there been more than one scene like the one in chapter seventeen then I would have stopped reading, & I think that everyone should be aware of how Themba is treated before picking up the book. I’m cross with the publisher for not including content warnings & I’m happy to discuss what Themba experiences with anyone who wants to know before reading the book. ‼️
Extended Review to follow.
When I was searching on my shelves for my next read Where the River Runs Gold jumped out at me & as soon as I started reading I was incredibly curious about where the story would go. This is a story about love, climate change, oppression & being strong. Main character Shifa encourages, within the reader, a pure joy for flowers & nature & the world where we live & her brother Themba fills you with hope & love. There were some hard scenes in this book that made me very angry & made me cry (more below), but overall, I loved the message of this story & the fact that I thought I knew where it was going, but I really did not. If one thing had been different then this would have been a five star read for me because the descriptions were beautiful, there was brilliant character development & the plot kept me on my toes.
⚠️ The consequences of global warming/climate change, aftermath of a Hurricane & vicious storm, some violence (mainly off-page), bullying, a form of child labour/slavery, a character with dementia struggling with her confusion & scenes of almost drowning ⚠️
‼️There is a character in this book, Themba, who appears to be Autistic (it is never stated outright), & in several chapters he is bullied & abused by other children, as well as adults who should be caring for him. There is some violence & rough handling in an attempt to “control” Themba & he displays signs of distress throughout much of the book. Themba does have friends looking out for him, & his sister loves him very much, & by the end of the book he is happy & safe, however there was one scene (in chapter seventeen) that made me cry & feel sick. I do feel that some of the scenes should have been softened as they did not need to be as full-on as they were, & that the evilness of the “Crows” was portrayed well-enough without Themba suffering like he did. Had there been more than one scene like the one in chapter seventeen then I would have stopped reading, & I think that everyone should be aware of how Themba is treated before picking up the book. I’m cross with the publisher for not including content warnings & I’m happy to discuss what Themba experiences with anyone who wants to know before reading the book. ‼️
Extended Review to follow.