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A review by antimony
The Riverman by Aaron Starmer
adventurous
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i read this book a long time ago (when i was in fifth grade, because my dad and i saw it at a bookstore and he said the cover art reminded him of wildwood, and since i have always loved the cover art on wildwood i got this from the library and read it) and then reread today. and HOWWWW did it not leave a more lasting impression on me it was really good. and yet i forgot every single detail.
(though i do think it should not have been middle grade. i would age the characters up a bit. whenever i remembered that they were 12 (or at least that alistair was 12, since fiona technically wasn't) i was thrown for a bit of a loop.)
also i sadly convinced myself before reading that there were interior illustrations and i was quite sad that there were not. but that did not detract from my enjoyment! the writing was really good and i really enjoyed the way that it's an outside perspective of a portal fantasy like from the pov of someone who is not in the portal fantasy but knows the person who is i don't know if that makes sense.
(though i do think it should not have been middle grade. i would age the characters up a bit. whenever i remembered that they were 12 (or at least that alistair was 12, since fiona technically wasn't) i was thrown for a bit of a loop.)
also i sadly convinced myself before reading that there were interior illustrations and i was quite sad that there were not. but that did not detract from my enjoyment! the writing was really good and i really enjoyed the way that it's an outside perspective of a portal fantasy like from the pov of someone who is not in the portal fantasy but knows the person who is i don't know if that makes sense.
Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
A big part of the plot is kids going missing, but since it isn't graphic and it's in a fantasy sort of way I am not quite sure how to trigger tag it.