Scan barcode
A review by ambersedai
The Rivener by Garrett Godsey
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
βππ ππππ π π¦π£ πππ€π₯ππππ€ πππ π¨π πππ£π£πͺ π₯πππ π¨ππ₯π π¦π€. ππππͺ ππ£π π π¦π£ ππ¦π£πππ ππ€ π¨πππ ππ€ π π¦π£ ππ¦ππ. πΈππ π¨π πππ ππ ππ€ πππ§π π π¦π£ πππ§ππ€ π₯ππ πππ€π₯ π¨πβπ£π ππππ, π₯π£πͺ π₯π ππππ π‘π¦π£π‘π π€π, πππ π¨π π£π π₯π π¨ππ£π ππ₯ π¨ππ₯π ππ ππ π£ πππ ππ π§π πππ€π‘ππ₯π π π¦π£ π¦πππ§π ππππππ ππππππππ€.β
ββπππ πππππ ππ€ ππππππ£π π¦π€ πππ π£ππ¨. πΈππ ππ₯ ππ€ πππ€π π₯ππ ππππ¦π₯πͺ π₯πππ₯ πππππ€ π¦π€ π₯π πππ₯πππ£.β
Firstly I want to say thank you to the author, Garrett Godsey for being so kind to send me an ARC for an honest review.
The Rivener is such an impressive debut novel. I found myself a lot of the time thinking, thereβs no way Godsey is an indie author! His writing seems so effortless, yet simple & beautiful at the same time.
We meet Kid whoβs a βstreet rat,β that delivers packages for a syndicate called the White Lotus. Set in San Francisco, present-day, Kid lives his days trying to stay out of trouble, although it seems to find him everywhere he goes. On an ordinary day, delivering a package for the White Lotus, his life changes in an epic mind-bending, supernatural way. Kid also meets a girl named Alice, whoβs also an orphan, raised in The Young School, molded into whatβs called a βtraveler.β They shortly discover they must battle the shadows within themselves to save not just The Real world, but also The Dream. Along the way there are many people & creatures that try to stop them.
This story is extremely thought provoking. While it is easy to read, a metaphysical outlook isnβt lacking here thatβs for sure. Godsey did an excellent job at writing a fast paced story with a solid plot & intriguing characters. I wouldβve rated The Rivener 5 stars, but for me at times I wanted more depth from the characters individually. Overall it kept me wanting more. Hopefully thereβs a second novel in the works? With the ending as epic and cool as it was, Iβm positive there will be more to come. I absolutely loved how authentic the characters reactions were to the situations they faced. The villain was one of the scariest Iβve read about in a while, although saying that Iβve not really read too many horror novels before, so The Rivener has really broadened my horizons when it comes to the horror genre. Godsey also includes mythology in his story, which was very reminiscent to me of Assassins Creed with Gods/Goddesses, as well as animus and totems. The world building is there, but itβs not over the top for those that find descriptions overwhelming. It never feels info-dumpy and flows really well. This is a story about redemption, love, hope, free will, fighting your demons. It has mature content, so if youβre interested in reading The Rivener make sure you read the foreward at the beginning. As a whole I was shocked that I loved the characters as much as I did, I even cried at a few scenes. I want to keep this as spoiler-free as possible so Iβll leave this with an intriguing canβt wait for what happens next.
If you like The Sandman, Neuromancer (The Matrix), or The Thing, then youβll love The Rivener.
βπβππ ππ ππ πππ₯ πͺπ π¦, π¨πππ£ππ§ππ£ πͺπ π¦ ππ£π.β
Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Sexual content