A review by princepython
The Riverman by Aaron Starmer

5.0

Okay... wtf was that but in the best way. I'm seeing a lot of comments calling this middle grade fiction, but honestly this gave me wayyyy more young adult vibes. Maybe I'm the only young adult that doesn't mind reading (mature) seventh-grade characters, but I thought this could be either middle grade or young adult. More on the characters: in the best way possible, this book reminded me of how smart you are as a 12-year-old. No, I'm not being sarcastic. As 19 year old, I forgot that at 12 you have a strong vocabulary and know there's a lot of darkness in the world. A.K.A: you're not really a little kid anymore. You know things, that's just how the world is. The main character, Alistair (also love his name) is so intelligent but also unmistakably 12.
I LOVEDDD how the whole mystery is you don't know what's real and what isn't. I've never read a book with that premise so I wasn't sure I would like it, but I really did.
Also, I read this book in one sitting.

The only thing i didn't love was

literally the last three pages, and I didn't even dislike them, it just seemed disjointed with the rest of the book flowing so well together.