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A review by egbella
The River at Night by Erica Ferencik
2.0
I found this in a thrift shop, loved the cover, and picked it up without knowing much about it, other than it is a survival story (which I normally like). I wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, I just can't.
One huge issue for me was the amount of severe language. I can usually overlook a few swears here and there, or at least cross them out if it's more frequent, there was just too much in this book. It got better during the second half of the story, when there was more action, but the first half had multiple instances on every page. It took me out of the story every time.
There were also a couple of innuendos and more heavily-described scenes in the beginning that made me uncomfortable. Again, probably not a problem for some people, but I personally don't like to fill my mind with that kind of content.
As for the story itself, I did find the survival aspect intriguing, and was engaged after the "hunting" portion began. But the rest of it fell flat for me. I couldn't like or connect with most of the characters, and it was difficult to root for characters that claimed to be good friends but never treated one another that way.
Overall, I contemplated giving up on this story multiple times, but pushed through because I just don't like not finishing books that I've started. The writing itself was solid enough, but I won't be re-reading or keeping this one, and I unfortunately can't recommend it.
One huge issue for me was the amount of severe language. I can usually overlook a few swears here and there, or at least cross them out if it's more frequent, there was just too much in this book. It got better during the second half of the story, when there was more action, but the first half had multiple instances on every page. It took me out of the story every time.
There were also a couple of innuendos and more heavily-described scenes in the beginning that made me uncomfortable. Again, probably not a problem for some people, but I personally don't like to fill my mind with that kind of content.
As for the story itself, I did find the survival aspect intriguing, and was engaged after the "hunting" portion began. But the rest of it fell flat for me. I couldn't like or connect with most of the characters, and it was difficult to root for characters that claimed to be good friends but never treated one another that way.
Overall, I contemplated giving up on this story multiple times, but pushed through because I just don't like not finishing books that I've started. The writing itself was solid enough, but I won't be re-reading or keeping this one, and I unfortunately can't recommend it.