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A review by likecymbeline
River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta
2.5
This book took me back immediately into being an over-educated and under-employed millennial in the city. The stress of having no money, struggling to get around with no wheels, bearing a burden that feels disproportionate to others' and unfairly arbitrary (okay, maybe mine have never been otherworldly fate-of-the-future missions, but we all know thankless uphill work). Reid-Benta captures the pressures of the world for Alicia, the constraints around her and just how difficult it is to get a stroke ahead in a world that doesn't even help you to stay afloat.
The apparitions throughout the story are eerie and rich, from the River Mumma (who, like so many deities, is hard to read, potentially fickle, possibly a friend but also a dreaded foe) and by the climax, the duppies are downright scary and it's thrilling to see them crash through Drake's the rapper's house. Reid-Benta draws from Jamaican folklore and history, and the spirit-travelling scenes were some of my favourites in the book.
The apparitions throughout the story are eerie and rich, from the River Mumma (who, like so many deities, is hard to read, potentially fickle, possibly a friend but also a dreaded foe) and by the climax, the duppies are downright scary and it's thrilling to see them crash through Drake's the rapper's house. Reid-Benta draws from Jamaican folklore and history, and the spirit-travelling scenes were some of my favourites in the book.