Oct 2020 Book Club - The River

I'm having a hard time getting into this book. Luckily for me, 28 Summers just became available for download So I started that one last night.

 

Ok, I finally finished this. And I always forget the character names as soon as I read the book. >>>I sure didn't see the ending coming with Wynn dying. It was so sad when the other guy visited Wynn's family. So I think the moral of the story should be "Never leave home without a phone!"<<<

 

Just put this one on hold. A very short hold list

 

Me too, short list at my library too. I wonder if that says anything.

 

I really enjoyed this one once I got into it! >>We love to paddle on the lake, which is pretty tame in comparison to what they were doing but I still really found myself picturing the scene as they went along. We also live in an area subject to wildfires so the whole book really resonated with me. I did not foresee the attempted murders nor the tragic shooting of Winn. I was shocked the two guys got away with it. <<

 

I read this one last June. I remember very vividly not being happy when I finished it! >>The story moved quickly with the river and the couple and the fire. I felt like I could feel the current picking up in the novel. But the ending just didn't sit well with me. I don't necessarily need a happy ending, but this one wasn't the one I wanted, ha! I was so sad that the Wynn didn't make it. That was probably my main complaint with the novel.<<

 

Just finished this one. It was OK but I kept feeling like I'd seen it on TV. It had the feel of a short story padded out with lots descriptions.

 

I read it and as was said I could feel the tension matching the intensity of the river. All in all I went into my read not having interest in rivers, lakes or much inland waterways. >> I felt the way one feels in a horror movie where someone might ask, Should we go down the cellar? and I'd shout NO!! From the point of no return I was ready to put the book down but I still paddled on. Reading but not really enjoying it. I was glad when it was over and it made me think back to Lord of the Flies with the way people resorted to their base instincts. << Somehow I'm not seeing my ratings on Goodreads but I'd have probably given it a 3 just for the quality of the writing.

 

My book club read this one a few months ago. I liked it....I liked the mystery and the tension...and even the ending somehow.

 

Review>> So this book wasn't really my jam. Perhaps it would have been palatable if I liked the ending, but I thought it was super abrupt. Almost like the author got sick of writing and just stopped. All of this lead up and then you only get half of the details in the epilogue. Having read this on my kindle, I knew exactly how long it took for me to get into it ... 25% way through the book - that's a long time. Why spend that much of the book laying the groundwork that wasn't really foundational to the plot? Which is to say, I had a REALLY difficult time getting into this book. I'm actually a fly fisherwoman, but I didn't need that much detail about the mechanics of their trip.

The disagreement between Maia and Pierre seems like a weak motive for attempted murder. She got published more than him and he was jealous? ... and why did the author feel obligated to throw in a bunch of vocabulary words?

Anyway, I think my husband will totally dig this book, it just wasn't a top book for me personally.<<

 

i finally got this one, can't wait but why do all my 'reserves' for book club seem to become available at once??
anyway, i have another paperbook to finish to take back before i start this one

 

This is definitely a slow burn, I'm only about a quarter the way thru & I'm hoping the whole thing isn't just one long collection of overly descriptive fly fishing, campfire & paddling scenes with such attention to detail that it's already tedious

 

It was worth persevering past the scene setting descriptions but also a bit of a let down for rreasons others already mentioned

Spoiler

serioudly there was not enough reasoning for married geochemists to be like that but they did mention she was from money & Pierre would inherit it if she died (unless the family found out he was responsible). I know she was hurt bad but they could have discussed this even a tiny bit more or at the end which was abrupt to me too. They might be from 'different worlds ' but after that ordeal, I woulda thought there'd be a hospital visit scene.
I know life is not all about happy endings & I don't always need books to have them, but I didnt think Wynn dying at first was good (or at all) but it did serve the plot & ?Jack's character - I finished it a few days ago & already returned it but I think it was jack - b/cos of the guilt of 'letting'his mum die by not riding ahead of her to cross that other river, jack was not going to let anyone else die after Wynn so it super-motivated him to get to the Wakah (?something) village so Maia could get help.
The best part to me was his plan of stealing the motor boat so Pierre would shoot the two other guys thinking they were Wynn & Jack in the Kevlar boat, & of course plot-wise this stitches up Wynn's downfall - that was a clever plot device to me that I can appreciate in retrospect but I threw the book after Wynn died in the moment so glad it wasn't an e-book or audio in this instance. I'm really surprised at the ' he stole me boat/horse' legal defence, especially in this instance but all in it was a pretty good book