Thursday, January 25, 2018

The River At Night

The River at Night

Four women go on a whitewater rafting trip in the Maine wilderness- nothing will go wrong, right? This one is told from the perspective of Wini, who along with her friends Pia, Rachel, and Sandra brave the north woods for an adventure weekend getaway. Most of them don't want to be there- they get together once a year to go somewhere fun- but this year the whitewater rafting/ camping idea is not what they had in mind. It's all Pia's idea, and the rest go along for the ride, in spite of misgivings. If that's not foreshadowing I don't know what is. 

Of course things go wrong. This is a survival story for the most part, but also a look at friendships and the bonds between women who are, shall we say, not quite as young as they's like to be. They're all in their thirties pushing forty, and have gone through bad marriages, divorces, kids, and job dissatisfaction. They're been around the block, in other words, and this story explores not only their disillusionment, and how that affects their friendship, as well as what suburban women do when lost in an unforgiving wilderness. 

I loved it. This was a total page turner, I thought it was going to start slow based on some reviews I saw that talked about the setup, but I was turning the pages from the get-go. It just has an easy readable style, for want of a better explanation. I could relate to these women, a testament to the author's ability to make them accessible, but even more compelling were the descriptions of the wilderness, the pace of events. They are in a remote area, to say the least, and a very chaotic, rugged rafting expedition is expertly handled. And of course it's not just nature they have to contend with- there are those who live in the deep woods who may not be entirely friendly. 

The four personalities were handled well. I thought Wini and Pia were the most well developed, but there was enough there to Rachel and Sandra to make me care about them as well. It gets interesting too when their tour guide, a young and good- looking free spirit, leads them down the river and into their worst nightmare. Not intentionally, but the wilderness can be an unforgiving place and even well- prepared souls can find trouble. They certainly find trouble here, and I read this book in one day as I couldn't wait to see what happened next. 

This was a four star read for me, and a great book to start off the new year. Again the descriptions of the wild forests made me fee like I was there, and the book sucked me in from the beginning. I highly recommend this if you want a good, taut read and a look at how women come together to survive a trip gone all wrong. 

30 comments:

  1. I am kind of cautious about survival stories, but I am intrigued by the friendships and the issues they're dealing with -- it sounds like awesome drama lol

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  2. Huh, the bonds of the friendships and exploration of what they've been through and how it's affected them sounds great. And of course the survival! I would totally not know how to survive lol. Glad this was such a gripping book for you, and the characterization and settings sound great!

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    1. I rally liked the relationships between the women. I was actually expecting more action in terms of hostiles but it was the relationships that mattered the most. The setting was great too!

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    1. The author actually cites that as an influence so I was expecting some nastiness, but it really wasn't like that.

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  4. I loved this one, too! It kind of read like a horror movie! But I also loved the relationships between the women and that each had her own unique personality.

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    1. Yes, I thought the women were well done. And that one character was a trip, wasn't she??

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  5. Sounds like a really well done novel. I'm glad it kept you flipping the pages from the start!!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  6. I haven't read many stories like this so I'll keep it in mind when I want to branch out.

    As someone who is ahem...older in years lol...I think I'll like reading about these women.

    For What It's Worth

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    1. Ha ha I could relate to them too, and it was nice to see older protagonists (not that they're "older", but you know, not all 20)! And it was a good story- I was expecting hardcore survival and it wasn't like that, it was very readable.

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  7. Sounds very tense and exciting. When I hear a book was read in one sitting it definitely makes me take notice.

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    1. Yeah I liked it a lot! I got sucked into the relationships and the survival stuff was fun- I was expecting it to be really tough and while it was, it wasn't horrible.

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  8. That sounds good. I don't go camping or fishing or rafting. Just not my thing but stories about doing that and things going wrong are interesting.

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    1. Things do go wrong, but at least it wasn't like horror movie wrong. It stayed plausible and actually wasn't as bad as I thoguht it was gonna get! I've never been rafting though, and after this I don't think I want to. :)

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  9. And this is why I don't go to into any forests without large crowds of people! I do love a fast paced one sitting read and I haven't read a survival story in awhile. Definitely have to check this one out.

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    1. Hah righttt??I don't recommend white water rafting as a getaway after this one :)

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  10. Well a rafting trip in the wilderness already sounds like my idea of hell so the trip going bad... that's a nightmare. This one definitely sounds like a page tuner.

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  11. Awesome. This one has been on my list for a while. It sounds so great.

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  12. Ooooh I like the sound of this! I love survival stories, and I like that there's such a big friendship element to it. Definitely going to need to read this one! Great review- and glad it was a good start to the new year :D

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  13. This is why I can never go camping!! I'd read this book and probably want to avoid the even the local dog park for AT LEAST a week :) (BTW - Great review, Greg!)

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  14. These survival stories can be pretty hit and miss but I like the sound of this one. Honestly you'd never get me camping with my paranoia over horror scenarios!

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  15. This definitely sounds right up my alley! Loved your review, I definitely need to look into this one more.

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  16. i loved the sound of this so thats awesome to hear that the book wasn't boring and didn't drag for you

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  17. This is why I don't go camping lol! Glad you enjoyed the book. It does sound like a page turner.

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  18. This sounds awesome. I love that it's a story centred upon four friends, four women who are older and totally don't want to be there in nature. Glad to hear it was better than some reviews had you believe as well. I am pretty interested in reading this one now.

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  19. An author that can put you right there in the setting of his or her book is one I must read. This sounds like quite a book. Thanks for your great review, Greg! I will definitely be on the look out for this one.

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  20. I've seen this floating around, but I didn't know what it was about until now - sounds very good!

    Lauren @ Always Me

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  21. Yey! I’m glad to see you enjoyed this one. It sounds fantastic. Definitely up my alley. I’m always down for a good page turner!!

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