"The Riverman" by Aaron Starmer

Title: The Riverman

Author: Aaron Starmer

 

Series: The Riverman, #1

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Publishing Group

 

Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Publication date: March 18th, 2014

My rating: 3.5 of 5

 

 

(Book read from May 7th to May 10th, 2014,  from a review copy received from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange of an honest review.)

  

Summary:

Alistair Cleary is the kid who everyone trusts. Fiona Loomis is not the typical girl next door. Alistair hasn't really thought of her since they were little kids until she shows up at his doorstep with a proposition: she wants him to write her biography. 

What begins as an odd vanity project gradually turns into a frightening glimpse into the mind of a potentially troubled girl. Fiona says that in her basement, there’s a portal that leads to a magical world where a creature called the Riverman is stealing the souls of children. And Fiona’s soul could be next. If Fiona really believes what she’s saying, Alistair fears she may be crazy. But if it’s true, her life could be at risk. 

In this novel from Aaron Starmer, it’s up to Alistair to separate fact from fiction, fantasy from reality.

 

 

 My Thoughts on the Book:

 

 

The Riverman is an interesting MG fantasy story. At first, with the way it started, I got wrapped up right away. It was interesting & sad & eerie, and wonderful, and I knew it had the potential to be an amazing story.

But, in the end, it wasn't all that. Maybe it's because it reminded me at the beginning of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, so my expectations suddenly went way up high, or maybe it comes down to the books I've read before. Don't get me wrong, I still liked this book. The idea & the story was interesting, the characters were likable, and the writing style was good, but in the end it comes down to only interesting enough, but nothing special. 

I don't want to go into details with the story, so not to spoil it, but overall I really liked it. It had it's great moments, the only ok moments, I liked the characters (almost all, not Charlie), and I liked the mystery of it. It's a beautiful story with a little bit of an dark angle, a story that will make you think, a story about growing up and facing reality through a child's eyes, or maybe what you think reality is, and a story about imagination. If you enjoy stories like this, then I recommend this book.

 

 

 

Challenges:

2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge

Clean Sweep ARC Challenge May 2014