Too much hunting. [River Run by J.S. James]
J.S. James' River Run starts off with a dreary murder scene and gets you pumped with the promise of a murder mystery thriller overflowing with secrets waiting to be discovered. But soon that rush find its conclusion and the majority of the rest of the book is made up of drawn-out, over-detailed chapters that are much to easy to glaze over reading. At one point in my reading, three pages of my eBook were spent describing the slow stalking of a boat-ride hunting scene. Why should it take three pages to describe the tension of hunting someone in a boat? At some point this was solidly a three, possible a four, but it drifted down to a 2-star rating. Here's why.
This was the second NetGalley book I downloaded. That was back in the beginning of October. The plot of this did not inspire enough interest for me to have finished it sooner. It stalled and lost me. The author's debut novel, River Run looks to be the first in a series, one that will presumably be centered around the main character Delia Chavez. But for an eponymous series we get a lot of side character perspectives. The most fleshed out character might have been the antagonistic sheriff who's plot and motivations really go nowhere.
I guess the unique thing about Delia is supposed to be her status as a Latina cop in super white Oregon, but the struggle of identity is not really there. Her identity is used by other characters to try and put her down, and I guess in reading we're supposed to get the feeling that her life is hard, but she's also a cop and she's in a position of authority so that doesn't really pan out. She's had a couple of inquiries in her trigger-happy disposition, so even less empathy from me. And she's the token minority Latina, but she plays into stereotypes? Everything about her Hispanic identity ties back somehow into a stereotype. Chicano culture, Mexican cuisine, Latina sass - just some stuff that was kinda cringe.
The pacing's super weird too. The bulk of the novel is too drawn out. But then at the end we're jumping around and the ending was very rushed. At some point I wondered if we'd be left on a cliffhanger. Very rarely do third acts keep a good pacing, and this was one of those common instances where it didn't. I don't think I'd recommend this, but I also think I was never going to be in the demographic of the audience who would find this book entertaining. Maybe because it's in the Pacific Northwest and I'm not familiar with that culture. While reading one gets the feeling of you have to know it to understand, and that's especially true with regard to the in-book hunting culture and referencing. Being that the story concluded and there's no big loose ends I can only image any sequel novel will focus on Delia's cop exploits in one-off, episodic fashion and perhaps see an expansion of the romance subplot. So I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't read a sequel. Two stars and I might read the next book.
This was the second NetGalley book I downloaded. That was back in the beginning of October. The plot of this did not inspire enough interest for me to have finished it sooner. It stalled and lost me. The author's debut novel, River Run looks to be the first in a series, one that will presumably be centered around the main character Delia Chavez. But for an eponymous series we get a lot of side character perspectives. The most fleshed out character might have been the antagonistic sheriff who's plot and motivations really go nowhere.
I guess the unique thing about Delia is supposed to be her status as a Latina cop in super white Oregon, but the struggle of identity is not really there. Her identity is used by other characters to try and put her down, and I guess in reading we're supposed to get the feeling that her life is hard, but she's also a cop and she's in a position of authority so that doesn't really pan out. She's had a couple of inquiries in her trigger-happy disposition, so even less empathy from me. And she's the token minority Latina, but she plays into stereotypes? Everything about her Hispanic identity ties back somehow into a stereotype. Chicano culture, Mexican cuisine, Latina sass - just some stuff that was kinda cringe.
The pacing's super weird too. The bulk of the novel is too drawn out. But then at the end we're jumping around and the ending was very rushed. At some point I wondered if we'd be left on a cliffhanger. Very rarely do third acts keep a good pacing, and this was one of those common instances where it didn't. I don't think I'd recommend this, but I also think I was never going to be in the demographic of the audience who would find this book entertaining. Maybe because it's in the Pacific Northwest and I'm not familiar with that culture. While reading one gets the feeling of you have to know it to understand, and that's especially true with regard to the in-book hunting culture and referencing. Being that the story concluded and there's no big loose ends I can only image any sequel novel will focus on Delia's cop exploits in one-off, episodic fashion and perhaps see an expansion of the romance subplot. So I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't read a sequel. Two stars and I might read the next book.
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