The River King

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Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: The River King was the best book that I have ever read. I couldn't put it down. I think that Alice Hoffman is the best author ever and really knows how to write a great book. I can't wait until she writes another book!

Rating:
Summary: The River King
Review: This is an excellent book that grips the reader from the start. It's Alice Hoffman at her best. The charectors seem real and the story is gripping. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: River King by Alice Hoffman
Review: If you have not read any of Alice Hoffman's books yet, I urge you to do so. This novel about the mystery surrounding a boarding school in Massachusetts is an excellent place to begin. When the Haddon School's headmaster marries a local girl, thus begins a history of sorrow that invades the school & carries on for many years, touching everyone in some way or another. As in her other books, life is never ordinary, and magic is everywhere. As usual, Ms. Hoffman writes with extraordinary talent and a touch of magic in her pen. This is the reason Alice Hoffman is my absolute favorite author. Please, do yourself a favor and buy this book.

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Summary: Vintage Hoffman
Review: In all her novels, Alice Hoffman has the ability to make us laugh and cry with her beautifully poetic prose, and her uncanny way of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. THE RIVER KING takes place in the small town of Haddan, Massachusetts, a place divided into two sides...those who were born and raised in the village, and the privileged few who attend the prestigious Haddan School. When a sudden and inexplicable death occurs, the town's history and secerts are revealed and the intertwined lives of Carlin Leander, Gus Pierce, Betsy Chase and Abel Grey are unraveled on that fateful night. While this may not be Ms. Hoffman's strongest work, the story is truly alluring and beautifully written. I can only compare her writing to oil on canvas...so clear and lush, it is almost as if the words form pictures on each page. If you are a fan of Ms. Hoffman, read THE RIVER KING.

Rating:
Summary: A Pleasurable Read
Review: The River King, by Alice Hoffman is a well-rounded book. There is the right amount of sentiment, tragedy, and suspense to balance the plot and the overall experience of the book. While this particular work does not excel in any of these categories, it is a nice combination.
It is set around the late 1990's at a private high school in the small town of Haddan, Massachusetts. The main story follows the lives of an incoming freshman, a new photography teacher, and a local police officer. Everything plays out in a continuous cycle of events that intertwine and include the past and the present.
While The River King may not be the intellectual thriller of Conrad, or have the wildly imaginative characters like in Faulkner, it is good writing for our day and age. The themes are modern and the story is life-like. I would recommend it as a good book to read for pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book missed the mark for me. I did read it, but I did not find it necessarily engaging. I think that this may have been targeted for a younger audience. It was dark in an odd way - not like Practical Magic, however. I felt a little cheated when I finished the book - I did not have that 'good' feeling that comes after having read a 'good' book.

I do appreciate Alice Hoffman's talent, but I did not feel this book showcased it as well as others have. I much preferred A Probable Future.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe she's a great writer, but...
Review: I'm unfamiliar with Alice Hoffman's other work, but if this book is indicative of her talent, I'm inclined to remain that way. I have a tendency to continue reading books I dislike, just because I don't like to quit things halfway through, so I kept on reading well past the point I had begun to wonder "why am I reading this?". The plot is as worn as an old shoe and the reader must continually endure schmaltzy references to the "mysterious wafting scent of roses" indicating - what? A ghostly indication of the character's victimhood? As if we didn't recognize this on our own? The characters seem to have been ripped straight out of a melodrama, complete with fainting spells and evil sneers. And the ending is just halfhearted. There's sure to be a movie, where at least the only wafting odor will be that of popcorn.

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Summary: Best Yet!
Review: So far I have read Practical Magic, Illumination Night, Seventh Heaven, Blue Diary, Here on Earth, Drowning Season, and The River King. I found that the River King was the best yet. It had true emotions expressed throughout the book that touches you in an unexplainable way. This book was not only moving, but it had a little mystery to it as well. If you read any of her books. Read this one.