Rating: 
Summary: River, touched my heart
Review: I must say that I did not think that I would enjoy the book as much as I did. This story showed how one little girl could affect such a srtong and prestigious Black community. Some of the characters could have been a little more developed, but I feel that this book was an excellent start for Breena Clarke's career.
Rating: 
Summary: River Cross My Heart
Review: I generally love the Oprah selections but this novel did nothing for me. It starts out with a bang and then wanders aimlessly through Johnnie Mae's life in a black community in Georgetown. Ms. Clarke, what about some character development? Characters are introducted and then pulled back, such as Ella Bromsen; they tease the reader but never fullfill. Not a page turner!
Rating: 
Summary: Average
Review: It was unfortunate that the main focus of the book was in the first couple of chapters only. I would have preferred the story to start six months BEFORE Clara died, to get more of an insight into who she was, before she was so suddenly snatched away and before we had a chance to get to know her. Perhaps then I would have shared in the heartwrenching sadness that Johnnie Mae and her parents felt. I found the rest of the story enjoyable enough, although there were lots of loose ends, too many questions and too many great characters I wanted to learn more about. (And I too wanted to know what happened to the kitten!) Pearl was very strange and her relationship with Johnnie Mae unexplainable. I didn't really pick up on how or why they became friends in the end. Anyway, an interesting insight into what life would have been like for blacks in the 1920s in Georgetown though and a quick and reasonably enjoyable read. But the ending really didn't do it for me. Sorry, but it made me cringe.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully weird
Review: Breena Clarke's first novel is like a broken rubber band gradually stretched by fingers that aren't aware of the possible sting that may eventuate if it breaks further or if it is let go. It starts off so slowly that one wonders where it may be headed and then it starts to gather momentum until it totally shifts and finishes about 358 degrees from where it started. What makes it work I think is that the characters develop. We see our young heroine mature and grow amongst the many people around her. Perhaps there are too many. I constantly had to reread sections to try and remember who people were but I found in the end the relationship that existed between our heroines - Johnnie Mae and Pearl - entirely satisfying. It wanders and at times mimics - poorly - Toni Morrison, but Clarke's work here is promising enough to warrant a reading of any further work she may produce.
Rating: 
Summary: A lack of development
Review: As I read the back cover for the synopsis of the book, I took interest in prospect of learning about the black side of Georgetown. What looks like a great book never truly goes anywhere. Many of the characters are underdevloped, so the reader is left feeling detached and unmoved by the story.
Rating:
Summary: River, Pull Me Under
Review: I wanted to like this book. The subject matter and time period are of interest to me and usually make fine fodder for fiction. It seems as if the book cannot decide what it wants to be. The reader has only a nodding aquaintance with the characters, and by the end of the book must find some reason to care about what happens to them. That is a shame. Some of the characters are so interesting. I'd like to see how they are all woven together into the fabric of the town and story. Some of the passages, particularly those involving the spirit of the drowned girl, approach a kind of magical realism that is so beautiful, but their connection to the broader story is hard to make. I'm anxious to read the author's next book to see how her writing style evolves.
Rating:
Summary: River Cross My Heart
Review: A poorly written book. The plot takes the reader no where. No substance to the book at all. This is the second book that I am disappointed with as reviewed by the Oprah Winfrey Book Club. "A Lesson In Dying" was the other poorly written book that I did not find rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: I have to agree with the majority here...
Review: While this book was well-written and had some interesting character, it had little plot. I kept waiting for a conflict to arise, and eventually realized there was not one. The climax of the book occurs in the beginning, when Clara drowns.I would read other books by this author IF I was assured there was more of a plot.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try, but...
Review: River, Cross My Heart never goes anywhere. It does an OK job of being a slice of life book. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a plot. The story wanders through the life of a young girl named Johnnie Mae whose younger sister drowns in the Potomac River. After a moderately interesting beginning, the book falls flat. We never really get to know Johnnie Mae. The author teases us with small insights into the characters and then leaves us in the dark.
Rating:
Summary: River, Cross My Heart
Review: The short description of this book sounded great; however, one could read the book jacket and get the same level of satisfaction as from the entire book. Was there a plot here? Did I miss something? I, too, kept waiting for something to happen and then the story ended. Also there were loose ends that were never resolved. What happened to the kitten? Did it live? What happened to Pearl? Why did Willie have a change of heart and decide to support Johnnie Mae in her swimming? Help!
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