The River King

Rating:
Summary: An Empty River
Review: As a fan & avid reader of all Alice Hoffman books, I was left longing for more. Page after page, I continued to look for the magic, beauty of her prose, the appreciation of everyday life & nature that I had come to know from her storytelling.

Her writing seemed old, lazy & repetitive of her past novels. Perhaps, a first time reader of her books would enjoy this read. However, I would strongly recommend Turtle Moon & Seventh Heaven to experience the magic, emotion & poetry of Ms. Hoffman.

Rating:
Summary: More Brilliant Word Art by Hoffman
Review: She does it again, she's a genius. This book is excellent, until the end where the writing gets a bit loose and hurried. Overall it is excellent. It's easy to identify with the characters, because she makes them so real. When I put down this book for a moment I kept thinking there was something that I was supposed to be doing or someone waiting...and yet...It was only the book calling me back. I like it when I fall into a book like I do Hoffman's. This is not her best...Turtle Moon may be...still excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Ultimately unsatisfying
Review: I didn't care for this book. The descriptions of places and the character development in the first half of the book are interesting, but nothing gets resolved! Gus' murder goes unsolved and no one goes to jail for it. Abe the detective was hot on the trail of the killers, but totally changes character at the end of the book and just gives up and runs off with his girlfriend instead of staying put, like he's done all his life, and solving the crime!

The only interesting female character was crusty old Miss Davis, the teacher who's been at the school forever. The other women are flat, indecisive, and uninteresting, although Carlin could grow up to be an adult of character.

I presume Gus is the "River King" of the title, but king in what way? He's just a poor kid who got picked on and was murdered by cruel teenagers with a mob mentality. No one except Carlin seems to miss him, or learn any lessons from his short tragic life.

I really liked "Practical Magic" but I'm wary of reading any other books by Alice Hoffman if they're going to resemble The River King.

Rating:
Summary: wished I waited for the used paperback
Review: ... I found the plot and characters only marginally interesting and the ending rather ho hum for a supposed murder mystery. I guess I am spoiled by my favorite writers... .

Rating:
Summary: Roses, Water, Blood and Redemption
Review: Everytime you open an Alice Hoffman novel, you are taken into a world that is half magic and half horror. Yet through the elements of water and blood and her ever present symbol of love and hope, the rose, she weaves a tale takes you to another plane where a ordinary old black overcoat becomes a symbol of evil and transforms itself into a symbol of resolution, forgiveness and finally an uneasy solice of a lost soul. In the River King, Ms. Hoffman weaves a tale of past sorrows and cruelties and brings them together in a single resolution. Her clever interweaving of the characters lives is ingenious, yet strangley uncomplicated. You never walk away from an Alice Hoffman book without looking at a rose or an old overcoat without wondering what secret it may hold. Ms. Hoffman gets highest honors for taking us away from the daily commute, the daily grind of working. I only wish it would last longer.

Rating:
Summary: Another good book written by Alice Hoffman.
Review: "The River King" takes place in Massachusetts. Carlin Leander and Gus Pierce are both students at the Haddan School, which is a boarding school. Carlin attends on a swimming scholarship, while Gus, a troubled kid, is sent there by his father. The two meet and become good friends. In the meantime, Carlin starts dating Harry McKenna, a senior with a lot of influence on the other students. Other characters are introduced throughout the story, such as Betsy Chase, a woman who is engaged to a man who also works for the school, and Abel Grey, a police officer who becomes interested in Betsy.

One morning, a student's drowned body is found in a river by the school. The school wants to keep the situation quiet, and labels the death an accidental drowning; however, when an autopsy is conducted, the results suggest foul play. Abel ignores the warnings from the school and the police department, and further investigates the situation. He knows that there is a murderer, or murderers, out there, and he wants justice.

"The River King" was well written. The reader will be kept interested throughout the whole book, even though I found that the story picked up speed in the middle. Fans will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A hauntingly realistic tale
Review: Hoffman writes like one would build a puzzle. Gradually she adds piece by piece of fascinating characters and astonishing plots, until you can see the whole breathtaking picture lying in front of you.

The River King is no exception, with its intriguing story about love, sorrow and evil. The world isn't always as it seems, you never know what lies under the surface, especially not in the shallow waters surrounding the Haddan School. Where an ordinary writer simply would stop at the edge, Hoffman crosses the invisible line and enters the unknown, the world beyond ours. Gus is no longer among the mortals, but he is still at Carlins side, running with her along the river and keeping her safe from harm. And nobody will ever be able to forget Annie, sensing the longing in her heart and the love she gave but never got in return, everytime they pass the beautiful roses she planted in her garden, a long time ago. The scent is enough to make a young girl cry, lying alone in her bed at night.

Every character is drawn so exquisitely, that they become vivid in your imagination, creating a feeling that you know these individuals and every secret thought and craving they so carefully have hidden away.

I really envy Hoffman for her amazing talent in writing spellbounding books that keeps you turning page by page, so eager to find out what will happen next and if everything will turn out right in the end. Of course, it doesn't always. Hoffman does not create predictable, trashy novels where the plot consists of boy meets girl, boy gets girl and nothing more. Like life itself, couples don't always live happily ever after.

Rating:
Summary: Hoffmann at her best!
Review: Having read the majority of Hoffmann's books, I can say for sure that the this is one of her best. Great characters, that develop through the story. The story itself is captivating and it contains all the elements, we love from her books: a hint of magic, love and personality... Absolutely loved it - I wish, Í could read it for the first time again!

Rating:
Summary: a disappointment
Review: I've read and greatly enjoyed many of Hoffman's other novels, but here I found one plot point impossible to get past. A boy sporting virtually every one of the signs of a Youth in Crisis, (in a black trench coat, no less!), comes forward to report abuse and nobody takes him seriously? After Columbine? This was hard to swallow.

As for the rest, the descriptions (as usual) were beautiful, but there were just too many characters whose stories weren't woven together enough for me to sustain interest in them. Keeping the focus on Betsy Chase, Abel or Carlin might have helped. As it is, Elizabeth George's mystery "Well Schooled in Murder," tells a very similiar story and does it better.

Rating:
Summary: Not her best.
Review: I love the way Alice Hoffman writes. Her phrasing is lyrical, her scenes vivid and evocative. Her characters are usually well drawn. However, this book was not her best. I came away feeling that there were just too many ideas or themes floating around in this book, none of them in any depth. The characters just did not feel fully fleshed out. The writing style, as always, is beautiful, though. You can picture the town and the school and especially the river. I just felt that the characters were lacking. The one character, Gus, seemed to be the most interesting, and he wasn't in the story for long. Alice Hoffman always does young people, especially troubled young people, very well. Her young people really ring true. She also does a certain type of man very well, and older women, especially those with a past. All of these are her strong suits. But adult women seem to be her weak point. Betsy in this book really is not believable. Maybe it's because we don't really get to know her. As I said, I love Alice Hoffman's style and always look forward to her books. This just wasn't her best. Try "Turtle Moon" or "Second Nature" for good, believable characters, and good plot.

Kathleen