Rating: 
Summary: Too Cruel
Review: I've loved every Alice Hoffman book I've ever read and waited with anticipation until this one was shipped. Unfortunately I almost did not finish it. Something about Gus touched me and when the river king was discovered I was devastated. So much so that I skipped ahead in the book to see what had truly happened. At that point I put the book on the shelf and left it there for over a week. Thinking surely that justice would prevail I went back only to be disappointed. The magic of Alice Hoffman could not overcome the cruelty Gus endured. Nothing about the book could overshadow the hazing that took the life of a teenager struggling as so many do through that period of their life. Maybe Ms. Hoffman wanted to shock, if so she succeeded, but this time I was disappointed more than anything.
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautifully Written Collage
Review: I read one of Alice Hoffman's books some years ago and didn't particularly care for it. Thus, I only read this novel because I'd read some really good reviews about it. Much to my surprise, I really love Hoffman's work now. Either she's gotten better or my taste has changed. What Hoffman does best here is mix pieces from just about every writing genre and then combine them so as to make one lyrically written novel of mainstream fiction. It is quite a feat and most authors cannot pull such combinations off. She's got the romance genre covered with about six different characters but Abe, the policeman, and Betsy, the photographer-teacher, make up the romance that triumphs. Hoffman also covers the mystery genre by having a death take place that is either suicide or murder. The paranormal genre runs throughout the novel too, mixing with the atmospheric riverside school and town and enabling Hoffman to render beautiful imagery in our heads while we read. Two significant ghosts, one dead long time and the other, the recent death, create a fourth dimension to the work. Hoffman's language reminded me of Pat Conroy's in "Prince Of Tides," which is the supreme compliment since that is one of my all time favorite novels. I'm simply amazed at her accomplishment though since most authors fail when they try to combine even two genres, such as romance and mystery. Hoffman succeeds where they have not through sheer poetry of language and far reaching range of vision with her imagination.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book!
Review: This is one of my favorite recent reads. It is a multi-layered story of making adult choices, the inescapability of the events of childhood that make us who we are, and the still ever-present class system in our society with measures of courage, romance, and redemption thrown in for good measure. The book retains the same melancholy feel of Alice Hoffman's other books with a slightly heavier dose(though not really overdone) of mysticism. I was thoroughly captured from the first page to the last - could barely stand to put it down - and found myself thinking of the story for several days after I finished reading it. I have recommended this book to several others who have enjoyed it as much as I did. A very satisfying and enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to believe yet predictable
Review: This was pretty grim and predictable. It sort of meandered ( like a river?) without really comimg to a conclusion that was believable. The adults behaved like adolescents, while the street-wise, over-exposed children "acted" like "adults"? I didn't feel much empathy for anyone, except the older teacher, who seemed like the only real character in the book ( and the cat).
Rating:
Summary: The cold night and the rosy fingers of dawn......
Review: "The River King" by Alice Hoffman is a powerful tale about what this world offers -- a chance at love, and plenty of sorrow and beauty. Betsy Chase, now photography instructor at the expensive Haddon School in rural Massachusetts, lost her parents to a freaky accident when she was a child. Probably as a result of their shocking demise (they were struck by lightening) she takes many risks with her own life. For one thing, she walks outside during terrible lightening storms. For another, she seems willing to settle for the false security offered by a pending marriage to another faculty member of dubious moral character. Abel Grey, a policeman in the town near the Haddon School was emotionally scarred by the death of his brother when they were young boys. As a result, he has been unable to form a loving lasting attachment with a woman. He is a loner who lives with a black one-eyed cat and wears his dead grandfather's clothes. Abel's grandfather was his hero. He was a brave policeman who saved three drowing boys by risking his own life. But, Grandpa Grey kept a shocking secret. Who was the young woman who lies buried in the back field of the family farm? Abel remembers his grandfather picking wild blue irises and placing them on her grave. One fall semester, Augustus Ferguson, a strange young man in a black coat, shows up at the Hadden School. He has had difficulties in other schools and his New York City high school teacher father, who earns a second living as a magician, has decideded to send him to yet another school in the hope he will improve his grades. En route to the school by train he meets Carlin Leander, a beautiful 15-year old girl who hails from Florida. She is an excellent swimmer and a good student. Although she is very poor, her mother has managed to scrape together the funds to send her to the Hadden School. Gus pulls a coin from behind her ear and a relationship begins. Elements of the "other" world drift like a mist through "The River King." Hoffman's story so skillfully told it is hard to separte the paranormal from the natural (maybe they aren't separate). Strange and true and sorrowful events energize these four people, and make the book as marvelous as "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, another tale about love and loss and the restless dead.
Rating: 
Summary: not believable
Review: Excuse me but isn't this an expensive and exclusive school? Don't the parents of these sutdents expect something more than everyone, students and staff alike, sneaking around at all hours. These students are supposed to be in high school. Does no one care if they don't show up for meals or stay out all night drinking, smoking an having sex. Is this really what goes on in boarding schools or did I just stumble into one of the poorest examples of education? Puhleese, spare me.
Rating:
Summary: riveting and absorbing
Review: I could not put down this book!!!! The characters were exquisitely developed and the plot was so riveting that I couldn't stop reading it. When I finished the book, I read it over again. It was as fantastic the second time. Ms. Hoffman is a truly gifted writer, with a voice all her own. This book is a MUST. It won't let you down--
Rating:
Summary: On its way to the thrift shop
Review: Took The River King outside to read yesterday afternoon, but realized in short order that this read was a big waste of time. All I could think of was getting it over with, so I closed it up and put it with a pile of things to take to the thrift shop for re-cyling. It was bad enough that I had wasted my money on it (hadn't even bought it thru Amazon), but it would be worse yet to waste my energies on such a lovely afternoon. Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: Awful!
Review: This book was just awful! Completely contrived, boring, and depressing!
Rating:
Summary: It's the humidity!!!
Review: In THE RIVER KING, strange meteorological events are always happening in the town of Haddam where the story takes place. It's hot or cold at the wrong time, or strange things fall from the sky. The climate seems to affect the populace to an unusual degree, as Hoffman gives us repeated descriptions of ailments and strange nervous conditions. The plot involves a long-dead headmaster's wife with a love of roses, and strange scents always seem to be popping up. Everyone is nervous, or sad, or loopy with love. Unfortunately, Hoffman commits the great error of all freshman comp students, she tells us rather than shows us. Almost nothing happens in the last 3/4 of the book, but Hoffman attaches great importance to it all without explaining what anything means. I found her rather cool, detached, omniscient narrator to be a distraction, as she gives equal weight to everything in the story. All in all, a disappointment.
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