Five years ago, Benji
Green lost his beloved father, Big Eddie, when his truck crashed into a river.
Everyone called it an accident, but Benji knows it was more. Even years later,
he’s buried in his grief, throwing himself into managing Big Eddie’s convenience
store in the small-town of Roseland, Oregon. Surrounded by his mother and three
aunts, he lives day to day, struggling to keep his head above water.
But Roseland is no
ordinary place.
With ever more
frequent dreams of his father’s death and waking visions of feathers on the
river’s surface, Benji finds his definition of reality bending. He thinks
himself haunted; by ghosts or memories, he can no longer tell. Not until a man
falls from the sky, leaving the burning imprint of wings on the ground, does
Benji begin to understand that the world is more mysterious than he ever
imagined—and more dangerous. As uncontrollable forces descend on Roseland, they
reveal long-hidden truths about friends, family, and the stranger Calliel—a man
Benji can no longer live without.
(Amazon description)
Wow. Just...wow.
I loved this book so much that I almost don’t know where to
start. Usually, when I write a book review, I focus on plot and character, but
the striking thing about Into This River
I Drown is the writing itself. I read one of TJ Klune’s other books a while
back, and I liked it well enough, but it didn’t take my breath away this one
did. The language is almost poetic. The words curl their way into a reader’s
heart and wring out every emotion until you are left completely spent. Klune’s
use of repetition is interesting. Normally, I find that annoying, but somehow
here it works.
Symbolism and imagery are heavy in the book, but I’m not
going to get into that or this review will end up long enough to bust into
chapters. Let’s just say, as an author myself, I am in complete literary awe.
As for the characters... Benji was well-developed and
interesting. He had an almost hero-worship relationship with his father, Big
Eddie, and has never been able to move on after his death. Benji remembers his father as an almost
mythically perfect being, almost like a very young child feels about their
parents before they are old enough to see their flaws. The side characters perpetuate
Benji’s exalted opinions by constantly talking about how perfect Big Eddie was.
At the time of this story, Big Eddie has been dead for five years, so I assume
Benji had a more realistic opinion of his dad back when he was alive. And while
this hero-worship thing gets to be a little much after a while, it really clues
the reader in to Benji’s fragile emotional stability.
I don’t want to say too much about Calliel, because I don’t
want to give anything away, but I found him quirky and endearing. I understood
why he and Benji felt so much for each other, but even at the end of the book,
I feel like I only know him about 95%. There is still the hint of mystery about
him. Not that I think there will be a sequel, this appears to be a standalone
novel, but this mystery left me still thinking about the book after I finished
reading. That’s a good thing.
The book is filled with wonderful supporting characters who
often defy stereotypes. Benji’s Aunt Nina was the perfect mix of loving and
spooky. She has a mild form of Downs, so people may write her up, but she sees
the world like a prophetess, wise and mystical. Abraham Dufree is a senior
citizen and Benji’s only friend. Like Nina, people may dismiss an elderly man,
but Abraham turns out to be tough as nails. The older woman who runs the local
diner carries a shotgun and isn’t afraid to use it.
The plot of the story does have a few pacing issues, but it
never gets too bogged down. It basically revolves around Benji trying to
unravel who killed Big Eddie, but there are several sub-plots to layer on
interest. There are “bad guys” who are obvious bad guys, but then there is a
twist to the mystery at the end to take a reader by surprise.
Overall, I give Into
This River I Drown....
Plot - 4 1/2
bookmarks
Character Development
- 5 bookmarks
Mystery - 4 1/2
bookmarks
Paranormal Elements -
4 1/2 bookmarks
Love Story - 5
bookmarks
Literary Quality -
5 bookmarks
Dream Cast (otherwise
known as who I pictured while reading) - Logan Lerman (Benji), Chris
Hemsworth (Calliel), Abraham (Michael Fairman)
