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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Dec 17, 2020  
Sneak a peek at the literary fiction novel RIVER, SING OUT by James Wade on my blog! This book sounds so good! (Check out that gorgeous cover too!)

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/12/book-blitz-river-sing-out-by-james-wade.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
“And through these ages untold, the river did act as the lifeblood of all those things alongside it.”
Jonah Hargrove is celebrating his thirteenth birthday by avoiding his abusive father, when a girl named River stumbles into his yard, injured and alone. The teenager has stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of meth from her murderous, drug-dealing boyfriend, but lost it somewhere in the Neches River bottoms during her escape. Jonah agrees to help her find and sell the drugs so she can flee East Texas.
Chasing after them is John Curtis, a local drug kingpin and dog fighter, as well as River’s boyfriend, the dangerous Dakota Cade.
Each person is keeping secrets from the others—deadly secrets that will be exposed in violent fashion as all are forced to come to terms with their choices, their circumstances, and their own definition of God.
With a colorful cast of supporting characters and an unflinching violence juxtaposed against lyrical prose, River, Sing Out dives deep into the sinister world of the East Texas river bottoms, where oppressive poverty is pitted against the need to believe in something greater than the self.
     
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ClareR (5726 KP) rated That Reminds Me in Books

Jul 30, 2020  
That Reminds Me
That Reminds Me
Derek Owusu | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
That Reminds Me was a book that immediately made me sit up and take notice. The language is poetic and raw, and that reflects the experience of the main protagonist, K. It’s presented as a series of memories, so some memories are clearer and easier to understand than others - and this is mostly down to the K’s Bipolar disorder, I think, but also down to how we remember our own past. The clearest descriptions seem to be when he is self-harming, drinking and his descriptions of his alcoholism.

K has a very disjointed childhood: he’s taken into care as a small child, in a largely white community, but his foster parents, and in particular his foster mother, seem to take notice of him and spend time with him. This comes to an end when his foster mother dies of lung cancer. K then goes to live in Tottenham with an aunt. Here he is able to explore his Ghanaian roots, whilst living in poverty in a community where knife crime is commonplace, Grime is the music of choice and God rules all.

There is so much in this short book that I could talk about, but then I’m sure that I’d ruin the readers own experience. I think it’s a book that’s well worth reading and experiencing, but be warned: this is not a book that is wholly comfortable or enjoyable. But is it good? Oh yes, it most certainly is.