Reviews

Knife River by Justine Champine

andy5185's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I enjoyed this. Got a little sluggish towards the end but it’s a really great debut novel. 

jessies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Sisters Liz and Jess come together when their mother's remains are discovered 15 years after her disappearance.  Jess left small town Knife River as soon as she could while Liz remained in their childhood home.  

I wouldn't really call this book a mystery or a thriller.  The pace is extremely slow.  It's about the impact of trauma and grief.  Both sister's lives are upended by their mother's disappearance, but handle it in totally different ways.  Jess goes from girlfriend to girlfriend, never really connecting with anyone.  Liz puts her life completely on hold.  I loved seeing the sisters reconnect when Jess returns.  They finally begin to understand each other. 

It took me a week to read 40% of the book, then I read the last 60 in a day.  

saminfineprint's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

celineks's review

dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bethreadsandnaps's review

4.25

Justine Champine's debut KNIFE RIVER (publishes May 28, 2024) shows the reverberations of a woman's disappearance on her teenage daughters. 

Main character Jess floats through life from girlfriend to girlfriend, but, when she's summoned back to Knife River after her mother's bones are potentially found, Jess has to confront the mystery around her mother's disappearance 15 years ago as well as reconnect with her sister Liz and her high school flame Eva. 

This is a character study of how Jess and her sister Liz dealt with the disappearance of their mother. Liz refused to leave the family home, despite having wanted to go to across the country for college, and she chained herself to her job as a bank teller. Jess has much more wanderlust and doesn't want to be tied down in any way.

The ambiance of upstate New York makes the reader feel secluded, and much of it takes place during winter.

Two things that inhibited my enjoyment some: 
1. There is very little tension in this mystery. I want to feel propulsion to find the killer, and that was lacking with some pacing problems (a lot of languishing). 
2. The timeline in this didn't make sense. Now I had an ARC, and I'm hoping this is fixed in publication. And I think it can be easily fixed. "Present day" is 2010 in this story with the mother's disappearance happening 15 years prior (1995). The mother's birth year is 1965, which makes her 30 years old in 1995 - but she has a 19 year old and a 13 year old. That would make her a mother at 11 years old. But later in the novel it indicates she went missing in 2002. But if it's 15 years later, that would be 2017 instead of 2010. So hopefully the book will change "present day" to 2017. That would make everything work. 

I found this to be excellent debut, and I enjoyed this character-driven literary mystery. If you like a slower burn mystery, I think you'll like this one.

maria001's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

jen_g_r's review

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thanks to The Dial Press, Random House, & Justine Champine for this ARC. The writing was good, but the book wasn’t my cup of tea. Based on descriptions of this book I was expecting more of a mystery & psychological thriller. If that’s what you are looking for, it’s not this book. However, if you want a book that looks into the relationship between sisters many years after their mother’s death, this is the perfect book for you. 

the_horror_maven's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

mbplease's review

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mandysbooknook's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5