River’s Edge

Erin Keyser
Horn
Genre: 
Young Adult

Kasia Maier wants to be a biologist and the Painted Turtle program in Thomson, Illinois is an excellent place for her to start—except that her mother has always warned her to stay far away from two things: men and water. Fitting then, that her new co-worker ends up being a guy and their job is to track turtles in the causeway.

As a partner Blayne is aloof and really rubs Kasia’s highly-developed feminist side the wrong way. But when he is drug into the river by a red-eyed creature, Kasia can’t just sit by and let him die. Little does she know her small act of heroism will ignite a chain of irreversible mythical events that will change her life forever.

“River’s Edge” is a fascinatingly original story brimming with Slavic mythology. It’s intriguing and, thankfully, carries one through the book despite its slow pacing. Horn’s characters are multi-dimensional but Kasia’s feminist drum beats a few too many times. Riddled with notable scenes, “River’s Edge” endears us to the relationship between Kasia and her best friend and that of Kasia and Blayne—particularly the scene at Blayne’s parent’s house. With a nice friendship, unique love story and compelling mythology, this book stood to be a contender but fell flat when it delivered a surprise cliffhanger ending. Oh no! TKO.

Sofia St. Angeles