River Woman, River Demon

Quotes

Genre

• Fiction
• Horror
• Mystery
• Thriller
• Magical Realism
• Suspense

Triggers

• Murder
• Death
• Violence
• Domestic abuse
• Body horror
• Sexual content
• Racism
• Stalking
• Death of parent

*There may be spoilers in this review. I will try to avoid major spoilers but some need to be brought up to be discussed.

Summary

When Eva’s husband is arrested for the murder of a friend, she must confront her murky past and embrace her magick to find out what really happened that night on the river.

Eva Santos Moon is a burgeoning Chicana artist who practices the ancient, spiritual ways of brujería and curanderisma, but she’s at one of her lowest points–suffering from disorienting blackouts, creative stagnation, and a feeling of disconnect from her magickal roots. When her husband, a beloved university professor and the glue that holds their family together, is taken into custody for the shocking murder of their friend, Eva doesn’t know whom to trust–least of all, herself. She soon falls under suspicion as a potential suspect, and her past rises to the surface, dredging up the truth about an eerily similar death from her childhood.

Struggling with fragmented memories and self-doubt, an increasingly terrified Eva fears that she might have been involved in both murders. But why doesn’t she remember? Only the dead women know for sure, and they’re coming for her with a haunting vengeance. As she fights to keep her family out of danger, Eva realizes she must use her magick as a bruja to protect herself and her loved ones, while confronting her own dark history.

A psychological thriller that weaves together the threads of folk magick with personal and cultural empowerment, River Woman, River Demon is a mysterious incantation of reckoning with the past and claiming one’s unique power and voice.

Characters

• Eva – Chicana bruja with a talent for glassblowing. A narrator with an unclear past.
• Jericho – Eva’s husband and the main suspect in Cecilia’s murder.
• Alba – Eva’s older sister that raised her more like a mother after theirs passed.
• Jemina – Eva’s oldest child
• Javier – Eva’s youngest
• Bobak – Jericho’s partner at work, a hypnotherapist that helped Eva with her trauma.
• Cecilia – A fellow bruja, works with Jericho and Bobak found murdered in the river near Eva’s house
• Anise – Cecilia’s daughter
• Le Detective – The inspector on the case
• Karma – Childhood friend of Eva’s, drowned when they were fifteen
• Sammy – Childhood friend of Eva’s
• Dom – Sammy’s older brother
• Jocelyn – Childhood bully of Eva’s
• Yolanda – Jericho’s lawyer
• Donna – Sammy’s wife

Setting

Mostly taking place in Los Lunas, New Mexico in late October/early November and around Albuquerque. Flashbacks to California and trips to Texas. Most of the story takes place around Eva’s house and in her head.

Overview

I liked the writing style. The descriptions were vivid and invoked a lot of feeling and thought. The use of water and magic imagery set an atmospheric scene for not just the river but for the state of Eva’s mind.

Eva was the best and worst part about the book though. She has a refreshing new perspective, with her hidden traumatic past and the groundwork for a lovely future all in the balance, it makes you want to see how things are going to turn out. She is unapologetically herself.

Unfortunately, Eva is kind of a jerk. I had to remind myself a few times that she was going through a lot and stress can really mess with how people handle things, especially since it was working on her past traumas. I still found it difficult to root for her when she was so quick to abandon Jericho and leave her kids (who were also going through a lot) to handle themselves. The cheating in particular was difficult to handle when she was making such a big stink about Jericho and his unproven affair.

The racist comments sprinkled through also took me out of the story while I was reading but a part of me could accept it as part of Eva’s aggressive personality and her worldview.

Pros

The characters were diverse, Jericho, the X’s, and the Detective in particular are my favorite. Eva, even though I was just complaining about her, is herself through the whole book and, as a reader, I appreciate that. She isn’t someone I would normally spend much time around so it was fun getting to know how her mind worked.

The writing style, or I guess Eva’s thoughts, kept me captivated. Her focus on the things impacting her helps naturally distract the reader from the details that would make things incredibly predictable while painting a haunted image of the water Eva is around.

The magic had both an urban edge and roots deep in Eva’s family and culture. She loves the tradition but she feels ungrounded and desperately unconnected.

Cons

Eva really is the biggest problem for me. Some things work for the story especially for the unreliable narrator. She is angry and stressed, not to mention she takes very little responsibility for her actions. She is incredibly angry at Jericho and decides that he must have been having an affair despite his assurances. Despite it being unproven nothing stops her from jumping into bed with Sammy when he shows up. In her family home, in the bed she shares with her husband, with the kids and her sister in the house. That was just a lot. Not to mention Sammy having a family of his own and Eva even relating to Donna as “the other woman,” when she was never the other woman.

The only other real issue I had was the motivation for the murder was a little cliché but to me the real focus was the writing style itself and the characters dealing with the mess in front of them.

Final Thoughts

I have to say I liked it. I kept reading it when I had other things to read and that is usually a good sign.

The only thing that really took me out of the story was the random bits of anti-white sentiments but, playing my own devil’s advocate, I can appreciate it being something Eva would think and feel.

There were a few too many sex scenes for what I felt the story needed but it fit with the realism and the magic. It keeps you in Eva’s mindset as well.

I don’t read a lot of mysteries so how it compares in the genre I’m not entirely sure. For me, it was all about getting to know Eva. If you don’t like her it can be a bit of a slog.

It is dark and mysterious and the water imagery and descriptions of Eva’s mind alone are worth the read. I would recommend this but only to those that would enjoy this kind of story telling.

Outside Links