Go grab your helmet, water shoes, and raft for a literary diversion down a fast-flowing, wild Maine River in Erica Ferencik's [b:The River at Night|29430686|The River at Night|Erica Ferencik|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1468786775s/29430686.jpg|49695256]. While you grab the materials you need for this trip, you'll need to leave reality behind (if you start to question too much, you'll just get frustrated with this trip).

Winifred, Pia, Sandra, and Rachel lead urban and suburban lives. They've been friends for decades, and each year. This year, the adventurous Pia has picked the locale, and the quartet is headed to the backwoods of Maine for a private rafting trip on an untamed river. You all know how this is going to go, right? (Hint: the words "not well" should be going through your mind).

This book was a fun ride which provided respite from some of the weightier books I've read lately (not to mention real life!). Character development was scant (Sandra and Rachel were totally interchangeable; the river guide was a stereotype.) A major character/plot point was completely unrealistic (not divulging due to spoilers), and there were a few calamities too many (Oh no! Not another waterfall!) Still, one has to recognize the book for what it is, and I was thankful for a diversionary trip to the woods outside of reality -- even for a short while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Reminds me a bit of a B-horror movies. Four friends go on a secluded white water rafting trip with an unknown instructor. Soon they end up without an instructor, no raft/supplies, and miles away from civilization. ( )

This book had the perfect amount of suspense and scariness. Frightening, but not so much to give you nightmares. I thought it was funny that the book club suggestion at the end was to take a white water rafting trip with your book club. Uh, no thanks! 😆 ( )

This will not be a long review. I just want to explain why I did not find this book enjoyable. And, it's because I really, really disliked the 4 main female characters in the book. I can take, the whole being stranded in a forest away from people and having to get back to civilization while facing dangerous situations. I love stuff like that. What I can't deal with are stupid characters. I honestly should have stopped reading the book, when I read that they spent 45 min in the car trying to find a toilet whiles driving through a forest.

Thre are many, many moments through the book when I wanted to either give up or throw something heavy on a character, but I managed to finish the book. Yes, I did start to skim a bit (or very much) towards the end just to put me out of the misery. I should have listened to reason and stopped at 30%, but I'm just a tenacious idiot sometimes...

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

Bara en bok i mängden. En blek "Sista färden" historia och väldigt stereotypa huvudkaraktärer. Fungerar som tidsfördriv, men inget som jag kommer att minnas. ( )