River Mumma blends Jamaican folklore, magical realism, and contemporary life. The story is rich with cultural depth and interesting character dynamics. The novel follows a main character whose ordinary life in Toronto takes an extraordinary turn when she encounters River Mumma (a mythical water spirit in Jamaican folklore). This sends her on a journey that tests her courage, but also forces her to explore her connection to her heritage.

I appreciate the author bringing Jamaican folklore vividly into the modern world. The novel is filled with humor and warmth, with balanced moments of introspection as our MC grapples with questions of identity, family expectations, and the complexities of the diasporic experience. The characters are lively and our MC is an engaging protagonist.

This is another novel that suffers from pacing issues, particularly as it builds up to its magical elements. However, I think the main issue with this book is that it needed more world-building around the folklore itself.The supernatural elements are not necessarily familiar to anyone outside of the West indies, and I think a bit more exploration would benefit the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Team for this Advanced Digital Readers Copy, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

"River Momma" is a stunning blend of fantasy and horror. The author masterfully crafts a setting that feels both enchanting and deeply unsettling. The fantasy elements are richly woven, featuring mythical creatures and a vibrant, magical world that captivates the imagination. The tension builds gradually, with chilling imagery and unsettling encounters. The horror is not just in the supernatural elements but also in the psychological depth of the characters, exploring themes of fear, loss, and the unknown.

GREAT BOOK! MY 2ND ENCOUNTER WITH THIS AUTHOR- READ FRYING PLAINTAIN AS WELL, HER SHORT STORY COLLECTION.
THIS BOOK COMBINES JAMAICAN FOLKLORE WITH A MODERN DAY TWIST. SET IN TORONTO, ALICIA IS TASKED WITH FINDING THE STOLEN HAIRCOMB OF RIVER MUMMA- A MERMAID DEITY. SHE IS ACCOMPANIED ON THIS QUEST BY HER FRIENDS HEAVEN AND MARS- WITH WHOM SHE SHARES SOME ANCESTRAL TIES. ULTIMATELY, THIS BOOK IS ABOUT FINDING YOUR PURPOSE/IDENTITY AND HONORING YOUR CULTURE. DIALOGUE IS IN JAMAICAN PATOIS WHICH SOME READERS MAY FIND HARD TO UNDERSTAND.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for the E-Arc.

This story was beautiful! The magical realism was written splendidly. I live reading a good fantasy novel based on a diffrent culture! The characters mishaps in navigating the new truth of the magical world!

This story is hard for me to talk about because I don't know if the representation of the cultures portrayed in this book are done well because I am not from those cultures. What I will say is that I felt like the author did a great job of making me want to know more about the cultures talked about in this book. I think the plot of this book was done well. I thought that the characters did feel like they were in their late teens or early twenties so I appreciate that the characters made decisions like how that age developmentally handles issues. I think that this author has some great stories to tell and I look forward to reading more from them.

A charming wonder tale replete with the linguistic flavor of the Jamaican emigre community in Toronto. Engrossing from start to finish and featuring a rwenty-something narrator whose perceptions about her place in the world echo those of young people everywhere in the West. Magical realism pervades the tale, which never disapoints.

Thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for this ARC!

I really wanted to love this book. The premise sounded so interesting, and I was looking forward to learning more about Jamaican folklore. However, I had such a difficult time getting into the story and I am honestly not sure why. I can tell that the author is a fantastic writer, and the elements of a great story are there. I think this was just a wrong time to read this book.

This was a great book! I very much enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the author’s next work! Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Zalika Reid-Benta knew exactly who her target audience was and it shows. River Mumma is a brilliant blend of references to colonialism, Jamaican culture and mythology, and millennial and Gen-Z slang. Alicia lives in modern-day Toronto and is currently going through a bit of a quarter-life crisis; as a 26-year-old, I could immediately relate. While she is walking home from a houseparty she didn't really want to attend, she is lured into the park by Jamaican water deity River Mumma, who tells her to find the comb that was stolen from her by a tourist. Cue a deadly, mythological quest through the city.

I really wasn't prepared for the comicality and wittiness of the narrator and her friends, who kept making me literally laugh out loud. Alicia has such an authentic and relatable reaction to being told she has to go on a hunt for a deity that she may or may not have hallucinated:

'I'm really trying my best not to lose my shit, and I'm not doing a good job.'

And the disappointment in public transport, which I could really relate to as a Dutch person:

'She had often wondered if the universe and the Toronto Transit Commission worked together to conspire against her emotional and psychological well-being, but today she truly worried that something supernatural was at play.'

I'm cracking up rereading all the quotes I highlighted.

If you are looking for a novel that pays attention to Jamaica's colonial past, has a group of friends that have the expected reaction to a deity forcing a quest upon them, underrated pop-culture references, and a breathtaking portrayal of Jamaican culture and mythology, then read this book. Honestly, even if you're not looking for this, I would still recommend it. I will most definitely be keeping an eye on anything else Reid-Benta published.

This book was truly captivating and with every single star! A Jamaican river deity tasks 20something year old with a quest to return a stolen object or the world will face serious consequences!

There so much about this book I loved and not enough time to put it in worlds without spoiling it in this review.



Thank you Net Galley for this arc River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta. #RiverMumma #NetGalley

LOVE LOVE LOVE FOREVER LOVE god this story was AMAZING. SO well told.
ten out of ten, no notes. Loved it, can't say that enough. Great world building.

It's mid April. I downloaded this complimentary e-arc from Erewhon and NetGalley in early Feb. I'm still in the first 20%. It's so boring and clunky to read, I'm reluctant to choose it over others. It's such a great premise, but the writing is very hard to get through. Not a DNF yet...but who knows when I'll finish.

I’m not familiar with Caribbean folklore, and I loved this contemporary novel deeply steeped in the rhythm and the culture of the diaspora in Toronto. The voice and the writing really is fizzy, as the reviewer T.L. Huchu described it.
The story is about three young people (I guess I only say this because I’m old, lol) who consider themselves work friends and not much more. Alicia’s ancestor’s encounter with the uncanny leads to River Mumma finding Alicia and requiring her help in locating her golden comb. Or else.
Alicia, who is well-schooled in the folklore of Jamaica because of her mother and grandmother, knows what “or else” will mean for the world. River Mumma will make the rivers dry up if Alicia can’t find the comb.
Thus begins a quest that pulls in Alicia’s work friends, Heaven and Mars, and as all the good quests in the world’s stories, they grow closer, learn more about each other and themselves, and fight monsters all at the same time.
Highly recommended if you love #ownvoices magical realism and urban fantasy.

This one was ok, but overall not for me. I just don't think there were enough pages to move the plot along. Will still read from this author in the future.

This book was so good! It's full of Jamaican patois and folklore. With some exposure to the culture, I found the patois was easy enough to follow but had to look up some of the idioms and the folklore was all new (but sufficiently explained in the book). If you don't have any experience with the culture, you may find yourself looking up some of the words but I think most of it was understandable context-wise if you don't want to take yourself out of the story. This was an adventure novel featuring strong POC women and a lot of folklore characters but set in the freezing Toronto winter. I loved the juxtaposition of the northern winter against the Jamaican culture, and the navigation of the dual cultural background of our MC, Alice. If you love books that highlight folklore from different cultures and/or adventure novels featuring strong POC women, this is a wonderful choice that I highly recommend.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Stuck in the throes of millennial ennui, Alicia is over educated and working a dead-end job. On a freezing Toronto night, it takes all her strength to attend a co-worker's party. While other people poke at their phones and drink- she gets a tarot reading from a new friend. The Tower is pulled, followed by the Wheel of Fortune. If you know, you know. Nothing is the same after an unseen presence stalks her home that night. Follow Alicia as she navigates a world where the mundane collides with the stuff of Jamaican legend. Fast paced and clocking in at around 300 pages, this might be a good choice for breaking out of a reading slump. For fans of magical realism and folklore.

Loved this book about a Jamaican deity and how it intertwined with seer who would journey to the past. I loved the scenery and the overall quest that the three friends had to go on to retrieve this golden comb. Great storytelling! I'd highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Chosen by a Jamaican deity to retrieve a stolen object, Alicia is sent on a thrilling quest through the streets of Toronto.
(I live in the GTA so books set in Toronto are always fun for me!)
Part thrilling quest, part coming of age story, and part homage to culture and home, River Mumma was a beautiful read.

Loved the atmosphere of the book as well as the characters. It was just the pacing and the plot that left me a little underwhelmed.