I usually don’t mind a slow burn in a book but this book just never grabbed my interest. The premise was interesting.. two sisters trying to deal with the trauma of their mother’s disappearance. When the bones are found both girls come together to try to finally learn the truth.

I think Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

Knife River A Novel
By: Justine Champine
Random House Publishing Group, Random House, The Dial Press

Knife River is a compelling, poignant, and suspenseful literary mystery. Champine writes with eloquence in this story of sisterly bond, as Jess seeks answers and truth.

I received an advance reader's copy from Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group, Random House, The Dial Press. My review is my own.

Two sisters left devastated when their mother disappears. The older cares for the younger until she becomes an adult and leaves town with scarcely a second glance, Fifteen years after her disappearance, the remains of their mother Natalie are found. The sisters are forced to figure out, not only their relationship, but how to move forward in light of the news. Knife River is about heartache, loss and new beginnings. The story itself has a slow start but the story and the suspense builds all the way to the end.

This book was incredibly well written. In someways there were parts that seem to linger, but they never lasted long. The descriptions were great, the plot was concise, and the characters were realistic. I loved figuring this story out with all of the twists. It was a great read, especially for a debut novel. Can’t wait to see more from this altar in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This is my honest review.

The fact that these queer books keep coming out in genres I've never been able to read queer books in just makes my heart sing.

A MURDER MYSTERY novel with a lesbian main character! I didn't believe it when I heard about this book, and having finished it, I'm still surprised it happened. For everyone that grew up reading mysteries but wished for more representation in the characters, that wanted one where the queer character wasn't on the side or a symbol of tragedy, this book is for you.

It is emotional, heart wrenching, beautiful, and interesting. It's a story about recovering from loss, finding oneself, and the part that surprised me the most, a strained relationship between sisters. They've been through such horrible heartbreak in their youth, and with their murdered mother's bones finally discovered, all that past pain comes rushing to the surface.

Do not miss this book!

This is a slow burn sort of mystery. I was invested in these characters, the location it takes place and the plot-I just wish it was a touch shorter? I’m excited to read future books by this author.

Excited to say this book will be coming out at the end of May. Thank you Penguin Random House for the advanced copy of Justine Champine's first novel, Knife River. This book is a slow burn and unravels with great depth and character development. Jess and her sister, Liz, have their lives turned upside down when their mother walks from their home 15 years earlier, and never returns. The community comes together to find the missing mother of two, but despite their best efforts, the police never solve the mystery. Jess escaped Frozen River as soon as she was old enough, and has never put down routes anywhere or established a long-term relationship. Liz, the older sister, gave up her dreams of going to college to study aeronotics, and instead, stayed home to care for Jess, and keep the family home exactly as it was when their mother disappeared. She works at a local bank and harbors her own suspicions of who done it. The two sisters reunite when human remains are discovered in woods not far from their family home. These two young women are ready for closure, but unfortunately, a cause of death can't be determined. They have a memorial service for their mom at the site where her remains were found, and both women decide it's time to close this chapter and move on with their lives. Liz will sell the family home and relocate, accepting a position with her employer at a different branch. Jess decides that Maine is where she'll put down routes, but will she go alone, or with her high school girlfriend? Before she leaves town, she unexpectadely solves her families mystery, and it's a twist you never see coming. I fully expect Knife River to be a hit, and hope to see more books by Justine Champine.

"Knife River" is the kind of book I am sad to have finished. The narrative is suspenseful and intelligent, the characters are nuanced, and the mystery is nail-biting suspenseful. Reminiscent of "Songs for the Missing" by Stewart O'Nan, and "Rabbit Hole" by Kate Brody, this is a highly enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
#kniferiver

Thank you @randomhouse, @thedialpress, and @netgalley for the eARC of Knife River by @justinechampine in exchange for an honest review!

Knife River by Justine Champine
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Random House Publishing Group - Random House | The Dial Press

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Jess is a rolling stone that has gathered no moss. After her mother disappeared when she was thirteen, she waited until she was old enough to leave her small town of Knife River, with hardly a look back. Now that her mother’s remains have been found, Jess has no choice but to return home and finally face the trauma and still raw grief from her past. Justine Champine delivers a hauntingly beautiful novel, full of grit and characters who are rough around the edges yet real. Knife River poignantly illustrates how the same tragedy can impact people and that the path through grief is a very personal one. Absolutely wonderfully written, a must read!

Review is posted on Goodreads and final review will be on Instagram ahead of the publication date.

4.5* A debut this good is promising what is to come with this author!! The setting is a small backward town called Knife River. Two young girls watch their free-spirited mother walk out the door in hopes that she would return from her walk, but she never did. Told in Jess's POV, 15 years later she returns back home because their mother's bones have been found. She finds her sister Liz still in their childhood home with no changes or updates, but it fits with the town that never changes.
The book is full of deceit and shows how strained the emotional and heart wrenching relationships of the girls are. Their memories are questionable and powerful for the healing process. Liz is obsessed with true crime, so the two together build a dynamic mystery, but look out for that twist...I didn't see that coming.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing- Dial Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"Knife River" by Justine Champine
was a great debut novel that had me interested the entire time.
It was a dark & gritty slow burn character driven murder mystery.
The ending was a surprise.
I will definitely be on the lookout for the author's next book.

Funnily, I read this as an immediate palate cleanser after a terrible bleak NetGalley rec about sisters and their mother issues not realizing the similarity in theme. However, Champine managed to make me care about this pair and their despair in their small, tragic town. Jess and Liz are a mess, but it’s easy to root for these underdogs as they hope to finally learn what happened to their mother after she disappeared 15 years ago. This debut novel is a heartfelt description of familial strife and care hidden in a thriller with a satisfying ending.

As a bona fide mystery/thriller snob, I was super impressed with KNIFE RIVER as both a debut novel and literary thriller. The writing style was accomplished, and the narrative structure so solid; the slow pace of the action allowed for a deep dissection of Jess and Liz's relationship and their diverting approaches to dealing with their mother's unsolved disappearance, all while maintaining the grittiness and bleakness running like an undercurrent through the narrative's bones.

That said, I did have occasional trouble visualising the setting, which might have been forgivable if the town didn't have the same name as the book; and I was frustrated by Jess's romance with Eva, which in my opinion really detracted from her character development as the book (and their relationship) progressed.

Also, in addition to being a snob, I am someone for whom books can, quite dramatically, live or die by their endings, and I just wasn't satisfied with this one. I had already prepared to not find out what happened to the girls' mother by the end of the book, because as tends to be the case with literary thrillers, the mystery isn't quite the point, it's everything else happening around it -- so, when we *did* find out what happened, in the final chapters, it felt like a throwaway, an appeasement that sort of diminished what had come before it. I would have preferred not to know.

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.

I expected this to be crime fiction, but although a mother's disappearance and death are at the heart of it, Knife River is a literary novel about the relationship of two sisters. The writing is evocative and insightful as the author explores the effect of their mother's disappearance on the sisters over the years and their reactions in the present to the discovery of her bones. This may be too slow for mystery fans, but it's a well-written novel of family relationships.

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.

Have to say, I really enjoyed this book. I lived the mystery, the chapters and the setting.

I immediately connected with the main character, Jess, as she sought to find out what happened to her mother.

I was with her every step of the way. A great read.

Recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group/ Dial Press, for this great mystery.

Knife River by Justine Champion had the potential to be a great novel, but with it's very long, drawn out storyline it was just too tedious to get there. It was a great concept, a mother disappears, leaving her two daughters alone. Fifteen years later, her bones are found, but they're unable to determine a cause of death initially. The older daughter, Liz, stays at home and has no life other than waiting for their mother to return. The younger one, Jess, wanders from place to place, relationship to relationship, never settling in one place for very long. I slogged through and didn't find much reward at the end. Just not for me. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and The Dial Press for this copy of "Knife River."

Fifteen years ago, Jess' and her sister Liz's mother walked out the door and never returned.

Liz did her best to become a caregiver for young Jess, but Jess moved away from Knife River right after high school while Liz stayed in case her mother returned or was found.

But now, their mother's bones have been found. Can they finally find out what happened to her 15 years ago?

There was almost too much detail that slowed the pacing, especially with flashbacks to Jess' childhood memories and life in the small town.

But it was fascinating to watch as Jess learned to appreciate Liz's and her mother's life and choices through adult perspective.

The basic premise of this novel is an interesting one: Fifteen years after Natalie Fairchild disappeared, leaving behind her teenaged daughters to grow up on their own, her body is discovered. The question then becomes will Natalie’s now-grown daughters, who have reunited in their small hometown, find an answer to what happened fifteen years earlier. Despite this intriguing premise, the novel is pretty depressing and moves along way too slowly in character development and even more slowly in plot development. Nonetheless, overall I thought this was a good read, particularly because of a few twists and turns that occurred.