Harper Muse provided a complimentary copy for review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I had the pleasure earlier this month at PLA 2024 to listen to Helgar as one our daily speakers. Her primary work is in the field of climate change, and she has written several nonfiction books and articles on the subject. Her passion for this showed as she was moving her message into new channels with a children's book and this novel. There is no denying that she knows her stuff when it comes to this very important topic.

I found myself quickly connected to Corrine and her family. Helgar's attention to everyday details brought the story to life. It was easy to see how this family has been through so much, and they were all coming to terms with loss and grief in their own ways.

The story itself stretches over many months (not counting occasional flashbacks - some slightly confusing based on where they were inserted with the current day flow of things). For me, that impacted the momentum and created gaps or lapses. It felt like I was checking in periodically on the characters rather than having an urgency to their plans and actions. Hopefully that is something the author can work as she continues to do more fiction; I would certainly seek out more work from her down the road.

This story started out really well for me. I was really intrigued by the mentioning of the actual events that took place. Those events included Hurricane Katrina, the great Mississippi flood of 1927, and the oil spill from Deep Water Horizon. The mentioning of these events took me down a research rabbit hole and allowed me to get back acquainted with these events. I was unaware of the Mississippi flood (and I lived there for a year and never heard of it). There were mentioning of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and social injustices that take place for people of color.

Grief was another heavy topic that was present in this story. I think that the way each individual in this family, Corinne, Cora, Uncle Harold, were all acting out in their grief in different ways. I think that the actions of each person showed you where they were in their grief. That was a present topic that could also go for the grieving of the land and water. Grief could have been symbolic in this story.

Although these were things that I liked about it, the actual progression of the story fell a little flat for me. The beginning got me invested, but the progression lost my interest. The major even that Corinne wanted to do in her stance against the Big Oil companies fell flat for me. I was expecting something other than what was done. I felt that I was built up so much in the start of speaking on the "Troubled Waters", but the completion of the story fell short.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The premise was a good one, and I do enjoy stories where we are given different viewpoints based upon different generations. However, as I started reading, I just found myself unable to connect with either the story or the writing style of the author. it felt a bit jumbled in parts and a bit more drawn out than it needed to be in others. I did enjoy a bit of the backstory; however, sometimes too much backstory can take us away from the present moment, and that is what happened here. With the few small adjustments, this could be a really good story, and perhaps better hold my interest.

this tale spans decades exploring the history of two generations of black women in southern USA: grandmother cora, the sole black student in her elementary school, facing systemic racism as a literal 5-to-7-year-old in the 50s; and granddaughter corrine, raising awareness on climate change after losing her brother in an oil barge accident in 2013. we also get the occasional chapters from harold, cora's son and corrine's uncle.

personally i connected more with corrine, being of similar age and disposition, but i also felt for young cora and the older cora who learns to accept her past and acknowledge how the times have changed since. the past timeline felt a bit disconnected at first but it all ties up well as we get to know the relationships within the family. i thought the heaviness of the themes was balanced by the heartwarming love and care shown between the three.

this is an important work of fiction drawing inspiration from very real events. thank you to the author for writing this and kindly allowing me to read an advanced copy through netgalley.

I just finished reading this amazing tale and loved every minute of it.
I loved Corrinne and Cora.
Although I must say my heart went out more to Cora than Corrinne. I almost didn't like Corrinne at all.
I couldn't imagine how frightening that must've been. I admired Cora so much!
Poor Harold got caught in the middle. He was my favorite character. He's a lot like me a peace keeper in the family. A more terrifying job if there ever was one so I knew how he felt at times.
My favorite part was the ending of this book and it will break your heart into pieces.
A very powerful and emotional story that will rock your world after reading this novel. I will be looking for more by this wonderful lady who wrote this story with her heart.
5 stars for an incredible story that will leave me thinking about these characters long after this story has ended. Believe me they'll not let you put them down until it is over.
I highly recommend this book.
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.