I received a digital advance copy of Swift River by Essie J. Chambers via NetGalley. Swift River is scheduled for release on June 4, 2024.

Swift River follows Diamond through the summer of 1987. She is learning to drive in secret, rebelling against her mother’s insistence on hitchhiking everywhere they go. Through this summer, Diamond’s mother is working to get her missing Pop declared legally dead to save their home and future. This quest results in relatives from Pop’s side of the family contacting Diamond and sharing pieces of their family’s past.

Diamond is the strength of this novel. She is a mess. She is overweight, mixed race in an all-white town, and plagued by rumors that her dad isn’t really dead, just moved to the next town over to escape her and her mother. She has no confidence, and no understanding of herself and the world she lives in. Through this novel, we see her start to find herself as she takes actions different from those her mother dictates and begins to explore her family’s past.

Chambers has also nailed the setting of this novel, particularly the time period. The 80s ooze out of the pages, present in every scene in the fictive present. Letters from Diamond’s ancestors give us a different view, taking us back in time in a way that provides both contrast and reinforces the issues in the current story. It did take me almost the entire novel to sort out who was writing the letters, as we have two different letter writers from two different points in time. This was probably more a me issue than an issue with the narrative, however.

It is worth noting that the end of this novel is very open. Many of the threads followed throughout the story are not resolved in the end. While this worked for me, and allowed me to imagine how Diamond moved forward into her life, it might not work for a reader who wants to feel that all of the story lines have been resolved by the end of a novel.

Overall, Swift River swirls together history, nostalgia, and teenage confusion to create a lovely story of a girl trying to figure out who she is.

It's 1987 and 16-year-old Diamond is trying to survive in a small Massachusetts town. She is being raised by her white mother who can't keep a job after her Black father disappeared several years ago. She learns more about her father through letters from an aunt. Although Diamond is a fascinating character, a significant part of the book is told through letters from different time periods. The letters were a bit jarring at times, especially the really old letters. I feel like this story would have been better told and would feel more authentic with different narrators instead of using the letters.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Swift River by Essie Chambers. It releases in June 2024. Diamond is 16 in 1987, and she is in a bad place in the town that she grew up in. Her black father disappeared 7 years earlier, and her white mother is trying to get him declared dead so that she can get his insurance money. Diamond’s family history plays into the story, and so does “the leaving”, when all the black millworkers in town planned to leave together. There is a lot to this story-family relationships, coming of age, racial issues. #swiftriver #essiechambers #advancedreadercopy #netgalley #bookstagram #takeapagefrommybook #fictionreader #lovetoread #readersofinstagram #readallthebooks

This story centers around young Diamond. She tells about her insecurities, but happy times as well. Diamonds father is black and her mom is white. There are challenges around that.
Diamond receives letters from her estranged Aunt where she learns about her family’s history.

I really enjoyed this book, seeing Diamond grow up and how strong she really was.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this wonderful ARC.

This story begins with a huge wave of potential but then I feel like it ended leaving me with more questions or wonderings than I’d like to have..

Diamond is biracial and lives in Swift River with her mom even after her dad has gone missing some years ago. She and her dad were the ONLY people of color in their town. She’s had no friends, they have no family and they’re struggling to get by. At one point she makes a connection with her aunt on her dad’s side by way of letters and she starts to learn about her family history.

I don’t know I wanted more of THAT storyline and what happened to her ‘Pops’ instead of everything else that I got. I felt bad for Diamond and the way her mom allowed her to grow up in this community. Seeing that her daughter had no friends, and was struggling with the taunting of other kids and not doing anything about it bothered me. And the fact that she continued to stay in this community even though she was unable to properly provide for them just bugged me but I guess she had some reasons behind it.

I don’t know y’all, I just don’t know, this ain’t really hit the way I thought it was gonna hit.

⭐️ 2.5/5

This book doesn't have much of a plot, but I don't think it's supposed to. The writing was good and I like the addition of the letters, though at times they felt like they didn't add much to the story.

This one started very strong for me. I love a coming of age story and I really enjoyed Diamond's perspective. The first line about being too large for her bike, so leaving it to get purposely stolen, was a very strong opener for me. About halfway through, I unfortunately wasn't as into the story. The letters and past were not as interesting to me. I do think they were very well done. You could hear the generational difference in the voices, which takes talent, but they didn't hold my interest as well.

I enjoyed this story for the most part. I wasn’t a huge fan of the back and forth between timelines as we learned about Diamond, but I absolutely loved her story and growth. I wish we could’ve gotten a clear understanding of what happened with her dad, but it’s left open for interpretation. Overall, I think this will make for a great discussion.

This is the type of book that sticks with you after you finish reading it. The book is beautifully written, and Diamond is a main character that readers will absolutely love. The characters in this novel are especially notable; they are flawed and fully realized people. Scenes that take place in Diamonds past are also really wonderful; Chambers does an excellent job of showing the reader Diamond's perspective, with all of the limitations and insights that a child would bring to the complex situations she witnesses and finds herself part of. There were heartwarming and heartbreaking moments in this book, and I felt like all of this contributed to a satisfying ending.

As currently written, this book doesn’t make any sense to me.

The premise of the book is that seven years ago, Diamond’s father (“Pop”) disappears—only his shoes, ID, and some money are left behind on the banks of Swift River. Now, Diamond’s mom wants to have Pop declared dead to claims his life insurance money. Two sub-plots occur where Diamond strikes up communication with her father’s family, and Diamond suddenly forms a friendship with Shelley, someone she has known for years.

Swift River started off strong, but according to my notes, “the ending really sucks.”

Now, this comes from Chapter 3 out of 25 but might be considered a spoiler. Mom and Pop may not have been legally married as Pop sent the preacher away. The lawyer in me was giddy with excitement because this small detail has drastic legal consequences. To my grave disappointment, this was never even brought up.

While the letters from Aunt Lena shed more light on the town’s history, they don’t provide any clues as to Pop’s whereabouts or what likely happened to him. The mystery plot, the main plot, seems to be dropped, and the progress is poorly benchmarked.

The ending regarding Shelley needs to be rewritten—it doesn’t carry an emotional punch, and it isn’t memorable.

Finally, the more I think about this book, the more questions that I have and not in a good way:

Why would Mom want to stay in Swift River? She has poor job prospects, the town is hostile, Diamond has no friends, no availability of buses, no family in the area.

What about Diamond’s bike accident and knee?

What happened to Rick?

Big spoiler question: [will be blurred upon publishing to GoodReads]

*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.


The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Electronic text – Free/Nada/Zilch through NetGalley provided by publisher

I would not say this is an easy read, but it's certainly a compelling story. The racial and poverty issues addressed here are hugely important, and in that sense, I recommend this novel to everyone. Diamond is a sympathetic main character. I grew frustrated with her mother, but I'm sure that was intentional on the author's part. The mystery surrounding Diamond's father is intriguing and heartbreaking. You feel so bad for all that this family has endured. I especially admire how the author plays with time and meanders back and forth across time periods, which gives a good sense of the history.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-galley; all opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Swift River is the debut novel by Essie Chambers and wow, what a start! The novel is set in 1987 but also flashes back to 1980, the year that Diamond’s father disappeared, presumably taking his own life. His departure leaves Diamond as the only Black person in the town of Swift River. In 1987, Diamond is 16 years old, overweight and with no friends. Her white mother, devastated by Pop’s disappearance, now needs to petition to declare him dead, in order to collect the life insurance.

I read Swift River in two days because it was one of those books you don’t want to put down. Diamond has never had it easy but has so much determination and grit. A previously unknown aunt contacts her and they develop a relationship. The author effectively uses letters to tell the history of what led to Diamond being the sole Black citizen in the town. The book was beautifully written with deep character development. I would love to read a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This coming of age book about Diamond and her family was hard to follow at times. She begins to get letters from an unknown relative making it glaring clear why she’s had to endure so much prejudice where she lives. The stories start to unravel and she can see where she falls in the family line and what her story may be.. I liked that she took it upon herself to take driving lessons because she was bound and determined to get away from the racist town where she has grown up.
While she had the support of her friend and Ma, she didn’t have much other support & wasn’t sure how she’d make it in the world, it was a very good illustration of how family and your upbringing shape what you become. One can either stay the course or decide to take another path and make things better.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I thank the publisher and author for an early copy of this book. It is a nice family book, covering several generations in the Southern US. A Black man and a White woman married, in a time when co-race marriages were unusual, in fact, they were illegal in many places. The story is about the present time, the Black father is gone (did he walk off? killed by mean whites? drowned in the river?). The White mother is unstable and is left with the child who remembers her father. They are amazingly poor, living in an old shack that belonged to one of the family. The child eventually makes contact with a relative, a cousin who was best friends with her father. And the story goes back and forth in time, from the turn of the century to the 1980s. I think the author wanted us to think about multi-racial families and the difficulties they have encounted in economic, educational, living, social conditions through the century. The book was just ok for me - I knew so much about the racial differences and evils that have happened so much of this was not new.
This is an easy reading book and would work well for a book group discussion as well as a YA novel. Some characters are better developed than others; the author is articulate and uses a lot of description of people and place. The ending was a disappointment - pollyann -ish and they all lived happily ever after. I do think this book would be quite educational to many folks who have not experienced the problems of racial differences. Social class, education and poverty are discussed in depth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced readers copy of Swift River by Essie Chambers. This is a beautiful and well written coming of age story and I hope you all fall in love with Diamond like I did. Overall 3.5 stars.

This was so incredibly brilliant, and I can see why so many book lists are calling this one to watch for Summer! While the book travels across multiple timelines, Swift River mainly follows Diamond, a biracial teenager, as she learns to drive (in order to get out of Swift River), learns more about her family history from an aunt she has never met, and grapples with a complicated relationship with her mother.

The mystery surrounding Diamond's father (a Black man living in a "sundown town") absolutely broke my heart. I can't even imagine what it must have felt like for him to be the only Black person (aside from his daughter) in a town full of people who hated him simply for existing. I often found myself incredibly frustrated with Diamond's mother for not leaving. When Diamond's father goes missing, I wanted to believe that he just made the hard decision to leave on his own. I hoped that nothing bad had happened to him, but I also knew that was very unlikely to be the case. I know it would have been pretty unrealistic, but I was really hoping for some type of happy ending with that situation. But what we do get falls very much in line with what happened to all of the Black people who went missing under similar circumstances in the Jim Crow south.

Swift River did have a slow start for me, and the writing style took a bit of getting used to. But despite that, I truly enjoyed it. It was an amazing debut, and I can't wait to see what the author writes next.

my rating: 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5)

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my advanced reading copy. All opinions are my own.

I love reading about growing up in the 80s. I was that 80s girl!!

Swift River is a coming of age novel centered around Diamond Newberry, who lives in a sundown town (sadly, a town where black people were told to go home by sundown, as rampant racism could lead them to possible death).

All Diamond wants, is to get her license and leave Swift River. As the only person of color in the small town, we are presented with what it must feel like to be that sole, lonely, and very cautious of her surroundings as she navigates growing up in this scary environment. She is a product of biracial parents, with a father who left the family seven years ago. The book takes place in the past and present, and after she begins to receive letters from his family about their family history, Diamond feels torn between her mom and leaving Swift River behind.

The book tended to meander back and forth, and I felt at times it didn't execute the way I wanted it to.

Chambers skillfully navigates themes of identity, coming-of-age, and the enduring effects of historical trauma. Through her characters, we witness the complexities of life and the enduring impact of intergenerational struggles caused by racism, erasure, and displacement. Essie Chambers' writing is a testament to the importance of storytelling in illuminating the human condition. "Swift River" is a compelling debut that promises more remarkable works from this talented author. I eagerly anticipate what Chambers will bring forth next, and I am grateful to have experienced this novel.

Swift River had promise, but I could not get behind the sheer amount of fatphobia and other odd commentary surrounding appearances within this novel. I think that having a novel where the characters struggle with a myriad of things but not providing resolution to something as common as body image robs the characters of growth. For a debut, this was otherwise well-written, albeit choppy at times, but I could not connect with these characters or this story as a whole.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an ARC!

This was a good coming of age story! Great story-telling and characters. The fatphobia was a lot at first. But overall it was a heartbreaking story and it was hard to put down.