Starred Review From Booklist ⭐

The Booklist review for River of Spirits is out and it is a STARRED REVIEW ⭐

My first star!!! Reader, I cried. Getting a starred trade review has been near the top of my publishing hopes & dreams list since I first started writing with the intent to be published. To know that my debut novel is the book that received a coveted starred review from a publication that is one of the most venerated in the publishing world fills me with joy and awe. It is a dream come true. I’m deeply honored (and still shaking from the news)!

Full review:

Senka isn’t sure where she came from, but she does know her future: she’ll be Charon’s assistant ferryman, conveying departed souls across the river to their afterlife. The unlikely pair shares a contented existence in a cottage on an island in the middle of the waterway, but all of that is upended when a living girl appears on the edge of the river, desperate to find her recently departed brother. Senka is reluctantly drawn into Poppy’s plight as an accident sees the two forced deeper into the terrifying depths of the Underworld. As if facing ancient gods and rivers of fire weren’t daunting enough, they have just three days to return Poppy to the living world before her soul will be trapped below forever. They’ll have to work together to navigate the unknown, find Poppy’s brother, and possibly unravel the mystery of Senka’s past along the way. The dazzling debut immediately subverts expectations by coupling a dark setting and occasionally creepy characters with a chatty tone and delightful details (Charon loves coffee and silly shirts, for starters). Figures from classical mythology are blended seamlessly into a beautifully built world, and death and grief are allowed to exist alongside deep love and frequent humor. Despite taking place in the Underworld, it’s a truly imaginative and inspiring exploration of the darkest and lightest parts of life.
— Emily Graham

I did not expect to ever get such a glowing, heartfelt review. This book means so much to me—it was written during some of my darkest days, and knowing that readers are really seeing the emotional themes of the story means more than words can express. Thank you, Emily Graham and Booklist, for this wonderful, kind review!