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A review by bethreadsandnaps
Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring
5.0
I thought Shannon Bowring's debut THE ROAD TO DALTON was exceptional. She formed such multidimensional characters from the small, fictional town of Dalton, Maine.
This sequel is even more exceptional. We catch up with the citizens of Dalton five summers later in 1995 as they continue to go through their ups and downs. Our favorites from the last book take center stage: Nate, Trudy, Bev, Richard, Greg. We also see some characters we didn't spend a lot of time with in the first novel, notably Bridget's parents Marshall and Annette. I particularly enjoyed Marshall's trajectory in this novel. And then we meet Vera, who was from Dalton but moved away to work in the "big city" :) of Bangor, Maine. She comes back to help her parents in this sequel, and I loved meeting her and absolutely loved her realization toward the end. I loved all the characters and their interconnectedness.
I felt that THE ROAD TO DALTON had a heaviness I wasn't expecting. WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE RIVER does have some heavy moments, but overall it had more uplifting moments than its predecessor.
Please read THE ROAD TO DALTON first. Even if it's been a while, I think that will suffice. And you have time to read it because the sequel publishes September 3, 2024.
Even one more thing I enjoyed was how 1995 the references were. As someone who went to college in 1995, I loved that Fruitopia was brought up twice. This was the fruit-flavored Snapple rival in glass bottles that my college received by the pallet, and they gave away for free. The author must have had a pallet delivered to her college as well. :)
This sequel is even more exceptional. We catch up with the citizens of Dalton five summers later in 1995 as they continue to go through their ups and downs. Our favorites from the last book take center stage: Nate, Trudy, Bev, Richard, Greg. We also see some characters we didn't spend a lot of time with in the first novel, notably Bridget's parents Marshall and Annette. I particularly enjoyed Marshall's trajectory in this novel. And then we meet Vera, who was from Dalton but moved away to work in the "big city" :) of Bangor, Maine. She comes back to help her parents in this sequel, and I loved meeting her and absolutely loved her realization toward the end. I loved all the characters and their interconnectedness.
I felt that THE ROAD TO DALTON had a heaviness I wasn't expecting. WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE RIVER does have some heavy moments, but overall it had more uplifting moments than its predecessor.
Please read THE ROAD TO DALTON first. Even if it's been a while, I think that will suffice. And you have time to read it because the sequel publishes September 3, 2024.
Even one more thing I enjoyed was how 1995 the references were. As someone who went to college in 1995, I loved that Fruitopia was brought up twice. This was the fruit-flavored Snapple rival in glass bottles that my college received by the pallet, and they gave away for free. The author must have had a pallet delivered to her college as well. :)