I like a creepy wood as much as the next person. There’s something so deliciously eerie about something watching from the dark and lurking in the shadows. It is this aforementioned setting that drew me to Erica’s work, first with Ghost Wood Song and then with her latest release: The River Has Teeth.

By now, you probably know what the novel is about. Della has lived in the woods all her life. Her family mixes potions for those looking to change their luck or fix problems in their lives- be they people or situations. In the opening pages of the novel we meet Della’s mother, who spends her days in a state of psychosis and her nights as a swamp creature that might just be the reason that some girls in the area have gone missing recently. Every morning, Della brings her mother breakfast and occasionally finds blood and dirt under her nails. While she fears what her mother might have done, her one thought is to protect her and her alcoholic father from outsiders that might do the three of them harm or upset their current way of life. Enter Natasha, whose sister Rochelle, has bone missing in the woods. She is determined to get to the bottom of what happened, no matter the consequences. It’s at this point that the two girls’ paths cross, intertwining their fates irrevocably

As characters, both Natasha and Della grow a fair bit throughout the novel. Their relationship starts off quiet rocky and a bit hostile, but as Natasha pushes against Della’s attempts to create distance and starts to suspect that she knows more about Rochelle’s disappearance than what she lets on, walls begin to crumble and romance blossoms. I found their developing relationship both believable and not overdone. I think frequently that’s the danger with romance in dark fantasy and horror, it can sometimes take you out of the story. But Waters handled the relationship skillfully and carefully and it never felt contrived in my opinion.

But hear me out, the atmosphere is so immersive and haunting. It’s the kind of book that makes you look over your shoulder as you turn the pages, wondering what could possibly be stalking you from the shadows. While Erica has said that she doesn’t love horror, she writes the horror elements of her novels well as both Della and Natasha go traipsing through the woods, urged on by their respective machinations.

This southern gothic dark fantasy novel is more than just a good mystery though. It simmers with feminist rage and female power as Della and Natasha unravel the truth behind the evil that stalks the woods.

Overall, I gave The River Has Teeth 4.5🌟 and would recommend it to fans of books like Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand and Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton.

*I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
Lately I've been devouring any books that involve sad teens in Appalachia. This one did not disappoint! While Della and Natasha's romance is a little sudden halfway through, I believe Waters sets the framework well. The dark, gothic mystery involving the woods and what lives in them was very compelling. Both main characters are flawed and believable while struggling in their own ways. Waters has become my new insta-read author!

"As I drive over to the prison, my mind starts churning through every possible escape route Momma could take. I picture her breaking through a window, scaling the high walls of the prison, and dropping to the dead grass below. I picture her racing across the road and into the forest, bounding on all fours, making for the river. But I don't let myself picture what might come after that. I don't let myself think about teeth and claws and blood. Not yet. Not until I have to."

A young woman is missing. Rochelle Greymont's car was found near the nature park, and after a few days, there are no leads. Her sister, Natasha, is frustrated, angry, and sure that Ro's boyfriend Jake, who hasn't helped with the search, has something to do with the disappearance. After Ro's purse is found by the river in the woods, Natasha goes to look around the area. Which is where she's found by Della Lloyd. Della knows this area, the Bend, extremely well. She comes from a family of witches, and their powers come from these grounds. And eleven months ago, Della's mom and aunt came to the river to try to heal that magic, recently gone wrong. However, Della came upon the aftermath - Momma, transformed by the twisted magic into a river siren, pushing Aunt Sage's bloodied body into the river. Now Momma lives in the nearby derelict prison, to keep others safe when she transforms into the ferocious monster every night. Ro isn't the first young woman to disappear in the area, and Della's afraid she knows what has happened to them, a fear reinforced when her mother hands her a lock of bloodied hair on one of her morning visits.

In Natasha's search for answers, she comes back to Della, hearing of the Lloyd family magic, and gets a brew to make Jake confess what he's done to Ro. Although she wasn't a believer in magic, Natasha can sense there's something going on, especially when she heard a bird in the woods speaking with what she's sure was Ro's voice. She wants the truth - and Della wants to keep her learning about Momma. And then one morning, Della goes to the prison to discover that Momma has escaped.

Overall, I liked this story. It has a really solid twist and the Lloyd family dynamics are pretty interesting. I wasn't as interested in Natasha's character, though. The book is written through Della's and Natasha's perspectives, and I at times forgot whose chapter I was reading. Della's attitude towards Natasha seemed a little unwarranted to me - she often mocked Natasha, calling her princess, but I don't recall her acting very entitled. Altogether a suspenseful contemporary Southern gothic mystery!

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the eARC. The River Has Teeth came out July 27th.

I can't deny that Waters has captured an atmosphere of dread here. Every time the characters are out in the forest we can feel just how wrong everything is. The world is out of balance. That doesn't mean that I loved it. The identity of the killer was telegraphed pretty hard and the messaging isn't very subtle.

Atmospheric horror with a Southern Gothic slant, this story of a hidden, monstrous mother and the daughter determined to keep her safe taps into something deep and primordial. Character-driven suspense leads to an incredibly satisfying conclusion to this spooky tale. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I absolutely loved this fast paced murder mystery! The horror, the family drama, the simmering love story.. it all added up to a book I couldn't put down until it was finished. The story has witches, nature, mystery, myth, and drama.

I received an advanced copy of The River has Teeth from the publisher so I could share my review with you!

Content Warnings from Author’s site: domestic violence, sexual assault (mentioned), drugging/roofies, abduction/imprisonment, gun use, violence against women, systemic racism (discussed), blood, body horror, death/dying, grief, animal attack, pet death (brief mention), emetophobia

After the disappearance of her sister, Natasha is desperate for any leads on where she can be found. With an abandoned car in a nature preserve as her only clue, the case is one dead-end after another. That is, until Natasha turns to a less traditional approach to solve the mystery. Della’s family has provided spells for people in need for generations, but when Natasha arrives on her doorstep seeking help in finding her lost sister, Della fears that magic might be part of the problem rather than the solution. Together, they might be each other’s only hope at salvation.

You can get your copy of The River has Teeth on July 27th from HarperTeen!

I was so excited to see that Erica Waters would be writing another novel, after the absolute masterpiece that was Ghost Wood Song, and The River has Teeth lived up to my every expectation! The magic in this book has a distinct earthy energy to it, which was simply enchanting. I will be waiting with baited breath to see what Erica Waters will write next!

My Recommendation-
If you love dark and haunting thrillers, you have to pick up a copy of The River has Teeth! This book would be a great pick for fans of Wilder Girls and Sawkill Girls!

3.75 stars, rounded down. I slogged through the first part, which was very slow moving, only to feel how rushed the dramatic second part was. Some of the choices made by the author in part 2 are brilliant & some seemed too convenient. She awkwardly forced some feminist issues into the mix when they don’t really fit the narrative. The action was exciting, the atmosphere was intriguing, and the twist was good, but I didn’t love it.

Erica Waters’s THE RIVER HAS TEETH, an eerie, hauntingly beautiful book, tells the story of Natasha, searching for her missing sister, and Della, whose family have channeled nature magic for generations but whose magic has recently become somehow corrupted. It’s a story full of mystery, magic, the gothic and the gorgeous, a dash of romance and more than a dash of rage - a burning, desperate fury at those who have wronged and twisted the world.

I loved Ghost Wood Song, Waters’s previous book, and The River Has Teeth is a more than worthy follow-up in a similar vein (spooky southern gothic feelings about grief, girlhood, & family ghosts!). It’s a tightly paced, well-constructed novel full of rich magical elements, emotionally raw characters, and a wildly atmospheric setting. A darkly feminist magical mystery, unsettling and satisfying as a scream, and one of my favorite reads of the summer.


Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the advance review copy!

4.50 Stars. This book sure got my attention. It was dark, emotional, a bit creepy, but it was also magical with a bunch of badassery. Three words: angry, sapphic, and witches, is why this book was on my list of most anticipated reads of 2021. I’m happy to say that it was the kind of read I was hoping for and a book that really clicked with my personal tastes. It’s the kind of book I can’t stop thinking about and I know I won’t soon forget.

This is quite the mix of genres being Southern Gothic, paranormal, mystery, and YA with a light WLW romance. This is a book that won’t appeal to everyone, but if you like that dark and angry feel mixed with magic, murder and mayhem, then this is the book for you. While this is YA, I honestly kept forgetting that it was. I missed the part that might have said if the characters had just finished high school or were still in it, but this felt much more like a New Adult story to me. Therefore, if you are not a big YA fan, I would not let it put you off in this instance.

I love mystery and crime books and when you put in some paranormal elements it just takes it to another level for me. I loved the feel of the mystery. A young woman is missing. Is she alive? Is there a monster out there human or the non-human kind? I just thought it all worked really well. My only real complaint is that I was able to solve the mystery too early for my tastes. I could have used another red herring or something to throw me off balance a bit more. It may be because I read so many crime books that I picked it up so early so I’ll keep my fingers crossed that other readers don’t.

What impressed me the most was the pace and readability of this book. Once you get a few chapters in, you just become completely hooked. This is one of those books I would highly recommend reading when you have a large chunk of time to yourself. I started reading this last night thinking I would read half and finish today. No way! Thank goodness I’m on my vacation because I read this until 3am because I could not put the book down. Just one more chapter, one more, I had to know what was going to happen. The entertainment value of this book was through the roof for me.

As I mentioned before there is a light WLW romance. While it was on the lighter side, I liked it quite a bit and I thought it fit the story very well. These two young women are not going to go on a romantic date together, but they might just steal a kiss over learning a spell. These characters both have a lot of anger, so their relationship starts out angry too, but their sweeter moments together gave the story a little lightness that it needed.

This story has a great mix of this darkness and anger, but it is also about two young women -both a little morally gray- who want to take their power back. This story was tough to read in places, but it wasn’t too depressing so you can see a way out of that anger towards some sort of hope. This was my kind of book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would read a book by Waters again in a heartbeat.

A truly beautiful and gut-wrenching story of family (blood and found), witchcraft, power, and misogyny. This is marked as YA and while I think that is appropriate, it is a lot darker than I was personally expecting. I think a wide range of people will find this book meaningful. 5/5 stars.

This book is angry. The tone, though feeling slightly angsty is this mix of sadness, despair, and most of all, this over arching anger at everything. Natasha is angry and lost without her missing sister, and her grief at the loss manifests itself in this almost overwhelming drive to do something, anything to get her back. When she meets Della Boyd, the youngest member of a family living in a lonely part of a national park in North Carolina, they butt heads. Because Della is angry, too. The magic in the forest is wrong, and it twisted her mother so much that she changed into something terrible and uncontrollable. They then are pulled together into the mystery of the dead girls in the forest, and Natasha's sister.

I'll have to say this, it is not a subtle book. Natasha and Della are allowed to spiral into unhealthy feelings and are allowed to work through their grief. Because both girls are mourning the loss of family members. Now, both the family members in question aren't presumed dead, but either because their missing, or transformed, it doesn't matter, they're both not there. I wouldn't say this is a heavy book, but the girls are in the middle of an emotional ringer. Then there's the magic, and supernatural beings. I loved their journey to falling for each other, mostly because they don't necessarily change, they just soften.

I love the magic and mystery of the book. Della's family has a very natural magic, that is derived from their land. Each power is manifested differently, with Della being able to grow things, her mom a siren, her late aunt a healer, and her cousin a sort of tracker. And that it got twisted into something wilder and darker is amazing. There are some other aspects of the magic that assist the girls as they solve their perspective mysteries, that are beautiful and terrifying.

Della and Natasha each have very strong personalities that are very much alike. They each are very angry and lonely, because they are terrified of being left alone. Natasha is because she and her sister were fostered at a young age, and Della was super close to her mother. Now that both of their rocks are gone, the girls are adrift. Their family and friends feel farther apart; Della's dad is broken, while Natasha kind of blames her friends for her sister's disappearance. Once they realize they can have each other, the girls become unstoppable.

There are some minor things that bug me about the book, but I think I understand where she's coming from ( like carefully making sure to say the white characters are white), so it is a little distracting. Most of the male characters are inept or broken people. Even though Della's father is sympathetic, because he is seen through Della's eyes, the narrative doesn't give him much slack. Della's cousin is a nice counter balance to her, but he's not in the story enough. I wish he was, because he was a good calming presence.

I wouldn't say this is an uncomfortable read, but it is a beautifully written paranormal mystery about female anger. I wasn't expecting this, especially in a young adult novel, so this was a nice surprise. Other than a few things that bothered me here and there, this is a great novel to read. Like Sorrowland the magic is heavy with metaphor, and is dark. But unlike that book, it gives some hope while still managing to stay angry.

I couldn't put this book down. I really enjoyed Waters' first novel, so I had high expectations for this one that were, for the most part, met and exceeded. I will say there were parts of the first 3/4ths that dragged a bit (there were repetitive moments, which made sense given the characters' ages and trauma, but they weren't my favorite to read). Also, I have almost zero tolerance for dramatic irony, which the first chunk of this book relied on for one of the MC's points-of-view, so that was less than ideal. But overall, the glorious ending really more than made up for my earlier nit-picking. The overall message, the politics, the discussion of BIPOC missing/murdered women, the sapphic representation, the witchiness...it was so well done. (Also the cover is an utter glory.)

This book is beautifully (and sometimes horrifically) atmospheric. I felt drawn into the woods along with the characters and wanted to get lost in it.

I also loved the magic in this book. It was so woven into everything that I didn’t find myself questioning it.

My only criticism was that the end was a bit heavy-handed. It seemed like the author was spelling out the moral of the story rather than trusting the readers to understand. Despite this, the ending is still pretty satisfying.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Witches are great. Gay witches are even better! I liked the mix of magic and mystery but felt that ultimately the payoff just wasn't there. The setting was pretty cool and I'd definitely love to meet Della IRL. Natasha at the end of the book didn't seem to make sense to me given the character at the beginning. To me, the book felt like a long prologue.
#NetGalley

This book is everything. Haunting, smart, thrilling, sad, hopeful, and full of the anger I feel every day being a woman in a world that thinks my body doesn't matter.

I can't recommend it enough.

I had a really hard time getting into this book as it’s definitely not my typical genre, but once I understood the rules of the world of magic, I fell into it so hard. I’m SO glad I gave this book some time and pushed through, it was so worth it.

Not only did I love the characters and how well-written they were, the story constantly had me guessing. I never saw what was coming and I LOVE that!

Will definitely be recommending this book!

The River Has Teeth is a twisting sort of tale.

The book alternates between points of view. On one hand, we have Natasha who's sister is missing and who is desperate for answers. On the other, Della, who lives isolated with her family on the local park where they use magic passed down to them through the river (the Bend) to brew vengeful potions for anyone who can pay. Della's life has veered off course in recent months, their magic has been going sour and along with that her mother has turned into a monster and Della fears she's the one who's been hurting girls - including Natasha's sister.

Natasha turns to Della for magic when she's certain she knows who is behind her sister's disappearance. This first encounter leads to more as Natasha becomes more certain that the Bend's magic can help her. She convinces Della to teach her, Della who is both falling for Natasha and also continues to keep things from her to protect her family. To protect her mother.

But it turns out there's more going on than either of them suspected.

I really enjoyed this book. It's twisty and intense, full of mystery and magic and feelings. I did see the big twist coming well before it happened, but I didn't mind. It made sense that the characters didn't figure it out when I did, and the denouement was very satisfying. Overall this was an excellent book and I look forward to reading it over again.

I know exactly who this book is intended for and while it wasn't for me, it does justice for the intended audience and does it WELL. In this highly feministic fantasy novel, The River Has Teeth tells the dual story of Della and Natasha. Della has lived on the Bend her entire life, knowing the magic it holds as it fuels the brews they make for the locals and has turned her mother into a river siren. Natasha sees her whole world fall apart when her sister goes missing and her car is found at the edge of the bend. Della knows in her heart that it has to be her mother who did, escaping the prison she locked her in to devour those who step onto the bend. Natasha is adamant it was her sister's boyfriend, especially once she find a trail that leads directly to him. Natasha begins to get desperate, pulling on Della's magic to help move things along, but as it brings them closer together and leads Natasha closer to the secrets Della's been keeping, more gets revealed that everyone would rather keep hidden.

And when the ending hits and its a plot twist a more observant reader would have caught onto earlier, you begin to learn exactly who this book was intended for, even more so in its last lines. Once again, despite it not being meant for me, I know that anyone who feels the same and would love to indulge in a book that unapologetically does as well will THRIVE for this book. It builds up as you go, drawing you in with its magic systems, diverse characters, and the thrill of trying to figure who it is that's murdering all the girls who've disappeared into the Bend.

Give it a chance if you enjoy heavily feminist books that touch on the "destroy all men" idea or if you just want a unique murder mystery/horror fantasy that reminded me fondly of Rory Power's novels.

An engaging murder mystery with southern gothic charm and magic wielding sapphics. Erica Waters combines vivid imagery and spooky storytelling to make this book come alive. I liked the main characters and the alternating POVs (something I typically struggle to enjoy) were done very well but there were things I think could have been a bit more fleshed out. Georgia played an important part in many plot points but was otherwise absent from the story. I wouldn’t have minded exploring her character a bit more. I also felt like the romance between Della and Natasha began a bit abruptly, but I was quite in love with the two of them by the end.