Loved, loved this book! Extremely well written with strong character development. Set over the course of decades, we follow the main character from childhood to old age as she faces the trials and tribulations of love and loss. Beautiful, lyrical prose.

I'’ve been so excited to share Shelley Read's debut novel, Go As A River with you and it’s been so hard to keep quiet about it! It’s a beautiful story of a young woman who’s trying to make a life for herself on her family’s peach farm in rural Colorado. It’s uplifting but at the same time it will break your heart as Victoria Nash learns to navigate a world filled with racism, family expectations and natural destruction. This story captured my heart and I could not put it down!

9/10

Oh my Lordy dordy diddly doo. I love stumbling upon a book that sucks me into the story with incredible writing. And when it’s a debut novel? Well, I just think “where the heck have you been hiding your writing all these years?!”

Shelley Read can write. She can write really really well. Like I’d be shocked if her writing isn’t award-winning in the near future. I’m in awe of her writing.

“Go As A River” is her first novel. It takes place between the 1940s to the 1970s and follows Victoria from the age of 17 on. Victoria lives in a small Colorado town called Iola. Her family runs a peach farm. As the book opens, Iola meets Wil. That meeting is the pivot point in her life.

Reading this book is like riding a raft down the river of Victoria’s life. There are twists and turns, white water and calm, and various obstacles along the way. But through it all, you stay on the raft.

I didn’t want this raft ride to end and I couldn’t put it down.

I can’t wait to read more from Shelley Read.

#netgalley #goasariver

Go as a River
Author Shelly Read
Available now!

Thank you, @netgalley and @spiegelandgrau, for the opportunity to read this e- arc and to @librofm for my #gifted audiobook! I listened to Go as a River narrated beautifully by Cynthia Farrell and @orangeskyaudio.

Inspired by true events, Read's debut novel takes place throughout the 1960s in a small ranch town in Colorado near the Gunnison River. After her mother passed away, it was assumed that young Victoria would take over her mother's role in the household and care for her father and brothers on their family's peach orchard. Going unhappily through the motions, 17-year-old Tori meets Wilson Moon, a young drifter estranged from his tribe, and the two have an instant and forbidden connection. After a horrific act of violence occurs, Tori flees her home for safety and must make a life- altering decision and learn how to survive in the wilderness alone until she feels it's safe enough to return.

A true coming- of- age story told in Victoria's perspective alone and with little dialogue, Go as a River explores prejudice and bigotry, anger and alcoholism, familial and forbidden love with deep and tragic loss, and survival and resilience, in the changing and harsh landscape of Colorado.

While I appreciated Tori's growth and courage throughout the novel, I would have preferred multiple points of view vs. hers alone. With only her perspective, I found it difficult to be fully immersed in her story, which had the potential for much more emotion. Part 4 included letters written by another woman, and I loved to read her version of a particular event that brought us to the ending of the novel. But in truth, I wanted so much more from the ending. I wanted one character to have more of a voice and an opportunity to learn of his growth and resilience as well.

I look forward to what Read comes out with next!

Excellent read. Was very well written and immersed you into the setting. You feel for the characters. One of my top reads this year.

One of my favorite novels of the year about love, loss, and parenthood. The book read like a memoir, I had to keep reminding myself it was a novel because the story was so deeply rich and captivating.

Loved this story of love, loss, grief and budding redemption! Set in Colorado on a peach orchard and a family reeling from death and war. Children growing into adulthood without a mother, a hard and task driven father and an angry bitter uncle. One turns to violence and one to a forbidden, yet life long love. This story is about a mother's sacrifice and strength. It's about true friendship and family. Five stars from me!

I loved the descriptive writing, and the breathtaking scenery held my interest from the very beginning. If you love a character-driven novel with landscape at the heart of the story, I highly recommend this book.

Young Torie's days are filled with housework and farm work on a Colorado peach farm in the 40s, caring for her father, uncle and brother after her mother's death. In town, Torie meets Wilson, a drifter and Native American. They face racism and are eventually ostracised by the community. The book is beautifully written and tells the story of Tolly's life, her passion and love for the land, and the heartache and discrimination that ensued.

Go as a River is a powerful, compelling and tender coming of age story about motherhood,love, loss, survival and bigotry. It is a beautifully written, poignant story about one woman’s journey after a fateful choice that changed her life forever. It has so many interesting topics including interracial relastionships, adoption, family bonds, drug abuse and the Vietnam War. These are all great topics with equally great characters. Told over the span of decades, we get to see just how much strength one woman has in the face of incredible loss and the sacrifices she's willing to make in order to save the ones she loves. I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I highlighted this book on my Booktube channel. The video can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/9zGyYxseXLc

This will definitely be one of my favorite books this year. The writing is so beautiful and lyrical and I loved the setting. Such a great exploration of what it means to be a mother and the sacrifices we all make for those we love. I’ll be thinking about the symbolism of the river for a long time. Well done Shelley Read!

Go as a River is a heartbreaking read about Victoria, a young woman struggling to grow up in rural western Colorado after her mother and aunt die in a car crash. As the only woman left on her family's peach farm, Victoria must make her own way through one tragedy after another. Historical fiction isn't always my first choice, but I am so glad I picked up this incredible novel. The story is rich and complicated, and the protagonist will steal your heart.

The nature writing is incredible - Shelley Read is absolutely on par with Peter Heller when it comes to describing our stunning Colorado landscape. You don't have to be a Colorado kid like I am to enjoy this moving coming-of-age story, however. If you enjoy Kristen Hannah or Anthony Doerr, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed!

Go as a River by Shelly Read is a beautiful coming of age story. Victoria is a teenager in 1948. She meets Will, a newcomer to her small Colorado town, and instantly feels a connection to him. But her family, and others in the town, are against Will and their love suddenly ends.

But one ending can sometimes lead to new beginnings, and the end of Victoria and Will brings about the beginning of a new, mature Victoria.

This book is sad, but joy filled. It’s slow, yet heart warming. It’s about family and friends. It’s about forgiveness and understanding. It’s about love and motherhood.

It’s a beautiful book and I highly enjoyed it.

Thank you to #netgalley and #spiegelandgrau for the advanced e-copy of #goasariver.

This book published on February 28, 2023 and is now available where books are sold.

A really complex and beautiful read. Captured me from the beginning with the beautiful setting and Victoria as a character is so beautifully written.
A heartbreaking story but also a story of courage whilst facing life’s difficulties. There is grief, hope and sadness as well as success, love and happiness all mixed in to a great narrative that you kind of get lost in.
This will be a book I will pick up again in future for certain.

I liked this one, but didn't love it. I just didn't connect with the characters and it wasn't one I was excited to come back to reading. The writing was excellent though!

I love nature writing and Shelley Read knocked it out if the park with this one. It’s hard to believe this is her debut novel. The book is so atmospheric and her characters are so well drawn. Simply incredible

Go As The River promises to be a coming-of-age + women’s fiction + historical fiction that packs an emotional punch. Everything I typically love in a book!

I had really high expectations when I started this one, especially with all the hype surrounding this book. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect with Victoria or her story.

Victoria develops a special relationship with nature. But the story felt more of an observational telling of the setting around her rather than the deep dive into feelings of resiliency, tenacity, and determination that it takes to survive those conditions. Maybe I needed some internal monologue to connect more - I’m not sure.

Victoria falls in love with Wll Moon, the only Indigenous character in the story. IMO, the story does a disservice having only one Indigenous character. @amy_alwaysreading wrote more on this topic and summarized my thoughts beautifully. Maybe I needed more than one Indigenous character - I’m not sure.

My favorite part of the novel happens in the last 20%, a series of letters. I found these letters quite interesting and engaging. Maybe if these were used throughout the story as a dual timeline, I would have connected more - again, I’m not sure.

Regardless, I know I’m one of the outliers for this one. Not all books are for everybody, and I’m okay with that. Kudos to my friends who loved this one.

I'm going to be thinking of Wil Moon and Victoria Nash for the rest of my life.

Go as a River describes the life of Torie Nash on a peach farm in Colorado (which for some reason, in my head, I thought was Illinois). She meets a young Native man around her age, and love is fast and hard. The life Torie leads and she grows into "Victoria," a woman, is filled with loss and longing. The love Torie and Wil have together is one that would last a lifetime. The writing was beautiful, and I tend to be a bit harsh on writing styles. I really loved their story and couldn't put it down.

Let me start off this review by telling you that I cannot believe this is a debut, it was a 5 star read for me and will probably be in my top ten this year! Some of my bookstagram friends have been telling me to read this and they did not steer me wrong. It will not be easily forgotten and will stay with me for a long time. The writing is beautiful yet very readable. The story is propulsive and heart wrenching. The setting is vivid. This book is basically everything.

Go As A River is the story of Victoria Nash starting in the 1940’s in the Gunnison River Valley of Colorado. Now let me pause here for just a minute to acknowledge this setting. I lived in Colorado for years growing up surrounded by the San Juan mountains in Pagosa Springs. All the little towns mentioned in this book, I knew! Durango, Silverton and Ouray, Montrose, Gunnison… I haven’t been back in many decades so this story was extra special to me for that reason.

Victoria’s story is a story of love and loss, friendship, motherhood, found family and surviving unimaginable circumstances, yet resilience is a theme running through it all. I won’t give you specifics of the story, just know that fans of William Kent Krueger, Where The Crawdads Sing, These Silent Woods and even a little bit of Kristin Hannah will LOVE this one.

Omg this book *sobs*

I loved every page of this book. The setting was exquisite. Victoria is the badass heroine with trauma we all love to love.

I have considered the lives of people who are drowned out by reservoirs before. What a beautiful story to demonstrate the fragility of life and the impermanence of it all.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing or who likes Kristin Hannah books, though I can’t imagine anyone who reads this regretting it.