This story covers 3 generations between a grandmother, her granddaughter, and the granddaughter’s uncle.

A story of grief and how 3 generations process loss and change differently. 19-year old Corrine Sterling wants to make a difference and have her voice heard after her brother Cameron, is killed in a freak accident (allegedly) while working on an oil rig in the Mississippi River. The Deep South has secrets yet to be told and although Corrine’s uncle Harold knows SOME of them, her grandmother Cora, definitely hasn’t shared all of them.

As Corrine journeys to make a difference, how will this family feel about what she is attempting to accomplish? As old scars and wounds are reopened this family learns to heal and grow…together!

This is a multigenerational book, grandmother and granddaughter, not seeing eye to eye will grieving multiple losses. I found this book to be very interesting as it dealt a lot with climate change and how each dealt with their grief was very different. We follow three POVs in Mississippi.
This was a very different book from any book I’ve ever read. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

When you’re involved in something that’s bigger than yourself it can be hard to get others to see the bigger picture or for them to understand why you’re going so hard for what you believe in.

After the loss of her brother aboard an oil boat on the Mississippi River, Corrine awakened to the realities of climate change and its perpetrators. A year of grief and depression leaves Corrine trapped in a lonely cycle of mourning her brother and the progression of global warming. She convinces herself in order to save her future she has to ensure her brother’s life meant something. Even if that means jeopardizing her safety to do the impossible. In a brave attempt to honor her brother Corrine peels back the scabs of her family wounds that rattle Grandma Cora to the core.

This was a rather interesting read the author provided a mix of everything in this one. We’re given some historical context and generational trauma with Cora’s backstory of school desegregation during her childhood. Corrine gives a bit of magical realism with her premonitions of catastrophic events or seeing the ghosts of those affected during those events. The author also made relevant references to past events like the oil spill, Hurricane Katrina, the Great Flood of 1927, Eric Garner, and Trayvon Martin.

Throughout the book I could tell Corrine was passionate about making everyone aware of global warming. But she failed to make the impact she intended because she acted out of emotion and didn’t think her actions through. But I loved the support she received from her family and those around her. Although they didn’t agree with the stance she wanted to make everyone still backed her decision.

Overall, I thought the book was okay as it tackled many themes throughout and loved that it was based on the authors family history. My only downside is the loss in focus when one theme is presented to the next. But the book is very well-written and something many will enjoy. Special thanks to the author, @hearourvoicestours , & @harpermuse for my gifted copy‼️

Trauma is, in general, a difficult thing to talk about with anyone, let alone someone you love and care about. This is something Corrine and Cora are learning in this... gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and inspiring story told by two generations of women.

The story is told from three perspectives: Grandma Cora, Uncle Harold, and Corrine. I admit, Uncle Harold is my favorite. This story shows that people deal with grief and trauma in their own way, and I think Uncle Harold said it best: "You can't control how someone else hurts. Can't predict it either. And there's always only one type of pain ... and it's always yours." Cora knows a kind of pain that people can only sympathize with because not everyone had to deal with the trauma of integrating an all-white school in Nashville, TN, in the 1950s.

There's trauma that older Black folks don't like to talk about. I always thought it was frustrating because how am I supposed to know and understand what our people went through if no one talks about it. However, I get it. Some things you just want to keep bottled up, and you do what you have to do, cope however you can so that no one else who looks like you will have to deal with that. You exhibit that through Cora, and it's one of the most heartbreaking scenes. I know this is fiction, but it's like: I know it's one thing to read about it but to live it is quite another. Reading about six or seven-year-old Cora as a student is heartbreaking because you know this has happened to someone. One of my favorite parts is one of the most gut-wrenching scenes, and that is the ending. Watching Cora explain to Harold and Corrine what she went through and why she doesn't like talking about it will tear you in tears. (Hot tip: Do not listen to Naya Rivera sing "If I Die Young" while reading this book. While it fits, it will destroy you.)

It's important to know that people deal with things in their own way, and we must give them grace. We'll never know the true extent of what they went through when they went through it. While it is all the adjectives I used earlier, and it's heavy, it's worth it.

🌊Troubled Waters 🌊

This is such a heartbreaking, beautiful book.

The story is told by 3 characters - Corrine, her grandmother Cora, and her uncle Harold. The story takes place in a few different locations - mainly 1950’s Nashville, Mississippi, and New Orleans. It takes a deep dive into moments that have shaped our history and those that will shape our future. It caused me to revisit moments in history that I shamefully have not thought about in a long time. There’s a lot happening in this book - grief, climate change , family dynamics, activism, racism, and more.

It’s a heavily character driven book and the plot does seem to jump around a bit. Don’t be deterred by the many plot points, however. Stick with it. The growth we see in the characters is worth it.

I loved the family dynamics the most. I felt the grief spilling from the pages and it was interesting the way that grief manifested in each of the characters. Corrine’s environmental activism definitely left a mark on me and I am currently going down a rabbit hole. By the end of this story, I was crying like a baby. The story feels deeply personal, especially for those of us with deep roots in this country. It is my belief that this is a story that needed to be told. I hope you check it out!

“She insisted that every story was important and the longer they waited, the more people would suppress their pain and forget the details”

#bookreview #TroubledWaters #HearOurVoices #HOV

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this read. This book was so deep for me. It was very touching. I had to put the book down several times while reading it as it was very emotional to read. I do not see myself reading it again but I am glad I did.

This is a pretty unique read that connects resistance related to climate change back to resistance of the civil rights. It is a moving portrait of intergenerational connections, grief and resilience. I think that her experience of climate anxiety and feeling helpless in the face of large issues is something that a lot of people are facing. Overall, it was a good book and if you feel strongly about climate change, this would probably be even better.

Thank you, NetGalley. I loved this story so much. The way the author articulated the relationship between the granddaughter and grandmother was genius.

𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓣𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 📙🌏
🌟🌟🌟💫
First thank you to @hearourvoicestours and the author for allowing me to be a part of this book tour. Thank you for the ARC of the book. Once I read the blurb for this one I jumped on it because historical events in Louisiana are always of great interest to me. Lots I have lived through but it’s always wonderful to see and hear other peoples outlook on those same events. One thing I learned from that Bi**h Katrina is everyone pain from the impact hits different. This is a lesson I have carried with me since then.

The book covers a wide area of topics:
🌊The great flood of 1927 in Mississippi
🌀Hurricane Katrina
🛢️deep water horizon oil spill
✊social injustice (Eric garner, Trayvon martin, segregation)
🌎climate change
🙏🏽grief

The book is told from 3 POVS. Corinne, Cora and uncle Harold. The plot really focuses on how they deal with their current grief. Of course the past plays a role in the present. I enjoyed the initial start of the book but as it progressed I started to loose interest. As soon as I would get into one topic I felt many issues were left unfinished. The historical facts on events I loved. Also I loved uncle Harold’s character most. He always gave of himself for the greater good of his family.

Wʜᴇʀᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ɪ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴛᴏᴘɪᴄs?
I have also attached a list of movie recommendations that will help educate you more on many of the topics the authors based the book off.
1. Deep water horizon (more action packed)
2. The great invisible (really good documentary)
3. After the spill (great look at how the fishing community and families were affected)
4. Five days at memorial (by far the best account of how the city responded to Katrina or lack there of. Have the tissues ready)
#hearourvoices #blackauthors #climatechange #drbooksreads #jonbatiste #oil #hurricane #flood #willow

Have you ever seen the Mississippi River? It is such a powerful; dominating and natural entity.

One of the things I loved about Heglar’s writing is the way she personifies the Mississippi River. In her hands, it is its own, often violent, character in the story. Weaving in and out of the background, it haunts the main character, Corinne. Its power made even more volatile by the climate change that Corinne fears and wants to fight. Katrina comes up the river. The River and its 100-year-floods are encountering subtraction problems that are making them more frequent and deadly. And most concerning to Corinne, corporations are using the river to transport cargo like oil that is damaging the planet and contributing to horrible climate change. A deadly arrangement that leads to the death of her brother.

For the record, I want more stories about Black people and their experiences with climate change. I found Troubled Waters especially interesting because it includes two generations one from the civil rights era and one from the climate change era. Both of them engaged in a fight for their community’s safety and rights.

Civil Rights Generation
Grandma Cora was a child who was used to integrate the schools in Nashville, Tennessee. The term “used’ is important, because honestly it really didn’t hit home to me until reading about her experience that integration wasn’t her choice, but her parents choice. She didn’t wake up as a 5 year old and ask to be a key player in the Civil Rights movement. Her parents made that choice for her. Including her story, her grief and the consequences of that history are powerful.

Most of us have read the Ruby Bridges story, but there are lots of other children who went through the same and often worse (especially without federal protection) during that time period. Heglar crafts a tension between someone who was told she was going to be part of a movement (5-year old Cora) and someone who wants to engage in a movement (Corinne). I actually wish there had been more scenes in the past with Cora as a young adult to balance with Corinne’s story.

Tension Between Generations
I found the tension between Corinne and Cora fraught with powerful emotions. Corinne is a burgeoning activist by choice. She does her research and participates in activities to gather evidence about climate change. She is young and ready to fight back in honor of her brother. Cora is so damaged by her participation in the Civil Rights Movement as a child that she doesn’t even talk about that part of her life. She is doing her best to try and hang on to her family, of which she has already lost a daughter and grandson. Both women are in mourning. But they do not see eye to eye on the way Corinne is approaching climate activism. It is a hurricane of trauma, justice and anxiety.

Descriptive Language & Nature
Heglar does a great job with using beautiful, descriptive language to capture nature and the character’s relationships with nature. She captures the customs and culture of the people she writes about. Both Corinne and Cora find peace in nature. The family garden is a respite from the world where prayer and peace exist amongst the chaos of life.

Troubled Waters is a story about resistance, fear and change. It’s about family and untold stories and quiet ghosts. It’s about pain, grief and healing. This is beautiful Southern story.

Oh my this book had me emotional for so many reasons 😭! This was really good book . Just to know that some of family members had to endure some of the most terrible things known to mankind . It just breaks my heart. I feel like book highlights the difference in generations of blk people and how things may seem like they are better but also still the same just different situations. Prepare yourself to feel every emotion while reading this book ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

This book follows multi-generational stories about overcoming or adapting to new things. While I enjoyed the premise of the book, I found it lacked connections sometimes when it jumped from scene to scene.

“In this intimate portrait of two generations, a granddaughter and a grandmother come to terms with what it means to be family, Black women, and alive in a world on fire.”

Reflection: By the time I finished the last line, I was ugly crying so much that my dog came over to make sure I was okay. I honestly didn’t expect this book would affect me so much emotionally but it did. As a Southern girl that moved to Northeast Ohio I could relate so much to Corrine. Grandma Cora and Uncle Harold were reminiscent of my own family members. I felt so at home in this book. One thing I didn’t expect were some of the turns. I remember heading into part two thinking “what genre is this again?” I had to refer back to synopsis because it seemed to be setting up for an environmental thriller, at times there were supernatural elements, and we also got a taste of historical fiction. I didn’t know how this book was going to go and that’s where a lost interest a bit. But as I got to part three, my interest and emotions were pulled right back in. As we approached the big event, I was on edge wondering how it all would play out. I understood both sides of the argument. The strong sense of family and family traditions were my favorite parts of this book. So if you’re looking for a beautiful story about an imperfect family coupled with activism, and climate this book is for you.

Rating: 4.25⭐️/ 5

Favorite Quote: “Watching Grandma wince, it occurred to Corinne that Black women—celebrated the world over for their extraordinary ability to bend and bend and bend—can, in fact, break. Into a million little shards. And no one would come to put them back together again.”

Thanks to Harper Muse Books and Hear Our Voices Tours for my gifted eARC and physical copy!

Thank you to netgalley and Harper Muse for allowing me access to this book. I received this book as being apart of a tour for Hear Our Voices Book Tour company, this book was so good. I loved how the author touched on topics that a lot of people are scared to talk about or have no knowledge on. It was great to see a book that focused on family and how each generation live can contribute to the future.

This book had a lot going on. It is a story about racism, family, grief, and global warming. Cora, the grandmother of Corinne, a college student has never come to terms with her father insisting she go to an all white school when she was five years old in the 50's. She was the only black student in that school. She was always left out and last. It left her with horrible feelings that still linger in her 60's. She lost her daughter to a horrible accident and raised her grandchildren. Corinne, loved her grandmother and loved always cooking with her. When she made the decision to go to Oberlin College her grandmother was not pleased. It being a predominately white school. It brought back horrible memories for her. Corinne was very concerned about Global warming since Hurricane Katrina hit her neighborhood. She wanted to do something to protest and bring awareness to it and tie it into her brother's untimely death. With all this going on in the story, I felt that the author never really finished her trains of thought on all the issues she was writing about. The climax at the end really was not that explosive. The book was just slow moving and I found myself skimming though just to finish. The thing I liked best about this book was Harold. He was Cora's son and Corinne's uncle. I loved his interactions with his "neicey"!
Thanks to #netgally, #harpermuse, #firsteditions and @mary.helgar for an ARC of this book.

Wow this was such an amazing story. I loved how the author depicted the climate change crisis and the disparities associated with race. Also the expectations family’s c!n have on each other and how it can impact future generations.

I love when a book sits with me far after I’ve read it and in ways that no other book has.
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Troubled Waters started out with a plot and dialogue I felt would be perfect for YA genre. As I read deeper and started highlighting and underlining more, I changed my mind. This can be perfect for YA or adult fiction.
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I’m currently writing this portion of my review only at the halfway mark in the book. I am THIS moved halfway through. I also understand that not everyone will get the same feelings after reading this but I’m sharing my honest review and the feelings I’ve felt throughout reading.

There’s so much self discovery as well. I also appreciate the southern charm hospitality that you feel while reading. It’s there and very prevalent. Shoutout to the music mentioned in the first chapter!

As a person who cares a lot for the environment and wants others to care as well, this was a good book.

As someone who has grown to love titles that paint a picture of family with authentic relationship dynamics, this was a good book.

Watching Corrine battle her grief through activism and grow in a direction that her family didn't quite understand was such an experience and I enjoyed going along for the ride!

**Features:**
-Explores themes around climate change, grief, racism, sense of history, family, and what it really means to be an activist
-An own voices piece
-Multigenerational, character driven novel told from multiple perspectives
-Set predominantly in New Orleans, Nashville, and Mississippi with occasional scenes at Oberlin College in Ohio

This is a captivatingly beautiful and heartfelt piece that will stay with you long past the final page. It weaves together the tale of a family grieving a recent loss with a much longer history of loss and struggle. Told by characters from three different generations, the past comes back to haunt the present in very different ways for each and influences how they try to move forward and support each other. Even when I didn’t really agree with a character’s choices or opinions, I could still understand where they were coming from and empathize with their perspective. This book is definitely more about the characters than plot, so this might not be the book for you if you prefer a clear path that the characters follow as the story unfolds. Otherwise, this is a wonderful and important read that I would highly recommend!

**Pro: We are family**

This story is told by three characters: Corinne, her grandmother Cora, and Corinne’s uncle Harold. It starts with all three of them getting together for their first Christmas since Cameron, Corrine’s brother, passed away while working on an oil barge. I immediately felt like I was being wrapped in a warm hug as I felt the love shining through every interaction these characters had with each other. However, what I loved even more was that a great deal of tension and misunderstanding is allowed to exist between each of them and highlights their deep connection even further. The characters are so masterfully realized and interplay so beautifully that it is clear even their disagreements are born from a place of love and misunderstanding. Truly, Helgar’s brilliant character work makes this story stand apart from others.

**The Breakdown: Those college days**

Though we get a number of flashbacks to earlier moments in each character’s life, the ‘present day’ storyline mostly follows Corrine and her environmental activism. Corrine’s view towards global warming feels quite extreme and is jarring in comparison to all of the other beautiful, subtle work that has gone into everything else in this story. However, I also think this is an accurate depiction of a passionate young college student. Corrine is smart and capable, but also naive and has a ‘bulldozer-like’ approach that dismisses the nuances of the situations she is trying to navigate. There were many times Corrine made me cringe and get irritated, but I can’t really knock what feels right for this character as a whole.

This story tends to skip chunks of time, and I think that narrowing in on Corrine’s experiences more would have helped me get her a little more. For example, she goes out to interview people who were affected by Deepwater Horizon (and Katrina, to a lesser extent), but we never get to see any of these interviews or how some of the earlier ones impacted Corrine more directly. Because we don’t get any of these moments and Corrine has trouble verbalizing the driving force behind her fear/passion, it took me a lot longer to understand Corrine than the other characters. We do get there eventually, and I was able to appreciate going on the journey with Corrine in the end.

Harper Muse provided a complimentary copy for review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I had the pleasure earlier this month at PLA 2024 to listen to Helgar as one our daily speakers. Her primary work is in the field of climate change, and she has written several nonfiction books and articles on the subject. Her passion for this showed as she was moving her message into new channels with a children's book and this novel. There is no denying that she knows her stuff when it comes to this very important topic.

I found myself quickly connected to Corrine and her family. Helgar's attention to everyday details brought the story to life. It was easy to see how this family has been through so much, and they were all coming to terms with loss and grief in their own ways.

The story itself stretches over many months (not counting occasional flashbacks - some slightly confusing based on where they were inserted with the current day flow of things). For me, that impacted the momentum and created gaps or lapses. It felt like I was checking in periodically on the characters rather than having an urgency to their plans and actions. Hopefully that is something the author can work as she continues to do more fiction; I would certainly seek out more work from her down the road.