I think this was a good book, but it just wasn’t right for me — the alternating timelines were kind of hard to follow, especially with the letters mixed in. I had trouble staying engaged with the book, but I did find Diamond’s character to be compelling and she acted as a powerful narrator for the story.

Swift River follows Diamond and her experience being the only black person in her town. She finds out information about her dead father’s family through letters, which jump from a past and present timeline. I enjoyed following Diamond and watching her learn new things and grow, but I ultimately wasn't too connected with anybody. The story was enjoyable but nothing grasped my attention too much.

This ARC was provided by Net Galley and the publisher Simon & Schuster.

It is 1987 and Diamond Newberry (16) and her mother live together in Swift River. Diamond's father disappeared 7 years earlier. Until he disappeared Diamond and her father were the only two Blacks in Swift River, now she's the only one.

Diamond is surprised to receive a box and a letter from her father's relative she'd never heard of. Finally, she learns about her father's side of the family, her people, and their history.

Diamond's mother is planning to obtain a death certificate from the court with hopes of collecting his life insurance money, so that she and Diamond can start over. Diamond now sees that although Swift River is where her mother was raised, Diamond realizes that she has other places and people and relatives to meet.

A coming-of-age story of a teen girl whose life opens up when she makes her first real friend and learns of an extended family and family history that she had previously not known of. She sees options for herself that she hadn't previously known
she had.

The story is sound but was occasionally confusing. It did not completely hold my interest. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster and
for an advanced copy of Swift River in exchange for an unbiased review. Publication date: June 4, 2024

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Wow, what a gorgeous novel. The story follows Diamond who overcomes so much - racism, abandonment, a tricky relationship with her mom and so much more.

It is so well written and the characters come to life through the exceptional writing. An absolute must read!

Swift River will stay with me for a long time; it brought up so many emotions and really made me FEEL for the characters in the book. I enjoy a great coming of age story, and this one also was filled with mystery and awe. There are so many lessons to learn just by diving into this story. I felt great empathy for the struggles of the past and how they affect the future. I really connected with the main character, Diamond, and the paths she traveled in life.

I struggled to keep reading this book to the end. Not only did I find it boring but it was hard to follow what was actually happening and when because there was so much jumping around to different time periods. I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

write this as tears sting my eyes, having just finished the book. Have you ever read a book and truly felt like you knew the characters, like they were as real as yourself? Chambers brought these characters to life with every word they spoke, every thought and observation Diamond had, every letter her lost relatives wrote. The realness of Swift River is at times painfully uncomfortable, tragic, but always at least a little bit hopeful.

Daughter to a wispy white mother and a black father who went missing years ago, Diamond is the only brown person in town. The only one. In so many ways her struggle was foreign to me, in others I felt such a kinship with her as a lost teenage girl that her thoughts perfectly echoed my own from situations long since past.

I struggle to put into words how this book touched me and will stay with me for a while, but it’s rawness has left me examining previous interactions with others in my own life, community and family. This has left me feeling a little sad and wistful, but I am grateful for it.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

What I really like about this story is that the main character Diamond keeps on going even if her life isn't where it should be. I also like when Diamond is contacted by her Aunt Sweetie who not only becomes a friend but also tells her who her ancestors were and why there aren't any African Americans in Swift River.

The story that Sweetie tells Diamond about her ancestors is both fascinating and inspiring since being another race was dangerous in the Swift River, and yet Diamond's Aunt Clara not only survived but was inspiration to read about. Aunt Sweetie also tells Diamond about her father, who he was and where he came from and it became important to Diamond since her dad drowned seven years before.

As Diamond is learning about her ancestors and becoming friends with Sweetie, she is also having deal with a mother who is stuck in her past and not going anywhere and not dealing with the repercussions of never having any money to fix things. But it doesn't stop Diamond from learning to drive, making a friend and trying to change her circumstances which she does. It made me happy to see Diamond get her chance to have a better life.
I want to thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this inspirational story.

This book is beautiful. It reaches back through time to the 60’s and then forward to the 80’s telling the story of family, injustice and love.
The characters are richly drawn with depth and flaws and such truth! The story of Diamond and her family will break your heart then put it back together with laughter and hope for the future. I can’t imagine this beautiful story not winning awards! I found nothing in it that I would change. I felt like I was remembering instead of reading a book. This would be an amazing movie as well. Well done!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster

Swift River is a beautiful coming-of-age novel. The book centers on Diamond Newberry as she deals with a complicated relationship with her mother, navigating a town where she is the only person of color, and the disappearance of her father. The time jumps in the book give us a more complete picture of Diamond and her family history. I recommend this book and look forward to more from the author Essie Chambers.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Simon & Schuster for the ARC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Diamond is tired of Swift River. She and her mom are struggling to make ends meet, relying on Diamond's job at a motel and the odd jobs her mother picks up from time to time. It's just them since her father had gone missing years before, leaving Diamond as the only person with brown skin in the town. She has to deal with being poor, being brown, and being a misfit as she learns to navigate the waters of growing up.

This book touched something inside of me. There's a weight to it that sat with me as I read this story. I thought it was beautifully crafted.

I found this book to be mostly heart breaking. I read other reviews and some said heart breaking and hopeful. I would agree with that yet, I felt sad most of the time, especially for Diamond. She’s a biracial teenager, living in a town, where she is the only black person, other than her father, who ultimately disappear.s. She is extremely overweight. She has a lot on her plate. There were promising moments. But, man’s inhumanity to man, is always a tough one for me. The book is very well written. I do not want to create any spoilers, so I will not comment on the ending. Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my ow.n. #NetGalley, #SwiftRiver, #Simon&Schuster..

It's 1987 and 16 year of Diamond Newberry is struggling to understand who she is and where she fits into Swift River. Being the only person of color in Swift River is hard enough but the reason why is breaking her heart. Seven years earlier her father, Pop, disappeared leaving behind only a pair of his sneakers at the water's edge. With hope, that he may still be alive, his unsolved disappearance has altered the life of her and her white mother and we see how their relationship has been changed by Pop's disappearnce.

The narrative of the book moves through time back and forth from 1987 to 1980 to 1915, giving us a look at the lives of Diamond, her parents, and Pop's relatives who used to call Swift River home. I found the sections from 1915 to be really engaging and left me wanting to know why all of Pop's relatives left Swift River except him. The sections in 1980 and 1987 were very emotional as we learn about the relationship with Diamond's parents and then in 1987 when Diamond starts wanting her independence and meets new friends and tries new things.

I really enjoyed this book. I had to find out how Diamond and her mom's story would unfold and was rooting for her the whole time. This was a 4.5 star book for me. The further I got into the story, the more invested I became and just couldn't put it down. The three narratives were a little hard to follow at the beginning and I did have to go back and reread to follow some of the names, but that is the only reason I am not rating 5 stars.

Swift River is a beautifully written novel that delves into themes of family, identity, and the lasting consequences of history. Essie Chambers has crafted a compelling narrative that will resonate with readers. If you enjoy stories that explore deep emotions, tackle important social issues, and leave you with a renewed sense of understanding, then I highly recommend!

"The Leaving. That's what they call the night all the Black people left Swift River."
I was late leaving for an appointment this morning because I only had 20 pages left and HAD TO FINISH!
I thoroughly enjoyed Swift River, by Essie Chambers. Our main character, Diamond, who is biracial, and the only Black person left in the town of Swift River after the disappearance and presumed death of her father- ever since The Leaving when the entire Black community left town, except Diamond's Aunt Clara, who stayed, and who later took in he father.
Ma is counting on the insurance money they are to get once her father's death is confirmed after 7 years and how they will then live extravagantly, not needing to worry about keeping the lights on and food in the fridge. Meanwhile, Diamond is secretly taking driving lessons in an effort to gain freedom from a town that shuns her. With her one friend, Shelly, also an outsider, she spends her weekends out at driving lessons with Mr. Jimmy, trying to ignore the growing inappropriate interactions between her friend and the drivers ed teacher.
Flashing back to their family's history and the events leading to her father's disappearance, and letters sent to her by a member of her father's family she has never met, Diamond is letting herself think of a life beyond Swift River, thinking about moving on to somewhere where more people looked like her because, "her Ma had met more Black people than she had, and that's not fair."
Ma's desire to stay in Swift River to wait for the insurance payout so she could finally live as the rest of the well to do White neighbors overrode her ability to put Diamond first. It broke my heart.
Diamond will worm her way into your heart, and she will stay there for a very, very, long time.
Thank you @netgalley for my ebook copy.
Pub date June 4, 2024.


"

This story was written well. You witness diamond go through many challenges and learn the secrets of her town. It flowed well and I love the message behind it. I'd recommend it.

This was such a captivating and engaging coming of age story. I became so attached to Diamond, and I felt her overcoming her challenges made her even more special and powerful. The story itself was quite inspirational and I loved the beautiful writing. The book allows others to really feel like they can do anything and be strong as well. Thank you Simon and Schuster for sending me an ARC of this book.

16-year-old Diamond Newberry is secretly taking driving lessons in the summer of 1987 in Swift River. She and her Ma have been hitchhiking all over the place since her Pop vanished seven years ago. Diamond faces some sizable (no pun intended) challenges: she is constantly bullied about her weight, and, with her Pop’s disappearance, she is the only Black person left in Swift River. As the story opens, Ma seeks to legally declare Pop dead so that she and Diamond can (finally) get his life insurance money, reclaim their house from the bank, and start a new life.

When Diamond begins getting letters from a relative she has never heard of, she starts to get an idea of where she fits in her family’s history and gains the greater picture of prejudice against her race in Swift River. What Diamond will do with this newfound knowledge will guide her in considering her future options and in refining her relationships with her Ma and her best friend.

I enjoyed this book, but found it hard to follow at times. There was quite a bit of jumping around in time, specifically with the relatives’ letters, and I found it difficult to keep track of it all. The overall gist of the story was clear, however, and I appreciated the ways in which the author brought about an understanding of how family history, familial relationships, and friendships guide us in facing the future. Diamond is a character that I won't soon forget.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for giving me access to this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I believe the take away from this wonderful, sad at times, inspirational story is "Learn and embrace your family history. The answers are within".
Diamond, is a teenager trying to gain independence as she ages. She would love to have friends, but there is prejudice in the town and being the only black person in town is so difficult.
Why did her relatives and others leave the small village?
The answers come slowly from letters that she receives from a relative that will give insight into the past for this young teen.
I truly enjoyed this story and will be remembering Diamond and the message in these pages for a long time.

Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Simon& Schuster for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.
This would make a great read for high school students.

This poignant and engaging coming-of-age narrative delves deep into the life of Diamond Newberry, a young Black girl grappling with the complexities of identity and belonging. Born into a town scarred by the legacy of historical injustices and haunted by the unresolved disappearance of her father, Diamond finds herself caught between the pain of the past and the uncertainty of the future.

Raised by her white mother amidst the harsh realities of poverty and racial discrimination, Diamond struggles to find her place in a community that often overlooks or marginalizes her. Her desire to break free from the constraints of her circumstances is palpable, yet she feels tethered to her hometown by the weight of unresolved trauma and unanswered questions about her father's fate.

As Diamond navigates the challenges of adolescence, she is confronted with the harsh realities of systemic racism and economic hardship, further complicating her search for self-discovery and acceptance. Despite the odds stacked against her, Diamond refuses to be defined by her circumstances, yearning for a sense of agency and autonomy in a world that often feels indifferent to her struggles.

When she receives letters from her estranged aunt, Diamond embarks on a journey of self-discovery, delving into her family's complex history in search of answers and connection. Through these letters, she uncovers untold stories of resilience, strength, and survival within the African American Newberry community, offering her a newfound sense of purpose and belonging.

As Diamond navigates the complexities of family dynamics, racial identity, and personal growth, she finds solace and support in unexpected places. Through the lens of her own experiences, she begins to understand the profound impact of history on her present reality, and the power of resilience in shaping her future.

This powerful and thought-provoking narrative resonates with readers through its nuanced exploration of identity, community, and the enduring legacy of systemic injustice. Through Diamond's journey, readers are reminded of the importance of confronting the past, embracing the present, and charting a path toward a more hopeful future.