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. :)

Shannon Bowring returns to Dalton, Maine for her sophomore book, Where the Forest Meets the River, and picks up the same residents five years after Bridget’s suicide. Bowring’s knack for small-town details and character development that made her first book so successful are again on full display as she moves around more with many short chapters voiced by a variety of Dalton residents. I loved all the same things in this book that I did in the first, and although I despise a cliffhanger, I will be first in line for the next one because I want to know what happens next. Where the Forest Meets the River could be read without having read The Road to Dalton, but why? I highly recommend both books to those who like family stories and multi-person narratives like Elizabeth Strout, Emma Straub, and J. Ryan Stradal.

This book was so sweet-- I became very connected and attached to the characters. I think the topic and disucssion around suicide was given proper and appropriate space!

I was so excited to read this follow up to Dalton River.it is so beautifully written that even after I read the last page the characters stayed with me.Visiting again with Trudy & Bev and following their hidden love revisiting Nate and watching him raise Sophie alone after his wife's suicide..Each character seems like an old friend who I know personally. Another wonderful book by Shannon Bowring.#netgalley #europa