Review of The River Wild

[Bertha Jackson]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The River Wild" by Ken Bridge.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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There are four hills in an Arapaho warrior’s life: childhood, youth, mature men and women, and the elderly. Each of these four hills plays a significant role within the tribe. Caleb Brooks had four important people in his life: his father, mother, Jacob, his brother, and Rachel Mather, his childhood friend. Caleb and Rachel had planned their future together and dreamed of traveling and having adventures in the untamed West. Then Rachel starts acting cold towards him, and he finds out that she and Jacob are engaged. Caleb heads to St. Louis to get a job trapping beavers that same night. He had always wanted to explore the land Lewis and Clark had traveled, and this heartbreak gave him the perfect excuse. Will Caleb find happiness? Can he survive the wild West and the various Indian tribes?

The River Wild by Ken Bridge has many positive aspects, so I will only mention a few. I enjoyed reading about the Native American customs, especially the Sun Dance Festival, which is a time of sacrifice and renewal. All Arapahos are given a pony at birth, taught to ride at the age of four, and are riding alone by the time they are five years of age. The details about trapping beavers were interesting. Ken Bridges did a fantastic job describing the different characters and their customs, allowing me to visualize them and feel like I was there. Bigotry, racism, government corruption, and slavery affected the American Indians and Black Americans. Ken Bridges has included a few historical notes at the end of the book to help the reader determine fact from fiction.

There are only a couple of things that I disliked about this book. The formatting in the PDF version leaves a lot to be desired. There is no clear separation between paragraphs, and there are no chapter headings; headers show that you are going into another chapter. There are a lot of errors in this version of the book consisting of missing punctuation, repetitive words, and words that are run together, to name a few.

Overall, this is an enjoyable book covering American history before the western states existed. For this reason, I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. It has too many errors to give it four stars. The chapter headings are a personal preference and do not warrant the removal of another star.

I recommend this book to teenagers and adults who enjoy reading about the old West, where it was common to trap beavers and fight Indians. Romance lovers will also enjoy this book. If borderline profanity, racism, bigotry, and religious content trigger you, you may want to avoid this book. Many people living during this time relied on their faith in God to survive.

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The River Wild
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[Aisha Yakub]

I really hope Caleb found happiness. No one deserves to be unhappy. Thank you for your review.

[Amy Luman]

I don’t understand how Caleb could not know about anything between Rachel and Jacob. Also, how could he rest all of his happiness on her?

[Asiaa Szn]

Caleb must have been really heartbroken. I would love to read to find out Rachel did him dirty.

[QualityAndQuantity]

Caleb's sorrow won't go to waste. In my opinion he'll fight through it and rise up stronger. I'll try to read this book as it seems quite intriguing to me.

[Janelydia Mwangi]

The review is amazing by symbolically relating hills and important pillars in one's life. i like also the fact that Caleb decides to project his heart break to taking a trip.

[Sia P]

Your review made me wonder if he would be able to survive in such a severe environment. However, I do agree that a book with poor editing can hinder the reading experience. Great job with the review, thanks for the same.

[Samuel Mamo]

Good to know such a culture as part of our diverse human nature.

[Nwadinso Michael]

From the review, the story involves the Arapaho's tribe. Caleb and friend, Rachel, have planned out their life but most things do not go according to plan. The story is quite nice, although there are few flaws. Thanks for your honest review.

[Mbenma Esther 080]

Religious content gives my heart this warmth. The is for the review.