Official Review: Amani's River by David Hartness

[Tanaya]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Amani's River" by David Hartness.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Amani’s River is a historical novel by David Hartness. Chronologically, the story begins in 1982. At ten years old, Aderito Chirindza has a fairly average American life in Houston, Texas. Everything changes when his parents reveal that they will be moving to Mozambique, a country undergoing a brutal civil war. Despite the nearly guaranteed danger, the family goes to Mozambique as part of a church mission to work at a small hospital. Initially, Aderito just has to manage feelings of culture shock and homesickness. None of that compares to being taken away from his family by a rebel group called RENAMO and forced to become a child soldier for their cause.

The book actually begins in the year 2013. Aderito is in his forties and conveys that he had a traumatic childhood. He is at a river in Mozambique that becomes central to the plot, accompanied by his wife and son. Aderito is telling the story that follows to his family, as they aren’t fully familiar with his disturbing past. There are some time jumps in the story itself, from a matter of weeks to four years later when Aderito is 15. These time jumps give a full picture of Aderito’s life.

The first-person narration is poorly handled. Generally, the writing contains a lot of awkwardly phrased sentences: “They saw the trauma that each other had experienced and understood a deeper connection and understanding of the needs and desires.” Sometimes the author writes in the fashion of an omniscient narrator that went beyond the limited view a first-person narrator should have. There is often an excess of information provided to the reader, as the narrator has a tendency to over-explain things: “Dad began to speak the language in the household in hopes that my mother and I absorbed something. So far, it was working but frustrating at the same time because it was hard for me to convey my thoughts and feelings in a language that I had just started to understand basic conversational skills.” Because of the lack of subtlety, the author doesn’t allow readers to figure things out for themselves. Occasionally, the writer uses “the” instead of a pronoun, leading to momentary confusion.

Because of the problematic writing style, the character portrayal isn’t as strong as it could have been. Initially, the reader is told more so than shown who the characters are. We see everything through Aderito’s eyes, and he relays information directly to the reader. There is a lack of dialogue at the beginning of the story, so we learn about his parents and other characters based on the description that the narrator provides. Fortunately, this becomes overturned once the rebels take Aderito away. At this point, the story takes a new turn and the characters become more genuinely developed. Aderito turns into a new person who wishes to hurt people. He is afraid of who he has become. The soldiers rape his friend Victoria repeatedly. Her desire to escape becomes progressively desperate. Aderito and Victoria have trouble remembering their families and their former lives. Victoria is still able to see the “gentle boy” within Aderito, even if he can barely recognize himself now that he is a killer.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I was greatly bothered by the awkward writing style. However, once the plot kicked into gear, I focused less on the writing. Instead, I became engaged by the story and invested in the fates of Aderito and Victoria. Ultimately, it was a gripping tale with a satisfying conclusion. If you don’t like to read about graphic cruelty, this definitely isn’t the book for you. One rebel cuts off a woman’s breast like it’s a Thanksgiving turkey. The interesting imagery makes the scene easier to stomach, but this is one of the lighter examples of the violence in the story. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in the psychological torment suffered by children of war.

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Amani's River
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[gali]

Too graphic for my taste. Thank you for the great review!

[Tanaya]

Thanks, gali! This was definitely the darkest book I've read on this site, so it's certainly not for everyone.

[ALynnPowers]

I'm not a big fan of historical fiction, but I enjoyed your review. It sounds pretty interesting.

[Tanaya]

Thanks. It was an intriguing read.

[ALynnPowers]

It seems like it would be hard to sympathize with the main character... or am I just reading this wrong? haha...

[Tanaya]

Because of the way it was written, it was really hard to sympathize with him at first. But once his life gets turned upside down after the rebels take him, his characterization became deeper and more complex. The difficult choices he had to make in order to survive won me over.

[ALynnPowers]

Ooh, that sounds pretty awesome!

Sometimes it's fun to dislike the main character, but for the most part, I think it's important to connect. Or at least WANT to connect. Am I making sense anymore? No? Didn't think so...

[Tanaya]

I think I mostly disliked the main character because he's also the narrator and the narrator's voice was kinda annoying. So it was a really impressive development. And what you said makes perfect sense. I agree!

[bookowlie]

Nice, insightful review! I'm glad you were able to enjoy the book despite the writing style.

[Tanaya]

Me, too! Once it got going, it was really good.

[bluemel4]

Awesome review as always. The book is too graphic for my taste. It is wonderful that you were able to see past the clunky wording and writting style enough to enjoy the book.

[Tanaya]

Thanks!

[zeldas_lullaby]

Wow, this book sounds far too depressing for me. I hate reading about extreme suffering issues. I admire you for reading this, even moreso than I admire your review (also good!). I'm depressed just from reading about this book! Like I said, though, I admired your review. I don't think I'll be joining the author's fan page, though!!

[Tanaya]

I guess I was just in the right mood to read it. I'm surprised it didn't bring me down now that you mention it!