 Hello everybody, E here. E here. Welcome back to another book review. Today we're talking about a book that I buddy read with my buddy Brad Proctor. I'll leave his channel down there in the doobly-doo. If his review is up already, I will link you to that review. For today we're talking about The Boatman's Daughter by Andrew Davidson. Andy Davidson. I apologize, it's Andy Davidson. Um, real quick story right off the bat. I was watching Booktube Goddess doing her, uh, The Shelveter Shove It, which is my favorite, my favorite show on her channel. But this, this one popped up in her, uh, these are, she was going through trying to pick the books that she was going to read that month. And she ripped this cover apart. I love the cover and the way it ties into the story makes me love it even more. Um, but I love the, the creature with the tree coming out of it. Oh, the man. I guess the, I don't want to spoil anything, but, um, and then the way this comes around, like a fishing hook. I love it. There's so much subtext just in this. And then there's snake skin. It feels and looks like snake skin. I know you guys probably can't see it very well, but yeah, it looks and feels like snake skin. Um, awesome design. I think, sorry, sorry Goddess. Sorry. Anyways, um, the writing in this is absolutely fantastic. Um, in fact, Goddess, if you're watching this, uh, you always talk about how, uh, you like a strong narrative voice, a strong, you know, authorial voice, this has it. Uh, the writing in here is absolutely gorgeous. It is pitch perfect. The atmosphere also is spot on because it happens in a swamp area. Um, the characters are amazing. Uh, that there's one character that I liked more than anybody else. If I'm honest, and that was John Avery. He was my favorite character in the book. Um, the boy was another favorite of mine. Uh, Little Fish is his name. And then there's the, uh, the main character and then there's the sheriff and all that stuff. But my two favorite characters were Little Fish and John Avery. Those two just completely, because they were so different. I like reading stories about either characters with like, uh, uh, afflictions or characters that maybe got a shorthand in life or any number of things. And this book deals with two characters that I guess you want to call them outcasts, kind of that kind of thing. I don't want to call them freaks because, you know, of course that's not PC, but the kind of characters that you might see in an old, you know, in a freak show. Um, and I like reading about those type of people because I've always felt like an outsider myself. That's probably another reason why I like stories about carnivals and carnies and things like that. I've always felt like an outsider and, you know, there's a bit of solidarity there. Um, so with this one, I want to stress this as much as possible. This book is beautifully, beautifully written. We only did, what do we do, like 20 pages of the day, Brad? I don't know. Um, but we, we read it very, very slowly and then I disappeared for four weeks. Um, and I came back and I ended up finishing up the last 100 pages. But man, this was, this was so good. I wish I could do it justice with this review, but come for the writing, stay for the quirky characters and the plot. The last 200 pages of this book does not stop. Um, for it to be as literary as it is, um, when you're reading the first half of the book, it's like the, the language is beautiful, but then the carnage starts happening and it is non-stop action until the end. Fantastic. Uh, there are some, uh, more surreal aspects to the book also that I really, really loved. Um, but if you know me, it's all about the characters and the writing man and this easy five stars, I would say it's in my top five books of the year. Um, I don't know. Let's see what my mid-year wrap up looks like. Let me see what the end of the year looks like because there's some great stuff coming. So yeah, this is The Boatman's Daughter by Andy, uh, Davidson. I liked it, gave it five stars. If you've read it, let me know, uh, if you liked it or if you disliked it, especially if you disliked it down there in the doobly-doo. But until next time, I have been E, you have been U, this has been another book review. I'll talk to you guys later. Bye-bye!