Rivers

by David Gaffney, Dan Berry (Illustrator)

Three ordinary weirdos, one recurring dream. The acclaimed minds behind The Three Rooms in Valerie's Head return with a whimsical and ambitious portrait of human connection in the age of digital fragmentation.

You meet the strangest people on the internet.

Gideon is a lonely I.T. developer, obsessed by a comic book from childhood called Revenge of the Ghoulors, and secretly in love with his co-worker Lisa. Heidi works at home in her pyjamas, makes a lot of soup, and wishes she had time for friends. Peter is a 56-year-old divorcee who delivers classic cars, has a built-in toaster, and thinks a lot about the past.

These three people seem unconnected, yet they share something -- they each have the same recurring dream. And when a new web service is introduced that helps people share their dreams, what will happen when the three of them find out about each other? Just what is it that links these three lonely souls?

Nimbly weaving together multiple storylines (including extracts from Gideon's comic book, Revenge of the Ghoulors), Dan Berry and David Gaffney present Rivers a quirky examination of how events from the past can bind people together forever, and a surprising reunion between people who've never met.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2021

Reviews

[Eilonwy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Various characters seem to be involved in completely unrelated activities and story lines, until they all come together in a completely unexpected resolution.

For once I have an unpopular opinion that is better than most other readers!

The official synopsis of this book grabbed my eye (about people sharing a dream), but it's actually not all that accurate, and only very tangentially what the story is about, which doesn't quite do the book justice. And I can see why the synopsis is so vague, because trying to describe the story is very, very difficult, and I haven't come up with anything better. The opening of the book felt very disjointed and jarring, and there isn't much obvious plot happening for any of the characters. I mostly kept reading to find out how all these characters and plots were connected and what would bring them together.

Then I found out.

The ending was sharp and poignant and worked perfectly for me. I closed the book with a sigh of satisfaction.

This was a very unusual book, and going by all the meh reviews, not everyone's cup of tea by a long shot. But I loved its weirdness and the way it seemingly wanders to its resolution. I'm planning to give it another read before it goes back to the library to see what details I missed.

[Fraser Simons · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really didn’t mind the art and liked the colour palette and paneling a lot, this never really coalesced for me. It’s a bit too silly but with tragic beats that felt unearned and weird. Once everyone came together it didn’t have any impact for me, unfortunately.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rivers was a really interesting experience for me. I don’t ordinarily read graphic novels, but I was intrigued after reading the synopsis and wanted to see how that would play out. Looking back at the synopsis, I think it’s funny that it’s implied that Gideon is secretly in love with his co-worker Lisa, because I really felt that connection between the two of them and how infatuated he was with her. I think their relationship was my favorite out of the three scenarios presented here, although there was a certain appeal to Heidi’s work from home situation.

The introduction to allowing people to share their dreams with others was a unique prospect. I wasn’t always sure of the importance of Revenge of the Ghoulors, and it at times removed me from the storyline, but when I continued on, I’d find my way back. Quirky is an understatement when describing Rivers, but that’s what I liked about it the most. It was different. It didn’t follow the standard protocol of the written word, preferring to jump from one scenario to the next but in a way that eventually blended so that the reader understands how the characters are connected.

The biggest issue for me was the formatting. That is no fault of the authors–my Kindle had a tough time allowing me to read this graphic novel, and I was constantly double clicking on panels in order to enlarge them, but it didn’t always work for me and the experience also left me feeling like I was lost in certain areas and unsure of what was going on. I had the same issue on my laptop, too, when I tried to read it that way. But other than that, I did enjoy the different perspectives that Rivers gives to its readers–it was definitely unique.

[Emil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book expecting a weird fantasy/sf story. When I started reading it I immediately worried that it was going to be one of those stories with a suggestive but completely ambiguous ending -- and if I missed a clue early on, I might finish the book completely lost. But I was wrong on both counts. It's a beautifully told story that starts in fragments that appear to be completely unrelated, but the fragments turn out to be pieces of one story, as improbable as that seems initially. By the end, the reader knows clearly what happened and there's actually a satisfying ending -- I won't say more than that about plot details.

Reading it is somewhat like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. But it's also a lot more than that. The prose style is several cuts above what one normally finds in graphic novels: poetic, precise, lovely. In contrast, the art is loose and impressionistic, but it conveys the necessary emotions perfectly. The shifting panel styles and color schemes work together so that the storytelling style shifts from one mode to another on every page, or every few pages. At the same time, there's also a lot of evocative imagery mixed in with carefully observed experiences of daily life. This is a book that really takes advantage of what a graphic novel can do... but at the same time, I couldn't help thinking this would make a good indie film, if it was done by the right people.

Bottom line: I loved it and I want to read it again. Definitely a keeper.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Multiple POVs, changing timelines, full color, childhood trauma, relationships

The synopsis of this book (strangers who have the same dream meet via an app) is not quite what this is about. More, several people who lived the same trauma find one another because they relive the event in their dreams, and record it on the app. Sometimes hard to follow, and a few storylines that seem irrelevant to the plot. More like a 2.5 star read, not bad but not great either.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea where this book was going at first. The jumps between different characters seemed random. Gradually the questions were answered. The story as a whole came into focus. And I found it to be heartfelt. I deeply enjoyed this book.

[Grg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the peek at the day-to-day life of people working at a tech start-up in London (especially the obnoxious boss) and I think their app was pretty cool too (connecting people through the dream diaries). I could have used less drowning though.

[Carla A · Rating 4 out of 5]

It looks like I enjoyed this more than most. The guy building a boat - that was a bit deranged.

[Lemur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot, the story within the story, and the way it all skips around and between characters was a 5 star experience for me. I feel inspired to write a little comic now after reading this, and I'm not even a graphic novel writer. That being said the actual writing was a little lacking in my opinion, and at first I didn't like the illustration style so much but it's grown on me and it really does fit the tone and story in the end. If you're looking for something that's a little goofy and a little gut-wrenching and very real, this appeals to you.

[Sneha Jaiswal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half-way through the graphic novel “Rivers” by David Gaffney and Dan Berry, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue reading it, because it had multiple protagonists, all of them going through extremely different things, so it all felt extremely random. However, towards the end, David Gaffney merges all the seemingly haphazard paths together to give readers a wistful ending, which is partially contrived yet slightly satisfactory. “At least it all makes sense now!,” was my key takeaway.

[May-Ling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
this might be the strangest graphic novel i've ever read. seriously. i wasn't sure if i was reading one story or several. was it science fiction? horror? mystery? and then near the very end, i felt some resolution and an ah ha about where everything was going. some ruminations here just hit and i liked the illustration style, but it wasn't my favorite storyline.

[Sarah T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars.

[Teo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be the kind of book I need to read again in order to understand it better. If I read it again and appreciate it more, I will update my review. Interesting, weird book.

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the book had some sort of underlying concept, and it didn’t seem obvious. Or maybe the concepts were just random fillers in a silly story🤷🏽

Either way it all meshes reasonably well.