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Once Upon a River  By  cover art

Once Upon a River

By: Bonnie Jo Campbell
Narrated by: Susan Bennett
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Publisher's summary

A finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Bonnie Jo Campbell is a rising star in contemporary fiction. Hailed by Booklist as a female Huckleberry Finn, Campbell’s heroine is 16-year-old Margo Crane. Complicit in her father’s death, Margo flees home for the Stark River. And as she follows the current, she learns the ways of the world from the eccentric characters she meets.

©2011 Bonnie Jo Campbell (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about Once Upon a River

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Great Narrator - Horrific story

By Chapter 9, after the (spoiler alert) 2nd rape of the 15 year-old main character, I returned this torturous time. That was after I suffered through all the pointless gratuitous animal killing. I won't buy a book from this author again! Do NOT believe the reviews that call this book "a female Hick Finn" as I did, or you are in for a revolting slap in the face

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5 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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NOT Huckleberry Finn!

Huckleberry Finn did not "sleep" his way down the river to get what he needed as does the main character in this book. After the author goes to a bit of trouble to paint Margo Crane as a fairly resourceful and independent character, she has her solve all her problems in survival by living with men using sex as payment. I got about half way through the book and finally gave up. Yes, she's only sixteen and perhaps we are supposed to believe her helplessness because of her age, but many a sixteen year old has taken care of themselves and even others through the ages with only as many resources as Margo has. Considering her supposed skills, she was not very smart or forward looking. Don't "dis" Huck Finn by comparing this girl to him!!

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A real world Katnis

This is a good survival story of a young girl as she grows into a woman under very difficult circumstances. The mistakes she makes are understandable considering her lack of adult guidance. She's what Katnis Everdeen (Hunger Games) would be in the real world. The narrator was excellent, was never apparent as I listened, as a narrator should be.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Just Yuk

I was hanging in there and trying to like it until the heroine began killing deer like a freaking serial killer. Then the "accident" happened and I was just turned off by the whole thing and quit listening to it.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Makes me think of "Battling Banjos"

The reader was very good and provided most of the positive aspects of this book. but the story caused me to have to struggle to stick to it to the bitter end. The main character was obviously boreingly dysfunctional, and I consider the book a wasted audible credit.

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3 people found this helpful

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Didn’t care for the excessive killing of animals in the story.

The abrupt ending. Felt like an unfinished story. Too many unanswered questions and dropped characters.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great story, need a non southern narrator!

The book was well written, however the story takes place in Michigan yet all the characters and narrator had heavy southern accents, made it really hard to listen and believe it could actually occur in the Midwest.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great character development and loved descriptions of nature

I loved Margo’s story- her discoveries about nature, people, and herself. I look forward to reading Bonnie Jo Campbell’s next novel!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Growing Up in Impossible Circumstances

Many reviewers mentioned and were turned off by the rape and deer killing. This young girl was abandoned by her mother,(spoiler alert:) then saw her father killed. Maybe these reviewers know nothing about grief. With great loss comes a natural desire to procreate. It's normal human behavior, probably meant as a means of survival of the species. She does what she has to in order to survive living alone off the grid. The rape scenes were not overly descriptive, nor was the fact that she found solace in shooting deer. She found comfort where she could.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not sure I could get through it

It was quite grim with all of the deer killing and random sex the young girl participated in. It made her an unlikable character.
Even at the end I was not fond of her and had no attachment to whether she could truly exist or not.
Several times throughout the book I thought to exchange it and then thought it would get better so I kept persevering and unfortunately it did not.

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