River of Teeth

I was handed this book by someone who wanted to know what all the fuss was about. He had seen the nominations and blurbs it got, but when he read it he was unimpressed, and wanted to get my thoughts. I have to admit my reaction is similar, though maybe not quite as harsh. Novellas, to me, often feel like abridged versions of what should be longer, richer books. With the exception of [b:The Ballad of Black Tom 26883558 The Ballad of Black Tom Victor LaValle https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1447086249s/26883558.jpg 46932536] most underwhelm me, and leave me itching for the book that could have been.River of Teeth was no different, but at the same time I feel like its what its supposed to be. The writing is quick and immersive, the characters are distinct though not particularly rich, of course. I liked that it was simple. I liked that there was a straight forward romance between the swaggering bisexual leading man and the nonbinary demolitions expert. There's minimal fuss about having a nonbinary character, no one gets hung up on pronouns. It's refreshing, it's not really realistic and I don't care. I like that Houndstooth gets nervous every time Hero even looks at him, and I wish I got to see them kiss and stuff more. Emphasis on “and stuff.”That said, I found the story a little lackluster. A Mississippi River full of feral man-eating hippos is a pretty dope concept, but the heist (I'm sorry, “operation”) never really grabbed my interest, and even Houndstooth's revenge subplot felt less like a story arc and more like the arc of a fish flopping down a set of stairs. I liked the atmosphere, but I was kind of glad this was as short as it was because I found myself getting bored. I'm giving this book three stars by a hair, and in a more perfect work it would be 2.5. Overall, a fun little venture into an America that could have been with some good character dynamics, but not a whole lot of substance beyond that.