Quick Synopsis – Alicia has been out of grad school for months. She has no career prospects and lives with her mom. Then, one evening, the Jamaican water deity, River Mumma, appears to Alicia, telling her that she has twenty-four hours to scour the city for her missing comb. What follows is a quest through the city with friends, ancestors, and duppies.

Song This Reminded Me Of – Get in the Water by Morgan Clae

Publication Date – Feb. 20,2024

Rating – 5 out of 5 ⭐

Content Warning – There are several mentions of vomiting, slavery, blood, and drowning.

Review – You guys, this is my first 5-star read in a long time. I absolutely devoured this book. I love a book that is outside my culture and provides a viewpoint that I’m not familiar with. Alicia is a young Black woman with Jamaican heritage, and that heritage is like another character in this book; I absolutely loved it.

I loved learning more about Jamaican beliefs and culture. The relationships that Alicia had with her family and friends, as well as the use of Jamaican patois, were chef’s kiss. The River Mumma herself was described so beautifully that it sent me on a Google spiral searching for more information about Jamaican/Caribbean culture. River Mumma is a water deity that senses Alicia has the gift and summons her to help her find her stolen comb. If Alicia fails, all the world’s waters will dry up.

After meeting the River Mumma, Alicia starts her quest both physically and spiritually. Alicia ropes her coworkers/friends Mars and Heaven (who are also Jamaican) into her quest. What follows is a journey that is more about finding yourself and generational trauma. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I literally could gush about how beautiful this book is. Seriously, no notes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books/Erewhon for the ARC.