{"id":21209,"date":"2026-09-04T08:26:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=21209"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:27:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T20:27:41","slug":"review-a-river-wide-by-amanda-j-mcgee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-river-wide-by-amanda-j-mcgee\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: A River Wide by Amanda J. McGee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/a-river-wide-amanda-j-mcgee\/0f2eef35627b4ec0?ean=9781953736635&amp;bkshp-astro=t\"><strong><i>A River Wide<\/i> by Amanda J. McGee<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Interstellar Flight Press (September 7, 2026)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?s=Rowan+B.+Minor\">Rowan B. Minor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Horror and fantasy writer Amanda J. McGee is a poet and novelist who resides in Southwest Virginia. Her work has been featured in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Artemis Journal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roanoke Rambler<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luna Station Quarterly<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and other venues. McGee is the author of books <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mother of Creation <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daughter of Madness <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from The Creation Saga, as well as the novella <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Viridian<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is featured in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Sinister Quartet<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> alongside authors C. S. E. Cooney, Mike Allen, and Jessica P. Wick. McGee\u2019s debut standalone horror novella is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A River Wide<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from Interstellar Flight Press. <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"21212\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-river-wide-by-amanda-j-mcgee\/a-river-wide\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-river-wide.jpg?fit=600%2C928&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"600,928\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"a river wide\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-river-wide.jpg?fit=600%2C928&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-21212\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-river-wide.jpg?resize=226%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"226\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-river-wide.jpg?resize=226%2C350&amp;ssl=1 226w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-river-wide.jpg?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 226px) 85vw, 226px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A River Wide<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a 98-page Appalachian murder ballad that depicts violence against women through the lens of the witch trope. Main character Rhia Blackburn is a water witch from the hollers of Appalachia whose magic has been passed down through a long line of women. After her adopted sister Amey supposedly murders a no-good man, she is kidnapped, and Rhia must unveil the magic and secrets she\u2019s suppressed most of her life. Can Rhia negotiate with the river and use her spellwork to find Amey in time?<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the opening chapter, McGee comes in swinging with a setup that will make your skin crawl. Her prose is concise while simultaneously vivid and imaginative, and her language is immersed in nature, specifically Appalachian flora, fauna, and landscapes which appear completely alive and conscious of what is happening throughout the book. The water itself is treated as a living character, highly respected by Rhia, and she discovers her power not only through the water, but from within herself. While the dialect doesn\u2019t fully encompass Appalachian vernacular, the characters still seem like they belong in their invented, dreamlike space.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A River Wide<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a quick, stunning, and eerie read that explores major themes such as grief, broken family dynamics, and expectations of the eldest daughter. McGee makes the audience care about her characters and what happens to them. And her fast-paced writing is captivating. The author does include a content warning for murder, violence against women, suicidal ideation, anti-LGBTQ sentiment, and death, but these themes are all handled gracefully. This novella would be good for anyone who is new to horror, into Appalachian literature, wants a unique twist on the witch trope, or has a hard time fitting a full-length book into their schedule.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A River Wide by Amanda J. McGee Interstellar Flight Press (September 7, 2026) Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor Horror and fantasy writer Amanda J. McGee is a poet and novelist who resides in Southwest Virginia. Her work has been featured in Artemis Journal, Roanoke Rambler, Luna Station Quarterly, and other venues. McGee is the author &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-river-wide-by-amanda-j-mcgee\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: A River Wide by Amanda J. McGee&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[3706,3226],"class_list":["post-21209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-amanda-j-mcgee","tag-rowan-b-minor"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: A River Wide by Amanda J. 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