This is a very moving and raw book. I loved certain aspects of this book, but just wasn't ready to deal with the introspection of grief at this time. It's more personal than anything related to the book.

The best way to read this book is to skip the summary, skip all the reviews, don't even look at the genres it's shelved under: go in totally blind. Just let the story unfold as it will. The genre that best fits this book is just "story." Maybe literary fiction if you really care about labels, but that sounds too stuffy for what this book is. It's beautiful and poetic, but approachable and deeply human. It reminds me a little of The River Has Roots, but with less word play.

It took me a while to get into this book. I am so glad I finished it. The ending is SO perfect, it feels SO satisfying. The author wrote some big promises, and I was wondering how they'd make good on them by the end, but they did! The ending was beautiful. I can't say enough good things about it. It felt like being in your favorite English teacher's classroom reading a book that you know will shape you even if you don't know how just yet.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to NetGalley for the free copy. All opinions are my own!

North of the Sunlit River is one of those books that sneaks up on you. At first, I wasn’t quite sure where the story was taking me, but the atmosphere pulled me in quickly. The writing is beautiful, and it really captures that mix of wilderness and mystery.

The characters felt layered and real, each with their own struggles and little triumphs, and I especially loved how the setting almost acted like its own character. You can practically feel the landscape pressing in on the story, both comforting and haunting at the same time.

It’s not the fastest-paced book, and there were moments where I wished things would move along a little quicker, but that’s also part of its charm.. By the end, I found myself really glad I stuck with the journey.

If you like immersive, slightly moody reads with gorgeous prose and thoughtful storytelling, this one’s worth picking up.

First off, I have to applaud the cover! At first I saw just a beautiful cover, and then a couple days later a caribou appeared. Then a couple days after that my daughter told me she saw a bear on the cover! Wow!!! Once you see them, you can’t unsee them!!

Second, this book is like the cover, I didn’t see the depth of the story until I was deep into the journey. Then once you see it, you are completely living it with them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC.

Alaskan Elia is one with the Caribou. She senses them deep inside her and is concerned about their dwindling numbers. When her father dies, she decides to join a research trip further north. She also reads her father’s journals and tries to piece together his secrets. Others in her hometown have secrets too. They are all entangled in the way small towns and caring people can be in each other’s lives. This story is lush in scenery and the details of nature: bees, lichen, permafrost, etc. with interesting characters. Well narrated and hopeful.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @BrillianceAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook for review purposes. Publication date: 9 September 2025.

My honest review was provided in exchange for an ALC on NetGalley. Thank you, Brilliance Publishing, for giving me this ARC! And apologies for any character names I may have misheard and/or misspelled.

Rating: 3.75/5

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Eila Jacobson lost her first love 5 years ago. She just lost her father a couple months ago. The one thing she has left is her Caribou, with whom she’s always felt a deep affinity. But now even they are at risk, and she will not lose them too. Maybe the secret her father held will be the answer she needs to save the last love of her life?
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Given the premise of this story, I wanted to love this book so much more than I did.

The author built a vision of Alaska that was breathtaking. The nature, the expanse, the swallowtails, the caribou; everything was described with such care and detail that I was enraptured. And I thoroughly enjoyed the scientific interludes the author wove into the plot, tying the fantastical to the science of migration patterns and plant reproduction.

The characters were beautifully complex, and broken in their own unique and relatable ways. Even after death, Stefan was so warm, and I loved experiencing the past through his journal. Eila’s resilience in the face of losing her father and her soulmate was so encouraging, and I loved the time I spent in her POV. And Sadie was a firecracker, and I loved how her force of nature drove so many characters’ development.

I’m particularly happy that I listened to this, because I think the narrator helped shape the atmosphere beautifully. Their voices for each character were spot on, and their stylistic decisions added so much to the story’s emotional impact. I think I connected with Eila more than I would have reading only because of the narrator.

For everything this story did well, though, I really struggled with the pacing. Super compelling plot points that were introduced early on weren’t really explored until much later in the story, and by that point their resolution felt a little like an afterthought. Much of the early-to-mid book is spent painstakingly exploring character backstories, and I’m not sure all of the time we spent focusing on Vern and Jackson paid off in the end. At times, it also felt like their stories were padded or lined with unnecessary filler, making it hard for me to stay engaged. Since so much of the plot centered around Vern, I ended up feeling checked out for a good portion of the plot. And that’s a real shame, because I found the story to be beautiful and moving otherwise.

Despite my qualms, though, this was a good book that I’m glad I read. The narration is fantastic, and that adds a lot to the reading experience. If you like rich, character-driven slow burns that explore the human condition, you’ll love this one.

I love reading books about the Alaskan wilderness so I just knew I had to read this one. I really loved how the author included so many facts and knowledge about the caribou and her love for wildlife shines through. Since I listened to the audiobook, it was sometimes hard to tell when the chapters were taking place and who's POV I was listening to so I wish that was made a bit more clear. I'm not sure if the physical copy denotes this on the chapter title pages or not, but it would be helpful.

I enjoyed the audio narration and Caroline Hewitt does a great job.

I enjoyed the pace of the book and the story as a whole was wonderful. I think fans of Charlotte McConaghy will love this one as to me it had a similar tone and sense of mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing | Brilliance Audio for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book with an Alaska setting and it was incredible! I loved reading about Ella’s passion for the caribou and her passion to try to help them. I was rooting for her to get answers personally and professionally after losing the two most important people in her life. Of course the dog that accompanied her on the journey tugged hard at my heartstrings.