The River's Daughter by Bridget Crocker (audiobook)

genre: memoir

Bridget Crocker grew up along the Snake River in a trailer that was small but at least felt like home.  The river and the woods nearby were her world but when her mom decides that she's finished with Bridget's step-father, life takes a pivot that will lead to both abuse and an inner strength to get herself where she knows she can feel stable: out on the river.

This memoir is both about Bridget's traumatic upbringing as well as her journey to becoming a river rafting guide and outdoors-lover.  Her story covers continents and cultures and the kind of white water that requires a skill set that Bridget starts to acquire.  It is hard to read about how many of her relationships are toxic and even her own decisions sometimes were super painful, but her stories are interesting and unique.  I never knew how much there was to know about being a river rafting guide, but having myself run the Snake River on the same stretch that she guided, I liked what I learned.  The ending is SUPER rushed, almost startling, but it didn't ruin the story.