Tess of the road is an unusual, funny, and moving exploration of a woman's place in the fantasy world created by Rachel Hartman. I felt compelled to keep reading the book and enjoyed all of the adventures that Tess got up to on the road. The book is unexpected and engaging, going into Tess's history and how it will shape her future. It's nice to follow a heroine's path, especially one who is stubborn and angry, and not skilled at martial arts.

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: This one I was so excited to get to read I loved this author's other books where this spun from called Seraphina!

Check out author's other books? YES
Recommend this book? YES

Notes and Opinions: This book was a little slower than I would have liked but so were the Seraphina titles. These are books that are a slow burn are all about the story! They are some of the most amazing stories that I have read that come alive with magic and fantasy! This one although not directly about dragons is a coming of age story that I couldn't put down. I do wish that we would have gotten more dragons like the other books but this one was still very good. If you are looking for something to take your time with then check this one out the story won't do you wrong.

Go Into This One Knowing: Another great story!

This book was reviewed by Lauren

When I requested this, I didn't realize this was related to another series. I ended up picking through the comments on goodreads and finding that most people suggested reading the other books before this one to better understand how the world worked.
I won't lie - I was a little bit lost but other than that I really did enjoy this book. It was well written and I really liked Tess. I found the character to be real. This book had some triggers throughout, but none that really affected me to a substantial degree. I just wasn't quite expecting them, you could say.

I came upon Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman not realizing it was the spin-off to Seraphina. Although it's been a while since I read Seraphina, the fact that it was a spin-off definitely intrigued me.

Tess of the Road is told from the perspective of Tess, the younger sister of Seraphina and the sister who is neither a saint or sweet. She's bold and adventurous, which often gets her in trouble. Because of the mistakes she has made in the past, she's doomed to a future of either being a caretaker or staying at a nunnery, a future she most definitely does not care for. With a little nudge from Seraphina, she quits her family to seek an adventure like in the story her mother used to read to her. On the way, she meets an old friend of hers she lost touch with long ago: a quigutl named Pathka. From there, they travel the road by foot to seek the World Serpent.

The best way to describe Tess of the Road is conscious. Told in third person, it does an excellent job of capturing both the flaws and the positive traits of characters. While Tess is made out to be audacious and adventurous, she is in no way valiant. She tries not to be the selfish and careless person she comes off as to others, but she still makes choices for herself sometimes. Although Tess thinks she has sacrificed her time to laboriously seek a suitor for her twin sister, her sister also gets a say on the situation from her perspective. Even Seraphina is flawed, constantly stealing the show, but she also proves herself to be considerate.

It's all very raw, and the story is eye-opening and mature in that way and more. For example, one of the bigger themes in the story is sexuality. This is very much a coming-of-age story, but the growing up is mostly through reflection on the past. Although Pathka is older, the creature is not made out to be wiser. Both Tess and Pathka get a chance to reflect throughout their search for the World Serpent. There's a parallel between the two friends' stories, even though they have been separated for years.

One aspect of the story I had hoped for more of is the dragon culture. Dragon culture plays a decent part in the bildungsroman and in the plot, but I didn't feel immersed in it. The focus of the book seems to be more on the people Tess meets and on her reflection of her relationship with the man she had once cared for. I was also expecting more of a swash-buckling adventure and a more casual-building romance, but I did enjoy reading about what she learns from her encounters.

The world-building, despite the fact that I wanted more of it, comes at a good, casual pace. I especially love the imagery, which is meant to be more gritty than elegant. Instead of shoving the fact that Tess is a bold character and not at all the perfect protagonist down readers' throats, Hartman writes gorgeous lines like this one:

It was past midsummer, and the plum tree was dropping fruit onto the bricked walkways, little plummy bombs that fermented in the sun and got the bees drunk.
Although I wouldn't approve of everything Tess does, I do find her a relatable character. Another thing that makes this book different is that the ending is not your typical happily-ever-after. Luckily, there's a sequel because it has left me with some unanswered questions. All in all, I rate this story 3.5 stars, not bad for a book that is more laid-back than what I typically enjoy reading.

I received this advanced reader copy from the publishing company in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 15%

Blogger Problem #74: Being blinded by the excitement surrounding an ARC that you accept it without completely thinking it through.

Seraphina was a real struggle for me to get through, especially when all my blogger friends were raving about it. Despite this, I still picked up Shadow Scale (Seraphina #2) and ended up DNF-ing. Even though Tess of the Road is not classified as Seraphina #3, it really is. It’s set in the same world, most of the same characters, just focusing on a different main character. Same series, spin-off series, either way… I really should have skipped over this one. Hartman’s world building is spectacular but I continue to struggle with the pacing of her stories.

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I received a copy through Net Galley in exchange for review. I give it 3.7 stars.

Tess of the Road is a young woman's somewhat rambling, heart breaking journey of self discovery.
The strange thing was the longer I read this, the more the plot made sense, the more I finally understood what Tess had been through, that her family was as much to blame for her life and issues, and rather traumatic events, as her own decisions.
Faced with no way out of a convent or looking after her sister's future children, forbidden to marry, Tess has not much a future, and the events of her past, heartbreaking and sad that someone so young should lose so very much.
She runs away and truly finds herself and what she's capable of, what she can do with her own hands and her two feet, that perhaps the world has much more to offer her, she just has to make her own way and "walk on".

I have to say having read at least one of Rachel Hartman's books, I had mixed feeling about this. It was a struggle for 60% of the book to will myself to keep going, she waits so long to fully explain the events that truly sent Tess into her situation. I found in the end it was worth the read, I might even decide to follow Tess on her next leg of the journey. But for some reason this really felt like a prequel to me, it took so long setting this tale up.
If you haven't read Seraphina, this world and the creatures that inhabit it, especially the language and words made up will be more difficult to grasp. I'd read that first to give yourself an idea if you'd want to continue with Tess's story.

This was a story that truly kept my interest with secrets unfolding continually! I enjoyed the flashbacks to explain the situation at the moment! In so many ways I could relate to Tess! Poor Tess finds herself in sticky situations and tried to find her way over and over! An excellent read!! I would definitely recommend this book!! Thank you for allowing me to read and review this book!!

I went into this story completely blind to the world and the characters. I loved following Tess on her journey, especially since we get to have a peek into her life as a child and her relationships with her parents and siblings. She is an incredibly complex and emotional character, and the way that Rachel weaves the issues into Tess's everyday life was nuanced and natural. I never felt like I was being hit with all these issues or moments of the past, despite the fact that once you realize what happened in Tess's past reader's can see how it has been a part of the book from the beginning.

The world is colorful and interesting. I have to admit I was slightly confused by the different people/ species (like dragons and half dragons) and the way they fit, or didn't fit, into the society. By the end I had a good idea but I think that reading the previous two books would have really helped with this in particular. There were also times I thought the plot dragged on a little, and though sometimes it really worked, since Tess is kind of figuring it out as she goes, as I neared the end I found myself trudging along slightly. That being said I thought that the medieval ideas mixed with the old lore of Saints and dragons and magic was unique and enchanting. Seraphina's character was especially fun to experience and helped set up all the complexities of this world.

If you were a fan of the previous two books, I can't help but think you will love this one as well. From what I could tell, Seraphina and Tess are very, very different women, but have shared traits of strength and resilience and intelligence that any fantasy-loving feminist will love. I also think that if you liked Unrooted, you will like this book, and probably this series (if you haven't read it already.

Smart and enchanting, Tess of the Road is a magical story of a woman who doesn't know where she's going but pushes forward anyway, taking each and every obstacle in stride and still finding a way to stay true to herself and the things of her past that has shaped her into the woman she is.

Feeling thrilled to say that I loved this book so very much. I have been waiting years to read this story. And I finally had the chance to do so now. It did not disappoint. I have so much to share about this book. I don't know how I will get to it all. But I will try my best. This book was pretty much amazing. But also very heartbreaking.

Which makes me feel the need to mention that this book is full of subjects that can be hard to read about. Tess has been through a lot. And it's mentioned often. It's so heartbreaking and cruel, yet I handled it pretty well. I loved reading her story. But yes. It is very sad. And full of details at times. But also very, very worth reading.

I am giving this precious book five stars. Because I loved it like crazy. Tess of the Road is a companion book to Seraphina and Shadow Scale. Set in the same world, around five years after the end of the second book. And it's written from the point of view of Tess, whom is the human half-sister of Seraphina. I also need to mention that despite the very stunning dragon on the cover of this book, this story is not about dragons. Although there are dragons in this world, they are not really included in this book. And I didn't mind that at all. I would call this a soft-fantasy novel, if that's a thing. It focus almost entirely on Tess and her journey to kind of find herself. Still fantasy, but not that much of it. I did not mind, though. Because I loved Tess like crazy. I loved her story.

This book tells the story about Tess. She is sixteen years old for most of the book, though a lot of it focus on her past as well, with some flashbacks telling what she was up to as a child and such. And all of those scenes were wonderful to read about. I mean, some of them just about killed me with heartbreak, but they were written excellently. At first, Tess is very much an awful person. She gets drunk every day, she lashes out in anger towards everyone. But she has her reasons for this. And those reasons are good. And rude.

The way Tess was in the beginning of this book was a bit hard to read about. She was so broken. And she had such angry thoughts at times too, towards her family especially. I can't help but say that I really didn't like the way she saw Seraphina. Hmph. As she wasn't like that at all in her own books. But I guess that is how a siblings views someone, lol. And oh, their poor father. My heart is aching for him. But gosh, Tess's mother. I cannot with this woman. She deserves death. Cannot help but say so. She was horrible.

There is so much I wish to share about this book, and I'm probably going to share a bit too much, but not many spoilers. Just details that I wish to talk about. Like Tess and her family. She has a twin sister, whom I cannot decide how I felt about. She was kind and sweet at times, yet pretty blind too. And just not kind enough, not the way Tess needed her. And their mother. It kills me, how she made Tess be as broken as she was. And their father. Sigh. He simply was not there. I liked the glimpse of her grandmother, though.

Not going to talk much about the plot of this story, or what happens to make it so. Just a little bit. Tess and her family has been going through some hard years, because the truth of her dad and his earlier dragon relationship came out. Because of this, Tess has had to work hard for her or for her sister to marry well, to save their family. Tess ended up broken because of something to do with this. Her sister ends up married, and probably happy with that. And then Tess ended up running away after her sister's wedding, all alone.

This book is about Tess being on the road. Running from her family, running from her past life. She is pretty awful at the beginning of the book, yet I could always see her heart, and she wasn't that bad. But she changes a lot on this journey. It takes about a year, and so much happens in between. She meets a lot of people, and I loved that a lot. Always interesting and exciting. And there is so much to learn about Tess too. Getting to know her past, piece by piece, it just about killed me. Was so good, but so sad too.

I am not going to say what has happened to her. But know that it was bad. And it was not just one thing. There was a bunch of things. And I can't believe how strong Tess is, to manage to bear it all. Yeah, she handles it badly at times, but she's still so strong and so fierce. I loved her the most. She also travels with a childhood friend, Pathka, whom is a quigutl. I would describe him as a mix between animal and dragon. They are human sized, I think, and pretty ugly. But Tess understands his language, and he is her friend.

I'm not going to mention too much about everything that happens. As I don't have the words to describe everything, and I have already written way more than I should have, haha. But yeah. I loved this book a lot. And I enjoyed reading about Pathka too, though I must admit that he was all kinds of disgusting and awful at times. Yet a good friend most of the time, and fun to read about too. Though he was a horrible mother, just saying. But still. This book was full of interesting and awesome characters to get to know.

I almost forgot to mention something about this book that was very important. Glad that I remembered it just in time. These books is part history too, seems like they are set very far in the past. While this wasn't such a big thing in Seraphina, it was a huge deal in this book, and in the world of Tess. There is a lot of focus on women having to marry, being virgins, and such. It was pretty heartbreaking to read about, and some of it made me so angry too. But it was all very fascinating to read about as well. I enjoyed all of it.

I cannot help but mention that there are small parts of Seraphina in this book too. Not her point of view, sadly, but there are views of her. And I got to know a bunch of things that have happened with her, and I am beyond happy with it all. Eee. I mean, I want more, much more, of course. But so happy with these small things. A little bit confused about some of it, but it was amazing to get to know more details about Seraphina and her life. It made my heart so happy. Hoping that she will be a little bit in book two as well.

There is not a lot of romance in this book. And there is an important reason for that. And so I did not mind at all. Though there are much more hints of it near the end of the book, and oh, I really do ship Tess with this person. Yet I cannot help but feel like it will not happen by the end of this duology. Hmph. How rude. But either way, I'm super excited to know for sure how this series will end. I adore Tess. And cannot wait to read how her story ends. I'm sure it is going to be all kinds of epic and amazing. I am so excited for it.

I really think you should all read this book. Tess of the Road was everything I was hoping it would be and more. I loved every moment of this stunning book. Reading about Tess, learning her story, all of it was so incredible. I can't wait for the second and final book. I need to know more about this precious girl. Though I fear it might kill me a bit too. And I can't wait for it. This isn't a usual fantasy book, and I didn't mind that one bit. I'm hoping you will all give it a chance. Because it was truly wonderful. I loved this book so much.

I loved this book. I love this book. I LOVE this book!

I adored Seraphina and Shadow Scale, but at times I felt like they dragged. This flew by and was just endearingly beautiful. I'm always drawn to flawed characters, but I fell in love with Tess. At the start of the story she is broken and watching how she puts herself back together took my breath away. And not for nothing, it's huge to find a YA book that deals with how toxic abstinence-only education can be.

This arc was provided to me for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

First, I was unaware of what I was getting into when I read this book. It was only until half way that I realized there was a previous book series. I would have liked to have read that series before I started this one. Just so I could have understood the background of the world more. However, that is my fault and mine alone.
I did in fact enjoy this book as it had all the makings of my kind of novel. It had adventure, dragons, romance, and some good fights. I really liked Tess as a character as the story evolved because she slowly lets you in a little bit at a time. You think you know exactly who she is until you see a little bit more.

This book revolves around Tess, the eldest daughter who has somehow shamed herself and now must help her sister marry. Tess being the troublemaker she is causes a scene at the wedding and her family attempts to send her to a nunnery. That is when Tess finally decided to leave it all behind and run. Tess has a grand adventure before her and we meet some very entertaining characters.

Tess’s background is what hit me the hardest, we are led to believe it was one thing, but, it’s not. I appreciated Tess because she wanted to be more than what the men in her life wanted her to be. She never would have been meant for a mundane lifestyle.

If you like dragons and long adventures, then I would highly recommend this book to you. The characters alone are worth the read.

I found this book to be a little underwhelming. Perhaps if I had read Seraphina, I would have been more invested in the world, but the book felt like it relied a lot on having already read that series.

Tess of the Road

By Rachel Hartman.

Audacious, irrepressible, brave and intelligent Therese Dombegh, at the age of six and a half, saved the life of a quigutl. The quig, whose name was Pathka, was found laying eggs in the cellar of the Dombegh home. It was in distress. The last egg, which was larger than the rest, was stuck its cloaca. Without aid, Pathka was going to die if someone did not help get the egg out. Tessie, despite the awful smell, tenderly cared for the lizard, soothing and lubricating the partially exposed egg. But when told to press on the quig's sternum, she poked a bit too vigorously, causing a the quig a great deal of pain. Thankfully, that popped the egg free. It was the first time she saved Pathka's life and the beginning of a long friendship.

As a daughter of the lesser nobility, Tess was considered both a financial asset and a liability. An asset so long as she remained a virgin before marriage; a liability if otherwise. Exuberant, willful and inquisitive Tess did not follow the course of "honor." And so, at seventeen, having ruined herself, she had but two options, life as a nun, or as her sister's servant. Near to despair, she chose neither.

Tessie fled a domineering and unforgiving mother, a weak, unsuccessful father, two insulting younger brothers and Jeanne, her ever needful twin sister. She shook free of a society so hidebound and judgmental that by comparison England's Victorians would seem like drunken libertines. On the road, Tessie will reconnect with Pathka, and save his life again. Together they will seek the "Most Alone."

“Tess of the Road,” is set in the world of the author’s wildly successful duology “Seraphina” and “Dark Scale.” Like them, it is a wonderfully imagined fantasy, but it is also something more profound. It is a cautionary tale for young women and a marker for adults who are dealing with the kind of problems precocious girls make for themselves. All in all, “Tess of the Road” carries this solemnity well and remains a sweet piece of storytelling. The world is vibrant, filled with dragons, serpents, people, and scenes that must make lesser authors have fits. The dialog is realistic, or appropriately fanciful, where needed. In short, this is the kind of book that makes reading fantasy novels such pleasure.

Highly recommended with this warning: drunkenness, teen pregnancy, lying, and thievery play significant parts in the story.

Random House Books and NetGalley provided an advance digital copy for this review.

I was attracted to this book since I loved the character, Seraphina, and the two previous books in the series. Tess is Seraphina's half-sister, unhappy at home and has an independent streak and a drive for adventure. From the title of the book, it's no mystery that Tess strikes out on her own on an adventurous road trip,disguising herself as a member of the clergy and meeting interesting characters along the way. An enjoyable read.

I received a free e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you publisher!

5/5 Stars

This is harsh, real and incredibly complex book; it is not for someone who likes action or is looking for a mindless adventure. This book goes back to the classic world building and the tradition of the 19th century bildungsroman. It focuses mainly on the identity of a woman in a patriarchal world and reminds me a lot of Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and if you know Hardy – you know that this book is not for the feint hearted. Hartman is not afraid to explore difficult social issues such as an identity of a ‘fallen woman,’ self-identity, depression, jealousy and self-discovery.

We join Tess at 16 years of age and embark on a journey with her. The book is written in flashbacks, both past and present and in it we go on a self-discovery journey. I think one of the reasons why I loved this book so much was because I related to Tess a lot. She is flawed, she is burdened with responsibility not only for herself, but for that of her sister. One of my best friends, Susan, said it great at the end of her review (see here) that being an immigrant, where family is everything and you need to sacrifice yourself for the family unit – it is often seen as callous and selfish to choose yourself. It is a topic which I still find myself struggling with and not feeling guilty about putting myself and my won happiness first. I also think that it is a topic that is inherent to both females and males, especially in any family centered society, but is not discussed in today’s fantasy literature, or I should say it is not discussed a lot (Sanderson deals with it in his Stormlight Archive). Hartman really tackles these issues head on and does an incredible job of it.

I will admit that I have no read the previous two books by Hartman, however, after reading Tess I just purchased both.

I highly recommend this book for anyone struggling with self-identity, self-discovery and acceptance. This is not a book for those who like fast paced adventures.

Like many girls today, Tess is angry. Angry at her family for their mistreatment, at herself for past mistakes, and at the male-dominated society in which she feels trapped. When she runs away, she has only a vague idea of where she’s going, but ends up tagging along on an old friend’s quest to find a mythical serpent. What follows is not exactly an adventure, but rather a pilgrimage, in which Tess makes peace with herself as a woman in a medieval society whose expectations of women she is unwilling and unable to fulfill. In Tess of the Road, Rachel Hartman masterfully spins the redemption story of an unlikable female protagonist, with the ultimate message that being a girl is not a failure requiring redemption.

Tess of the Road is an exciting adventure. I loved the character of Tess. She had so many flaws and shortcomings and yet she persevered through it all, even when all she could do is take each day at a time. Every teen girl should read this book to realize that you don't have to be perfect or overcome each obstacle effortlessly.

DNF at 50%. The plot was slow and it didn't seem like it was going anywhere. I did enjoy some of the references to Seraphina, and the characters started out intriguing then I got bored.

This is closer to a 3.5 than a 3-star book, but just not quite enough to bump it to a 4.

Cards on the table: I love Rachel Hartman’s Goredd universe. I remember first picking up Seraphina on a whim back in late 2012 and was swept away by Hartman’s elegant prose and richly-imagined world. From the creative way in which Hartman introduced and created her dragons within the human society to the way in which she introduced and integrated Goredd’s religion and its various Saints, as well as all the way to the characters.

After all, a rich world is nothing without characters to fill it, especially characters in whom I am deeply invested. I loved Seraphina and all the other characters that circled around her, whether it be her dragon uncle, the prince, her close friend — it didn’t matter, I was invested. They were without doubt one of the strongest elements of the novel, not only due to their complexity, but in just how much I cared for them; I wanted nothing but happiness for them. It made Shadow Scale one of my most anticipated reads of 2015, and getting access to the ARC of that novel was enough to get to cancel any and all plans I had and hunker down to read the entire novel in one sitting.

So getting the chance to return to Goredd, and from a different perspective…yeah, it didn’t take much to convince me I needed to read this book.

The first thing that struck me while reading Tess of the Road is how I had completely forgotten about Seraphina’s family. I had vaguely remembered her father, but — and I’m ashamed to admit it — her stepmother, stepsisters, and stepbrothers had entirely slipped my mind. I didn’t remember them at all. Needless to say, it took me a moment to realize that Tess was, in fact, one of Seraphina’s younger stepsisters.

And, unfortunately, Tess is no Seraphina. I feel it’s unfair to say as, of course, there’s no way that Tess could be Seraphina — to start with, she’s not half-dragon — and so to compare these two protagonists is an exercise in futility. They are incredibly different from each other, which is put into even sharper relief when Seraphina herself actually shows up, more than once to my great delight. The problem with Tess is not necessarily that she’s unlikeable, but that, for me, she’s grating. At first, I couldn’t grasp how Hartman could have written a character like Tess, one who was such a drag to follow and who did nothing to either endear me to her or invest me in her journey. Of course, the entire point of Tess of the Road is that it’s more a journey of inner self-discovery and healing more than any sort of plot, so starting with Tess as she is, it’s worth it to follow her journey. I still never quite warmed to her, but I most certainly softened towards her, especially by the end when she had come to terms with herself.

Also, I just had to add: wow, I really loathed Tess’s mother (Seraphina’s stepmother). I really, truly dislike that woman.

But moving on to the plot…there isn’t much of one. That’s not necessarily to the novel’s detriment as it makes it fairly clear that this is more an inner journey of self-discovery for Tess than it is a true road-trip novel of adventures — there is a road trip, and there are adventures, but they’re not necessarily the novel’s true focus. While that certainly does drag the pacing of what I had hoped would be a faster, more “fun” novel, part of me was willing to continue powering through some of the many points where I considered pausing my reading. Of course, I know that if I pause a Goredd book and then attempt to go back to it, it’ll be a struggle, and so, rather like Tess on her Road — capitalized by our heroine herself — I continued walking on.

Ultimately, this book lacked, for me, some of the magic of what made the original Seraphina duology so wonderful and borderline mind-blowing; there was a spark that just wasn’t present, and it made Tess of the Road a far more difficult reading experience than either of its predecessors. That being said, I still think that Tess of the Road is a phenomenal story of self-discovery and learning to live with, as well as love and forgive, oneself. The raw, personal journey of Tess is one that may not always endear the reader to her, but will certainly strike home and true with more than one person.

It just takes a bit of effort to get to that point.

Tess Dombegh has always known she was bad—if her mother’s constant reminders of her sinful nature hadn’t been proof enough, her unwed pregnancy certainly was—but she’s spent the past few years trying to make up for it by looking after her twin sister and helping her find a husband. At the wedding, faced with the prospect of becoming a caretaker for her sister’s future children and being forever tied to her family, she makes a series of mistakes that have her mother threatening to send her to the nuns. Tess makes a different choice. She runs, disguising herself as a man as she begins her journey down the road. She soon crosses paths with her childhood friend Pathka, a quigutl—a dragon-like creature—who reminds her of their early obsession with the guigutl stories of the World Serpents, great creatures larger than dragons with incredible, mythic abilities. Together, they begin their search for the World Serpents, but Tess still has a lot of walking—and figuring out—to do before she’ll be ready to face the dangers and challenges of the road.

I didn’t actually realize this was a companion book to another series (Seraphina) until after I’d already started it, but I found it easy enough to keep up. Hartman does a good job of introducing the world and the characters without assuming you’ve read the other books or relying too heavily on their plot. I imagine reading the Seraphina duology would give you a deeper understanding of some of the characters and background (and Seraphina does play a role in the novel as Tess’s older sister), but it never feels like you’re diving into the middle of a series.

One of the most interesting aspects of Tess of the Road was the rich world building. Hartman has constructed a really fascinating fantasy world with dragons who are cold and analytical, quigutl, the dragon-like creatures who are generally discounted and misunderstood by both humans and their dragon cousins, and the humans who live alongside them all.

I also enjoyed Tess and Pathka—arguably the two main characters—and their unusual friendship, though both of them got on my nerves occasionally. Tess essentially came from a background of abuse (her mother used harsh religious beliefs to convince Tess she was inherently bad and worthless) and her upbringing and a series of other awful events from her teenage years which are revealed slowly throughout the course of the novel combine to give her a good deal of trauma and self-doubt / loathing. In particular, she has a lot of ingrained beliefs about the sinfulness of women and their bodies that—while I could definitely understand and relate to having grown up in the South—I also wished could’ve been addressed more head on and also contradicted more readily and frequently by other characters, if not Tess herself. Tess does mostly come to realize these teachings are wrong and misguided by the end of the book, but it took so long to get there and with so little push back against those ideas that I sometimes found that disheartening.

The book also—I must admit—seemed to drag on in places. It’s a long book, and in some ways not a lot happens. Tess has plenty of encounters on the road, but most of them aren’t really relevant to the overall plot. That's fine, of course, but sometimes it made the book feel very slow and a bit disconnected.

All in all, it was an enjoyable book, and I particularly liked the world building, but the pacing was just a difficult issue for me to get past. When a long book feels long, it’s generally not one I’m going to want to come back to.