A pleasant surprise - not at all what I expected, but somehow more wonderful. Not your typical fantasy, YA or otherwise, Tess of the Road (a very loose retelling of Tess of the d'Urbervilles) focuses on the literal and metaphorical journey of a young woman who doesn't fit in, who is forever too much and at the same time not enough, who has been treated cruelly by those she loves yet takes the blame on herself and the weight of the world on her shoulders. This occasionally meandering tale is her odyssey to reclaim herself, and along the way challenge the societal misogyny and rape culture she (and we) is surrounded by. I loved Tess in all her stubborn, brave, frustrating glory - so relatable, so multi-dimensional. The cast of supporting characters was good as well, especially the quigatl!

This was a really great book. I wish it hadn't taken me so long to read it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing it with me!

Unfortunately, I was not able to get into this story. I was very excited to read it but I could not connect with the characters. The writing style wasn't for me. I know a lot of other people will enjoy the story. I am very happy I got the opportunity to read this book for review. I will still recommend it to other readers, The cover is absolutely gorgeous as well.

This was a nice dive back into a world I remembered. I absolutely loved Seraphina, but wasn't too much into the sequel, Shadow Scale. I love stories about unconventional girls who are just trying to figure out their place in the world, and throw some dragons in there, I'm sold. That said, I will definitely say this is more of a character-driven novel than a plot-driven novel (as I realized when I recommended it to some friends and they put it down because they were looking for something more action-oriented with dragons). Content warning: this book does explore the repercussions of sexual harassment, rape, emotional and physical abuse.

I received this e-ARC as part of the 2019 Hugo Voter Packet, as the book was nominated for the Lodestar award, and it became one of my new favorite YA fantasy novels! I hadn't read the Seraphina books, the author's previous duology in the same world, and while there's obviously history there that connects to this story, I felt that Tess of the Road was compelling on its own.

This is, first and foremost, a character-driven story. Tess's older half-sister Seraphina was clearly a "YA heroine" who is special in ways that exclude her from some of their strict society's rules, and Tess is NOT, and she is bitter and resentful about it. What Tess IS is a CHARACTER, and I adored her utterly from the moment I met her. She's a free spirit, but by the time this story begins in earnest she's a teenager who has been beaten down and has suffered incredible hardships for what are perceived as her moral failings (the backstory here is drawn out in reveals throughout the book). And so, over the first few chapters, she has this total, complete meltdown. Her parents decide to send her away to a convent, but her sister Seraphina gives her an opportunity to escape, and she does. She puts on a pair of boots, and she walks out on all of it with no clue of where she's going or what she'll do when she gets there.

Though the plot gains a through-line not long in (with a childhood friend from a non-human species called the quigutl and their search for a mythic "world serpent"), this is a story that is far more about the journey than the destination. There are several groups of people and several sub-plots that Tess encounters along the way in a sort of episodic fashion. Each of them help Tess learn something about herself and deal with her past traumas. There's this lovely moment at the end of the book where Tess has hiked on foot across two countries and realizes that at the end of it all, she has essentially the same set of life choices in front of her that she did at the beginning, but she sees them SO DIFFERENTLY because she has changed. I love when YA fantasy gets to be this character-driven and this thoughtful and this emotional.

Loved this book. Kept me up all night turning page after page. Really excited that i was able to read this.

The book tells the story of young Tess, who works with her sister at the beginning of the novel at the royal court and helps to couple her with a wealthy man so that the family can rise financially. Afterwards, Tess herself will be send to the monastery, since missteps in the past make it impossible for her to marry honorably like Jeanne. At some point, however, it becomes too much for Tess and she runs away. On her travels she meets old acquaintances and decides to search for the legendary world serpents ...
Tess of the Road is a YA fantasy novel with a likeable heroine and many feminist features. The book entertained me very well. But there is a bit of criticism: At the beginning there is fat shaming.

I got this as part of the Hugo Awards Voting Packet. I love this series! I look forward to reading the author’s next book.

I had not read Hartman's related book Serephina, but this one sounded intriguing so I gave it a chance. Until I realized that the main character, Tess, is an alcoholic who is stuck in self-pity and manages to ruin all sorts of things because she is self-destructive and not very smart. I didn't find Tess to be overly engaging of a character and I just couldn't care for her plight long enough to get immersed in the story--I don't know if it would ever have happened. I had to abandon it after several chapters because I just didn't want to spend any more time with Tess.

This book was read for a podcast interview with the author on The Skiffy and Fanty Show and was highly enjoyed by both interviewers.

I was really excited to read Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman, especially after really loving her previous books. But I've started reading this book several times since downloading it and have been unable to find my feet with the story or the characters. I hope it finds the audience it needs though and I will continue to give the author a chance with future books.

A #MeToo fantasy novel is everything I never knew I wanted! So much girl power in a genre that traditionally treats females as supporting characteds. Love, love loved it!

I really enjoyed this book. I didn't realize when I started reading it that it was tied to Seraphina by Hartman (which I haven't read but now I want to). Even without knowing all the background about Seraphina's story, there was enough of a set-up and worldbuilding in this book that it was easy to keep up with the story. Tess was a fun character, headstrong and inventive, and I really enjoyed her adventures. I look forward to reading more books set in this world.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

Guys, how can you not fall in love with a book that’s summary is “You can’t make a scene at your sister’s wedding and break a relative’s nose with one punch (no matter how pompous he is) and not suffer the consequences”? Like, seriously.

First off, the pacing of the book is not that quick. It takes it time, which surprisingly works in this case.
The characters are greats and the relationships that the book delves into are superb! The book is a fantasy but not overrun with magic at every turn.

Tess is a hot mess that you cannot help but love. She is great and her growth throughout the book is fabulous.

A copy of the book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

Tess of the Road is a fantastical, well, fantasy book! It's incredibly empowering and fun and I found myself reading large chunks of the book at once without realizing it. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a strong female driven story!

I admit, I adored this almost from the first paragraph. It has everything I want in a novel from well formed and utterly human characters to a well formed narrative with twists and turns that are utterly realistic and then beyond, offering humour, wit and verve. The fantastical elements here are actually slim pickings until you have read significantly into the novel, but this doesn’t mar the tale at all. In fact, it allows for Hartman to delve deeply into the characters and the society in which they live before you have to come to terms with anything new.

Tess is a character I couldn’t help but fall in love with; flawed and human, with baggage galore. But right from the start you get a glimpse at the irrepressible will behind her, one that cannot be ‘fixed’ no matter how many her mother might wish otherwise. As you follow her journey, you see just how cracked and fragile she is at times; how much her mothers words haunt her and how much guilt and shame she carries. That only makes the character stronger. I was amazed at how much depth Hartman put into some of the minor bit players in the game as well and how some characters you thought you had long seen the back of, re-emerge showing character development you hadn’t thought possible.

There are some undeniably difficult themes here and much of the novel would be unredeemably dark were it not for Tess’s personality and the characters she meets. There is a very heavy religious bent to the degree of actively puritanical and those are thoughts that dog Tess almost throughout. But it is challenged, and not just in Tess herself, suffering with guilt and self loathing as she is, but actively as well through dialogue at unsuspected moments. If the novel cut the fantasy aspects, it could easily slot into Victorian or Elizabethan history with barely a breath. The role of women, the taboo of sex and of the ‘fallen women’, even the roles in Court lull you into this false sense of historical security. Some aspects are almost medieval; first son heir, second son soldier, third son monk. The refreshing honesty and periodic disaster zone of the protagonist however make it more than that.

Make no mistake this is a character driven novel through and through, but Hartman never loses the sense of the narrative. Nor does she shy away from unpleasantness or aspects of life that are usually hidden under rocks. It’s wonderfully done and hooked me from the first word to the last.

I really could not get into this book. I wanted to. It seemed like everything that I would love: adventure and dragons and a kick-ass heroine, but the writing style just wasn't for me. Fans of Seraphina may like it, but otherwise I'd recommend a pass.

WELL, i guess i dint like this book.

The story sounded so compelling but at the end it was just like a blob of words, that amounted to nothing.

There was a lot of talking of doing things but not much happened.

i'm afraid this was not for me.

I fell into this book and was reluctant to leave it. Tess' journey of running away was one of running toward who she wanted to become was delightful and filled my heart.
[I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.]

Any time a book mentions dragons I'm ALL over it, and Tess of the Road was no exception. I had hoped it would go better for me than Hartman's Seraphina which I was ultimately bored by, though I hadn't realized these were in the same world until I started reading.

On the world-building front, I enjoyed Tess of the Road. Hartman outlines the world well and you can read it without tackling her other books which is a plus. Where it lost me was the plot (or lack thereof). For a 500+ page book, remarkably little actually happens.

And Tess was the strong heroine in all the worst ways. Stubborn to the point of ruining things for herself and others. Strong and rebellious but at the cost of basically everything. This is the YA heroine I was used to seeing before when someone called a character "a strong female protagonist," when strength was only seen as being physically strong and rebelling against the patriarchy. But I've over that and honestly those characters end up very one-dimensional and unrelatable, which is how I saw Tess.

I never connected with her and with the story going nowhere, I half read, half skimmed the rest of the way to the end with no intentions of returning to the series.