Now that we've gotten that elephant out of the room, while I enjoyed Tess' character, around 25% I was considering DNF'ng the book (did not finish). Why? The plot takes its time and it is unclear for a bit where the story will go. While I enjoyed Tess' character, it just felt like she wasn't going anywhere and we weren't finding out that much. BUT I am so glad I kept reading. Not only did Tess of the Road have important conversations about women who defy expectations, but also about consent (which was my personal favorite). Tess is curious, determined, and unlike any other heroine I've read. Tess doesn't know who she is away from her expectations, her family. She doesn't know where she's going, this isn't some large quest for her. More or less experiences shape her journey, but they uncover these vulnerabilities, these weak spots. And without spoiling the plot, I wanted to touch upon the themes this book brings up. I've already mentioned the idea of Tess not bending to any of the expectations we have: 'innocent', 'well behaved', 'good'. Additionally, Tess has this conversation with a friend about consent that is ABSOLUTELY relevant in a way that is both sad, but also refreshing to see. This is a story about forgiveness, about trying to make peace with your mistakes and the ones you will make.

I’m really bummed this book didn’t work out for me. I read the first third and I just couldn’t go any further.  I absolutely LOVED Seraphina so I had high hopes for Tess, but unfortunately, this sister fell short.

I really wanted to LOVE this book. But...I only liked it. Tess was great...she felt real. She had faults and scars and was trying to find her own place in the world. But she kinda came across as whiny. I get this is a companion novel to the Seraphina stories....and I haven't read those yet, so maybe that's why I was having a hard time getting into this book. I just felt like Tess was jealous and had a drinking problem and when anyone tried to help or be nice to her, she ruined it.

Tess had an emotionally difficult path to traverse since a kid. Her mother dislikes her and piled a heap of admonishments, self-hatred, and guilt on Tess through their religion, supposedly to ensure Tess is the epitome of a lady: obedient and pliant. It seems that no one in Tess’s family sought to help or understand her, no one understands her inquisitive, impulsive nature and instead made her feel ashamed of it. No one except her quigutl friend, Pathka, whom Tess often had small adventures with as a kid and who later accompanies her on the road. (Quigutls are fantastical creatures in this world. They are minorities and are often mistreated by both humans and dragons.)

I sympathized with Tess and could relate to her in some ways. Though she is a bitter and angry character when we first meet her, I quickly took a liking to her. I could see parts of myself in that bitter Tess who regrets her plight in life and often abusively berates herself for her failures. If I’d known her in real life, I’d try to help (though she’d probably refuse it) and give her a copy of Pema Chodron’s Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better. Failure is a part of life. Instead of berating oneself for failing, it’s best to accept it as a lesson, learn from it, and try again. Tess slowly grows to realize this as she travels along on the road.

For the most part, I liked the story; but that’s because I didn’t mind the protagonist and liked the world it is set in. If such wasn’t the case, I probably would have given up on the book. I gave it all 2.5 stars because as the story progressed, I started to lose interest. There’s something about the story that didn’t work for me and I can’t quite identify exactly what it is.

In Goredd women are expected to be prim and proper, men are expected to be protectors, and dragons get to be whatever they want.

Tess is a troublemaker. She makes a scene at her sisters wedding and breaks a relatives nose. Her family plans to send her to a nunnery. Tess runs away and goes on a journey across the Southlands pretending to be a boy.

She doesn't know where she's going and with a stroke of luck she runs into an old friend. Her friend, which is a subspecies of dragon, offers her protection on the road. But a secret and her past is a huge burden to carry. The memories she's trying to forget may expose her to the world.

This book came on a bit slow to me. I wasn't really a big fan of Tess as a character. This book also gets really dark and heavy to proceed with caution. But this author is a phenomenal writer! Plus holy crap that cover 😍

To start my review off, I have not read any of the other books or Seraphina. I don't believe you have to have read that series as this book follows Tess, a different character's journey than the other books. I love to read books about women off on a journey, and I love to read books where they dress as men and sneak away to do this. I find this genre to be exciting and typically full of character growth and adventure. That's what I was hoping to get from Tess of the Road. Unfortunately, I only got that in part. 

The story begins with a petulant Tess who is generally unlikeable but also aware of the fact. I found her annoying, but the story itself is very well written and I was eager to see her grow into a character I could relate to. In some ways this happened but the more I read, the more I was disappointed. Drained, even. The story moves at a glacial pace. I found Tess to be just as uncharming by the end as I found her in the beginning and I didn't like her or even begrudgingly respect her whatesoever. The story was like I said, very well written, but that failed to make up for the fact that the journey left me emotionally winded just from having to get through it. I powered through but only for the sake of writing a review that might help others. I easily would have stopped reading this around 30% if not for this fact. 

I can't say I would recommend this book to people who like exciting adventure books as I do, but I think that if you like slow moving books where you delve into how the environment and social expectations can effect a person this might be a good book for you. 

[NetGalley Review]

Thoroughly enjoy reading this book! I didn't realize it was a companion book to Seraphina until I started reading it (I haven't read the Seraphina duology as of yet) but I will now go back and read those 2 books soon!

This questing fantasy features a unique girl who marches to the beat of her own drum. Tess is a brash, bold heroine who does not fit with any of the usual fantasy heroine I really enjoyed her character. She makes no apologies for her unique personality.
For me, the story was a bit hard to get swept into, reading it was more work than it could have been. The story has a tendency to get pushed off track, and staying focused is hard. 
The characters are well developed and interesting. I did care what happened to them and want everything to turn out well. 
Overall, recommend to younger readers who have the tenacity to push through to reach the eventual happily ever after.

Not my favorite book.  The main character, Tess, is so unlikeable, it is hard to find yourself invested in her story.  Although i thought it was well written and there are some interesting plot points, I just couldn't get into it.

I haven't read either of the Seraphina books, but I still followed this one just fine. A well written book with a richly imagined world that sucked me in from the beginning. I really enjoyed this and kind of liked Tess as a character? Engrossing, fun, and at times heart breaking. 5 out of 5 stars.

This surpassed all expectations I had for this story. Tess is such a wonderfully flawed character and her healing journey broke my heart over and over again. I can genuinely say she is one of my absolute favorite main characters in a book now. 

This book tackles so many important and hard topics that I am deeply passionate about. Religion, slut-shaming, the glorification of virginity, and the dissection of rape culture. Not even to mention the poignant commentary on parenting. this book shattered me and I adored every word. Please do yourself a favor and read the Seraphina duology then dive into this book. You won't regret it!

I keep hoping for more from Ms. Hartman's books.  I love the writing, but there isn't enough action to entice my students to finish them.

This book. Where to even start with this book. I should start by saying that while this book is technically a standalone, I highly recommend you read Hartman's previous duology (Seraphina and Shatter Scale) because it establishes important world-building that is VITAL to getting everything out of this tale. 

Hartman grapples with extremely difficult and incredibly adult concepts in this story and it makes this story an important one not just for young women but also, and maybe even more important for, young men. She holds no punches in addressing rape culture and issues of toxic masculinity, and takes no prisoners. 

Tess is probably the most dynamic character I've seen in a long time. She is beautifully unlikeable and delightfully contrarian and the young adult world needs more characters like her. 

I read many reviews of this book and so many people DNF it. And that is a damn shame. There are times where the plot gets thin, but Tess and her story are WORTH IT. 

Hartman created a beautiful world in some ways absolutely contrary to ours and in others (terrible, awful, tragic ways) is completely the same. Her beautiful prose makes Tess all the more amazing and her story all the more heart-crushing. Her story is not her burden, but her story, it is hers but does not define her. And this message is of paramount importance.

DNF for now, at 30%.

The main character, Tess, has an interesting background story, and seems to be on a road to an adventure. But the problem is, I'm at 30 percent and the adventure hasn't presented itself, and Tess' past was never fully revealed either. It's just a bit slow. Also, there are hints about Tess older half sister Seraphina, and it's frustrating to read information about her when I haven't read her story. That being said, there's no confusion about the worldbuilding. You can definitely understand most of the world without reading Seraphina first.

I guess I'm just not the target audience for this series, for I've never been a big fan of strictly fantasy YA fantasy, so to speak. I reckon YA fantasy lovers would enjoy this way more than I did.

While I liked Tess's character, the story was fairly slow and I missed a lot of the elements and interactions with dragons that the Seraphina books had. I probably enjoyed the flashback scenes the most.

Tess of the Road was a book I really wanted to like. However, I did not enjoy it. If I didn't hold myself to a strict policy to finish any book I start, I would've closed this on my Kindle and never looked back.

Tess, to me, was an unlikeable heroine. In some cases, that is good because the reader is still drawn to the story to see how it plays out. In this case, I really just didn't care. I will more than likely not read any other books with her as a character.

*DNF @ 40% 

Well, I tried...

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read this early. Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me. It wasn't bad, hence the 2.5 stars rounded up to 3, it was just very weird at times. Not exactly my cup of tea.

What I liked:

1. Tess - The main character was actually pretty unique for a YA. She has a darker past than I'm used to seeing. She's also spunky and drunky and somewhat badass. I really liked her and her backstory. Just didn't care too much about her future.

2. The mysterious backstory - The main reason that I had to keep reading on was to find out what happened to Tess' baby. Unfortunately, I accidentally ended up spoiling myself for that by looking at the reviews on here. Big mistake. Because after I found out what happened, I lost my will to read on.

What I didn't like:

1. Weird words - Sure, this is a fantasy. And yes, it is supposedly another language, but there were just so many made up nonsense words like houppelande and grandiloquently. It was distracting and took away from my enjoyment.

2. Slut shaming - In this word, women are treated pretty poorly. Both from men and from women. I didn't really like how Tess and the other women would just take it. I'd have to crack some skulls if I lived in this world.

3. Pathka - He/She was just so damn literal. It was annoying. Also, he/she kinda reminded me of a Ninja Turtle, so I couldn't take him/her seriously. When the story became Tess and Pathka, I lost all interest in continuing. 

Overall, if you're hardcore into Fantasy, you may enjoy this one much more than I did. I just wish that the rest of the book would have been as awesome as the first few chapters.

TESS OF THE ROAD was an engaging coming of age story set in the same fantasy world as SERAPHINA and SHADOW SCALE. Tess is Seraphina's younger half-sister who has inherited the role of the "bad one." She's not as smart as her sister Seraphina or as gentle and good as her twin Jeanne. Raised by a mother who is a religious fanatic, Tess has never been able to do anything right. She is impulsive and imaginative in a society that doesn't reward that sort of behavior.

Her last two years have been spent at court trying to find someone to marry her sister Jeanne. Her impulsiveness has caused her to disgrace herself and she uses alcohol to bury all the memories and pain. It looks like her only life choices will be to act as her sister's support and help raise her children or head off to a convent for the rest of her life. Neither of those choices appeal. So she decides to run away. 

She meets up with her friend Pathka who is a Quigutl on a quest of his own. Since Tess's main goal has been to get away from her home and even herself, she joins him in the search for one of the seven world serpents who live deep in the earth. Most consider them to be imaginary and the many stories about them just fiction. 

While on the hunt, Tess gets a chance to meet a number of people and work in a variety of places. She comes to see the Road as a goal in and of itself. She has experiences that help her come to terms with her memories and to find her purpose in life. 

The language is lush and descriptive. The journey is fascinating. Tess's relationship with Pathka is an unusual one because few people ever bother to learn to quigutl language or philosophy. I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy story. It will reward the thoughtful reader.

I tried with this one, but ultimately, I was unable to finish it. I love Rachel Hartman, but reading this was like wading through molasses. While the characters were complex and original, particularly Tess, I just couldn't get into it enough to read more than a few chapters. The prose just caused my mind to wander and trying to decipher the meaning from certain passages left me exhausted. 

I'm disappointed in myself with this one, and I think down the road I will give it another shot. For now, after three months of struggle, I'm putting this on the shelf as DNF. Hopefully it won't stay that way forever. 

For other Hartman fans, I hope you enjoy this and show it more love than I was able to.

I've reviewed this in a video here: http://www.thebookrat.com/2018/01/lunch-chat-tess-of-road-by-rachel.html, but quick written thoughts are: 

BookRatMisty
6 days ago
For those who want my basic thoughts without the soup-noises, basically: 
I loved Tess. Some people have a problem with Hartman's plotting and pacing, but I decidedly DO NOT. I think it's brilliantly done, focusing on internal struggles and external struggles in a really nice balance. I think it has a lot to say, and handles it well. I think the personal growth story is one of the best I've read in recent memory. And I may even like it more than Seraphina & Shadow Scale (which you don't have to read first, but you probably should). So obviously, I recommend it.