I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

Amazing book. Engaging fron the first pages. Justina really knows how to build a world and get right to the point.

As much as I wanted to love this book, I just couldn’t get into it. I found it confusing and lacking in explanation of the magical rules and world building. The story concept was very interesting and the characters were relatable, but it took too long to get into and I kept putting it down and having to remember what was happening when I returned.

The novel has an interesting concept that links magic and the practising of it in American history, colonialisation, and a little of the slave trade. It took me a while to get into the story because of the writing style and the long descriptions.

This was a really interesting mix of real life and fantasy magic that it felt seamless. I really enjoyed this book. The main character was strong and smart. One thing I wished for more of was more character development of side characters. Other than that it was a super fun read.

I actually loved this even more than I did the first two books I read by Ireland. I love the way she creates characters and builds worlds, and I'm just going to have to get my hands on everything she's written. I also really hope she writes more in this world, because it is fascinating.

The characters feel very real, and I love how the magic has a cost and how it's up against science, and just the way that industrialism is fighting tradition and how everyone is grappling with it. The ways people find around the problems created for them, and that it doesn't gloss over the real problems of racism, even in an alternate history. Also so good to have a cast of characters that is pretty much entirely POC.

Justina Ireland is AMAZING! After reading Dead Nation and Deathless Divide I knew I was going to be a fan. Rust in the Root, a historical fantasy and reimagining of 1930s America, is so creative! Throughout I was trying to connect the factual events to the the fantastical ones in the book. I wish these were used in school to connect to history! I could see students being so engaged in these novels.

Rust in the Root is a dark fantasy with an unnerving mystery component. This was my first read my Ireland and I enjoyed it so much. I loved how the text challenged misogynistic ideas and other social issues while not drifting away from the plot.

This book had a lot of good things about it. But it was so confusing and complicated that I couldn’t get through. I will say though that also listened to it on audio and was not a fan of the narrator. This might have been better if I had just stuck to the digital copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I'm not usually a fan of historical books, but Justina Ireland has a way with words that sucks me in and truly captivates me. Plus, the added fantasy elements are definitely what keep drawing me in. Although there were a lot of plot points, and at times I found the story to be confusing, it drew me in and kept me flipping pages until the very end. All in all, a wonderful book that I would recommend to anyone who read Dread Nation, and to anyone who likes historical fantasy.

The Dread Nation duology is one of my favorite fantasy series so I was overjoyed to see Justina Ireland tackling historical fantasy again. I love the way Ireland writes teenagers. They're flawed, relatable, and so loveable. The magic components of Rust in the Root were difficult to envision from time to time (particularly the blight monsters), but I can honestly say I've never read anything like this book. Rust in the Root confirms that Justina Ireland is one of my must-read authors.

I think historical fantasy might be my new favorite genre. Justina Ireland has crafted an incredibly engaging character-driven story interwoven with phenomenally creative world-building. Set in 1930s-era New York, our MC is a black queer unlicensed mage doing her best to find work during a nation-wide prohibition on unlicensed magic. There’s a dash of urban fantasy and a splash of social commentary mixed up with a cast of complex, diverse characters.

I read a combination of audio and e-book. While I enjoyed the narrator immensely, I found the audio format confusing and ultimately had to switch to e-book as the narration failed to address the fact that there are photographs at the beginning of each chapter that depict something related to the upcoming photo. I didn’t have any problems with the inclusion of the photos themselves, and Ireland talks about how they were her original inspiration for writing the book. However, the captions themselves and the way they were incorporated into the audiobook was incredibly disruptive and confusing.

The tone of the captions was very nonchalant and failed to consistently match the tone of the upcoming or preceding chapter. This was incredibly jarring and had the effect of pulling me out of the story. Additionally, the captions themselves were fairly juvenile and followed the format of a diary entry rather than a report, which is how each chapter ended. I would have preferred a more clinical descriptive caption to allow the reader to still appreciate the photo without severing the tension that had been building and driving me to keep reading.

The way these captions were handled in the audiobook was incredibly frustrating and nonsensical. The narrator would just seamlessly jump from chapter to caption without informing the reader that they were hearing a photo caption. It took me at least half of the book to figure out what was happening. Once I switched to e-book, the problem resolved itself but at that point I had gotten attached to the phenomenal narration. There really wasn’t a satisfying fix.

Additionally, other than a few references to her camera, we never see the MC take a photograph or even talk about having taken one or wanting to. Instead, there are just photos with quaint little captions describing the photo. I love the idea, but the execution of the captions left a lot to be desired in any format the book took.

The book uses a mixed-media format, a brief interview with another character describing their impression of the events we had just read at the end of each chapter, that I really enjoyed and thought was well-utilized to add tension and a sense of mystery to the story. There were many times where the interview kept me turning the page, wanting to understand more about what I had just heard. However, this pacing was then undercut by the photo captions that would directly follow it.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and these characters. I don’t know that there is a sequel in the works but I would love to read it. Thank you to NetGalley, Justina Ireland, Balzer + Bray, and Harper Collins Childrens for the e-arc. **NOTE: This is incredibly late because I waited for the strike to end before reading any of my Harper Collins arcs.**

This is a fantastic historical fantasy that establishes a creative, expansive world, powerful characters, and a thrilling plot. Readers won’t want to put it down.

This book started out nice and interesting, a fascinating alternate history where things were explained as being via magic. Which was cool. I liked how creative it was.
And then it went full horror. And I am here for this. I liked the perspectives. I liked the worldbuilding. I loved the characters.
And seriously, this went full horror.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC of this title. I enjoyed reading this title. Would recommend for my library.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's Books for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Laura Ann Langston is a 17 yo living in 1937 NYC trying to make it as a mage. She gets a job with the Bureau of Arcane's Conservation Corps which is trying to stop a blight from taking over the country.

Justina Ireland does an amazing job mixing history with magic while addressing lots of important social issues. A great read.

Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland - 4/5

Rust in the Root is a lovely story occurring in 1937 following Laura Ann Langston as she endures a world divided. There are some who work with mystical arts and there are some who do not. Living amongst a divide like this is sure to cause strain and temptation to those who are walking the line.

This story started out slow at first but please do not let that turn you away. Once the world opens up and the characters come into play it becomes a great story that will keep you entertained till the end. I loved the added historical events and the vintage photographs, they truly added to the feel of the story.

[ARC REVIEW]
This was a great historical fantasy!
The beginning was slow, tbh I almost gave up.
I am glad I continued tho bc the story that unfolded was just amazing! There’s a lot of information, a lot going on, but to me it wasn’t overwhelming at all.

I loved the Dread Nation duology and have been impatiently waiting for a new book by Ireland. This was worth waiting for! Alternate history with magic, strong Black women and fantastic, complex world building. It’s brilliant how Ireland incorporated actual historical events and issues such as systemic racism into the story, and the vintage photographs were perfect! It was pretty dark at times, but I wasn’t ready for it to end.