great book wow. recommend having nothing else to do but read for a day or 2. the character development was great as as well as the plot.

Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

"A provocative debut novel about a marriage in crisis that asks the question: Can you ever be rooted in a home that's on the brink of collapse?"

I enjoyed Rootless, the debut novel by Krystle Zara Appiah. I liked reading about the dynamics of the relationship between Efe and Sam. I couldn't really relate to either one of them but I was still invested and enjoyed their story.

I received a complimentary ARC electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, the Author, and publisher of Ballantine Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I really liked the young protagonists in this story, but I found it so jumbled, with back-and-forth in time and change of point of view with every chapter, that despite several attempts and re-reading from the beginning I was not willing to complete the book. I guess I am just too old to want to follow such a convoluted tale.

This was was hard to read due to the pressure the main character expereinced from her family and significant others about how she was supposed to live her life, and then the family's surprise that she wasn't magically happy when she didn't listen to her gut. This is not a fun story, but a cautionary tale about the pressure and expectations placed on women.

TW: abortion

ARC from publisher via NetGalley but the opinions are my own.

This book took me a long time to get into. I am not a person that typically DNFs a book. But I feel like people will DNF it early. It didn’t grab me right away. But once the story got going, I was happy that I stuck with it.

Well written book but not a fan of the story. The main characters I find self-centered and to be honest I wasn't rooting for either of them.

Plot progression was also a bit jumpy.

I had up call it quits on this book at 80% in. The first 1/4 of the book was so promising and it just all kind of went downhill fast. The minute you try to root for either Efe or Sam, they do something insufferable and you’re left back at square one. The editor should have trimmed this down by at least 75 pages and tightened up the plot. I’m baffled that this went through multiple stages of revisions and no one said, hey these characters actually are terrible people and serve no purpose other than showing the reader they suck.

So absolutely excited to be a part of arc team for this one I thought this was a very appropriately written book and I recommended for all women

✨𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 by Krystle Zara Appiah✨

▪️ 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 is a book rooted in disruption, chaos, and miscommunication. Sam and Efe had no business being together, especially not in a serious relationship or marriage. Expectations and traditions ruin marriages and families. While clay is malleable, people are not, which is Sam’s flaw. Efe wants to be well-liked and perfect for everybody and she cannot. Lastly, the idea of mothering and motherhood is quite controversial in the book. Motherhood is not a paradise for all women and a woman is not wayward if she chooses another path.

▪️ 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲: Appiah wants readers to know that “love should be enough.” The book encourages us to look at the ways women must endure so much and then be applauded for their strength. Instead of realizing like Nanadwoa’s admission that “people—even the ones who love you—can be a weight around your neck.” Women shouldn’t have to give up their life to breathe to make others happy.

▪️𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: Of course, I did. Thanks to @libby.app and @prhaudio for the free listen. Narrators Clifford Samuel and Diana Yekinni deliver hard subjects about motherhood, parenthood, marriage, and life that uproot the core of comfort and security readers may be alarmed to hear. The audiobook is great in providing a parallel in the dual POV between Sam and Efe’s characterization, but I find both of them insufferable at times. I’m not sure how authentic the Ghanaian accents are here, but they work for me as a non-native speaker. I listened to 75% of the book solely on audio and the remainder was read with the physical copy. The audiobook is always a great addition.

▪️𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

▪️𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱: For readers of contemporary fiction, women’s fiction, African fiction, and topics surrounding mental health, postpartum depression, and family dynamics.

▪️𝗙𝗬𝗜: The ending was utterly unnecessary. I gasped, cursed, and pushed my book away.

Rootless is a captivating, emotional journey of a book that tugged at my divorced-mama heartstrings like nothing I’ve read recently. I thought the author did an amazing job balancing the perspectives of our protagonists and keeping the character arcs and narrative cohesive while also capturing the sometimes volatile, chaotic, strained journey they were on. I massively enjoyed this book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc. I also bought a hard copy for my own collection I loved it so much!

This is a book that I just can't stop thinking about ever since reading it! In the end, this book tore me apart!  I sympathized with Efe so much because it seemed as if all she wanted was help, and even after asking for it, she couldn't get it.  She tried and tried at every turn and found herself defeated even after giving her all.  Sam was great in the beginning, but I was annoyed at the fact that he kept disregarding Efe’s feelings and wasn’t really listening.  This is a very emotional book on belonging that keeps you invested in the main characters’ upbringing, her well-being, and how she is moving in the world.  This book will have you gripped up until the very end!

Oh this novel. It was so good! I really appreciated the careful thought put into these characters and the way the story unfolded was excellent. Efe pulled at my heart like I couldn't believe.

This was a difficult one for me to review. I kept waiting to feel for Sam and Efe. They just didn't grab my affections, and, in fact, I was mostly annoyed with the way they handled some of their struggles. I don't know, maybe it's me or the time I read it, but I just didn't connect with them. With a story that's this much character-driven, that's essential for a reader - to feel the characters, to understand them, even if they are very different (especially if they're very different in very different circumstances).

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read it!

I loved Rootless and how it led us into Eve’s head. I’m a sucker for a book that starts at the end and leads us to how we got there. This book did exactly that. Started us with Eve’s childhood and then how Sam and her fell in love. I also appreciated how we got to see how familial expectations played a role in their lives.

I read this book because I loved learning about the culture of Ghana in another debut book, Maame, by Jessica George. Because I’d read that one and loved it, I was prepared to meet more multidimensional characters and fascinating settings with the same type of background. In that regard, I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the characters. Efe whose childhood trauma shaped her adult choices and ability to make decisions and speak up for herself. Her husband, Sam, whose own childhood was marred by the abandonment of his mother. These characters were faced with the same problems most young people starting out face: financial, work life balance and the shift of responsibility that happens when children come along. I never doubted that Sam and Efe loved each other, even when they individually sought relationships with others. But once their daughter was born, they seemed to stop listening or hearing each other. Sam wanted a traditional family. Efe couldn’t overcome her PPD and disconnect in a way that let her give that to him.
Without giving away the wonderful plotting and weaving of the characters in their dual locations of London and Ghana, I must confess that the ending ruined this book for me. The author had the skill…she showed it throughout the novel, to deal with a complicated ending, and in my opinion, she just didn’t. As a reader, I was insulted. I felt too invested in the characters and the way they worked through issues to accept the ending choice of the author. That’s why I’m not giving my usual 5 star. Maybe she’ll get a chance to do a script for the movie version and can rewrite it! I hope so.
Thank you to Random House Ballantine for the review copy. The book is available now.

*Honest Moment* I definitely didn’t finish this book. I picked it up and it just was a little slow for me. I struggled with it, so I just figured this is a book I should put back on the shelf and return to it at a later time.

I found this read to move a bit slower than I would like but a good read overall. The journey that Efe took throughout the book was enjoyable. I liked the setup based upon dates. The book allows you to evaluate each character and their choices and ascertain whether they were in fact right or wrong in said choices.

I'm hovering between a 3 and 4-star rating. Rootless captivated me from the first page as it used the formula of setting up the story's climax early on. This method forces the reader (me) to dive further into the world orchestrated by Krystle Zara Appiah, hoping to understand how things came to be.

This past year has been quite the rollercoaster for me. My personal life didn't allow me to read as much as I WANTED to. My life had taken hold of me and didn't allow me time for... me. I promised to myself that when I did have the time to read I would try to focus on inclusivity. Why you ask?

Because inclusivity pisses off so many people.

Allow me a paragraph or so to rant... or rather, unload my thoughts. I always feel like Goodreads is a safe space since I don't expect anything I review to get many looks... anyway... I decided this year I'd be more inclusive. Much of my favorite reads are written by white men, who feature white men as heroes, in a world that's primarily full of white privilege. You know the type. An any man who's faced with impossible odds yet is not worried by the lack of funds in the bank. This every man has resources many can only dream of having. This imbalance led me to make an effort to expand and be more inclusive.

Rootless by Appiah fit the bill. Surprisingly, not in the way I expected.

Rootless opens with Sam's frantic search of his wife. His wife, Efe, has abandoned him and their toddler, Olivia, without a word. With Sam determined to find his wife, the story transitions to laying the background that leads Sam and Efe to this place we've come to meet them.

Efe and Sam are the epitome of that love story many of us have fabricated in our minds after watching Dawson's Creek, Boy Meets World, or even Family Matters. You all know, the stories that kept us enthralled knowing that these platonic best friends would some how find love with each other.

Efe and Sam don't disappoint. They eventually find each other (romantically) and begin this journey of... turmoil.

Appiah describes Rootless as a novel featuring two adults experiencing an unexpected pregnancy, similarly to a teenage pregnancy. Yet, this novel is so much more. Smack dab in the middle of a battle for women's rights is taking place in America, Rootless offers another perspective.

These characters have roots in Ghana yet their stories sound the same. In particular Efe, who feels like her life has been railroaded by an unwanted pregnancy. I'm trying not to give too much away but there are moments Efe is hard to like. Yet, she speaks to me. As a woman in my late 30's that has no children (nor wants any), I'm on Efe's side.

But I know there's Sam... and his feelings...

Ultimately, I enjoyed reading Appiah's Rootless/i>. This novel that's well written with fully fleshed-out characters kept me invested. I think this novel would be best approached in a book club setting as there are many themes that can't be overlooked or dismissed.

Copy provided by Random House Publishing via Netgalley

Efe's story is heartbreaking. She is rootless because she is never truly HOME in her native Ghana or in her adopted home of London. She went on a journey throughout that I never expected so kudos for the author for taking her there and exploring what it meant to be a woman, a wife, and a mother in Efe's shoes. Toward the end (no spoilers here), "She understands. For almost two decades home has been a place shifting under her feet; she forever feels that if she took one step too far the world could topple, her life shatter into pieces." And upon this realization she says, "[Why do we] Measure a woman's strength by the amount she is able to endure?" These two realizations really sum up the novel. While I wasn't thrilled with the ending, I was moved by it and by the novel in general. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me an ARC to read before publication. I am sure it will be a big hit when it comes out next week.

This was a difficult read. I didn't initially relate to any of the characters, except for not fitting in. I think everyone has had the occasion where they find themselves in a group they don't feel is for them. Efe finds herself there most of her life.

At one point, I did find myself paying closer attention. I think it was when the couple found themselves expecting a baby. Yes, I was raised during the 50s and 60s. Women were to be barefoot, pregnant, and happy about it. Well, throwing up and being tired all the time didn't fit with how I was supposed to feel. Cultural expectations and my own clashed as women's lib was showing that we had choices. Too late for me. I was already entirely indoctrinated.

Still, after the babies were born, I found they taught me all I needed. They knew how to do the baby parts, and I learned the mama parts. I know for a fact that I was fortunate. Being a mom isn't built into our genes. No more than being a dad comes with the part he played in the baby-making. And they have had their share of expectations. Now smush those ideas and realities into play, and every marriage and parenting situation brings challenges no one expected.

Efe and Sam come into parenting the same way, full of expectations and realities that don't fit the stories they were supposed to believe. I can see how poor Efe and other pregnant women can feel the way they do. There can be no normal with mental and emotional issues in the mix. Each person has to learn their way. Here is an excellent story to show how understanding your partner, even when you don't show what love is. Efe does her best out of love. Sam does his best out of love. Yet, the story doesn't go according to expectations. I feel like I want to give everyone a hug and move on. No amount of talking can help the emotional issues at hand.

By the way, as indifferent as I felt at the beginning of the book, I suggest having the Kleenex handy. I was in shock and had difficulty sleeping after the story ended.