I'm still crying a little as I write this as the ending is so unexpected! It is the story of Sam and wife, Efe whose lives intersect and then the trajectory of their lives goes awry. There are two settings: London and Ghana; the novel shows us each as Sam and Efe make their own history as Efe gives birth to Olivia. But anyone who's ever been a parent knows how difficult that can be and sometimes it feels like obstacles are insurmountable when one tries to balance parenthood and career choices. So prepare yourself for an incredibly moving story that you won't forget anytime soon...but keep the tissues handy as it's hard to find an even keel in these rough waters!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Krystle Appiah’s debut novel, Rootless, had a strong beginning. I could not turn the page quick enough. Sam’s wife, Efe, has disappeared leaving four-year-old Olivia and her husband Sam. Sam discovers that Efe has charged 1,300 pounds to British Airways. Her sister knows nothing. I thought this is a book that I can definitely keep turning pages. The author then takes us back twenty years to discover what lead up to Efe wanting to leave her husband and her daughter. The book soon began to drag for me. Each chapter heading let the reader know how many years ago the chapter took place, and time moved forward slowly. I feel the author had Efe and the other characters have way too many issues. I began to feel that reading was a chore to keep everything straight. I think this book might have worked for me if it had two first person narrators rather than using third person. My thanks to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for an an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Im not bias or anything lol but rooting for African authors especially Ghanaian authors always! Its rare to see my people written about in this way and I was just engrossed!! Absolutely stunning!!

Rootless is a very intimate look into love, marriage and parenthood. The chapters alternated between the husband and wife Efe, and counted down from 19 years before until the defining event. Their story took place between London and Ghana.
Theirs was a marriage between best friends. The marriage and relationship are strained when they have a child although Efe has said she does not want to be a mother. My heart hurt for her as she struggled with postpartum depression and no longer recognized her life. Her husband is going to medical school and is not at all in tune with how she is struggling.
Efe makes a decision that changes their family and marriage forever. Are her actions forgivable and can their love survive? It is a deep meditation on the sacrifices that can be asked of partners and parents.

This book stressed me from beginning to end. It was written beautifully, but I’ve never been more frustrated with a main character the way I was with Efe. On one hand I felt for her deeply, even when I didn’t 100% understand some of her conflict, I didn’t want to minimize her issues. But my goodness…

Nothing prepared me for the way things turned out. I definitely never saw that coming even through all the conflict. This book definitely made me reflect on the way I communicate with my love ones. You have to mindful of the things you say and how you project your feelings onto other people. All in all, I didn’t hate but the way Efe frustrated me throughout the story stopped me from loving it.

I thought I would really love this book, but never found a connection to the characters. The cover of the book is gorgeous and I was intrigued by the premise, but the execution was not there for me. The story just always felt disjointed to me and I never found a flow with the story. 3 stars ⭐️ for me. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy for review.

4.5 stars rounded up

This book snatched off little pieces of my heart as I read, until I ended up with only a pile of shattered heart remains by the end. And while that might seem like a negative review, it isn’t.

This novel was life: terror, sorrow, love, joy, friendship, anguish, family, separation, conflict, yearning, and ambition. As a woman existing in this world and a self-aware reluctant parent, boy did I ache for the characters in much of this story.

This beautifully-written and creative novel will take you on a journey. It will be hard, but it will be thoughtful and touching. And I think you will think about this a lot after it concludes. Strong recommend.

I overall enjoyed the story told in this book. I feel like it hit on a lot of things that aren't really talked about when it comes to being a mom. I definitely struggled with the pacing of this book but I easily connected with Efe and her struggles throughout the story. At times it was hard watching Efe and Sam navigate all the complications that came with their life together and I found myself, on more than one occassion, wanting to jump in and protect Efe from people who weren't seeing her and her needs for what they were. Ultimately, this book is very emotional but I feel like Efe's story is a necessary one. One of my bookclub members said this book could definitely be considered a cautionary tale and I completely agree. Efe's story could've ended differently if she had been seen and understood the way she deserved to be.

Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah is a gorgeous debut exploring commitment, belonging, and motherhood. Efe and Sam met as young kids headed to University when Efe made the long trip to move from Ghana to the UK. We meet them again 10 years later where they are every bit the picture perfect family expect that Efe has disappeared. Sam is panicked and discovers that she is 5,000 miles away - back to her roots. What follows is their journey back to themselves and the lives that serve them best.

Overall, this is a thought provoking and moving debut! I highly recommend to all readers, especially those who love family or interpersonal dramas. I think this will be perfect for bookclubs!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC, Rootless is out now!

First of all, this is a terrible cover for this novel. Yes, I do judge books that way.
The bright colors, and cartoonish illustrations led me to think this would be one of those breezy, fun, forgettable books, which it definitely is not.
The story about a couple, in love and desperate to make their marriage work, despite envisioning completely different lives for themselves, was compelling and challenging. I empathized and sided with both protagonists, even when they were on opposing sides. A very thoughtful, affecting read.
Thanks to #netgalley and #ballantinebooks for this #arc of #rootless by #krystalzaraappiah in exchange for an honest review.

This story was so heartbreaking. I love the way the story was told from ending to beginning. I related with the main character in several ways through her struggles with PPD. My heart broke for and for the couple who loved each other through their difficult times and did want to find their way back to each other. The actual ending broke me. This one hurt so much

Efe and Sam meet in London as kids. They grow up and marry with Sam becoming a lawyer and Efe working in a bookstore. The book begins with what’s happened in their lives in current time and then is told one chapter at a time going back over their history to show how they arrived where they are today. Efe’s family lives in Uganda so she travels back and forth between the two (much like the mother in Maame). This book is a lot about expectations placed on women both in the workplace and at home. Efe struggles in her battles against both her husband and her parents. This is a thought-raising book that explores some difficult issues. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I'm unsure how to fully review this. I enjoyed parts of it but I also didn't. Marriage in trouble is a tough subject to tackle, especially with some of the things that the characters decided to do. It won't be a favorite for me but I think many others will enjoy it

“Love and regret aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Quick Summary: Set between London and Ghana, ROOTLESS tells the story of Efe and Sam. One is burdened with family expectations and crumbles when the weight becomes unbearable. The other is consumed by his career pursuit and the structured life he envisions for his future. Their differences will test their marriage.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 368 pages
My Rating: 4 stars
Read If You Like: Maame by Jessica George, emotional stories about motherhood/marriage

Absolutely gobsmacked that this is a debut novel. What?! It’s so beautiful and well-written. I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about it.

The characters in ROOTLESS have such clear and distinct voices. Efe and Sam are in survival mode and as a result, have a tunnel vision-like focus on their own wants and needs. I felt frustrated by both of them at different times for various decisions. I felt immense empathy for them both as well. For Efe, I could feel the heaviness she carried after their child’s birth. Krystle describes Efe’s postpartum depression delicately and precisely without naming it. I also felt immense empathy for her husband, Sam. To me, it was clear that he was operating out of a response to childhood trauma throughout the book.

But the ending!! Honestly, I didn’t like it and felt like it threw off the book a bit. Overall, I still really enjoyed ROOTLESS but think I would’ve LOVED it had it ended differently.

Friends, lots of content warnings on this one. Particularly surrounding postpartum depression and self-harm ideation. DM me for more information.

Thank you @randomhouse and @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. ROOTLESS is available now!

They rest in a decision made, not yet knowing all the ways a decision alone will never be enough.

Rootless is a debut novel set in England and Ghana. This novel is written in a clever way alternating from present day to the earlier years leading up to an an unknown event. The novel opens with Efe being missing from her marital home and her Husband Sam calling frantically trying to find out where his wife is and their daughter Olivia asking over and over where her Mom is.

Over the course of this novel we learn why Efe has abandoned her family and this delves into the intricacies of marriage and self-hood and the many battles women face when deciding to become wives. You can love your spouse but you may not necessarily desire all the things society says you should as a wife .…including children. This book was rich and layered and I savored it in bits and pieces. For someone that is wanting an action packed novel, this would not be the one for you as the author full developed these characters and we get to see their story unfold methodically. We see them struggle with work-life balance, fidelity, individualism, cultural expectations, etc.

There is no possible way you can see the things that will come in this book. If you are thinking you have this book figured out, it will prove you wrong. While it did take me a long time to finish this novel (mostly due to my rigorous coursework this semester in my graduate program), I am so very glad I finished this novel. I am not a crier and the ending brought me to tears.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a rich story that takes time to read. The only recommendation I would make is for this novel to have a glossary of terms as some of the language used by Efe and Sam’s family I did not understand but I used context clues.

I highlighted this book on my Booktube channel. The video can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/vNGio5zsFAI

This one wrecked me in so many ways! It was so cool to watch Eve grow up throughout the years and navigate her way through life, love, and motherhood. This book vocalized so many of the fears I have about motherhood, and there were so many points that I wanted to shake some sense into the people in Efe’s life. I was rooting for her the whole time, even when she was making choices I didn’t completely agree with, and really felt for and wanted the best for her character. The ending took me by surprise and broke my heart

Rootless follows the relationship between two characters, Efe and Sam. In the present day Efe has abruptly run away and completely disappeared leaving Sam alone with their daughter, frantically searching for her and wondering why she left. After this scenario has been established the book flashes back to when they were teenagers at the beginning of their relationship, and it tells their story year by year as it builds up to a big event that happens at the end of the book.

I’ve seen some mixed reviews of this book. I personally loved it. It can feel a bit slow at first because the reader is forced to read through all of Sam and Efe’s history before finally learning where Efe ran off to and why. But all of that background information is crucial. In order to truly understand why Efe would run away it’s important that the reader know every detail of her past. I loved Sam and Efe as characters even though Sam did A LOT of things that upset me. I thought they were wonderfully developed. They felt like real people to me. I knew why they shouldn’t be together, but I still wanted them to work out. I became invested in Sam and Efe both as individuals and as a couple. Wanting the best for Sam, wanting the best for Efe, and wanting the best for their relationship all at the same time left me with conflicting feelings for the entirety of the novel.

Even the side characters felt like real people to me. I cared about every one of them. Efe’s family reminded me so much of the adults I grew up around. I’ve never been in the particular situations described in Rootless, but I connected with this story as if I’d lived through it myself.

A lot of time is spent on the differences between Sam’s and Efe’s opinions on having children. It was painful to read sometimes because I always knew how it would end.

The reason I took a star off is that the big event the book is leading up to made me feel almost (but only almost) as if the rest of the story had been a waste of time for me to read through. I don’t like when endings make me feel that way.

I highly recommend Rootless. I loved it!

Krystle Zara Appiah’s newest release Rootless is a story of complicated relationships, differing perspectives of motherhood, community, and the harsh realities that life has to offer. Sam and Efe are a young couple who both have romanticized ideas of the realities of marriage and parenting. This novel starts in the middle of a massive fracture in their relationship, and Appiah uses flashbacks to transport the reader through the totality of the relationship. Because we all want to understand: HOW DID YOU GET HERE?

Ultimately, both Sam and Efe discover that their personal traumas and strained relationships with their own parents, shape their marriage in unthinkable ways.

The structure of the book’s plot, two parts divided into “X years before” and “X months after,” set the reader on high alert that some major event happens in this relationship. We don’t learn the specifics of that major event until the final pages of the novel though. For some, the sudden shifts in time can be frustrating, but it certainly keeps the reader guessing (and guessing again) about which major event we’re leading up to. There are like three different moments in this book where i thought “OH! Is THIS air?” (It wasn’t.) So, I didn’t expect the ending of the novel, and the book left me a bit sad at how the plot resolves.

Additionally, this book has some very strong opinions about motherhood, forced motherhood, and mental health. Appiah handles each topic with care, but at the end of the book, I couldn’t help but wonder how the author intended for us to feel. Was the ending a punishment for choices the adults made? Was forgiveness not enough? Or, are we supposed to think about forgiveness and happy endings in abstract ways rather than conventional “and they lived happily ever after?” I’m not sure yet. But, sometimes I just wish the black woman ended the book as happily as she started it. In the case of Rootless, time is short, happiness is fleeting, and it comes at great cost.

4/5
The beautiful cover peeked my interest! Initially, I had a hard time getting started with the book and the storytelling format. The description mentions that Efe has left Sam and the life they have built together, but the story begins in childhood and builds its way up to current day. I finally realized when Efe was in college that this background is needed to understand not only their story but HER story, and after that I couldn’t put the book down. While reading Rootless I was full of frustrations with Efe not only wanting, but trying to be heard. This book is an emotional journey through years of Efe’s sacrifices for her family. If you have ever felt yourself screaming in a room but no one could hear you? This is for you. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #rootless