Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e arc of Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

This is a women's fiction love story novel. 3.5*. A debut novel about a marriage in crisis and on the brink of collapse... forced to confront just how radically different they want their lives to be. Already swallowed by the demands of motherhood and feeling the dreams she had slipping away once again, Efe disappears. Rootless is a love story about motherhood and sacrifice, providing an intimate look at what happens after a marriage collapses, leading two people to rediscover what they ultimately want—and if it’s still each other. As Efe says, “Love and regret aren’t mutually exclusive.”

3 things I liked:
1. Themes
2. Cover
3. Beginning

3 things I disliked:
1. Characters
2. Overall story
3. Pace

This was not a story that will stay with me, mostly pace and not hooking into characters was the problem for me despite interest in the topic. I am not always the biggest fan of contemporary, but I do like Women's Fiction ... I would give this authors next book a try, but this one I did not connect with the story soon enough to pay attention and still feel like I can't recall most of it because I read it very slowly for me. The writing was good, but I did not like the back and forth timeline or pace. I would seek another viewpoint from someone that likes contemporary a bit more and encourage you to give it a try as it is a debut.

Happy reading fellow book lovers.

This beautiful and realistically written story of a marriage is so heartfelt. All the characters came alive while I was reading and I often thought about them during the day. Men, women and children - they all were written with such depth. The emotions of everyone, even the characters which were not very likable, were fully explored and the reader understands their motivations.
Analyzing a marriage is such a popular subject to write about, but this narrative was so compelling, yet the plot progressed organically and I loved that I could not predict what would happen next in this story.
I would definitely like to read more from this author.

📖 ARC REVIEW📖

Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

⭐️⭐️/5

CW/TW: self-harm, abortion, death, depression, suicidal ideation, infidelity, marital conflict

Sigh. Writing disappointing reviews is always tough for me, but I just did not enjoy this read. And I really wanted to love it.

Rootless follows a British Ghanian woman, Efe, and Sam. After an unexpected pregnancy, Sam pressures Efe to continue the pregnancy, despite Efe never wanting to have children. The story follows Efe as she navigates hardships in life and relationships.

I feel the synopsis is somewhat misleading - this did not feel like a marriage on the rocks, as Sam and Efe's love is incredibly difficult to believe. Which leads me to my overall main issue with this book: feeling disconnect between characters and disconnected from the characters. While I found aspects of Efe's life and journey to be relatable, for most of the book, I could not connect with characters throughout the story. And I was shocked and disappointed by the ending.

What I loved: Krystle Zara Appia is, without a doubt, a talented writer. The writing in this novel was beautiful and I really loved and appreciated that.

I look forward to giving any future work of Krystle Zara Appia another chance!

Even though this was published in March- shout-out to NetGalley, Ballentine Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully written book with elements of love, marriage,motherhood, and self discovery. It is a heartbreaking story and I loved it.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is a page turner. I was very much invested in this couple's relationship. I went through many emotions while reading this book. I cannot say that I loved any of the characters, but I definitely believe the author fleshed out the characters very well. I am not a traditional romance reader, but I would say that fans of An American Marriage, will also enjoy this book. This is not a "happily ever after" experience, it is more of a "real life" experience, and I loved it! A part of me wanted a happier ending, but I appreciate the overall reading experience. As a woman that has recently given birth, I also appreciated the author's inclusion of postpartum depression. It is something that many people experience, but it is not always described or expressed in this manner. This book helps some mothers to be seen, and that is great for readers who like to relate to characters. It was not quite a five star book for me, but I cannot imagine giving it less than four stars.

This one grew on me. Especially when I realized what was going on with Efe. I felt pretty bad for Sam, but I was glad when finally supported Efe. But then it ends with. . .

Postpartum depression and mental health representation is so necessary and the author did this well.

I thought I knew where this book was going and almost put it down since it felt like something I'd read before. I WAS SO WRONG. This is one of the best things I've read all year. Rootless starts with a bang. Efe's husband Sam returns home to find his wife gone, money withdrawn, and their daughter crying. We go backwards in time from there and see how they met, how they married, and why it all fell apart. Exciting as that may sound, know this isn't a thriller but it IS well paced. It is a layered book with a lot to say about love, marriage, race, parenthood, and how those things affect the others. This book took turns I was not expecting. It makes a clear point on what it is to be "rooted" in some place, some thing, or some one, and for the most part, steers clear of the melodrama books like this can fall into. I loved it.

On paper, I thought I was going to really like this book. The description sounded interesting and the cover was eye-catching. The format was one I'd seen before, but not very often. The story begins about 5 months before the present when Efe has left her husband and young daughter with no apparent warning. We know nothing about the present and honestly, I forgot that the story didn't even begin in the present until I finished the book. The story then jumps back to 19 years before (1997) and slowly marches forward in time, charting Efe and Sam's relationship both with other people and then with each other. It was an interesting format and could have worked, but I had a hard time getting into it because the little vignettes were not enough to really draw us into their lives. Neither characters were especially likable, and while I get the author was maybe showing how their choices were a product of their upbringing and trying to balance their UK lives with their Ghanian culture, I felt like there was not much depth to the racism they experienced in the UK and the struggles they had with their conservative Christian families in Ghana.

As an aside, I just finished reading Small Joys by Mensah where the main character is a gay Ghanian man living in London who has never seen love from his single father who blamed him for his mother's death (she died in childbirth), and then wanted to pray the gay out, much like what Efe's mom and church elders wanted to do for her when she struggled. Although his father doesn't show up very often, what we see of him is in keeping with what we saw in this book. But while that book had me in quiet tears, I didn't really feel much for Sam or Efe until the last few chapters. In some ways, as much as I hated the ending, it also evoked the strongest feelings in me.

Ultimately, I was hoping for a deeper exploration of what it is like to live within two cultures, but what I got were two adults who were too self-absorbed to try listening to each other before it was too late. I didn't like her parents, I didn't like the community (with the exception of a few), and I felt like the book ended up painting a very negative picture of the Ghanian community. Yes, some things were wonderful, but what was negative ended up overshadowing the rest. I ended up seeing a picture of a community that will help you, but only on their terms.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Readers should find themselves rooting for the characters in Krystle Zara Appiah’s debut novel Rootless. While not always likeable, Efe and Sam are understandable. Shaped by childhood events, which Appiah gradually reveals, both are damaged in different ways. As they struggle to overcome their pasts and the rift that develops between them, I found myself hating some of their decisions but simultaneously loving the individuals who made them.

I also admire the unorthodox way Appiah structured the story, but I suspect some readers may find it confusing. Although chapters lack traditional numbers or titles, the author clearly identifies each with a date. Together the chapters cover nearly twenty years--the time between September 1997 and April 2017 but with a few important explanations of even earlier events, particularly those shaping how Efe and Sam see life. Appiah also divides the story into Part One and Part Two, which have parallel yet very different endings. To elaborate would require spoilers.

The first chapter opens in May 2016 and contains the further mysterious designation “Five Months Before.” All subsequent chapters include a similar designation of the number of months “Before” or “After.” Again, to explain would give away information Appiah artfully withholds until much later. In the opening chapter, Sam returns home from work in a panic, feeling that he is already “too late.” He searches the house for his wife Efe but cannot find her. He desperately tries to hold out hope that she will return soon and refuses to upset their small daughter Olivia, who he must soon pick up from the babysitter. Deep down inside, he knows Efe is gone, for what sent him home was a mysterious voicemail message seen too late. Efe’s sister Serwaa in Kenya had called, asking him to assure Efe that she would meet her at the airport on arrival later that day. After many failed attempts to reach Efe by phone over the next few days, Sam knowing what he must do, the British Airways banner still showing up on his phone. Readers must wait many chapters for this thread of the story to continue.

Chapter 2, labeled “September 1997 Nineteen Years Before” opens with two young Kenyan school girls, Efe and Serwaa, landing at Heathrow airport to stay with Aunty Dora and attend school in London. With this chapter and those that follow, readers meet family and friends, learn how Efe and Sam got together, and slowly begin to understand what led up to Efe’s sudden and unexpected desertion of both Sam and their daughter Olivia. Appiah sets most chapters roughly one year apart, gradually working through the years “Before.” Rather than summarizing all that happens in Sam’s and/or Efe’s lives during those years, she dramatizes a critical incident in one of their lives or in their life together after marriage. As the author closes in on the unidentified Part Two event separating “Before” from “After,” she shifts from annual chapters to monthly or even more closely timed chapters.

Admittedly, the dated chapters tempted me to skip ahead to solve the mystery of that event separating “Before” from “After.” Thank goodness, I resisted that temptation! I strongly urge all readers to do the same. The book is organized as it is for a reason, and that organization makes the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for an advance reader copy of British Kenyan Krystle Zara Appiah’s beautiful debut novel about discovering oneself, healing, and finding one’s roots.

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A thought provoking novel about a marriage that looks perfect on the outside but is broken beyond possible help. A wife, Mother, whose only way of handling the problems is running away. A husband trying to understand and pick up the pieces.

A powerful debut that explores the difficulties of motherhood, marriage, and finding time for your wants, needs, and desires. I struggled through the first half of the book because the pacing was entirely to slow. I felt like a lot of things could’ve been left out because there were parts of the story I just didn’t care for. The slow build-up almost lost me too.

The second half of the novel is where I became invested and cared to know what was going to occur next. While I enjoyed the author going in depth and really painting a vivid picture of what Efe and Sam were going through. Did she really have to go all the way back to the beginning of everything? I didn’t really find their relationship interesting and honestly I didn’t like Sam.

Usually I’d throw in something to describe the book but today I’m not going to do that. I want to focus on what statement the author was trying to make with the novel.

Motherhood is EXHAUSTING!!! Enjoyable and a blessing yes but at the end of the day it’s not for everyone. If you don’t have a support system which Sam really wasn’t supportive then it gets tiring doing it by yourself. As a mother the responsibilities revolving around the care of the child ALWAYS falls on mom. If dad decides he doesn’t want to do it anymore he can leave and NOBODY will make a huge fuss about it.

So, I actually loved that the author flipped the script and showed what it’s like if mom decides to walk away because it’s all too much. Was Efe wrong for leaving Sam with his kid? Maybe but again if Sam would’ve walked away what would’ve been the difference? He was not understanding at all with what Efe was dealing with because she did exactly what his own mother had done. LEAVE!!!

Overall, the book was pretty decent I changed my rating from 3.5 to 4 only because the last few chapters and that unexpected ending. The author did an amazing job focusing on two tough topics. I do recommend you guys give it a read just be prepared for the slow pacing. Special thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for my advanced copy.

Wow. Just wow. This story took me through a range of emotions. It was so well written. The way time was marked made the book read like a movie. I enjoyed it being set in two countries. The ending was so unexpected. I never saw the story taking that turn and ending the way it did. You just need to read it. It’s like sitting in on someone’s therapy session or something. It gets really deep. No one is innocent which is what I think makes this relatable. At times I hate all the main characters. Then I understand them. I was taken on a journey. I’m not sure I’ll read anything as good and thought provoking this year.

Where to even start? This debut author officially has my undivided attention! I LOVE character driven stories that span over decades and here we get to grow up with Sam and Efe, watching them evolve into a couple and attempt to maneuver what life hands them. It’s sad, relatable, hopeful. I loved Everything about it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was difficult to read, as it reminded me so well of the difficulty I faced after each of my kiddos was born, but I think that just shows how well the characters were written and how realistic the characters felt. This story was done so well, and I enjoyed Rootless even though it’s a little more emotionally fraught than my usual read.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this was a messy, complicated, yet raw exploration of a marriage falling apart, and what a mother does in order to pursue what she truly wants in her life.

- the author wrote these characters in a raw, unflinchingly honest way, showing their personalities and motivations through their actions. readers, especially myself, can understand the appeal to these character as we watch them struggle and flourish.

- the writing style flowed nicely across the page, and i didn’t struggle reading through each page. the writing style fit the story matter well.

Do you remember those columns in the women's magazines of the 1970s and 1980s called "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" When I was a kid, I loved reading about marriages and the crises that could occur in one at any time and even from unexpected events. Rootless, the debut novel by Krystle Zara Appiah, focuses on a marriage in crisis, but it's way deeper than a monthly magazine column.

Sam and Efe met in school as tween-age children and stayed friends for years until they realized that they were meant to be a couple. The book chronicles their relationship and subsequent marriage through a variety of life events near London. Efe originally came over from Ghana and quickly makes friends with Sam. He's her rock in many ways, but are they well-suited for one another?

Other questions arise during this book about marriage and relationships between couples and family members, which layer this book in more than the central marriage. You wonder, can a couple in crisis come to a compromise? Should a couple with very different needs, wants, and goals be together and stay together? What makes a marriage stronger or weaker? And can families stay together or reunite despite unfortunate choices and past hurts?

Once I started reading this book, I was hooked. The cover is really stunning, and the story even more so. There are many twists and interesting developments. You really get into the depths of many relationships between the cast of characters. And the characters are nuanced and make very human mistakes. Sure, they were selfish at times, but it went with the characters, and they felt very real to me. I really enjoyed this book for this and many other reasons. And Efe is a complex character who makes choices that you may disagree with, but you understand her motives behind those choices.

Although this is a debut novel, you would never know that this is the author's first time. It's so well-written and captures all the emotions of the characters and the dynamics between everyone. It really kept me captivated and wanting more. Hopefully, the author will write future novels because I will be right there to enjoy them.

Honestly, I should have loved this book. Unfortunately it just didn’t do it for me. For some reason I couldn’t connect or focus on it. I tried reading the e-book as well as listen to the audio version and still could not make it through. I always want to love and cherish books BIPOC so it really troubled me to not finish it.

I just loved Rootless! It is the story of Efe" and Sam who together and separately traverse their marriage and their coming into their own as individuals and as a couple. Family of origin, vocation, motherhood, marriage--they face it all. The book engaged me right away and I finished It in one day on the beach. This is a debut novel and I will be eager to read future books from this author.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Rootless in exchange for an honest opinion.. Rootless is on sale now.

Thank you #netgalley for this ARC.
This story of Sam and Efe takes us back to how they met in school, and where they are now in life married, with a child. When Efe leaves Sam, he doesn't know what to do or how to handle it.
The story is told from the point of view of Sam's current life, and the memories of how he and Efe met.

I honestly wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did but boy did it draw me in and grip me hard. It took me about a week to get through the first half of the book and then a few hours to finish it. Honestly, if I hadn’t been reading a different book at the same time, the first half wouldn’t have taken nearly that long. It is a very emotional book, or at least it was for me as a mother. I could definitely relate to Efe but also sympathize with Sam. They really were stuck without good answers but sometimes that’s just how life works and you have to find a way through it. I won’t spoil it but that ending… Overall a tough but really good read.