Whew - this hit hard. The writing is so good - I could see the neighborhoods and the smell the food and hear the accents - the writing is that good. The subject of postpartum and how hard it is to be a mother was spot on - it made me cry. I love the image or ROOTLESS and how different places and people can make us either feel at a loss or grounded and stable. This is a really good read and I hope you read it - great for a book club discussion. Thanks to Random
House Ballantine for the advanced copy. I’ll be thinking of this one for a long time.

Rootless is a debut novel by Krystle Appiah. It is very well written and easy to dive right in. It is a story of motherhood, mental health, relationships, being independent and finding one’s roots.
This is the story of Sam and Efe and the trials and tribulations of their romance and marriage. Efe is from Ghana and she is sent to the UK along with her sister to go to school and for a better life. It is there that she meets Sam. Efe and Sam stay friends during high school and University as well. Sam and Efe eventually marry and Efe is feeling grounded for a while. She becomes pregnant, despite always saying that she doesn’t want children. She doesn’t have a mother’s instinct. After giving birth, Efe suffers from postpartum depression. While her husband Sam tries to help out the best he knows how, Efe feels all alone with her child Olivia. While she loves her daughter, she feels trapped in this life of taking care of her. When Efe becomes pregnant again, she is forced to make decisions for herself.
I love the way the author set up the timeline of the book. You always knew where you were in time as she counted up the months/years since Efe left Sam and Olivia.
I felt for the characters Efe and Sam. They loved each other so much, but when one resents the other their marriage just falls apart. While I was extremely surprised by the ending of the book and wish it ended differently, I would still recommend this book to readers who like to read about relationships and motherhood. Looking forward to the next novel by this author.
Trigger warnings for self-harm and postpartum depression.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read an ARC of Rootless in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This is a debut novel. The main character, Efe, is a young woman who feels confined by the expected role of mother and wife. The novel takes place in Ghana and England. During the first chapter, the author presents a family in turmoil. The first ⅔ of the novel builds up to the initially presented turmoil. The last ⅓ of the novel is the aftermath of the opening chapter.

The way the author lays out the novel is interesting. However, it also leads to the story’s plot and writing feeling stagnant. I found myself wishing for a resolution and conclusion to the story line.

4.5⭐

The ending of this book was devastating that smash your heart on the ground, how will the world ever be fixed type of way and I don't know if I need to write more of a review than that. If you enjoyed Maame and You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, this is a must read.

4.5 stars
This was an incredible debut novel! This is a story about Efe and Sam who have known each other since high school. It is a journey through their relationship. This was a raw and emotional novel that includes family dynamics, marriage, pregnancy, postpartum depression, regret and loss. It is heartbreaking and so emotional. I was rooting for the characters and then before the end was kind of irritated at Efe. Then the ending shocking! Wow!! I definitely cried and was so shocked! This is an amazing story!

Thank you Random publishing house, Krystle Zara Appiah, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review

3.5/5
Ultimately this was a book about motherhood and marriage and how we choose to make the best of the situations that we may find ourselves in. Let’s get into what I liked about this story. Appiah delves deeply into the loss of autonomy that many women feel when friends, family, society tries to force them into things they don’t want. This was esp well-done in the Ghanaian scenes that showed how African culture values unwarranted (and often hurtful, inconsiderate) opinions from elders because that’s how things have always been done. She also explores how depression and anxiety are often treated as non-existent, even when blatantly obvious. Again very-well depicted in the Ghana scenes where Efe's concerns are simply dismissed and she's reprimanded for voicing desires that don't fit the norm. Despite this, I also could really tell Efe loved Ghana and her family there and I loved that.

Some things I didn’t love: The character development was a bit inconsistent to me and I just didn’t like either Efe or Sam. I empathized with Efe’s situation and how trapped she felt as she tried to have her desires taken seriously by Sam, her family, and her community but some of her choices seemed to be made without much thought and that made it harder for me to connect with her on a deeper level. Sam I simply couldn’t stand after about 1/3 of the book and definitely not after they got married—he falls under the category of “nice guy” who isn’t actually that nice once things don’t go his way. The situation with his Dad's health in particularly irked me.

Ok, now let’s talk about that ending… it was so unnecessary to me! I had an inkling it was going to go that way a few chapters before so I wasn’t surprised by it and I know what it was trying to do but i just felt like it missed the mark. The pacing was suddenly breakneck speed for such a huge development, it didn’t advance the character's growth in any way and even if it did, we weren’t given a chance to see it with how quickly things ended.

Overall, I would still recommend this to most, but not all, readers. I do think this would make an excellent book club pick because there are so many discussion topics that people will relate to. I also love any books that represent Black immigrant/African culture well and I think this was done well here.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I normally don’t actively seek out books that have a pregnancy storyline but I wanted to give this one a chance because the blurb really caught my attention and it just felt different.

I wanted to love this book from the beginning, I really did, but it took half the book to convince me to finish the whole thing. I am ultimately glad I finished but I wish the first half didn’t fall so flat that I almost DNF’d.

The second half of the book was such a stark contrast from the first half. I felt more engaged with the story, the emotions were more complex compared to the first half which felt more like bullet points than a narrative.

Unfortunately, once I was hooked, I was blindsided by the shocking ending. I won’t say exactly what it is but here’s your opportunity to stop reading in case of any spoilers. I felt robbed of an emotional payoff because of the ending. I was finally hooked into the story, and was excited for the emotional journey the two main characters were going on, individually & as a couple. It was there and then suddenly, it wasn’t. No growth needed.

Overall, it was a decently written story that just fell short of its potential.

Can you be rooted in a home on the brink of collapse?

Rootless opens with Efe leaving her husband, Sam, and young daughter, Olivia. She leaves them in London to travel to Ghana without a note, explanation, or indication of when she'll return. The book then shares the past almost twenty years of Efe and Sam's relationship before returning to the present-day exploration of their current situation.

Rootless chronicles the ups and downs of Efe and Sam's relationship in such a real, raw, and relatable way. It felt like I was there experiencing it all with them and feeling their disappointment, anger, profound sadness, and happiness. There's a sense of intimacy and connection to these characters as I learned about Sam and Efe's struggles, the weight of parenting, dealing with mental health issues, and expectations.

"Marriage isn't always what it's cracked up to be. You need the right person by your side."

With the detailed knowledge of their personal issues and relationship challenges, it is no longer surprising how two people who clearly love each other end up apart with their marriage in crisis. Yet, I was still rooting for Efe and Sam to find their way back to each other.

"People—even the ones who love you—can be a weight around your neck. You just have to choose which weights you want to carry."

Rootless is an insightful, moving story of love, family, knowing who you are, what it means to be a partner, and sacrifice. This book consumed me and will stay with me for a long while. I already know this incredible, powerful, well-written debut will be one of my top books of 2023. I can't wait to see what Krystle Zara Appiah writes next!

Thank you to Ballentine Books and NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

Efe and Sam meet as teens in London. Efe, newly arrived from Ghana and drowning under the weight of her parents' expectaions. Sam, a very focused law student with a vision for his future with Efe. They seem like the perfect couple. When Efe becomes unexpectedly pregnant, it exposes how differently they look at life and what each of them really want out of life.

This debut novel is about more than love, family and marriage. It takes a deeper look into the disparities of fatherhood versus motherhood, and how those expectations can change a relationship at its core. Appiah's writing had me connecting/empathizing with both Sam and Efe. I especially felt drawn to the societal and familial pressures on Efe to have children despite feeling her dreams slipping away.

Thank You NetGalley and Penguin RandomHouse for the free e-galley.

One of the best books I've read this year!

I need to run out and grab a physical copy because this is one that I will want to reread for sure.
Amazing writing and characters. This is the first I am hearing from this author and I was not at all disappointed.

Found another bag to match my book lol! Here is my review for Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

Happy #PubWeek to this beautiful piece of art. Thanks to #Randomhouse #BallantineBooks and #NetGalley for giving me an #ARC of this book. I also got it for a #BOTM selection, because I couldn’t help myself lol. Ok now on to the review and I have a lot to say about this one.

I’m not going to lie, this book absolutely had me in my emotions bag. This books tackles a couple of topics that are taboo such as: postpartum depression and resentment of motherhood (there are more but I won’t spoil the book). The author does a wonderful job using complex main characters Efe and Sam to dissect these topics. Efe’s character is a voice for a lot of women. Women who are clear that they never want children. But often find themselves being pressured by loved ones (and anyone with an opinion) to have children during their prime childbearing years. Then stumble into motherhood, while mourning the life that they lived before and resenting the experience. Her story felt so raw, so real and so touching. Despite my own experience with motherhood I related to Efe in some of her emotions.

This book starts nearly twenty years prior to present day and focuses on the relationship with Efe and Sam. Which I really loved which allowed me read through the growing pains of the two. This I held on, when the characters did things that made them unlikeable.

This book broke my heart into a million pieces. I cried a lot. And I think I need therapy now frfr lol.

My rating is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️\5. So far this is my favorite book of 2023.

Efe and Sam met in college as teens, and then they got married. After the first pregnancy, their lives were unwavering, to say the least. This is a story about an intimate look at a mother after her first pregnancy. This story took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. This story was captivating, emotional, and a moving read. The characters were realistic and relatable. The first chapter was a cliffhanger which I wanted more and was very excited. After the first few chapters, I really lost interest. I didn't really care for all the flashbacks of 40+ chapters. The characters in the story had mental health issues, postpartum depression, dysfunctional childhood, and identity crisis. The themes of this book were sacrifice, marriage, love, romance with grief, relationships, self-harm, and motherhood. I give this book three stars.
A marriage in crisis and can they survive?

Rootless A Novel by Krystle Zara Appiah

368 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 7, 2023

Fiction, Drama, Women, Mental Health, Cutting, Self-Harm Relationships

Sam comes home and finds his wife Efe gone. He hears from her sister Serwaa that Efe has returned to Ghana. He is distraught and does not know what happened to make her leave.

Efe and her sister Serwaa were raised in Ghana but when they become teenagers, their parents believe they would get a better education in London, England. Efe is introverted and does not make friends as easy as her sister. Her friend Abbey introduces around to some friends.

The book begins with Efe returning to Ghana and then works from the past to the present. The characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. I really felt for Efe. She was always living her life to please other people. I must admit that I wanted to read this book because everyone said there was a surprise ending. It was not what I expected at all. If you like family dramas, you will enjoy reading this book.

I had hopes for this story. The topic of making a woman carry a child as a social expectation and subduing it could have such a vast discussion. Yet, we were delivered the story that seemed a copy still in work. Some situations made no sense. The main character, Efe, seems disconnected from the reader and her feelings. From the beginning, I couldn't get to know her at all. Sometimes also, I felt like the storyline manipulates me about who is the good guy here and constantly shifts to see where my heart lies. I didn't like it. It doesn't make me think about other points of view. More than anything shows how flawed and shallow the characters were. The best thing about this book was the ending because it gave me relief of the suffering I was going through. Unfortunately, the book was not for me, and I see how someone can adore it. I'm happy for you and quite envious I did not have this experience.

This book was not for me. I could not relate to any of the characters or get in to the story at all.

I rated this 3.5 stars. It was a slow start for me and I didn't really connect to the characters at all. And then the last couple chapters were absolutely tragic and why I have 3.5.

I loved the summary of Rootless so I went in knowing I would probably like the book, but I actually LOVED it. I loved the alternating timelines and how the novel told the story of Sam and Efe throughout the years. This book was sometimes hard to read, but only because the author hit the nail on the head so perfectly about how easy it is to lose yourself. I really look forward to reading more from this author!

You know that feeling when a book sneaks up and takes you completely by surprise? That’s exactly what I got from Krystle Zara Appiah with her debut novel, 𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦. As always, I’d hoped this would be a book I enjoyed, but I had no expectation that I’d love it as much as I did. If I’d known more, I might not have been so surprised. 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 has so many elements in my literary sweet spot. At its heart this is the story of one woman’s life, but with that comes a family story, a love story, a story of two different cultures, and a journey through motherhood.⁣
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This is Efe’s story, but as the book begins, her husband Sam has just discovered that Efe has left their home in London and flown to her sister in Ghana. She’s left behind Sam and their four year old daughter with no explanation, and she won’t take Sam’s calls. From there, the story moves back nearly 20 years to high school when Efe and Sam first met. It moves forward chapter by chapter revealing the hearts of its characters and the complex relationships surrounding Efe. ⁣
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I don’t want to tell you any more than that. It would be a shame to give too much away. Where this book went took me completely by surprise and I’m glad for that. If you liked 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘰 or 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘙𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘺 this will be a book that resonates for you. Obviously, I highly recommend 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 and am confident it will be among my Best Debuts of 2023! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Thanks to #BallantineBooks and @penguinrandomhouse for an ARC of #Rootless.

Thank you to Random House for the opportunity to read an ARC of Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah. I give this 5 enthusiastic ⭐️s and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a truly heartbreaking story of love, family, friendship and growth. It’s a story of what happens when you keep trying over and over to find yourself, and never seem to really get there. I loved this story; I laughed, I got angry and I cried a lot. At times, Efe and Sam were such frustrating characters - if only they truly listened to each other, if only they communicated clearly. I loved their love story. I connected with Efe’s insecurities about motherhood, about being a person wholly to herself. I also felt for Sam, for his wanting to have a family, but I was frustrated with him and his unwillingness to see Efe’s pain. I loved Phoebe, Sam’s sister, Serwaa, Efe’s sister, and Nanadwoa, Efe’s childhood friend.

In Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah we have a brilliant debut telling the story of what happens when a woman is pressured into motherhood before she is ready. Sam and Efe are friends before becoming lovers. They were dating other people before they were fully sure about committing to a life together. When Efe becomes pregnant with Olivia she is not only terrified but wonders about how she will manage motherhood- a life transition she was sure she did not want before Sam expressed how important becoming a parent was to him.

Efe is honest about her reservations, feelings, and fears and Sam is convinced he can change her mind. He means well, he loves Efe after all and wants a family. What he cannot anticipate are the changes Efe will go through on a motherhood journey that he himself will not experience from a male vantage point. Motherhood changes so many things for women: our bodies, our careers, our friendships, among so many other psychological and emotional changes. This story does a powerful job of reflecting these truths. Efe is not prepared for the unexpected sacrifices she will have to make that are required of all mothers. The deep exhaustion she feels along with her own postpartum depression leads her to make a mistake that ends up with child protective services getting involved and her family and friends questioning her mental stability and fitness for motherhood.

In many ways, this story is about all of the hits we take - in life, in love, and in parenthood: the hits we bounce back from and the ones that make it hard to recover. A brilliant story!