The River Has Roots is short but enchanting. It is a fairytale-like story about the bond between two sisters.

It has beautiful writing that left me wanting more. The magic was confusing, but I enjoyed it along with its faerie world.

I think this could have been longer to further develop the magic, the world, and the relationships.

I am looking forward to reading more from this author!

What a lovely, whimsical, beautifully written fairytale. Reading this felt like being wrapped in the coziest blanket that is somehow also the lightest, most ethereal blanket you’ve ever laid eyes on. The word play and riddles were such a fun element. I will definitely be seeking out more of Amal El-Mohtar’s short stories!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you Tor for the gifted copy.

The River Has Roots
Amal El-Mohtar
Publishing Date: March 4, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

A whimsical Fairytale about the love between sisters. This little gem comes in at only 99 pages, making it a very quick one to get through. The prose and writing style is as lovely as the cover of the book. This story has an ethereal feeling to it, provided by the lyrical and poetic style of writing.

It took me a minute to get into the flow of this story, but once I did I couldn’t look away. It was so beautifully written. With vivid imagery, magical realism, and romance combined with metaphors, riddles, and plays on words, I was constantly taking pause to look for the deeper meaning of things.

“Oh what is stronger than death?
Two sisters singing with one breath.”

The bond and trust between the two sisters was wonderful. In a book this short there isn’t time for doubt and miscommunication and it was so satisfying. I found this story to be the perfect length to provide the reader a quick journey to a magical land without leaving things feeling unfinished.

What a quick yet stunning story about the bond between two sisters. This was a true modern fairytale filled with riddles, lyrical prose, and a fateful twist. Perfect for fans of short stories that are filled to brim with magic, fae, and sisterly love. I was enraptured from beginning to end.

If I have one bone to pick with this book it's that it was TOO SHORT! I could have easily read another 200 pages of Rin and Esther and Ysabel and Agnes, learned more about the magic system, walked along with their life, resented their neighbor more deeply...ugh, I could go on. I absolutely love the magic of Amal El Mohtar's voice—the cadence and word choice, the way she builds her sentences and paints every scene. This was easily one of my biggest debuts of the season, as This is How You Lose the Time War is one of my all-time favorite books, but I'm at least happy to know that she's got a short story collection coming out soon so I've still got something to look forward to.

Based on this specific story, I would recommend more fantasy short story collections—How the King of Elfhame Came to Hate Stories, The Language of Thorns, White Cat Black Dog, maybe? I think this is a genre I would like to see more of.

Thank you to Tor for the opportunity to read and review, and to Amal El Mohtar for her stories <3

🦇 The River Has Roots Book Review 🦇

❓ What's the last short story you read?

🦇 Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death. The Hawthorn sisters, Esther and Ysabel, tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honor an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. They cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees. But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk.

💜 Amal El-Mohtar's writing in This Is How You Lose the Time War enthralled me so much last year that I read it twice. Of course I jumped at the chance to read her highly anticipated solo debut! Let's break it down.

✨ Characters: The River Has Roots features an intriguing cast, including a nonbinary faerie. Unfortunately, much of the characterization is quick and brief. I wanted to learn so much more about every character.

✨ Plot and Pacing: For a novella, there's a lot going on. The plot touches on the magic system and mythology, misogyny, power, murder, and above all else, sisterhood. However, I find the ending all too swift. There are a few time jumps that seem too abrupt, momentarily breaking the magical hold the story has while leaving gaps in the plot.

✨ World-Building: I selfishly wanted so much more from the world-building and magic system. Very much in the vein Time War, the story utilizes show over tell, which strengthens the prose but leaves much to the imagination.

✨ Romance: Did I want more romance (and more of Rin, our nonbinary Faerie)? Yes. Is the romantic subplot the heart of the story? Absolutely not. The real love story here is between the sisters. As the oldest of three younger sisters, I can say that's where the real magic lies.

✨ Mystery/Suspense: There's just enough mystery and suspense to build tension and drive the story forward. As I said, the world-building is left a little vague, enough to spark intrigue and leave readers questioning.

✨ Tone/Prose: Amal El-Mohtar's prose is, as always, ethereal, captivating, and vivid. Readers will fall into a surreal, trancelike state from the first page. Much like Alice in Wonderland, you'll tumble into an enthralling and immersive story, unable to find your way out until the end. My words can't possibly do El-Mohtar's clever poetic prose justice--you'll just have to read it for yourself!

🦇 So far, one of my top reads of 2025! This story is a brilliant addition to any fantasy lover's shelf. Recommended for fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War and Ink Blood Sister Scribe.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🦢 Sisterhood
🦢 Magic and Mayhem
🦢 Poetic Prose
🦢 Fairytale-Like/Magical Realism
🦢 Novella

🦇 Major thanks to the author @amalelmohtar and publisher Tor @torbooks for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #TheRiverHasRoots

💬 Quotes
What is magic but a change in the world?

Their voice made Esther think of weather, of winter, of woodsmoke: something cold but bright, burning and fragrant, curling into the air before vanishing. They were utterly strange and utterly beautiful, in a way that Esther yearned towards because she didn’t understand it, the way she yearned towards horizons and untrodden secret paths in unfamiliar woods.

"Whole branches of grammar will be invented only to praise you.”

Moments like this, Esther was jealous of her own voice. She wanted to make Rin look that way with her touch, with her kisses, but only her singing produced this kind of dissolved and aching bliss in her lover. Esther didn’t think her voice was anything special without Ysabel’s— she had a good ear, certainly, and her voice came clear and strong, but singing without Ysabel’s harmonies made her feel like a candle without a wick. Unless Rin was listening. Then she felt like an angel, or a queen.

“I would die for her. If I’ve really died . . . I want to have died for her.” “And I,” said Rin, softly, “only want you to live for me.”

But a harp is played most like a lover: you learn to lean its body against your breast, find those places of deepest, stiffest tension with your hands and finger them into quivering release.

The River Has Roots is fantastical exploration of the Two Sisters murder ballad (one of my favorite folk songs). I have been recommending it by saying the story completely lives up to the beautiful cover, as well as the haunting melody of the song. It is a melancholy tale that ends in justice, leaving the reader deeply satisfied.

I think it’s very possible that this rating might have been bumped up a bit because of how incredibly biased I am when it comes to the story of The Two Sisters. But honestly this was giving me such strong “holy shit could this be five stars?” vibes from the beginning, which kind of scared me, forced me to slow down a bit — because when did I last have that feeling?

But the writing, the phrases, the turns and twists and connections, the language of it all? My word. Incredible. Only for that same writing to reveal the lovely layers of connection between these two sisters and, yeah, that got me, too; I was so moved. Genuine ride or die sister dynamics as almost always a tear trigger for me. And so, of course, right on schedule, I got choked up. And then I cried.

And cried again.

And then I soothed myself by putting on some Loreena McKennit. Starting with that one song; you know the one (and if you don’t know the ballad of The Two Sisters I’m not going to say the name and spoil it for you). And here we are.

I want to fully acknowledge, as well as preface (little late for a preface but whatever), that not every reader may be as jazzed about this as I am. Yes, it has faerie, yes it has romance (a queer one, too!), and yes it has a strong sisterly bond, but it may not ring your bell as strongly. So I’m sorry if this five star gives you certain expectations and then lets you down. But if you love a strong short story/novella that is perfectly paced without feeling too thin, if you enjoy writing that is lyrical and enchanting and strange, and full of riddles, and you also love a good murder ballad revenge story, this story is absolutely for you.

I will definitely be rereading this one and I look forward to savouring every line of it all over again.

Okay Amal, you win, guess I'll read anything you write. This was poetry. I found myself doubling back to re-read sections, I couldn't get enough. Eventually, I'll read this book again and I can't wait to find everything woven through that I didn't notice on my first go around.

I both read and listened to this book. Wow Gem Carmella I could listen to you read a phonebook. The audiobook was produced with music underscoring throughout which I thought was plenty clever attention to detail until I got the finished print version and saw Kathleen Neeley's beautiful prints throughout. Again, wow. These additions to both formats aid in beautifully bolstering this fairytale of a book.

Bonus short story at the end, cannot wait for whatever collection that ends up printed in.

ps. don't skip the acknowledgments

This was a great story. I enjoyed the sort of lyrical and fairy-tale nature of the writing. I do think, though, that the story does bite off more than it can chew in how short it is--there's just a lot happening. I also wish the magic was more central or explained better. The bond we see between the sisters is so raw and well-done, and I really believed and felt for those characters. If you like fairytales then you're definitely going to love this! Also, what a cool cover.

The River Has Roots is a beautifully told fairytale-esque story about two sisters who sing grammar to the trees. The entire story revolves around their bond, which is strong and moving and made me ache for a closeness like this.

While beautiful, I do think it tries to achieve much in its few pages, and perhaps would have been better off sticking to just one or two of them. The magic system was underexplained, but just becomes the sort of undercurrent to the whimsicalness of the story. If you don’t focus on the details too much, it’s a very moving tale about familial love and the lengths we go to for those we care most about.

This very much reads like a fairytale of old. It is nostalgic and feels as if it should come with a large, illustrated book for your parents to read you at night as they tuck you into bed. It is pure escapism with gorgeous writing and I truly enjoyed it.

A really fun inspiring story weaved with folk tales and faeries. The grammar aspect was really interesting and how it all joined together at the end was exciting. I'd recommend this for readers who enjoy fairytales.

I tore through THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR and was ecstatic to receive an ARC for THE RIVER HAS ROOTS! Amal El-Mohtar has such a gorgeous and lyrical way of writing, I immediately lose myself in the story every time. The magic system is so incredibly unique that it took me a moment to wrap my head around, but it fits perfectly with the fairy-tale-like aspect of the novella.

A quick read set in an enchanting world and overflowing with beautiful ballads, this tale of love, deceit, and sisterly devotion is one I won't soon forget.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good book. It was different than anything I have read in a very long time and I loved every minute of it. I would have loved to have this be a full length novel, cause I wanted to know much more about the characters.
The novella was very well written and it grabbed ahold of me and didn't let go until I was done.

This is how you lose the time war is a novella which I couldn’t make sense of too much but it still left a very deep impression on me, so I was quite excited to read this new book by one of the author’s Amal El-Mohtar. I’ve read a couple of her short fiction before and always found them very interesting. And this one didn’t disappoint.

This is a book that literally sings. Every single line is poetic and evocative, brimming with emotion and whimsy, bringing the River and the willows and the songs to life. It’s a magical tale of love and sisterhood - love so strong and eternal that even death can’t stop them. And amidst all of this are our two protagonist sisters who sing their hearts out together, creating a magic of their own.

In the end, I went into this book without knowing anything and it swept me away like the river Liss. It’s an exquisitely spun tale that left me feeling all kinds of emotional. And it’s an audiobook that I would say is unmissable. My only gripe is that I wish it was a novel instead of a novella and we had gotten a more fleshed out love story.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

what a treat this book was, especially the audio! everything from the singing to the sound effects of nature and music was spectacular.

the river has roots is a beautifully lyrical magical realism novella about two sisters and how their bond perseveres death.

i absolutely devoured amal el-mohtar’s writing and cannot wait for the upcoming short story collection!

4.5 ⭐

Amal El-Mohtar is so skilled at doing a lot with a little. That is to say, she doesn’t need a full-length novel, or even a series, to create an impactful work of fiction. The River Has Roots reimagines The Two Sisters, a 17th-century murder ballad featuring a jealous sister, and turns it into a beautiful short story about sisterhood and the love that persists between them, even in death.

Much like This is How You Lose the Time War, this novella is poetic, evocative, and lyrical. There's a nebulous and atmospheric through line that creates this brilliant ethereal and fairytale-like feel. Some readers might find it too vague or too short, with not enough plot or explanation. But, to me, its dreamy quality made it such a pleasure to read. And that’s really a testament to El-Mohtar’s distinctive approach to both writing and the structuring of stories; despite being concise, it captivates from beginning to end.

Thank you NetGalley and Tordotcom for the eARC!

What a wonderful and intricate worldbuild in such a short span. Though it takes a moment to absorb the rules of this world and its magic, once you understand it is a fun puzzle and a beautiful ride.

I wasn't sure what to make of this at the beginning, but I was hooked by the end. Precious story about a sapphic romance, and really imaginative storytelling. After reading so many books about magic, it's a joy to discover new worlds like this one.

Wow I loved it. This was an absolutely beautiful, lyrical, fascinating story. This novella was ethereal and felt like a dream. The story of a bond between two sisters and the magical realm at the edge of their world. Any fairy tale and fantasy lover will find something to like about this story. The writing in this story is gorgeous and complete. I often find myself wanting to return to Thistleford.

Thank you Tordotcom for the ARC!