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 Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

3.5/5 stars. The writing here is gorgeous - the opening paragraphs about grammar took my breath away. In terms of plot, this somehow feels like it is doing both too much and not enough for its length. For the most part I was fine being swept along with the imagery and language, but the abruptness of the ending really took me out of it. This story was reminiscent of Seanan McGuire's "Wayward Children" series in many ways, and I hope the world is similarly expanded.

I was lucky enough to get an Advanced Reader Copy of <i>The River Has Roots</i>, and wow, it was a wonderful little surprise. It was already an anticipated book, given how much I liked <i>This Is How You Lose the Time War</i>, but it managed to surpass my already high expectations. It is haunting and beautiful, a lyrical exploration of love, grief, and transformation wrapped in a timeless folktale narrative. Every element of this book: its language, its music, its very essence is steeped in beauty.

<b>What Worked:</b>

Amal El-Mohtar’s prose is nothing short of magic. Lush, poetic, and brimming with an ethereal quality that adds to that timeless feel. It reminds me of old myths where transformation is both salvation and imprisonment, like Daphne turning into a laurel tree or the Selkie stories where regaining one's true form means leaving something behind.

There are a lot of comparisons to be made. It has echoes of R.F. Kuang’s <i>Babel</i> in its magic system, rooted in grammar and translation. But where Babel condemns the act of translation as an act of betrayal, El-Mohtar sees the change in language as just that. Change. <i>"There is always something lost in translation, but also something gained."</i> The way wordplay, riddles, and the prose itself are woven together speaks to language as a form of magic. The way tense shifts are used to denote progress is particularly clever: <i>"She ran, she runs, she will run."</i>

It is also reminiscent of <i>Stardust<i> and </i>Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell</i>, with Arcadia (or Faerie) as this strange, darkly beautiful place, its logic and rules existing just beyond human grasp. Fans of Susanna Clarke, or Erin Morgenstern would be very well served.

The audiobook, too, felt wildly personal, with the author and her sister performing the harp and singing. The production quality was incredibly high, layering in the sounds of nature, adding to the already stunning narration (and song) of Gem Carmella.

<b>What Didn’t Work:</b>

While the prose is beautiful, and I will certainly come back to examine the sentence composition, at times it felt indulgent. Like the author wanted to let herself get lost in the words and only eventually return to the point at hand. For such a short story (the book is a novella, and the audiobook is about four hours), it felt a bit meandering.
I did mention that the tale itself feels timeless, and that’s because it isn’t charting new territory. It is fantastic at telling the story it wants to tell, but you know every major beat before it happens. This is absolutely a <i>journey before destination</i> kind of tale, and you must be willing to get lost in the woods with Ysabelle and Esther.

<b>Overall Thoughts:</b>

I had read <i>This Is How You Lose the Time War</i> and loved it! I wasn’t sure how Amal El-Mohtar would top herself. With this debut, she didn’t just make an entrance. She broke the door down and commanded everyone’s attention. This is a literary work the likes of which you don’t see often.

If you’re looking for a fairytale bedtime story, this is it! The music and soothing sounds of nature were so ethereal and added such a richness to the story that I wouldn’t have found in a physical copy. I often struggle to find audiobooks where I truly love the narration and don’t feel like I’m missing out on actually reading the book, but this was a rare gem!

This story was so beautifully crafted. Lovely writing. A celebration of the written word and the natural world, woven with love and magic. Soothing and healing. I loved it.

Amal El-Mohtar makes her solo debut after previously co-writing the viral "This is How You Lose the Time War". In this novella with hints of faerie influences, two sisters are bonded by their magic, that is more powerful than love interests and curses. El-Mohtar packs an incredibly complex, compelling magic system based on grammar and linguistics into this novella.

This is a gorgeous fairytale focusing on the love between two sisters. The prose is lyrical and captivating.

I feel that this novella works especially well as an audiobook. It harkens back to the traditions of oral storytelling, and the sound design of this work only heightens the plot, themes, and feelings of this tale. Very beautiful!

There is no doubt that Amal El-Mohtar is a fabulous writer. Her prose emerses the reader in an intricate and beautiful world. The magic system developed is easy to understand, but by calling it grammar and tying it to riddles in the story, along with the highly descriptive poetic language seems a little highbrow and I feel that this is where they may loose readers because of the shallow plot.

While the narrator, Gem Carmella, does a good job in giving these characters life, I think the effort to create an immersive audiobook experince was distracting and it was difficult to understand the prose when the music was playing because the music was too loud on the audio. I believe that reading this instead of listening to the audio will be a better experience.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

An intricate fairy tale of sisterhood and song that is lyrical and imaginative.

I’ve read loads of praise for Amal El-Mohtar’s writing. It took me two seconds to decide to push play on the audiobook when I received it. I highly recommend going with the audio as it brings the sounds of nature and music to life. It elevated the entire experience. Gem Carmella narrates and gives a vibrant portrayal. I loved how this was a fairy tale in novella form because it was the perfect length. So often stories with fantasy elements get bogged down with heavy detail, but the plot develops at an excellent pace here. The prose borders on flowery at times, but it resists going over the top.

The magic system is called “grammar” and is loosely explained. However, I felt like I got the gist of it from the story, but if you’re all about hard facts and loads of super clear explanations this one may come up short in that regard. The characters and their bonds are the heart of this story. The foreshadowing woven through with the lightest touch made for intriguing turns. I found the ending heartwarming without being saccharine.

Despite being otherworldly, family is at the heart of this fairy tale. An enchanting escape that kept me entertained.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an Advance Listening Copy for review. All opinions are my own.

This is a must-listen audiobook for a must-read book!

Gem Carmella - with the help of the stunning sound effects and music - brings Amal El-Mohtar’s beautiful prose and story-telling to life in this short but mesmerizing audiobook.

The story follows two sisters and their path to love - and each other - as they navigate a magical land, fae, and dangerous suitors.

What already reads as a beautiful faery tale is elevated in audiobook - almost as if Gem is telling you this story as you huddle around her and she’s able to conjure the sights and sounds that being this story to life.

Absolutely recommend this book - especially the audio!

3.5/5

This book was just so pretty.

The cover is so cool, it's simple but effective and just works so well. It really is so unique, I really don't think I've ever seen a cover that looks anything like this. Although, I do have to say this...it doesn't give fantasy. But I don't care. It's pretty.

The writing style is also so pretty, it's lyrical and whimsical but not convoluted. It's balanced and works so well.

This is a very short story about magic and siblings (of the magical variety) and how they have to navigate the world. This is also a story about being different as well as consequences of your actions. I would recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

The River Has Roots was ethereal. This leans heavily into folklore and feels more like a fable than a fantasy novel, which I really enjoyed. The prose was lyrical, but sometimes felt a little too purple and I kept having to rewind the audiobook to make sure I was processing the story. The magic system was a little difficult to figure out, but once I understood that didn’t bother me too much. I loved the symbolism of the river and how it transformed as the characters transformed. The sisterly relationship between Ester and Ysabel was so lovely and real feeling. The world building was pretty lush for such a short book, too. The audiobook was mostly really well done. The narration was incredible and the sound effects throughout added a nice touch. There were some unusually long blank spots between the chapters and I kept thinking my audio file was glitching. Overall, this was a very interesting read and has a super gorgeous cover!

Thank you so much to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another example of the beautiful prose that made This is How You Lose the Time War one of my favorite books (sorry, Max, I love you but I knew you weren't the one bringing that to the table 😉). A full experience audiobook, complete with music and sound effects that draw you into a beautifully drawn fairy tale world.