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toravorare's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
blaze_o_glory's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I loved everything about Rust in the Root. The good characters were endearing and the bad ones were infuriating. The plot was exciting, and the world was impeccably built.
okevamae's review against another edition
4.0
In this magical version of 1930s New York, Laura Ann Langston is a small-town mage who moved to the big city to try and make her dreams come true. But it’s hard for a young Black woman with no connections to get a mage’s license, especially with the police cracking down hard on unlicensed Black mages who deal in illegal charms in the wake of the Great Rust, a disaster affecting the Mechomancy that society depends on, which most people believe was caused by other forms of magic. Out of options, Laura applies for an apprenticeship with the Bureau of the Arcane’s Conservation Corps, Colored Auxiliary, an organization created to fight the Blights that plague the country. But her unorthodox talents prove to be more than her new mentor, the Skylark, had bargained for.
Historical fantasy/alternate history is one of my favorite subgenres, and this is a really excellent example of it, with the bonus of having stellar representation. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book and would happily read more in this version of history. The pacing was not perfect but overall the story was really compelling. The only complaints I might have would be about some YA tropes that feel really overused, but maybe it only bothered me because I don’t read that much YA.
I will say that I was not entirely sold on the inclusion of the photographs. They added some interesting visual context to the story, but I felt like adding them in didn’t quite make sense. I would have liked them better if the explanation had been better incorporated into the story. It seems like the camera is Laura’s but there’s no mention of a photography hobby or of Laura stopping to take pictures. And even if those things had been mentioned, it seems far fetched for her to be taking photos in a life-or-death situation anyway.
Those are minor gripes, though. If you like historical fantasy and/or YA fantasy, check this out for sure!
Representation: Black main and side characters, lesbian main character and other queer characters
CW: racism
I received an ARC of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Historical fantasy/alternate history is one of my favorite subgenres, and this is a really excellent example of it, with the bonus of having stellar representation. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book and would happily read more in this version of history. The pacing was not perfect but overall the story was really compelling. The only complaints I might have would be about some YA tropes that feel really overused, but maybe it only bothered me because I don’t read that much YA.
I will say that I was not entirely sold on the inclusion of the photographs. They added some interesting visual context to the story, but I felt like adding them in didn’t quite make sense. I would have liked them better if the explanation had been better incorporated into the story. It seems like the camera is Laura’s but there’s no mention of a photography hobby or of Laura stopping to take pictures. And even if those things had been mentioned, it seems far fetched for her to be taking photos in a life-or-death situation anyway.
Those are minor gripes, though. If you like historical fantasy and/or YA fantasy, check this out for sure!
Representation: Black main and side characters, lesbian main character and other queer characters
CW: racism
I received an ARC of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
mswarning's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: violence, death, animal death, blood, racism, racial slurs
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland is a historical fantasy based on the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era. Just like her Dread Nation duology, Ireland has killed it (pun intended)! I'm loving the historical revisionism with a fantasy/horror element. Like her previous duology, this book tackles institutional racism, but also confronts the very real fact that some black folks also help to uphold these structures.
We follow Laura, a lesbian mage who just wants her mage license so she can become a great baker, raveling wonderful and tasty treats for important people. In order to do this she has to apprentice under a licensed mage, and joins the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, Black Auxiliary. This government group of mages are treated like an expendable clean up crew, since black folks practicing the mystic arts are considered to be less important than Mechomancy, the type of magic white people wield to power mechanical constructs.
Joining the Auxiliary turns out to be more than Laura bargained for when she and a group of mages are sent to Ohio to fix the Ohio Deep Blight, an area the Great Rust has made difficult to live in and difficult to ravel in. What they find is that Ohio is no ordinary Blight, and that something they thought had disappeared in history is back and killing black mages for power.
I loved Laura's character. She's snarky and smart, and hopelessly attracted to pretty ladies. She turns out to be way more powerful than she knew she could be. The magic system is very cool. It's based on African root working, and has different disciplines for working the Dynamism: Cerebromancy, Faunomancy, Floramancy, Illusion, Pavomancy, Petramancy, Sanamancy, Figuramancy, Necromancy, and Wytchcraft (the use of all the disciplines together). In this story, the Klan used Necromancy to control, kill, and exploit enslaved Africans.
I love having more historical fiction following Black people that isn't about slavery. We also get a couple of gay male side characters, but romance is not really part of the plot. I kind of wish we had a second book to follow up with Laura after everything happened. I don't want to spoil things, so just go read this book!
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland is a historical fantasy based on the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era. Just like her Dread Nation duology, Ireland has killed it (pun intended)! I'm loving the historical revisionism with a fantasy/horror element. Like her previous duology, this book tackles institutional racism, but also confronts the very real fact that some black folks also help to uphold these structures.
We follow Laura, a lesbian mage who just wants her mage license so she can become a great baker, raveling wonderful and tasty treats for important people. In order to do this she has to apprentice under a licensed mage, and joins the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, Black Auxiliary. This government group of mages are treated like an expendable clean up crew, since black folks practicing the mystic arts are considered to be less important than Mechomancy, the type of magic white people wield to power mechanical constructs.
Joining the Auxiliary turns out to be more than Laura bargained for when she and a group of mages are sent to Ohio to fix the Ohio Deep Blight, an area the Great Rust has made difficult to live in and difficult to ravel in. What they find is that Ohio is no ordinary Blight, and that something they thought had disappeared in history is back and killing black mages for power.
I loved Laura's character. She's snarky and smart, and hopelessly attracted to pretty ladies. She turns out to be way more powerful than she knew she could be. The magic system is very cool. It's based on African root working, and has different disciplines for working the Dynamism: Cerebromancy, Faunomancy, Floramancy, Illusion, Pavomancy, Petramancy, Sanamancy, Figuramancy, Necromancy, and Wytchcraft (the use of all the disciplines together). In this story, the Klan used Necromancy to control, kill, and exploit enslaved Africans.
I love having more historical fiction following Black people that isn't about slavery. We also get a couple of gay male side characters, but romance is not really part of the plot. I kind of wish we had a second book to follow up with Laura after everything happened. I don't want to spoil things, so just go read this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Blood, Animal death, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Violence
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
4.0
Sadly it took me a hot minute to really get into the book, but once I did I was in it. I'm hoping to re-read this in the future physically since I mostly listened to the audiobook this time around and missed all the fun photos that added to the story. Regardless I did get into it and was super invested and LOVED how things went in the end and had a good time!
magikspells's review against another edition
4.0
I don’t delve much into historical fiction or alternate reality but this was so entertaining I finished it in one day.
pyrocat's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
DNF
sigh, my first book to not finish this year. Don't get me wrong there were some parts I liked about the book, but the overall feel and the magic system just had me on edge, and I wasn't exactly comfortable finishing it. I also found the story to be dragging and I didn't want to accidentally get myself into a reading slump.
sigh, my first book to not finish this year. Don't get me wrong there were some parts I liked about the book, but the overall feel and the magic system just had me on edge, and I wasn't exactly comfortable finishing it. I also found the story to be dragging and I didn't want to accidentally get myself into a reading slump.
rackuhn's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Simple but it was so much fun!!