You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
fpgreviews 's review for:
Her Wicked Roots
by Tanya Pell
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Find the full review with trigger warnings and representation information on my blog.
Cordelia was promised by her brother that he would retrieve her from her abusive orphanage, but he never showed up, so she goes to the town where he was apprenticed in an attempt to find him. The only clues lead to a mysterious estate named Edenfield, so she requests to work there. When attempting to find out more about what happened to her brother, she finds herself falling for the lady of the manor's daughter, Briar, despite the brusque demeanor of Briar's sister Primrose.
This was a wonderful sapphic retelling of Rappaccini's Daughter, and much more engaging than the other sapphic retelling of Rappaccini's Daughter that I DNF'd earlier this year, This Vicious Hunger by Francesca May. It is a less faithful retelling than This Vicious Hunger seemed to be from what I read of it, but it's a very engaging one. I love that this book is full of morally grey (or morally black, honestly) women and the men really only serve to propel the arcs of the female character. It's a nice inversion of how gender frequently works in media.
Although the residents of Edenfield make some awful decisions, you can sort of understand what caused them to do them. The novel does a great job of depicting generational trauma and the complex bond that happens between siblings when one parent is abusive. Briar and Primrose felt like real people, as did the other characters. It's a very dark novel with two fairly vividly depicted suicides, as well as some body horror, putting it squarely in the horror genre instead of just fantasy. I also liked the nods to the author of the story this is a retelling of, with the hawthorn trees being mentioned pretty prominently in the beginning of the book. The atmosphere is written well, with vivid descriptions and a suitably spooky, cult-like setting. The epilogue might not be to everyone's tastes, but I liked the way we as readers got to see into Briar's perspective.
Her Wicked Roots releases October 7 from Gallery Books. Thank you to Netgalley, Tanya Pell and Simon & Schuster for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Cordelia was promised by her brother that he would retrieve her from her abusive orphanage, but he never showed up, so she goes to the town where he was apprenticed in an attempt to find him. The only clues lead to a mysterious estate named Edenfield, so she requests to work there. When attempting to find out more about what happened to her brother, she finds herself falling for the lady of the manor's daughter, Briar, despite the brusque demeanor of Briar's sister Primrose.
This was a wonderful sapphic retelling of Rappaccini's Daughter, and much more engaging than the other sapphic retelling of Rappaccini's Daughter that I DNF'd earlier this year, This Vicious Hunger by Francesca May. It is a less faithful retelling than This Vicious Hunger seemed to be from what I read of it, but it's a very engaging one. I love that this book is full of morally grey (or morally black, honestly) women and the men really only serve to propel the arcs of the female character. It's a nice inversion of how gender frequently works in media.
Although the residents of Edenfield make some awful decisions, you can sort of understand what caused them to do them. The novel does a great job of depicting generational trauma and the complex bond that happens between siblings when one parent is abusive. Briar and Primrose felt like real people, as did the other characters. It's a very dark novel with two fairly vividly depicted suicides, as well as some body horror, putting it squarely in the horror genre instead of just fantasy. I also liked the nods to the author of the story this is a retelling of, with the hawthorn trees being mentioned pretty prominently in the beginning of the book. The atmosphere is written well, with vivid descriptions and a suitably spooky, cult-like setting. The epilogue might not be to everyone's tastes, but I liked the way we as readers got to see into Briar's perspective.
Her Wicked Roots releases October 7 from Gallery Books. Thank you to Netgalley, Tanya Pell and Simon & Schuster for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity