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kayceereads 's review for:
The River Has Roots
by Amal El-Mohtar
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“But that is the nature of grammar—it is always tense, like an instrument, aching for release, longing to transform present into past into future, is into was into will.”
There is only one reason I did not give this 5 stars and that is because it didn't *quite* hit me in the same way that Mohtar's previous work "This Is How You Lose The Time War" did. But that is not to say that this was not a lovely, wonderful, lyrical piece of literature. I love how Mohtar uses grammar as part of the magical system of this world. Readers and writers can tell you that that is true - words and grammar are magic. They can make you feel, see, and be other places. They can transform you. Change you. Reshape you.
The love between Ysabel and Esther is heartaching and beautiful. Sisters can have a bond like no other and to have that be the main point of this -- while not taking away from the beauty and importance of the other love story between Esther and Rin -- is done so exquisitely. That is what this novel is -- exquisite writing - a fairytale that weaves love and grief and words together so so perfectly. I will read anything Mohtar ever writes.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Format: physical
Genre: queer fantasy, novella, fairytale
There is only one reason I did not give this 5 stars and that is because it didn't *quite* hit me in the same way that Mohtar's previous work "This Is How You Lose The Time War" did. But that is not to say that this was not a lovely, wonderful, lyrical piece of literature. I love how Mohtar uses grammar as part of the magical system of this world. Readers and writers can tell you that that is true - words and grammar are magic. They can make you feel, see, and be other places. They can transform you. Change you. Reshape you.
The love between Ysabel and Esther is heartaching and beautiful. Sisters can have a bond like no other and to have that be the main point of this -- while not taking away from the beauty and importance of the other love story between Esther and Rin -- is done so exquisitely. That is what this novel is -- exquisite writing - a fairytale that weaves love and grief and words together so so perfectly. I will read anything Mohtar ever writes.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Format: physical
Genre: queer fantasy, novella, fairytale
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death