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A review by mllejoyeuxnoel
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
4.0
**I received this ARC from a friend who thought I would enjoy reading and reviewing it.**
As I scrolled through some of these GR reviews for Tess of the Road, I kept reading the same line: "This isn't a typical fantasy book." That's true; in the vein of Game of Thrones, this is the story of a young woman's ruin and redemption that just sorta happens to have a fantasy backdrop.
This book came to me just as I needed to read it. It's about making mistakes, and that rage the builds up inside you because you can't forgive yourself. It's about the harm the world does to us fragile humans - especially us women. And it's about a journey - both physical and spiritual - that heals the inside from without. It's about choosing to keep on living every morning; it's about getting to the point where you don't have to make that conscious decision each day. Tess is a very relatable character, and one whose tale will help you feel calmer, more whole, and just plain better. She is a deep, steady breath, when all is said and done, because she is imperfect, and we learn to love her in the same way she learns to love herself.
I give this book a four because I definitely think there was a great deal of world-building that was foreign to me because I had not read [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387577872s/19549841.jpg|17375239]. It made getting into the story all that much more difficult; the exposition felt a tad bit rushed, and I still haven't really any clue how all the different types of dragons and half-dragons relate to one another. That said, one certainly can read Tess without having read any of Hartman's other works in this universe. Now, having finished this one, I'd recommend starting with Seraphina. Though her character isn't central to Tess, she was so fascinating that I found myself wishing I knew more about her.
Also? There are these giant sorta chameleon characters that just have these rad body parts and weird habits and I love them so much. I mean, they'd hate me, but I love them.
Walk on, guys. Walk on.
As I scrolled through some of these GR reviews for Tess of the Road, I kept reading the same line: "This isn't a typical fantasy book." That's true; in the vein of Game of Thrones, this is the story of a young woman's ruin and redemption that just sorta happens to have a fantasy backdrop.
This book came to me just as I needed to read it. It's about making mistakes, and that rage the builds up inside you because you can't forgive yourself. It's about the harm the world does to us fragile humans - especially us women. And it's about a journey - both physical and spiritual - that heals the inside from without. It's about choosing to keep on living every morning; it's about getting to the point where you don't have to make that conscious decision each day. Tess is a very relatable character, and one whose tale will help you feel calmer, more whole, and just plain better. She is a deep, steady breath, when all is said and done, because she is imperfect, and we learn to love her in the same way she learns to love herself.
I give this book a four because I definitely think there was a great deal of world-building that was foreign to me because I had not read [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387577872s/19549841.jpg|17375239]. It made getting into the story all that much more difficult; the exposition felt a tad bit rushed, and I still haven't really any clue how all the different types of dragons and half-dragons relate to one another. That said, one certainly can read Tess without having read any of Hartman's other works in this universe. Now, having finished this one, I'd recommend starting with Seraphina. Though her character isn't central to Tess, she was so fascinating that I found myself wishing I knew more about her.
Also? There are these giant sorta chameleon characters that just have these rad body parts and weird habits and I love them so much. I mean, they'd hate me, but I love them.
Walk on, guys. Walk on.