This was not an easy read. There are a lot of lost people in the world and reading about it is not easy. I cannot say this book was for me.

If anything got to me while reading this is the courage and fear that Delaney exhibited and for her to choose to stay on her own at 17 escaping the toxic lifestyle her Mom is into, and along the way she encounters people who build up on her character and perspective on life- it's an easy read and quite enjoyable. I read this on one sitting.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

I would like to thank Wordrunner Press and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book.

We find the young teenager Delaney who has to manage by herself to the San Francisco Bay Area, except that she suffers from panic attacks that lower her morale. She will meet a social worker Lulella and a music store manager who will try to cheer her up except that they will learn something about Delaney's past that they will have to share together. All is not well in Delaney's life. How will she react when she learns the truth?

A book that I read in one sitting because I was immediately hooked on the story, which was so moving at times, captivating, addictive, full of intrigue, suspense and twists and turns with very endearing characters. I love the author's writing.

There are a lot of unseen people in this world. Runaway youth, foster youth, incarcerated youth all fall through the cracks of society. These kids start from nothing and have to build an entire life out of it with little or no support. Book like this are important in teaching others what that life is like, building awareness.

Unfortunately I think the third person was a poor choice, teenagers connect more with first person narratives. The meandering plot also fell flat.

This was a book that I Really enjoyed this read and I would recommend to others easily, I will be looking out for other titles by this author.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A sweet and heartwarming novel with hidden depths. A good read.

It was not strong character or story development, i did not feel anything for the book`s story or characters.

I loved this book about a teenaged girl, Delaney, who walks away from her toxic mother to find friends that take her in and help her to succeed in life. I love Delaney's character. She is hard-working, independent, and knows what she wants, but humble enough to accept help from others when needed. I love her relationship with Murray and Luella. They are the adult parent figures she needs in her life and are willing to help her succeed. It is also nice that she has a friend like Julian to help her as well. The ending was a little abrupt for me. I was looking for more closure to the story. This is the perfect read for a YA reader that likes a fast, easy read.
Trigger warning: Drug abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, runaway teenager, some language

Thank you to NetGalley and Books Go Social for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is such a cute story and I cannot recommend it enough. This was the first book I've read of Brenda Bellinger's and I hope it won't be the last!

I was intrigued by the description and had high hopes for the story that were unfortunately ultimately let down. The story just didn't have the depth and richness to the characters that I had anticipated, considering the subject matter.

Taking Root is a refreshing change..The characters are real, fallible humans
making their way in a sometimes difficult life, and finding value in
making friends and learning to trust. Ms. Bellinger shows how social
work can trace and connect facts and history to reveal new
possibilities. I liked the characters and was sorry and surprised at
the rapidly developed conclusion.

Thank you to netgally for providing an ARC of Taking Root by Brenda Bellinger in exchange for an honest review.

Taking Root follows the story of 17 year old Delany who leaves home after becoming sick and tired of her mothers drug use and the abusive men her mother surrounds herself with. On top of dealing with her mother Delany also suffers from panic attacks. This YA novel although had an interesting blurb was a little too slow moving for myself. The characters point of view also would change often without warning, making it slightly confusing when reading the novel. Due to this I was unable to connect with Delany's character, I wasn't able to feel what she was going through and fully understand her emotions.

Taking Root is a wonderful read. Every character is so believable and well written that you connect with every single one of them and feel like you know them perfectly. Making you feel as if you are experiencing everything they go through with them.

Unfortunately I can’t review this as I couldn’t get it to download at all and when I realised it had archived, my fault

Sadly my phone which I was using to read this book screen had broken and so sadly I couldn't finish the book because it was past the archive date and I couldn't download it onto a different device. I only got a chapter or so read but the storyline was hooking, I really wished I could of finished this book.

Taking Root is an okay book. The tomato plant was nice symbolism. I did like reading about Delaney and the people she met who helped her. It never fleshed out it's potential though, and this is why:

To start, there was no plot. It all just ... happened, one scene after another, and there didn't seem to be anything the scenes worked towards. That is fine, but a book like that needs developed and developing characters to pull that off. Taking Root didn't, the characters were more caricatures. Delaney was the same headstrong and semi-independent teenager she was at the start, without a real plan to make a living or a life for herself. All development in her life was because someone else kept digging, or someone else kept helping. The young people she meets get hardly any room in the book. Some are introduced, only to silently never come up anymore. Others hang around to give her a lift somewhere. The adults ... well, there is Murray the landlord, who remains the same kindhearted helpful person. Liz is a crappy mom who gets beaten and does drugs, and that's all there is to her. And Luella ...

Yes, let's talk about Luella. I simply don't understand why. I mean, yes, on a know-level, there probably would be Delaney's need to have someone to trust and care, a kind of grandmother-figure. Further than that, she and Luella, it all seems to be so artificial. They get thrown together, and they should be friends because Luella's nosy busybody ass sets something in motion that might be seen as some kind of ... I can hardly call it plot development, but there it is. Almost the only action there is, comes from Luella using her professional thing and trying to compute to find stuff out.

Also, Luella is the reason I usually stay away from the 'Christian'-section on Negalley. My goodness, is she annoyingly zealous on a sugary sweet level. She made me think that it all would end up being about her converting Delaney or something. The book could very well have done without Luella's faith being so on the nose.

If I look at technicalities, another thing Taking Root could have done without is all the repetition. Naming a character every couple of sentences is way too much, for instance. The writing was good at points, but stilted at many others.

Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for granting an ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. The book was equal parts interesting and devastating. It’s a YA novel which covers a lot on mental health issues.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher I received this arc in exchange for my review.
I really really wanted to love this book but that unfortunately just didn't happen for me.

We find ourselves following a 17 year old girl named Delaney who left home after being tired of watching her mother do drugs and the cycle of abusive boyfriends. Delaney then meets a man named Murray , he owns a thrift store and offers Delaney a job while he is away in return for a place to live. She then meets Luella who couldnt have come at a better time for Delaney as she really needed a good strong female friendship.

As i stated i really wanted to love this but i feel like i didn't relate or know much of Delaneys pain very well. Murray was the only one i really felt grab my attention. I need more character development as well as the ending felt very rushed and it seemed like it was missing something,

This book was all right. It was just too boring for me. There were some cute parts in the story but not a lot.

A decent-enough Y.A. read about a teenage girl who strikes out on her own to escape her mother’s substance abuse and neglect. Luckily, Delaney is very self-motivated and determined to make something of her life. She is a strong character, one who would be a good example for Y.A. readers.
The story is written in 3rd person present tense, mostly from Delaney’s viewpoint. In some chapters, however, the reader is in the mind of Delaney’s mother Liz, , or a caring friend named Luella, or even that of Murray, Delaney’s landlord. These changes come along without warning, so it makes for some confusion.
For me, most of the story fell flat. It seemed almost as if it wasn’t really leading toward a conclusion, and then the book just ends abruptly, without any rhyme or reason for that ending to occur. In fact, I think that pretty much sums this read up; it wanders around, with lots of different characters coming and going, then drops off.

*I received a free digital copy of this from Netgalley. All opinions are strictly my own.*