Justina Ireland doesn't disappoint with this new speculative historical fiction title. Her world-building is phenomenal and she deftly integrates aspects of fantasy into actual historical events. She does this so well that I actually wondered at one point if maybe her version *was* the real one. I just loved this!

I discuss this book on episode 19 of This Podcast is Overdue, which will be released in early July: https://www.podpage.com/this-podcast-is-overdue/

I've come to realize that I just very much enjoy Justina Irelands writing. I loved Dread Nation and Rust in the Root certainly lived up to the hype. I think I liked it even more than Dread Nation. Great read!

Dread Nation and Deathless Divide are one of my favorite series and I was excited to see Justina continue historical fantasy. This concept was very intriguing and the world was intresting but for some reason, the world didn't feel as fully explored as Dread Nation and the characters weren't as fleshed out either. I tried to read not comparing the two but by the end, I still felt like something was missing to really hook me.

It's 1937. Portions of America are covered in the blight, a mysterious attack on living things and man made constructs powered by mechomancy, a form of magic linked to technology. Laura is a young woman who moved from Pennsylvania to New York to get her license to become a mage, since practicing all other kinds of magic is illegal if you are not licensed, especially if you're not white. Laura ends up being taken on as an apprentice by a mage with the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps and they are tasked with finding out what has happened to the others sent into the worst of the blight and to figure out how to stop it.

I started this book thinking I was going to be rather confused about the various kinds of magic and how this version of 1937 works, but Justina Ireland is so good at world building and character development, I had no problems understanding what was going on and was quickly rooting for Laura. This book was a quicker read than Dread Nation and Deathless Divide, and I felt I didn't get to spend as much time getting to know Laura as I did with Jane and Katherine, which probably accounts for why I will place Rust in the Root slightly below those titles. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Laura's adventures and I hope we get to know her better in books to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This book is entrancing. It is such a wonderful story that combines traditional African American folk traditions, a bit of historical fantasy, steampunk and alternate history. Laura is a young black woman from a rural Pennsylvania town that moves to New York City seeking to make a life for herself. She wants to be a baker, but life has other things in store for her. Down on her luck she is advised by a unicorn to seek work at the Bureau of the Arcane Conservation Corps, Colored Auxiliary. She meets her mentor there Skylark. The story takes off from there and there is so much happening I could barely put this book down. They are set on the trail of something call the Great Rust which leads them onto a path that they did not, could not prepare for.

Justina Ireland offers a new historical fantasy, this time imagining an alternate 1930s where Prohibition is an attempt to curb the use of magic - particularly the craft practiced by Black people. The exposition comes on a bit heavy in the beginning, but the payoff of this world and magic system is worth it. This reads as a standalone while offering room to continue in later books, so readers don't have to worry about a cliffhanger ending.

Much like Ireland's other series, Dread Nation (which I loved), Rust in the Root is an alt-history with a fantasy twist. Set in America in 1937, the country is divided in many ways. One of the biggest is those who can work magic, and those who cannot. Magic use is highly regulated after the Great Rust, a magically created event that had a catastrophic affect on the county, leaving many areas blighted and uninhabitable. Laura is a talented mage who hates the limitations placed on mages, and seeks her fortune in New York. Instead, she ends up as an apprentice in the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, helping to fight the blight. When she gets sent to investigate the oldest and strangest blighted area however, things get wild in a way she never could've imagined. I loved Laura, she's an interesting character who plays things close to her chest, much like Jane in Dread Nation. Here though, Laura is much more open to cooperating with her fellow Corps members, and she soon find trying to keep her secrets could jeopardize the mission. There's a decent cast of characters, I liked the Skylark and Crystal the best, though there's a lot of variety in the type of people Laura ends up working with. I did feel that the lead up to the big reveal, which happens fairly late, took a bit too long, I would've liked more time for things to be explained. The magic system is fascinating, the world building was fantastic, and I liked how everything turned out. My biggest confusion was the inclusion of the photos, I guess they were part of the report that was mentioned throughout, but it was a bit jarring at times to see random photos. Overall, this is a fantastic book that draws you into a world that feels real and you'll be hooked until the final page.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

I have been an avid fan of Justina Ireland ever since Dread Nation was first published. So, when I saw she had a new book available on NetGalley, I knew I had to have it! As expected, this book was incredibly immersive and rich. Ireland does a wonderful job at weaving tough subjects together with care and poise.

I stayed up until 3AM to finish this book.

Join 17-year-old Laura Ann, a magical black girl trying to make it big in Golden Age New York City. On the advice of a unicorn, she joins the Bureau of the Arcane’s Conservation Corps, and unravel a dark plot to wreck destruction on the world.

I loved this book! The worldbuilding is excellent, although I could have done with more-- I absorbed every tidbit and love the feeling that there's so much more to the world. The historical and magical details are excellent, and I kept wanting more. The only downside to the book is how long I'll have to wait for any sequels.

Barely any romance, which I love in an action/adventure thriller, and a great deal of thought devoted to generational trauma, balance, the history and culture of a world that has magic, but also rampant capitalism.

**SPOILER**
I did feel like the interspersed entries pinning it all on the Peregrine were unfair-- did Onyx not get his fair share of the fault in the official report? How believable would it be for a very young girl to be the mastermind behind the plot? I understand that they wanted to erase her to protect her, but I'm not sure that would be totally believable. At one point, I thought that Onyx had forged the report, because it was so blatantly deviating from reality.

I greatly enjoyed Ireland's Dread Nation duology, and this is another magical alternate history. Whereas Dread Nation was Reconstruction era plus zombies, Rust in the Root is 1930s magic versus machine. Although this is a satisfying stand alone story, I would happily read more about these characters set in this world. I would recommend this book to fans of Ireland's other books as well as fans of Nicole Glover's Murder & Magic books (The Conductors, The Undertakers).