First of all, this is a terrible cover for this novel. Yes, I do judge books that way.
The bright colors, and cartoonish illustrations led me to think this would be one of those breezy, fun, forgettable books, which it definitely is not.
The story about a couple, in love and desperate to make their marriage work, despite envisioning completely different lives for themselves, was compelling and challenging. I empathized and sided with both protagonists, even when they were on opposing sides. A very thoughtful, affecting read.
Thanks to #netgalley and #ballantinebooks for this #arc of #rootless by #krystalzaraappiah in exchange for an honest review.

This story was so heartbreaking. I love the way the story was told from ending to beginning. I related with the main character in several ways through her struggles with PPD. My heart broke for and for the couple who loved each other through their difficult times and did want to find their way back to each other. The actual ending broke me. This one hurt so much

Efe and Sam meet in London as kids. They grow up and marry with Sam becoming a lawyer and Efe working in a bookstore. The book begins with what’s happened in their lives in current time and then is told one chapter at a time going back over their history to show how they arrived where they are today. Efe’s family lives in Uganda so she travels back and forth between the two (much like the mother in Maame). This book is a lot about expectations placed on women both in the workplace and at home. Efe struggles in her battles against both her husband and her parents. This is a thought-raising book that explores some difficult issues. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I'm unsure how to fully review this. I enjoyed parts of it but I also didn't. Marriage in trouble is a tough subject to tackle, especially with some of the things that the characters decided to do. It won't be a favorite for me but I think many others will enjoy it

“Love and regret aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Quick Summary: Set between London and Ghana, ROOTLESS tells the story of Efe and Sam. One is burdened with family expectations and crumbles when the weight becomes unbearable. The other is consumed by his career pursuit and the structured life he envisions for his future. Their differences will test their marriage.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 368 pages
My Rating: 4 stars
Read If You Like: Maame by Jessica George, emotional stories about motherhood/marriage

Absolutely gobsmacked that this is a debut novel. What?! It’s so beautiful and well-written. I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about it.

The characters in ROOTLESS have such clear and distinct voices. Efe and Sam are in survival mode and as a result, have a tunnel vision-like focus on their own wants and needs. I felt frustrated by both of them at different times for various decisions. I felt immense empathy for them both as well. For Efe, I could feel the heaviness she carried after their child’s birth. Krystle describes Efe’s postpartum depression delicately and precisely without naming it. I also felt immense empathy for her husband, Sam. To me, it was clear that he was operating out of a response to childhood trauma throughout the book.

But the ending!! Honestly, I didn’t like it and felt like it threw off the book a bit. Overall, I still really enjoyed ROOTLESS but think I would’ve LOVED it had it ended differently.

Friends, lots of content warnings on this one. Particularly surrounding postpartum depression and self-harm ideation. DM me for more information.

Thank you @randomhouse and @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. ROOTLESS is available now!

They rest in a decision made, not yet knowing all the ways a decision alone will never be enough.

Rootless is a debut novel set in England and Ghana. This novel is written in a clever way alternating from present day to the earlier years leading up to an an unknown event. The novel opens with Efe being missing from her marital home and her Husband Sam calling frantically trying to find out where his wife is and their daughter Olivia asking over and over where her Mom is.

Over the course of this novel we learn why Efe has abandoned her family and this delves into the intricacies of marriage and self-hood and the many battles women face when deciding to become wives. You can love your spouse but you may not necessarily desire all the things society says you should as a wife .…including children. This book was rich and layered and I savored it in bits and pieces. For someone that is wanting an action packed novel, this would not be the one for you as the author full developed these characters and we get to see their story unfold methodically. We see them struggle with work-life balance, fidelity, individualism, cultural expectations, etc.

There is no possible way you can see the things that will come in this book. If you are thinking you have this book figured out, it will prove you wrong. While it did take me a long time to finish this novel (mostly due to my rigorous coursework this semester in my graduate program), I am so very glad I finished this novel. I am not a crier and the ending brought me to tears.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a rich story that takes time to read. The only recommendation I would make is for this novel to have a glossary of terms as some of the language used by Efe and Sam’s family I did not understand but I used context clues.

I highlighted this book on my Booktube channel. The video can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/vNGio5zsFAI

This one wrecked me in so many ways! It was so cool to watch Eve grow up throughout the years and navigate her way through life, love, and motherhood. This book vocalized so many of the fears I have about motherhood, and there were so many points that I wanted to shake some sense into the people in Efe’s life. I was rooting for her the whole time, even when she was making choices I didn’t completely agree with, and really felt for and wanted the best for her character. The ending took me by surprise and broke my heart

Rootless follows the relationship between two characters, Efe and Sam. In the present day Efe has abruptly run away and completely disappeared leaving Sam alone with their daughter, frantically searching for her and wondering why she left. After this scenario has been established the book flashes back to when they were teenagers at the beginning of their relationship, and it tells their story year by year as it builds up to a big event that happens at the end of the book.

I’ve seen some mixed reviews of this book. I personally loved it. It can feel a bit slow at first because the reader is forced to read through all of Sam and Efe’s history before finally learning where Efe ran off to and why. But all of that background information is crucial. In order to truly understand why Efe would run away it’s important that the reader know every detail of her past. I loved Sam and Efe as characters even though Sam did A LOT of things that upset me. I thought they were wonderfully developed. They felt like real people to me. I knew why they shouldn’t be together, but I still wanted them to work out. I became invested in Sam and Efe both as individuals and as a couple. Wanting the best for Sam, wanting the best for Efe, and wanting the best for their relationship all at the same time left me with conflicting feelings for the entirety of the novel.

Even the side characters felt like real people to me. I cared about every one of them. Efe’s family reminded me so much of the adults I grew up around. I’ve never been in the particular situations described in Rootless, but I connected with this story as if I’d lived through it myself.

A lot of time is spent on the differences between Sam’s and Efe’s opinions on having children. It was painful to read sometimes because I always knew how it would end.

The reason I took a star off is that the big event the book is leading up to made me feel almost (but only almost) as if the rest of the story had been a waste of time for me to read through. I don’t like when endings make me feel that way.

I highly recommend Rootless. I loved it!

Krystle Zara Appiah’s newest release Rootless is a story of complicated relationships, differing perspectives of motherhood, community, and the harsh realities that life has to offer. Sam and Efe are a young couple who both have romanticized ideas of the realities of marriage and parenting. This novel starts in the middle of a massive fracture in their relationship, and Appiah uses flashbacks to transport the reader through the totality of the relationship. Because we all want to understand: HOW DID YOU GET HERE?

Ultimately, both Sam and Efe discover that their personal traumas and strained relationships with their own parents, shape their marriage in unthinkable ways.

The structure of the book’s plot, two parts divided into “X years before” and “X months after,” set the reader on high alert that some major event happens in this relationship. We don’t learn the specifics of that major event until the final pages of the novel though. For some, the sudden shifts in time can be frustrating, but it certainly keeps the reader guessing (and guessing again) about which major event we’re leading up to. There are like three different moments in this book where i thought “OH! Is THIS air?” (It wasn’t.) So, I didn’t expect the ending of the novel, and the book left me a bit sad at how the plot resolves.

Additionally, this book has some very strong opinions about motherhood, forced motherhood, and mental health. Appiah handles each topic with care, but at the end of the book, I couldn’t help but wonder how the author intended for us to feel. Was the ending a punishment for choices the adults made? Was forgiveness not enough? Or, are we supposed to think about forgiveness and happy endings in abstract ways rather than conventional “and they lived happily ever after?” I’m not sure yet. But, sometimes I just wish the black woman ended the book as happily as she started it. In the case of Rootless, time is short, happiness is fleeting, and it comes at great cost.

4/5
The beautiful cover peeked my interest! Initially, I had a hard time getting started with the book and the storytelling format. The description mentions that Efe has left Sam and the life they have built together, but the story begins in childhood and builds its way up to current day. I finally realized when Efe was in college that this background is needed to understand not only their story but HER story, and after that I couldn’t put the book down. While reading Rootless I was full of frustrations with Efe not only wanting, but trying to be heard. This book is an emotional journey through years of Efe’s sacrifices for her family. If you have ever felt yourself screaming in a room but no one could hear you? This is for you. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #NetGalley #rootless

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e arc of Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

This is a women's fiction love story novel. 3.5*. A debut novel about a marriage in crisis and on the brink of collapse... forced to confront just how radically different they want their lives to be. Already swallowed by the demands of motherhood and feeling the dreams she had slipping away once again, Efe disappears. Rootless is a love story about motherhood and sacrifice, providing an intimate look at what happens after a marriage collapses, leading two people to rediscover what they ultimately want—and if it’s still each other. As Efe says, “Love and regret aren’t mutually exclusive.”

3 things I liked:
1. Themes
2. Cover
3. Beginning

3 things I disliked:
1. Characters
2. Overall story
3. Pace

This was not a story that will stay with me, mostly pace and not hooking into characters was the problem for me despite interest in the topic. I am not always the biggest fan of contemporary, but I do like Women's Fiction ... I would give this authors next book a try, but this one I did not connect with the story soon enough to pay attention and still feel like I can't recall most of it because I read it very slowly for me. The writing was good, but I did not like the back and forth timeline or pace. I would seek another viewpoint from someone that likes contemporary a bit more and encourage you to give it a try as it is a debut.

Happy reading fellow book lovers.

This beautiful and realistically written story of a marriage is so heartfelt. All the characters came alive while I was reading and I often thought about them during the day. Men, women and children - they all were written with such depth. The emotions of everyone, even the characters which were not very likable, were fully explored and the reader understands their motivations.
Analyzing a marriage is such a popular subject to write about, but this narrative was so compelling, yet the plot progressed organically and I loved that I could not predict what would happen next in this story.
I would definitely like to read more from this author.

📖 ARC REVIEW📖

Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

⭐️⭐️/5

CW/TW: self-harm, abortion, death, depression, suicidal ideation, infidelity, marital conflict

Sigh. Writing disappointing reviews is always tough for me, but I just did not enjoy this read. And I really wanted to love it.

Rootless follows a British Ghanian woman, Efe, and Sam. After an unexpected pregnancy, Sam pressures Efe to continue the pregnancy, despite Efe never wanting to have children. The story follows Efe as she navigates hardships in life and relationships.

I feel the synopsis is somewhat misleading - this did not feel like a marriage on the rocks, as Sam and Efe's love is incredibly difficult to believe. Which leads me to my overall main issue with this book: feeling disconnect between characters and disconnected from the characters. While I found aspects of Efe's life and journey to be relatable, for most of the book, I could not connect with characters throughout the story. And I was shocked and disappointed by the ending.

What I loved: Krystle Zara Appia is, without a doubt, a talented writer. The writing in this novel was beautiful and I really loved and appreciated that.

I look forward to giving any future work of Krystle Zara Appia another chance!

Even though this was published in March- shout-out to NetGalley, Ballentine Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully written book with elements of love, marriage,motherhood, and self discovery. It is a heartbreaking story and I loved it.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is a page turner. I was very much invested in this couple's relationship. I went through many emotions while reading this book. I cannot say that I loved any of the characters, but I definitely believe the author fleshed out the characters very well. I am not a traditional romance reader, but I would say that fans of An American Marriage, will also enjoy this book. This is not a "happily ever after" experience, it is more of a "real life" experience, and I loved it! A part of me wanted a happier ending, but I appreciate the overall reading experience. As a woman that has recently given birth, I also appreciated the author's inclusion of postpartum depression. It is something that many people experience, but it is not always described or expressed in this manner. This book helps some mothers to be seen, and that is great for readers who like to relate to characters. It was not quite a five star book for me, but I cannot imagine giving it less than four stars.

This one grew on me. Especially when I realized what was going on with Efe. I felt pretty bad for Sam, but I was glad when finally supported Efe. But then it ends with. . .

Postpartum depression and mental health representation is so necessary and the author did this well.

I thought I knew where this book was going and almost put it down since it felt like something I'd read before. I WAS SO WRONG. This is one of the best things I've read all year. Rootless starts with a bang. Efe's husband Sam returns home to find his wife gone, money withdrawn, and their daughter crying. We go backwards in time from there and see how they met, how they married, and why it all fell apart. Exciting as that may sound, know this isn't a thriller but it IS well paced. It is a layered book with a lot to say about love, marriage, race, parenthood, and how those things affect the others. This book took turns I was not expecting. It makes a clear point on what it is to be "rooted" in some place, some thing, or some one, and for the most part, steers clear of the melodrama books like this can fall into. I loved it.

On paper, I thought I was going to really like this book. The description sounded interesting and the cover was eye-catching. The format was one I'd seen before, but not very often. The story begins about 5 months before the present when Efe has left her husband and young daughter with no apparent warning. We know nothing about the present and honestly, I forgot that the story didn't even begin in the present until I finished the book. The story then jumps back to 19 years before (1997) and slowly marches forward in time, charting Efe and Sam's relationship both with other people and then with each other. It was an interesting format and could have worked, but I had a hard time getting into it because the little vignettes were not enough to really draw us into their lives. Neither characters were especially likable, and while I get the author was maybe showing how their choices were a product of their upbringing and trying to balance their UK lives with their Ghanian culture, I felt like there was not much depth to the racism they experienced in the UK and the struggles they had with their conservative Christian families in Ghana.

As an aside, I just finished reading Small Joys by Mensah where the main character is a gay Ghanian man living in London who has never seen love from his single father who blamed him for his mother's death (she died in childbirth), and then wanted to pray the gay out, much like what Efe's mom and church elders wanted to do for her when she struggled. Although his father doesn't show up very often, what we see of him is in keeping with what we saw in this book. But while that book had me in quiet tears, I didn't really feel much for Sam or Efe until the last few chapters. In some ways, as much as I hated the ending, it also evoked the strongest feelings in me.

Ultimately, I was hoping for a deeper exploration of what it is like to live within two cultures, but what I got were two adults who were too self-absorbed to try listening to each other before it was too late. I didn't like her parents, I didn't like the community (with the exception of a few), and I felt like the book ended up painting a very negative picture of the Ghanian community. Yes, some things were wonderful, but what was negative ended up overshadowing the rest. I ended up seeing a picture of a community that will help you, but only on their terms.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Readers should find themselves rooting for the characters in Krystle Zara Appiah’s debut novel Rootless. While not always likeable, Efe and Sam are understandable. Shaped by childhood events, which Appiah gradually reveals, both are damaged in different ways. As they struggle to overcome their pasts and the rift that develops between them, I found myself hating some of their decisions but simultaneously loving the individuals who made them.

I also admire the unorthodox way Appiah structured the story, but I suspect some readers may find it confusing. Although chapters lack traditional numbers or titles, the author clearly identifies each with a date. Together the chapters cover nearly twenty years--the time between September 1997 and April 2017 but with a few important explanations of even earlier events, particularly those shaping how Efe and Sam see life. Appiah also divides the story into Part One and Part Two, which have parallel yet very different endings. To elaborate would require spoilers.

The first chapter opens in May 2016 and contains the further mysterious designation “Five Months Before.” All subsequent chapters include a similar designation of the number of months “Before” or “After.” Again, to explain would give away information Appiah artfully withholds until much later. In the opening chapter, Sam returns home from work in a panic, feeling that he is already “too late.” He searches the house for his wife Efe but cannot find her. He desperately tries to hold out hope that she will return soon and refuses to upset their small daughter Olivia, who he must soon pick up from the babysitter. Deep down inside, he knows Efe is gone, for what sent him home was a mysterious voicemail message seen too late. Efe’s sister Serwaa in Kenya had called, asking him to assure Efe that she would meet her at the airport on arrival later that day. After many failed attempts to reach Efe by phone over the next few days, Sam knowing what he must do, the British Airways banner still showing up on his phone. Readers must wait many chapters for this thread of the story to continue.

Chapter 2, labeled “September 1997 Nineteen Years Before” opens with two young Kenyan school girls, Efe and Serwaa, landing at Heathrow airport to stay with Aunty Dora and attend school in London. With this chapter and those that follow, readers meet family and friends, learn how Efe and Sam got together, and slowly begin to understand what led up to Efe’s sudden and unexpected desertion of both Sam and their daughter Olivia. Appiah sets most chapters roughly one year apart, gradually working through the years “Before.” Rather than summarizing all that happens in Sam’s and/or Efe’s lives during those years, she dramatizes a critical incident in one of their lives or in their life together after marriage. As the author closes in on the unidentified Part Two event separating “Before” from “After,” she shifts from annual chapters to monthly or even more closely timed chapters.

Admittedly, the dated chapters tempted me to skip ahead to solve the mystery of that event separating “Before” from “After.” Thank goodness, I resisted that temptation! I strongly urge all readers to do the same. The book is organized as it is for a reason, and that organization makes the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for an advance reader copy of British Kenyan Krystle Zara Appiah’s beautiful debut novel about discovering oneself, healing, and finding one’s roots.

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