Beautiful writing and a complex, multi-layered story that examines family, race, and personal ambitions, family expectations, and the lasting weight of oppression. I especially...enjoyed? Not sure if that's the right word. Appreciated I think--the complex relationship between Noni and her mom. I was so frustrated with her parents at the beginning of this book--especially her mom's dismissal of Noni's incredible talents/ambitions in costume design, and not even timing their move in a way that allowed Noni to be a part of the show she'd worked so hard on felt callous. So many kids have no idea what they want to do with their lives, but Noni does. And her mom wants to pigeonhole her into academia--to create a mini-me of herself. Her dad is spineless and unsupportive. Yet as the story develops, we learn secrets about Noni's family history--and horrifying truths about why her mom is so doggedly determined to pursue her goals and strongarm her daughter into following in her footsteps. I think her mom still had a lot of loosening up to do in terms of allowing her daughter to find her own way, but by the end I felt the real and intense love she had for her child in a big way. Much of the story involves Noni unraveling her family's history and it's intimate connection to their town's racist roots, and the historical elements of this story were very well done and deeply unsettling.
A fascinating and ambitious story with a good amount of satisfying payoff by the end. I listened to the audio and loved the narration too.

Special thanks to @coloredpagesbt 
@fiercereads @blackhistorymaven for my #gifted copy and @macmillian.audio for my gifted ALC #MacAudio2024‼️

I went into this one completely blind I picked the book because I loved the cover. I’m actually not disappointed that I read this since it turned out to be a great book. Exploring heavy themes surrounding ancestry, enslavement, racial tensions, and haunting family secrets.

The novel follows Noni Reid an ambitious young girl with a bright future in costume designing whose life is turned upside down when she’s forced to move to Magnolia, Virginia because her mother got a new job. Moving wasn’t the issue giving up her internship and living in a house built on Tangleroot plantation by one of her ancestors was apart of the problem.

Throughout the book we follow Noni as she journeys to uncover her family history, the house she lives in, and insights into the life of the late Sophronia Dearborn. Capturing the pure innocence and curiosity of a young woman the author provides intricate details about the harsh realities Noni will soon discover.

The book has a slow build but as the story develops it gets juicier. Those buried secrets do 👏🏽 it 👏🏽 every time cause them family roots were definitely tangled‼️ All I’m going to say is I don’t care how long it’s been it would’ve took God himself to get me off Lana Jean cause I would’ve turned her every way but loose for what she did. I mean THE DISRESPECT whew my blood pressure 😂. Also Noni’s mother had a whole lot of audacity knowing the secret she was keeping and her father that’s another story.

Overall, this was a decent coming-of-age YA novel. The authors intense research conjured such a powerfully authentic story. Her writing was straightforward, engaging, and the message she was trying to convey was made clear. It’s important to know your family history‼️How can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.

I listened to the audio version of this book narrated by Maggie Thompson. The narration was wonderful for the different characters and the different time period of the diary.

This is a YA coming of age story and finding out who you are. I loved that part of the book. Radiance, Noni's mother has been trying to prove that her African American ancestor founded the college she is teaching at and wants to have it renamed. Noni ends up researching to try to find out about her ancestors and hopes to find the answers that her mother hasn't been able to find.

The fact that Noni's mother was so controlling and abusive to her daughter gave me a lot of trouble. Radiance expresses her feelings about slavery left and right, and yet she is controlling her daughter's life and in my opinion has her enslaved to her wishes. When Noni begs her mother to let her do want she wants with her life, it tore me apart. I really hated it. Making me feel so strongly about it shows how good the story was.

Overall, the story was good and the narration was excellent. The ending tied things up nicely.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio. All thoughts are my own.

3.25 stars.
I honestly didn't know what this book was about before I started it. I assumed it was a thriller because the title and cover looked "thriller-y" to me. I was wrong! But there are still many scary and uncomfortable things in this book. I really enjoyed the story and the storyline of discovering family history. I think the author talked about some very important topics and handled them well.
I do, however, think that the MC's mother, Radiance, was emotionally manipulative and narcissistic. I was truly shocked at the mother-daughter relationship and how it was handled throughout the book, but especially the ending. I was incredibly disappointed with the ending. Many things were tied up nicely but this relationship made no sense.
The narrator was awesome! She did the various character voices and accents very well and was easy to listen to. I did find that the book, being audio, was a little hard to follow when it would change POVs because there was no "announcement" of it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but am unsure if I would recommend it.

I would classify this as a historical fiction YA book, about a black teen girl forced to move with her mom back to the south to attend school. While there, she starts looking in to her past and discovers many hidden secrets about her family and their legacy. There were many characters in this story, so it was hard to keep track of them while listening to the audio version of this book. I found the relationship between mother and daughter felt distant and cold. The book touches on the racism in the south, specifically with white supremacy groups. It baffles my mind that these groups are still alive and thriving in the US. Overall, I enjoyed the historical story telling in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. My review is voluntary.

Tangleroot was hard to read at times, but it is a very important read. I felt for Noni's character, and her frustration with trying to follow her own dreams, but having to do what her mom tells her. For most of the book, I didn't like Radiance's character, and even after the end, I was still a bit dissatisfied with her, but I understood her more as things were revealed in the book. There were some great side characters, and sometimes I found myself wanting to know more about them (not Noni's friends from home, though!) I've read a lot of YA, and while there always seems to be some sort of family drama going on, this book felt different. This went beyond, and dug deep into secrets and family history. I found myself horrified and fascinated as Noni uncovered her family tree, the story felt so real-and I imagine it is/was for many families whose ancestors were forced into/born into slavery in the United States. The journal entries and snippets of the past uncovered the very real horrors of slavery in the South. I think many teens can relate to Noni and the pressures of life after high school, facing racism, overbearing parents, etc. This was a super solid read for me. The cover is also GORGEOUS.

"Tangleroot" by Kalela Williams is a captivating exploration of identity and resilience set against a richly imagined backdrop. The author weaves together elements of folklore and fantasy, creating a world that feels both familiar and otherworldly. Williams provides us with excellent character development and general storytelling across decades, families and locations. I appreciate how, despite being pulled into a world she does not wish to be a part of, Noni cannot resist the call of curiosity she feels while at her family home in Virgina. The stories Noni uncovers while trying to solve a mystery of her own are insightful and full of twists. The characters are well-developed, each grappling with their own challenges and growth. Williams' prose is lyrical and immersive, drawing readers into the emotional depths of the story. Themes of connection to nature and the complexity of relationships are skillfully handled, making it a thought-provoking read. Overall, "Tangleroot" is a beautifully crafted tale that resonates long after the last page.

Honestly, I quite enjoyed this. I'm pretty sure the target audience for this is YA, and the story has enough angst to fit nicely into that genre. I did feel frustrated with some of the unnecessarily complicated narrative, but it all came together in the end.

This is a coming-of-age story primarily with a Black main character. Noni is an only child, finished with high school, and the story begins the summer before she is set to attend Boston University. Her parents have recently divorced, and the parents agreed that Noni would join her mother in Virginia.

This is about ancestry, small southern towns, and white supremacy dressed up as "culture wars." This felt relevant, timely, and current.
While awkward in a few areas and some of the supporting characters aren't well developed, this is well worth the read.

I look forward to reading more novels written by this author in the future.

The narration of this audiobook really brought this story to life for me. Maggie Thompson did a fantastic job, particularly with her use of alternate tones for the supporting cast of characters. This was extensive and could be confusing, so the tonal changes helped to differentiate between the supporting characters.

Thank you to Kalela Williams, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

🎧+ 📖: Tangleroot-a standalone

✍️ By: Kalela Williams-new to me author

🗣️Narrator: Maggie Thompson voices all the characters with stand outs from Noni and Lana Jean. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍♀️‍➡️ Run Time: 9:54

📃 Page Count: 324 eBook


🗓️ Publication Date: 10-15- 24 | Read 10-15-24


🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan Audio, and Kalela Williams for this ARC and ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

🌎Setting: Boston to Magnolia, VA

Genre: AA Interests, Historical, YA, Mystery

Tropes: genealogical research, family drama, forbidden romance, hidden truth, secret identity, small town


☝🏾POV: 1st person, single-Noni

⚠️TW: racism, racial slurs, slavery, lynching mentioned, SA mentioned, death of parent and children

💭Summary: Noni is upset her mother is forcing her to move to their family's Virginia plantation Tangleroot instead of taking an internship at a theater in Boston. Dr. Radiance is the new president of Stonepost but wants to right some wrongs in its history. She has written a book and researched to get the college to acknowledge its real founder an enslaved man name Cuffee Fortune.

🚺 Heroine: Sophronia "Noni" Reid-18, a theater costume designer. Curious about the white family who lived at Tangleroot and her mother's ancestors.

🚹 Heroine: Dr. Radiance Castine, scholar of black literature has new job at Stonepost Liberal Arts College. Her mother was Claire Castine died when she was six in a car accident, never knew her father.

🎭Side cast:

• Cuffee Dearborn-enslaved, founded the first all-black college Stonepost

• Calvin Dearborn-Cuffee's son with Lacey Castine-Noni's great-great-grandmother- a dressmaker

• Thomas Dearborn-owned Cuffee and his family.

• Vermilion Harper-white senator in VA who was for segregation, wife Priscilla Lavigne Harper-Lana Jean's grandparents

• Elaine Eugenia Harper/Lana Jean- Radiance's racist high school principal who she hates, owns an inn (Trianon), and offers Noni a job playing piano.

• Valerie Golden- manager at Trianon who helped raise Radiance, now estranged because she works for Lana Jean

•Blondell Pankey- Radiance's BFF, works at diner Charm, and Noni gets a job as server.

• Will Taylor-wildlife photographer, lived in Magnolia but left after high school, and is now a tenant staying at Tangleroot w/ Radiance and Noni

• Sophronia "Sophie" Dearborn-Noni's namesake who she researches and finds hidden secrets

🤔My Thoughts: I loved that this was told solely from Noni's POV, but I couldn't believe she was only 18. She did a lot of research and investigating to find out who Sophie Dearborn was. The story allowed you to go back to slavery experiencing being both white and black and being servants and family.


Range of emotions: 😬🤔🙄
🌶️: Spice 0/5
😭: Emotion 5/5
❤️: Couple 0/5
⭐️: Rating 4/5

🎧 Book Review 🎧 Growing up in Maryland with so much history at our fingertips has been such a blessing and I cannot count the number of times we hopped over to Virginia for a day trip or long weekend for many more adventures. But there should be no denying that history has been white washed and as I have returned to sites that I visited growing up- from Mount Vernon to Monticello- I have been impressed by the effort to bring forth the story of the enslaved people. Kalela Williams brings this powerful movement to the younger generation in attempts to help educate and empower the next generation. While Tangleroot is a young adult book, it is absolutely beautiful and truly speaks to everyone. As Noni Reed’s quaint life in New England is uprooted to move to rural Virginia with her mother, she must face the ugly reality of the history of slavery and how it has shaped her own family’s past. Tangleroot is one of the most powerful reads of 2024 and is absolutely not to be missed!

At first, I wanted to read this book because I thought the cover was beautiful and I liked the summary of the book. The book, it is beautifully written. I love how it takes you through the journey of Noni learning about herself as a teenager/adult and also seeing herself in the way that her mom sees her. I love that her mom is also on a journey and you find out why the mom has been doing what she does due to what has taken place in the past.The inclusion of historical pieces makes the book even more special. I love historical fiction and this leans into that for me and still keeps the book relevant to young adults / adults interested in the topic.

Glad I got to read this E-ARC

This book was half modern day storytelling half historical fiction. One of the best parts of this book were the diaries and stories from the past. They were an unflinching look at the horrors of the past that we never need to forget. Mimi was a complicate character who I just felt for. Even though she could be rude and annoying at times I could understand how an 18 year old going through the trauma of the move and parents divorce could be this way. What I did not understand was why Radiance was so cruel to Noni. And I felt that was never truly addressed or resolved. Audiobook was SO well done!

This covered nothing new in terms of how America engages with its history when it comes to Slavery and how the South repaints their dark past of hate and just how intertwined family lines of Black and white people are. Williams has chosen to tell of a professor who is seeking to teach through education what truly is the inheritance of that past.

I wanted more communication between mother and daughter. It rankled that Radiance would do whatever it took to highlight issues that still run rampant in the South but refused to relay family history and more importantly her story to Noni.

I did appreciate how Noni grew in these pages and this is what kept me reading. It is an easy read and so many of what happened reflects what is happening and has been happening in America for decades.

4 ☆
-
This cover art is everything! The plot was very interesting and kept me wanting more. I liked Nomi, the main female lead, but her mom could have gone jump in a lake! Her mom was an unlikable character. I thought it was kind of weird that they moved onto the plantations their ancestors were slaves on! That felt cringe to me. But overall, it was very well written.

The audiobook narrator did a great job telling the story. She was easy to listen to and understand.
-
Thank you, Netgalley, and MacmillanAudio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Content warning: racism, descriptions of enslavement, physical abuse, domestic abuse, sexual assault, hate crimes, murder, microaggressions

So, Dr. Radiance Castine is a piece of work, right? While I understand why she is the way she is (especially by the end of the novel when Noni learns the ugly truth of her mom's time in rural Virginia), I had a really hard time getting over how horrible she was to Noni. It seemed like she was doing everything possible to kill Noni's dreams and career opportunities all because it wasn't a path she understood or respected.

With that being said, I thought Noni's journey at Tangleroot while she explored her family history was really interesting. I didn't see all the twists coming either, which was exciting. Overall, this is not an easy book to read as Noni faces a lot of tough situations from everyone from family, to friends, to coworkers, to townsfolk. Williams does a really good job of illustrating how complicated the past can be and how people may be more connected than they thought.

I think this will do well with older teens who may want to explore the tough topics that are covered in this book and might open a conversation about identity and legacy.

Maggie Thompson does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Macmillan Young Listeners in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️4.5

I am not one to read the blurb often so I was very surprised when I actually started listening to what the story was about. When we are introduced to our FMC all I felt was rage for everything in her life. Her mom liked to control the narrative from deciding where Noni lives, works, attends college. I loathed her mother and the choices she took away from Noni. My opinion did change on her mother slightly near the end when we get the big reveals of the WHY. It changed my mind enough to understand and feel more towards her mother. It did not change my opinion on her taking choices away from Noni. Noni wholeheartedly deserved to live the life the way she wanted.

This story had me crying and gasping. If you enjoy YA coming of age stories, I recommend this one. Let your inner rage spread through the cracks as you read about the mistreatment of the POC characters in this book all the way from the past when slavery was still a common to the present where white folk "did no wrong" and continue to try and establish the same mistreatment. Noni just blossoms throughout this story and the ending I was crying tears of joy for her family and her.

Tangleroot is going to be forever engraved in my brain.

Thank you McMillian Audio and Netgalley for the ALC!

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
It was all right. It was fine.
Man, though, Noni is one of the most obnoxious characters I've ever read. Listen to your mother, girl! Jeez! She's doing what she thinks is best for you! I get that a character needs negative traits to overcome for a proper character arc, but being this much of a spoiled brat is going a little overboard.
Radiance isn't much better, but at least she's trying.
Points also go to the narrator and her accents, which I greatly appreciate.
The writing's quite good, and the plot is interesting, and I liked a lot of the background characters, but Noni's constant complaining ruins it.
Three out of five stars for Tangleroot.

I am thankful to have gotten the audio ALC for free from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio (young listeners) so I can leave my voluntary review.

This is a YA novel which does take a little bit to get engaged with but when you do you want to keep on reading.

I listened to the audiobook at 1.75x speed rate. Why? It was needed for me. At that rate I thought the narrator was great! However at regular speed it is painfully slow and drawn out. At 1.75x you would usually be able to tell that it was sped up a bunch but you could not in this case. So while the narrator was a joy to listen to you will need to find the speed that works for you to fully enjoy the book.

As for the plot.. it’s an important book where the consumer can experience the racism that the FMC Noni both faces and uncovers herself throughout the book. Noni has lived a very different life in New England and when her mother moves down to rural Virginia for a job it is a huge culture shock and education for her. Throughout the book she was able to learn and experience all the history and lessons that her mother has taught her since she was little. She also learned her personal history which her mother kept from her.

While the book may take a bit to get into and be a subject matter that teens may not want to tackle, it’s an important book and would be great for a class or summer reading list.

The book comes out on October 15th 2024

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

I was drawn to this book based on the cover (i mean look at it!!). I was a bit nervous to read it since it is slightly outside my usually genres.

Overall it's a really well written book. The plot itself was really interesting, the book kept my interest from start to finish. I really liked our main character Noni. I really didn't like her mother, Noni is 18 she's allowed to chose where she wants to go for university!! Radiance was incredibly emotionally abusive towards Noni and it was all simply ignored/accepted. I can't rate this more than 3 stars due to the way the whole mother/daughter relationship actually played out.

the audiobook was well done! Loved the narrator.

I highly recommend this book--for people who enjoy coming of age stories, historical fiction, or family drama. The author handles some sensitive topics with brutal honesty but also care. This book is written from several perspectives, and the section written from the teenage daughter of the slave-owning plantation owner is heavy. I had to take a break while reading that section because I was so mad at people who have that mindset. The writing was real and honest, and it makes you feel things.

The novel follows a high school graduate who is relocated from Boston where life seems great to her mom's hometown in rural Virginia where her life seems to be falling apart. The main character is trying to figure out who she is away from her friends and outside of her mom's shadow. Living in the plantation where her ancestors were enslaved gives her plenty to consider as she faces both systemic racism and microagressions in the new community where she lives. She also finds herself drawn into the history of the plantation, called Tangleroot, when she finds some fashion drawings from the original inhabitants and her ancestors.

I was given early access to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review, and my opinion is that everyone should read this book and feel all the feels. It's a great book that explores our country's history and the modern consquences of our ancestor's actions.