The River Has Roots is a stunning, lyrical novella. It's a fairy tale recrafted like a meandering river, with clever touches and nods to the traditional murder ballad form. It's a world where the magic system is built on grammar. (oh my heart!!) There's enough plot to carry the book through, too, which is pleasing, because the style risks being form over substance.

Ysabel and Esther Hawthorn are sisters who live by the River Liss. The Hawthorn family is responsible for singing to the willows, and Ysabel and Esther love each other as dearly and completely as they love the singing. Esther is being courted by her neighbor Samuel Pollard, who she cannot abide, and and Arcadian named Rin who "is a feeling, a lightness in her step, a burr in her throat..." as ethereal as the land they come from. Love and power can be a treacherous game though, and Esther comes to a crossing point where she must face the most difficult of choices.

This has perhaps my new favorite twist on an old favorite murder ballad, The Two Sisters/The Cruel Sister/Bonny Swans, wherein the sisters are dearest friends rather than bitter enemies, and yet the outcome is still much the same. For those familiar with folk songs, you'll find other recognizable ballads lightly referenced throughout. There are some similarities in lyrical style to Time War, and with the same amount of whimsy, but with perhaps more grounding in plot.

I look forward to reading and rereading this story over the years. Simply put, it's gorgeous.

This book is absolutely the loveliest!

Synopsis:
Esther and Ysabel live in Thistleford at the edge of Faerie lands, where they love to sing to the magic willows praising them for their abundant harvest. Esther is totally smitten with Rin who lives in the enchanted lands of Arcadia. When Esther declines the advancement of another suitor Samuel Pollard, her life is put in danger. Esther must decide between saving her sister and being with the love of her life.

My Thoughts:
Amal El-Mohtar’s writing is so beautiful it is like reading a dream. The prose describing the magic system called grammar are captivating and clever. I am not sure I have read a book before where I can describe the use of language as hypnotizing. I was hypnotized! The bond between the sisters is endearing and I dearly loved this tale.

This was stunning! I requested The River Has Roots because I loved This Is How You Lose the Time War, and I loved this one even more. With Time War, I felt confused the entire time, like the book was saying "look how clever I am, keep up if you can." This book instead takes you by the hand and leads you along so you can feel clever, too.

I adored the sisterly relationship, the concept of grammar as magic, the beautiful ways language is played with, and the way this blends a classic folkloric feel with something new!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

"This thing you are used to, it has a past, and that is part of it."

I read this directly following This Is How You Lose the Time War, so I was in the zone for another unique short story where I don't fully understand the world, but you pick up on things along the way. I flew through that one in a day, so I expected to do the same with The River Has Roots. At 144 pages, it surprisingly took me a few days. 

After reading the bio, I expected a sweet magical story around sisterhood and to dive into the land of the Faerie - which it was. Still, I was caught off guard opening into the rules of Grammar, and how this world's magic system appears to be run by it. 

El-Mohtar's writing is beautiful, poetic, and magical. I could read 144 pages of her painting the picture of water flowing over rocks alone. I digress...

Once we moved on from our Grammar lesson, the story picked up for me. The backstory of the "Professors" was lovely, and I could picture myself standing in their shade with a slight breeze on my face while watching the water flow down the river. I adored the love shared between sisters Esther and Ysabel, and I wish I could listen to them harmonize for the "Professors." 

I enjoyed the riddles, the songs, and I loved that Ysabel preferred murder ballads most of all. I was glad Esther didn't want to settle for Pollard, because he succeeded at being terrible, and that Ysabel wanted Esther to be happy. I adored Rin's lines and their magic, and how above all they wanted to make Esther happy, regardless of the outcome. 

Ultimately, I wish this was longer so there would have been more time to better understand the Grammar world which always left me confused, have more time in Arcadia, and have a less rushed ending. I think the world could have been magical without Grammer being part of it - every time this reentered the scene it pulled me out of the story.

I believe many El-Mohtar fans will love this, I fell a little shy of loving it. I am looking forward to reading more from El-Mohtar.

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy of this novella about two sisters, their ties to the Earth, the magic that they sing, and how nothing can stop them from being who they are, not even death.

Fairy tales were something that never really interested me when I first started reading. They were easy to find, Disney made plenty of films, but I really had no interest. Maybe it was the way they were bowdlerized to make them safe for young eyes, even with the darkness many of these stories still had. As my reading expanded I found that fairy tales and folk lore made up much of my favorite stories. Reading Grimm's stories, unsanitized, was a revelation, mostly at the increased amount of violence, but also the sexual undertones, that I had never thought about. No at the time cared about. Recently quite a few authors have used these tales as as a base for their own work, creating tales that reflect the modern world, making once upon a time more once in this modern world. The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, is one of these books, calling on the idea of fairy tales, with a hint of magic, telling a story of sisters, enchantments, love, and maybe a happily ever after.

Thistleford is a small town close to the River Liss, and even closer to the world of Faerie, called Arcadia. Near this town is the Hawthorn family. The Hawthorns live in a glade filled with willows, laden with enchantment. The Hawthorns have a ancient compact, sing to the willows, and all things will be good. The youngest Hawthorns, the sisters, Esther and Ysabel, sing with a sound that is like rain, and love to sing to the trees as much as they love being around each other. Things take a turn when Esther is approached by suitor looking for a marriage. Esther though loves someone else, and this rejection is not taken kindly. And soon the sisters, find themselves testing the bounds of their love, and the magic around them.

This is a novella so to ruin more of the story would be a sin, as there is much to unfold and learn as one reads. There is a hint of fairy tale, with enchantment and magic, called the Grammar. I won't go into that, but it is dark, mysterious and left intentionally vague, which in a longer book would be a detriment, but in a novella works well. In fact the novella length is the best way to present this story. There is a feeling at first of distance, like one is being read, or sung a tale that would be familiar from many a campfire setting. However as the story starts moving, this distance ceases, and the characters become not people in fable, but people dealing with a world that has changed, in many ways forever. El-Mohtar has a real gift for writing, for putting words that shouldn't fit in a passage, but together create a scene, or a moment that really makes the story shine, and sing.

Fans of El-Mohtar previous work will like the change in style and ideas, and appreciate again the gift for writing that El-Mohtar has. Readers of T. Kingfisher will also like this, as both can take a classic tale, and make it ring with the problems we face as citizens of an increasingly ugly world. One I hope someday has a happy ending.

When I heard there was a new El-Mohtar novella coming this spring, I virtually ran to get a digital ARC for review. And here we are.
And where we are is Thistleford, a town at the edge of the River Liss, which has its headwaters in the fae land of Arcadia. Here also are two sisters, Ysabel and Ester Hawthorn, whose family has tended to the willows nourished by the River Liss for generations. The sisters have “voices that ran together like raindrops on a windowpane,” and every day they sing a hymn to the Professors, a pair of willows that stand as markers of the edge of Thistleford.
It seems almost a literary crime to reveal much of the story, since it is so short. Even quoting from the book seems unfair, since the magic underpinning of the world is called grammar: “Grammar, like gramarye, like grimoire.” This is from the very first page of the book, from the third paragraph, and yet I feel like I might have robbed you of something, reader, by telling you even this much. I came into this story absolutely cold, not knowing a thing about it other than the name of the author and its title, and it was the ideal way to plunge into this world.

I loved this book and highly recommend it. Full review will be published on my website March 3, 2025.

I love El-Mohtar's reworking of a familiar ballad, and her use of ballads within the story itself. It sent me off to Spotify to make a playlist to go along with the book!

Like so many readers, I was excited to read whatever was next from the co-author of This Is How You Lose the Time War! This is an altogether enchanting love story – primarily of the love between two sisters.

Even though this is just a novella and not a novel, I'm not convinced--This is How You Lose the Time War, which was co-authored with a novelist, notwithstanding--that this author's strengths lie in anything longer than a short story, or at least this book did nothing to convince me of that. The writing is pretty but I feel like there's not enough substance here to sustain it, and also it was way too twee for me, especially for a story that's supposed to be about murder (and admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of cozy fantasy like this to begin with, but I can name half a dozen writers just at Tor.com alone who could have done a better job with the premise here). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest albeit apparently very minority opinion!

This story is unlike anything I’ve ever read! Unique, surprising, and emotional. I really connected with the pair of sisters and loved the ending.

The vocabulary was also super impressive, I learned some new words!

Thanks to tordotcom for the gifted ARC!

At only 144 pages and filled with beautiful art, this novella is a quick read and focuses on two inseparable sisters, Esther and Ysabel, who sing to the willow trees each morning and each night. Esther rejects a suitor from the land next to theirs, instead falling for a lover from the land of Faerie, and that changes the course of everything. I thought it was going to try to get a little too deep at first with a magic system called "grammar" and trying to accomplish too much in 144 pages, but in the end, the story stayed as a more surface-level novella. While this was atmospheric and had beautiful prose and songs throughout, it just didn't really go anywhere.

I was pulled in by the music of this book from the first page. The deft playing with words was such a delight. The author clearly has a love for the beauty of language and I think easily gets that buy in from the reader. When I thought I had my footing after being stunned by the sheer beauty of the words I had my feet swept away by the wild magic of the Rive Liss and Arcadia. As stated above the challenge of writing fairy magic is not small. Fairies seem so unbelievable and an author has to convince the reader to just wallow in the nonsense. We are eased into the magic by El-Mothar. She dips us in the beauty of wild feral magic and then lets us see it's tricks and nonsense alter. When finally I emerged, perspective changed and thought I had my breath back it was knocked out of me by the love of these two sisters. The dynamic of their relationship is so lovingly crafted. A well written sibling story is always bound to win me over and this one surely did. My only issue I took was about midway through the story. Something occurs that rocked me and I sat down the book not wanting to see what had to unfold next. So often in moments like this when an author has jarred me emotionally out of the world I return and have a hard time accepting whatever comes next. This is not the case here. When I finally returned I found that the book and I both took a deep breath together. I wasn't left to deal with the fallout on my own.

I loved this lyrical fairy tale/murder ballad set in a world where magic is grammar.

The Hawthorne sisters spend their days singing to the willows that translate the magic of the River Liss into grammar that can be used safely in "civilized" lands. But Esther, the older sister, is in love with an Arcadian - an inhabitant of Arcadia, the opposite of civilized lands where magic runs wild - while younger sister Ysabel is happy with her conventional life.

This is a very vibey book, in that its prose and style is just as important as its plot and characters. It took me a few pages to settle into the narrative, but once I did, I adored it. It's a joy to read El-Mohtar's language, the plot makes sure the bad guys get their comeuppance, and the bittersweet ending is super satisfying. I will repeat: I loved it.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar is a perfect read. What a beautiful exploration of sisterhood, grief and love. There was so much packed into this novella but it worked so well. Absolutely beautiful writing. I wish I could read this book for the first time again and again.

Two sisters live on the edge of Faerie where they tend to enchanted willows with their songs. When the sisters were lost in Faerie as children it was their songs that guided them home as no creature of the Fae can sing. When they are older, Esther longs to return to Faerie while Ysabel fears it. When a mortal man starts courting Esther Ysabel is glad, for she fears she may lose Esther to Faerie and the Fae lover that waits for her there. Esther will leave Ysabel but not in the way either sister expects. The River Has Roots is a beautiful reimagining of the Twa Sisters ballad full of love, longing and magic.

"The River Has Roots" is a magical exploration of sisterhood, grief, duty, and love. It reads like a fairytale that has stood the test of time - one that touches all who read it. More than just beautiful prose, this story tore my heart out and then tenderly mended it. This was worth the wait.

I’m in utter awe of this book. El-Mohtar masterfully explores love, grief, and the things we’re willing to sacrifice for those we care about. Every character feels real, even the ones on the fringes, and I couldn’t stop thinking about them long after I finished the book.

This highly anticipated solo debut is set in a town right on the edge of Faerie and features a pair of sisters who cannot be separated, even in death. Part murder-ballad, part fairy tale, and all about language.El-mohtar packs a lot into a beautiful novella.

This was SUCH fun! Firstly, I ADORED the magic system, and I could read an entire series just dealing with that. I loved the integration of ‘grammar’ and other such words, and it made so much sense in my brain. I also loved the sisters and their connection, and the ending?! What an ending!! This was fantastic, and I cannot wait to tell more readers about it!

Thank you so much for the ARC!

At 144 pages, this might meet some technical length definition of a novel, but in terms of actual plot and content, this is definitely a novella. The vibes are immaculate, but they kinda have to be because there's not a hell of a lot of plot. There's a lot of setup and world building, all of which is really beautiful in both content and form, and then there's a little bit of plot, and then the story ends.

I don't want to undersell how beautiful it is, to be clear. The prose is lyrical and poetic, and El-Mohtar captures the otherworldliness of the faeries of old remarkably well. I found myself impressed by the way they hit the balance between modern expectations of narrative cause and effect and mythological unpredictability. The way that Arcadia defies logic is equally a help and a hindrance to the characters, and so I never felt like it was being used as a Deus Ex Machina cheat.

El-Mohtar also has little to no time for dramatic irony: once the reader knows the narrative is going in one direction, that something is going to happen, that thing happens. There's no beating around the bush and dragging the word count out. This works particularly well given that it's a world that runs on narrative and language, not on physics. However, it does mean that, quite frankly, not enough happens. The story ends at a place that makes sense, I suppose, but given the shape of setup and rising action, I was expecting to be at about the third or halfway mark, not the end. The narrative sets up a journey, sets up expectations of a subversion of who the protagonist is, sets up a whole bunch of questions and interests, and then jumps right past all of them with a handwave.

To be clear, this is only a problem because the book is so beautiful that I want more of it. If the first hundred pages hadn't been so lovely, I wouldn't care that I didn't have another hundred or more to go. This is a good novella, but I think it could have been a masterpiece of a novel.