This book will break you.
A really well written look at what i means to be a woman, when society, family and your whole community expect you to live a certain life (get married, have children, be happy) but you don't know if that is what you want and you're allowed the time to figure it out.
I loved this. Well formed characters, great story.

I had a lot of empathy for Efe. From her choices about schooling to her relationship priorities, she’s under a lot of pressure from her family and community, and it was quietly heartbreaking to watch her assert what she wanted — she says, out loud, to her family, that she doesn’t want to children — only for other people’s priorities to override hers.

I had less patience for Sam, because he’s so oblivious to anyone beyond himself. In one conversation about parenthood, he explicitly frames having a kid as something that would happen “Soon, if I have my way.” And when thinking about how Efe wasn’t keen, he puts it down to Efe’s “habit of blowing things out of proportion” and then thinks “that maybe when they’re older she’ll warm to the idea, that some biological alarm will go off and this big thing will simply cease to exist.” And while he goes grow a little bit, towards the very end, this obliviousness and casual dismissal of Efe’s side of things (and my desire to shout THAT’S NOT HOW THAT WORKS MY DUDE at him) made it more difficult to get through his slower chapters.

I think the elements addressing (unwanted) pregnancy and the struggles of parenthood were the strongest bits of the book. There is one scene that will stick with me, where Efe accidentally leaves her baby on a train, because it’s a stark portrayal of postpartum depression and the exhaustion of unsupported motherhood. But even this wasn’t given room to breathe — Sam steps in, the baby is fine, and then time skips forward again and the long-term fallout is only addressed through surface-level flashbacks and “do you remember when” conversations.

I had mixed feelings about the structure of the book. It is written like a countdown: sixteen years before, ten years before, six months before etc. On one hand it was an effective way to move through time, and to keep the momentum going when the story was lulling or leaning towards repetitive. However, the actual ‘zero hour’ was unsatisfying for me. I think it was supposed to be something that compounded the tragedy of the narrative, but it honestly felt like a cop-out.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I threw my kindle across the room at the ending. Absolutely could not recommend, sorry. We don't need to keep reading One Day again and again in new forms!

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book was unexpectedly powerful. As someone recently married and grappling with the pros and cons of motherhood at the moment, it hit a particularly personal note for me. I definitely identified with Efe's struggles, and appreciated that Appiah placed those in a full context and didn't minimise them in any way. But it's also a book about relationships and how both partners need the opportunity to grow and change within a safe space. I'd definitely recommend this to my friends.

I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved this book. It was absolute perfection. I’m flabbergasted by how good it was and I’m struggling to put into words why I loved it so much. Just read it!

What a beautiful book! I was hooked straight away. Efe moves to England as a teen from Ghana, and she grapples with trying to do what’s expected from her by her family and what she actually wants to do. This theme runs throughout the book and follows her into her adulthood and her marriage. It was written so well, and I could not put it down. As the book was ending I could kind of predict what was going to happen, but it didn’t change the impact it had. Loved it!

Beautifully researched and highly evocative with a terrific sense of time and place. The relationships are well drawn and the story very moving.

3.5 stars. This was a very emotional book that hit me in ways I didn't expect! I can't wait to read more books by this author.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/ 5

💬 “Marriage is like a groundnut. You have to crack it to see what’s inside.”

💬 “Love and regret aren’t mutually exclusive.”

📖 Teenagers Efe and Sam first meet in London in the 90s. Years later, they are married and life seems perfect. But Sam wants to start a family, while Efe wants to focus on her dreams. When an unplanned pregnancy forces them to confront their differences, will Efe and Sam discover if what they really want is still each other? Can you ever be rooted in a home that's on the brink of collapse?

💭 WOW what a beautiful and emotional debut! The story starts with a marriage in crisis. We meet Efe and Sam at a low point in their relationship, and the story then jumps back in time to reveal how they got to this point. Unfortunately, as the book continues, things continue to unravel.

This was such an interesting look at one of the biggest decisions a couple can make - whether to bring a child into the world. As a reader, I jumped back and forth between Team Efe and Sam, as they both have entirely valid points of view, and both make mistakes. Ultimately, when it comes to this decision, there is no right and wrong - these are just two people who want different things.

The characterisation of the characters was SO well fleshed out - they all felt so real and nuanced. And the descriptions of Ghana were so rich and emotive that I could really see it all - the houses, the congested roads, the heat, the families, and the community. I loved reading about Efe’s relationship with her Maame, even if it was hard at times.

I felt like I was losing steam about three-quarters of the way through but then POW the ending got me. What a sensational story, and actually perfectly paced when I look back at the whole plot.

This is a story about family, motherhood, identity, love and belonging. It was insightful and heartbreaking, and I recommend it SO highly! 👏🏼

"Love and regret aren't mutually exclusive".

I have had many anticipated reads for 2023, but "Rootless" is undoubtedly one of my favourite reads of 2023 so far, it may even be a contender for my favourite BLBC picks!

Efe has lived a life that has been chosen for her. Leaving her home  & life in Ghana was never a choice she would have made for herself. Efe's parents, have high hopes for her & her sister, Serwaa. in the hopes of their daughter's gaining academic success in the UK, the sisters are ejected from their life in Ghana. Efe struggles in ways that no one seems to understand. Efe's lack of automony over her life did not stop at her education, it transcends through her relationships, her marriage, ans it is not until Efe reaches breaking point when she is begrudingly forced into motherhood, that she begins to claim back her life, much at the displeasure of those around her.

Appiah takes readers on a painful journey, spanning two decades, that demonstrates that love is not always enough during the course of a marriage. It is not often that we hear the stories of women who do not want children, but as the tides continue to shift, and gendered roles & expectations continually transforming, "Rootless" is a perfect demonstration of a womans right to not want to have children. Not only was this perfectly executed, but it was also complimented greatly alongside the exploration of post natal depression.

I found myself constantly conflicted by who warranted my sympathies throughout, but somehow I was left feeling that they both did. In their own ways, they both were battling demons that require the reader to take a step back and understand the characters. Although, I did wish that Sam's perspective had more room for development, doing so would have taken away from the exploration of post natal depression.

I know that there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the ending, but I loved it, it was so fitting for their journey.

This is not a book that centres solely on romance, it is one that centres on the difficulties of a marriage, it poses many questions about marriage and relationships, ones in which need to be thought through with compassion & an open mind.

Please do your Googles of the TW ⚠️ but I think to research would spoil the basis of the story - but the choice is yours!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Rootless isn't my usual type of book and yet I found myself drawn in by this tale of a marriage in crisis. There were aspects that didn't work quite as well for me; the structure of the novel being that most of the early characters flip forward by a year meant that it was difficult for me to initially engage with the characters, but once it slowed down and started taking events more gradually it became easier to engage with. I also really struggled with the ending. But by and large, the characters and the conflicts truly drew me in and I was invested in events.

As mentioned above, it did take a little work to get there though. The novel starts at five months before and we learn that Efe has taken off back to Ghana, abandoning her husband and young daughter. Sam is thrown completely off guard by this, believing that their marriage was strong and Efe was happy. We get very little explanation before the novel jumps back nineteen years to when Efe was a teenager and shipped off to Britain for schooling. You get snapshots of her life as each chapter jumps forward one year; her schooling, her struggles at university, her first job, her first partner... throughout all of this, Sam is an integral part of her life, but it isn't until a good chunk through the novel that they actually become partners and the real story begins.

I can't help but feel that a lot of the early chapters could have been missed and given as backstory throughout the main novel, rather than being used as a series of vignettes of Efe's life until her and Sam got together. Because that's where the story really gets moving and that's where it becomes engaging and engrossing. The time line slows down somewhat, more page length is given to each of the years and then it drops down to month gaps so you get a more in depth look at what's going on.

The early years of marriage lead into an unexpected pregnancy and this is where things really get sticky for Efe and Sam. Efe has always been clear that she does not want children. She doesn't want to put her life, her career, her future on hold to stay at home and look after an infant. Sam is very much the opposite. He's delighted by the pregnancy, can't even consider terminating it. And the cracks start appearing and the perfect lives they have crafted for themselves start to splinter apart.

What this novel does very well is explore both the cultural differences that can cause tension in an inter-racial marriage (in this case British Ghanaian) and the struggles of motherhood/parenting. It is a novel about regret, tradition, equality and family. Of how the burden is unequally heaps on the mother in many parenting arrangements, even when the father was the one keen to take on the responsibility of having a child. The novel slows down after Efe has her daughter, shining a spotlight on the expectations and unhappiness of this new mother as Sam loses himself in 'providing for his family'.

The countdown continues, leading up to the moment we see at the beginning of the novel where Efe throws her hands up, packs her bags and leaves. And it's easy to see that things are nowhere near as blissful as Sam would have had us believe. And if that had been the defining moment we were counting down to, with everything else being the aftermath then it would have been excellent. But the countdown continues. And the final event honestly just feels like a cop-out and is a deciding factor in my rating of this novel.

All in all, this is a promising debut, but it could have been stronger. Much of the early novel could have been amalgamated and the countdown started far later than it actually was. That would have made the timeline feel far less rushed. The characters felt realistic, and many of their actions heart-breakingly real. That doesn't always make them likeable; Sam in the later book becomes someone worth slapping in honesty. But that is also true to life. Where the novel really let itself down was the ending. I'm not sure what the counterpart of 'ex machina’ is where things resolve in a way that really resolves nothing but still in an unrealistic and sudden way, but this is kind of it...

So a mixed bag. A promising debut that could have been better.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

When two people in love want two very different things from their marriage, what will happen to them all? Sam and Efe love each other deeply, but one wants children whilst the other doesnt - how can their marriage survive, and faced with a surprise pregnancy, what will the outcome be?
tender and sensitively handled by the author, this was a treat to read.

Wow what a brilliant book. I am a big fan of multiple POVs so that captured me straight away. The story was very engaging, heart breaking with many trigger warnings. I thought it was so well written and so good as a debut novel!

Just thinking about writing a review for this is making me feel emotional.

From the jump I noticed the timelines and thought I knew what it was alluding to, and even towards the end when I had a better idea of what it would be, I still found myself having a very surprisingly emotional reaction to the climax.

The crux of this book is about motherhood and how not everyone wants to be or is cut out to be a mother. The author very deftly and vividly shows us Efe’s experience of motherhood. Even those perfect mothers whose lives revolve around their kids would be hard pressed to not empathise with her and everything she goes through.

The book is also touches on familial relationships and the pressure children face in defining themselves and who they are beneath the pressure of parent’s expectations (particularly prevalent in migrant families).

I loved this story, I loved Eve and the other characters even when i didn’t particularly like them (author did a fantastic job with character development). This isn’t an easy book but it is really engaging and so well written. It’s going to haunt me for days I just know it. 4.5 stars

This book blew me away. All time favourites list blew me away.

It opens with Sam returning home to find his wife Efe has fled London and the cost of a flight to Ghana is missing from their bank account. Immediately we understand this marriage is in trouble but we have no idea how it got there.

The structure of this book is really clever - following the opening, we step back nearly twenty years and then move forward again, seeing Efe and Sam’s lives unfold - learning everything that brought us to the point she left. I was so heavily invested in Efe’s character and was particularly moved by her battle with postpartum depression. Seeing her struggle with her mental health whilst trying to balance everything and meet the expectations placed on her by both herself and everyone around her was incredibly powerful.

The chapters are carrying you to a certain point in time and you have know idea what is going to happen. All I will say is that I didn’t see it coming, and it elevated the whole book to something extraordinary. I cannot wait to see what Krystle Zara Appiah writes in the future ❤️

“People – even the ones who love you – can be a weight around your neck. You just have to choose which weights you want to carry.”

An ambitious heartfelt debut about marriage, family and love which tackles some very difficult subjects. I found the structure and PoVs difficult at the start but was able to get into it as the story picked up. I empathised the most with Efe’s journey and struggle with motherhood, post-partum depression and perhaps subtle underlying mental health issues. I wish at least one person around her could have understood her perspective. I liked the aspects of Ghanian culture that popped through from time to time. The writing was engaging and the plot moved fairly even paced. I did not like the ending and wish the author had just let them get back together.

This book broke me in the best way 😭 an amazing debut and exploration of complex issues. Was rooting for Efe and Sam throughout

Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

Sam and Efe meet in 1990s London as teenagers and become friends then much later fall in love. Set between London and Ghana we follow their story over the years in countdown style until the conclusion at the very end.

Wow, WOW... what an amazing book! I absolutely loved it - the characters, the setting of London/Ghana, the story... so well written and really clever. Can't wait to see what the author writes next. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

3.5 stars rounded down

I enjoyed Rootless - its in-depth depiction of the relationship between Efe and Sam, its honest portrayal of the different pulls the characters experience, including their most intimate thoughts and wishes. I personally found the pacing a bit too slow and this novel just didn't manage to glue me to its pages. Nevertheless, it's a fantastic debut novel, well written and addresses many important themes, such as societal pressures on women and their consequences for physical and mental wellbeing. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an emotional, powerful, but not necessarily page-turning read about love, family ties and putting down roots.