Thanks to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. I had originally requested it because I LOVED the cover, and I heard it dealt with mushrooms (and I love sporror!) Unfortunately, the writing style just wasn't my vibe. The characters were nameless -- referred to only by traits, for example: the Boy Twin, the Liar, the Oldest, etc. It was difficult to follow and had no chapter demarcations, which made it feel cumbersome, despite being only 140 pages. (In fact, if it wasn't so short, I may have DNFed) It had some really cool concepts and imagery, especially regarding the mushrooms, but it just missed the mark for me. Maybe I'm not smart enough for this one? lol It felt reminiscent of Shirley Jackson and T. Kingfisher, so fans of those authors, this may be more your vibe!

Thank you to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for an arc! All opinions are my own.

Root Rot is so strange and bizarre and I loved it. It’s told from the perspective of a collective “We” and none of the character’s are given names, instead they’re referred to by titles like “The Liar” or “The One who Runs Away.” This does sometimes make it a little confusing to figure out who is where and what’s happening, but I think that’s intentional and adds to the fever dream vibe.

I could see this being one of those books that people either love or hate, but I am strongly in the former category.

Which way is up, which way is down?! That pretty much captures the essence of “Root Rot” an experimental literary horror piece. At only 70 pages, it took me a surprisingly long time to read and digest this weird and bizarre novelette.

To encapsulate my thoughts: Way way out there…trippy surrealistic fever dream visceral eco and metaphysical horror. Much the same as this piece of horror tracks, also how it is written—slippery, insidious, duplicitous—your brain has to chew and digest and work for it. (At least mine did, and I earned a Philosophy and Psych double major in undergrad.) Working for it, is not a bad thing.

Saska Nislow delivers an ambiguous and unnerving exploration of the cycle of life, the shifting, nebulous dimensions of perception that form our reality, hitting hard with some visceral and terrifying descriptions which imprint on the reader’s psyche leaving behind the same afterglow as a particularly terrifying nightmare.

There were certain parts, visuals and descriptions, which made me feel genuinely anxious, panicked, claustrophobic, and uneasy. Well-done on hitting those horror nerves!

The children’s names, rather than using names, identify the characters through qualities, behavior, or reputation, which is fascinating on one level, and tedious on another. The dialogue between the children lacks quotations but isn’t difficult to follow. The writing is interesting albeit repetitive on occasion. The atmosphere is exceptionally crafted. The author is clearly talented and brings a unique perspective and voice to the speculative horror genre.

This is an unusual, intelligent, disturbingly evocative read worth checking out, especially if you crave horror that provokes the intellect and isn’t mainstream.

I would definitely read more from this author.
4/5 stars

Strange that becomes stranger the deeper you go. The setting was eerily nostalgic for me since I spent many summers in a big house overflowing with cousins. I quite liked the slew of non-names they all had, which could be confusing, but almost felt like that was the reason for naming everyone so oddly. The distant atmosphere in the house and surrounding the grounds contributed to the uncertainty when things went completely off the rails. I appreciated the vivid descriptions and thought this was a fun botanical horror in an almost gothic setting.

This had all the ingredients for me to love this book but that wasn’t the case.
My problem with this story is the formatting and the lack of names. I think the lack of names was annoying and there’s too many kids to keep track of. I didn’t understand the switching POVs, they’re we them and us randomly making us think the kids were one or something.
It takes so long to get to the point and honestly there’s no point, it’s a fever dream that I didn’t enjoy. The writing was another thing I didn’t like, the constant “it wasn’t this, but it was this” “it looked wrong but it was right” “*insert body part* was backwards”.
If you have no mythical/folk knowledge, you might miss clues to what may be happening and that itself can leave the reader in the dark. There’s too many characters it’s hard to keep up.
My guesses for what’s happening is there’s some sort of paranormal portal/dimension happening in the water, changelings/elves, kelpie, fairy circles. But none of this is mentioned in detail or by name so who knows.

I think overall this book was frustrating and if it wasn’t a short story I would’ve DNF’d.

Well...that was different. Literally my husband asked how my book was and I said "weird". I don't even totally know what to say about it. I read it in one sitting, so I think I liked it? I'm going to give it 4 stars because I've never read anything like it.

It definitely won't be for everyone.

3.5 star rating rounded up.

Root rot is unlike anything I have read before a Mushroom infested, kaleidoscopic, fungal fever dream.

Root Rot is a short story of a family who go to stay at their grandfathers Lake Cabin, we don't really know why they have gone there or who the family is, but we know there are a group of children in this family and we read via each of their perspectives throughout this book.
Things are strange at the cabin, their memories are fractured, they get lost often, faces peel from the edges, mushrooms and mould are everywhere and family members seem to disappear and reappear over and over again.
The plot in this book is elusive but it still kept me interested from start to finish.

Root rot has some extremely eerie and haunting imagery that will most likely reappear in my nightmares and I feel very uneasy after finishing it.

My main bug bear is that each child doesn't have a real name, they are named after their traits such as the liar, the cry baby and the one who ran away.
As there are soo many children it did feel confusing at times and I did find it hard to connect with the characters, none of these traits were explained and it made the reading flow feel broken at times.

Non the less I did enjoy Root Rot and it gave me A24 horror vibes.

A grotesque examination of birth and death and rebirth. Cycles of life and of family that's rotten to the very core. A blend of cosmic and fungal horror that highlights the futility of escaping the dirt soil where everyone ends up eventually. There were times it was difficult to keep up with all of the characters as they had titles rather than names.

This was a strange one. The plot seemed like it would work but the execution was all over the place. It had the makings of a great short horror story but the lack of actually character names made it hard to follow. The children were just referred to by their descriptions ( the baby, the oldest, the liar, etc). By the end of it I couldn’t even tell you what I just read. It was just strange over all.

2.5 rating

Whoa, what a trippy mind-bend of a book! This thing is seriously OUT THERE—like, experimental-to-the-max bizarre, but somehow all the weirdness clicks together perfectly to create this killer modern gothic horror vibe. And the FUNGI! So. Much. Fungi! The whole story flows like some fever dream you can't shake, and before I knew it, I was totally sucked into the creepy lake house and those seriously unsettling woods. For such a quick read, the tension builds like crazy, and those fungus/nature descriptions? *Shivers* Genuinely gave me the heebie-jeebies! Pretty sure I need to give this one another spin to catch everything. That ending has my brain doing somersaults trying to figure out what actually went down! Anyone else still scratching their head over those final pages?

I don't think I'd do a description justice or that it would necessarily help, so I just won't. Root Rot is a creepy horror novella that reads like a fever dream. It's layered and weird. I'm still a little uncertain of what I just read, just that I liked it.

Thank you Creature Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

This went from 5 to 3 very quickly.

A creepy and deeply unsettling book that read fantastically. The narration was actually very intriguing despite not being what I'm used to, and the story had me hooked. It was genuinely awful to read at points, and the descriptions were stunning.

However, I have no idea what the ending meant. The whole premise started so well and then just sort of fell away at the end. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it? I don't know, but it really ruined the whole experience for me, unfortunately.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read an Arc of this book in exchange for a review.

Let me start by saying I finished this book, closed my Kindle, and immediately ordered a physical copy for my shelf. It will be here next week.

This was a weird, creepy little ride that I was in for from page one. I'm a sucker for plant based horror like this and was really digging the weird dreamy all over the place way it was written.

While the way the characters were done was interesting it did make it hard at first to keep track of them between 'name' and how they are/aren't described. And you do have to pay attention to what you're reading or you're going to get lost fast.

But overall loved it. Can't wait to see more from this author, really enjoyed her writing style.

If you're looking for a unique spin on horror, you'd be a fool to miss Root Rot. Written in the eerie "we" of the children, you're never quite sure which of the curious brood you embody - and given the novella's eventual reveal, that may rather be the point.

Author Saskia Nislow's writing is beautiful. It's rich and immersive, filled with imagery that can both awe and disgust - often at the same time - and as a result, Root Rot grips with surprising intensity.

It's a cliche to say that the less you know about a novel the better, but it's never been truer than here. Indeed, Root Rot's blurb tells us next to nothing about what awaits amidst its deceptively short page count. I recommend going in blind as you can and letting Nislow's impressive visuals wash over you.

Root Rot's brand of horror won't be for everyone, but it feels appropriate to offer this single piece of advice: simply succumb. It's truly worth it.

wow! this was weird and disorientating, i didn’t think i was going to like it as much as i did but omg the writing just has that effect on you. it was almost mesmerizing at times with how things were escalating and being described. i’m a sucker for odd horror with fungus elements and this checked the boxes for me!! thank you to the publishers and net galley for the ARC

I'm not sure what I just read, but I enjoyed it.

This horror novella has a few things that stand out: the way it's written from a nine person interchangeable point of view of we, how no characters have names, and the creepy horrifying imagery. If any of that at all sounds interesting to you, then read it! To sum it up, nine children go to visit Grandpa with their parents. The lake house has death and decay all around it, but it remains standing and we will find out why. I wanted more clarity in the ending, but also the end was very on brand. The creepy and horrifying imager will really be sticking with me when I'm alone in the dark.

Wooooooof I’ll be thinking about this nightmare fuel for a very, very long time.

Root Rot was such an incredible and interesting read. I’d have to say this book contained some of the most grotesque, horrific imagery I have read in a long time, the ending had me in a dream state spiral.

I found the large cast of characters to be intriguing and dynamic. Despite them not having names I found I was able to connect to them through the bizarre and horrendous journey.

Huge appreciation to NetGalley & publisher for the ARC opportunity for this novel. I finished it on Earth Day of all days… and I feel a little bit closer to Mother Nature today. Maybe even a little bit more rotten than I was before.

Such an interesting book! I often feel like novellas are missing something or just aren’t satisfying, but this one was great! I found the characters a little difficult to keep track of, but I also enjoyed the uniqueness of it: The Liar, The Secret Keeper, etc. I think this will be a modern classic one day.

Nine children gather at their grandfather's lake house, but instead of names, they have labels like "The Liar" and "The Secret Keeper." This storytelling choice initially confused me, but soon I was pulled into Nislow's hypnotic collective "we" narration as reality shifts around the children - mushrooms bleed, faces distort, and the landscape seems hungry. The book captures that disorienting childhood experience of being thrown together with cousins, creating a strange mythology while adults remain distant figures doing incomprehensible adult things.. The vacation setting transforms from familiar to alien in ways that feel both disturbing and fascinating. There's no tidy resolution and I finished the book partly confused but strangely content with a story that perfectly scratched my itch for creative weirdness in the stories I consume.

Root Rot is an exploration in mystery and detail, immersing the reader inside the folds of the story and exploring it along with the characters. The tone is excellent - creepy, but from the perspective of one of the main children; dreamlike, but you don't actually wake up.