The River Has Roots

What a beautiful little fairytale about the love of sisters. Highly recommend!"I was an (elder) sister before I was a wife, and for longer, and that's a shape I can't easily shake."This was so bittersweet and whimsical, and the perfect amount of story! I really enjoyed the audiobook, it was such a vibe!

This is a beautiful small book -- beautifully written, beautifully illustrated. The main story, "The River Has Roots," is a novella that travels between something close to our world and something we might call fairyland (the story calls it Arcadia). There's a central friendship between two sisters that I love, there's a river flowing with the grammar of magic, there's wordplay, suitors worthy and unworthy, loss and music, turns and transformation. I liked it very much. Yet I found it unexpectedly easy to set aside between scenes. [Usually when I like a story a lot, I find excuses to read it.]The main story is followed by a shorter tale, "John Hollowback and the Witch," which is equally good but lacking sweetness, a striking fable that is perhaps kinder to its title character than he deserves.Four out of five willow stars.About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

The River Has Roots is a lyrical and quietly powerful novella that feels like a whispered spell. Amal El-Mohtar tells a story rooted in English folklore, where songs are sacred, love is complex, and language is a form of living magic.Set in the town of Thistleford, which borders Faerie, the story follows sisters Esther and Ysabel Hawthorn, keepers of enchanted willow trees and caretakers of an ancient song-bound tradition. Their bond is deep and tender, creating emotional depth that anchors the story, even as both mortal and magical forces start to pull them apart.El-Mohtar’s writing is poetic and immersive. It has a musical quality that fits the themes of memory, transformation, and the significance of words. The novella explores the relationship between love and responsibility in a way that feels both mythic and personal, especially as Esther’s forbidden connection with a fae being named Rin slowly unravels the world the sisters know.What stood out most to me was the idea of magic as a grammatical act—conjugation as transformation and language as alchemy. This narrative device adds originality, even if the details of the magic system remain unclear. However, the prose can become dense at times, requiring patience and rereading to understand certain metaphors or symbols.Although the novella isn’t long, it encourages slow reading. Each word feels carefully chosen for rhythm as much as for meaning, and while this enhances the atmosphere, it may alienate readers who prefer a straightforward narrative. Still, the emotional rewards make the effort worthwhile.Overall, The River Has Roots is a haunting story about sisterhood, sacrifice, and the power of language to connect or divide us. It is a rich, folkloric read that lingers like a half-remembered song, echoing long after the story is complete.

Not a typical read for me. I decided to give this a try as part of a reading challenge …mostly because it’s a short length, but I ended up enjoying the story.

This is a fantastic, lyrical fantasy novella. I switched between listening to the audiobook and reading on my kindle, and found the audio experience to be almost like listening to a folktale, or a bard singing from another time.At its core, the story follows the Hawthorne sisters, Esther and Ysabel, who sing to enchanted willows along a mystical river. But it’s so much more than that, told in a non-linear style and woven with poetic imagery and lush prose. The novella blends language-as-magic, deep sisterly love, memory, transformation, grief, and nature. It reimagines the classic murder‑ballad The Twa Sisters through themes of voice, familial bonds, and how places and people are shaped by the stories they carry.This story is haunting and beautiful, yet still manages to be hopeful. If you were a fan of Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s This Is How You Lose the Time War, and enjoy fantasy, magic, or even just thought-provoking prose, you will love this book.Amal El-Mohtar is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine, and I can’t wait to see what she has in store next. Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories was teased at the end of this book and has a release date of March 2026.Spice: 1/5Plot:5/5Writing: 5/5My Enjoyment: 5/5