Root Magic by Eden Royce
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I love to read spooky middle grade books, and this is definitely that. But it's also more than that. It's a coming of age story and a book about the importance of family, embracing and being strengthened by one's heritage and culture, and making good decisions that are often tough. Young Jezebel is the daughter of a family that has strong Gullah traditions, including root magic. It was never something to feel weird about until she started school and she was bullied by the other girls in her grade. Her twin brother Jay seems to fit in very well and has friends, but she has none, except Suzie, a new girl. Jezebel is mourning her grandmother whom she was very close to, and is learning root magic from her uncle Doc. Her mother is a hard working single parent as their father disappeared years ago. Her mom instills strong values in her children that have clearly taken root in Jezebel. However, she is in a period of struggle and change, and a dark force seems fixated on her. Along with a racist deputy bent on causing trouble for the black families in their area, particularly the root magic practitioners.
There is a lot of complexity to this novel. The writing is very good. I think that readers going into it, should understand that while there are some thrilling and very supernatural moments, this story is more focused on Jezebel's character arc. With that in mind, I can't imagine a reader not being sucked into this earnest and beautiful narrative. The narrator captures the young lead character very well, and adds a sense of pathos to her struggles. I was bullied when I was a kid, and it's really hard to see kids getting treated like that by others. This book also deals with racism as the family is literally being harassed and abused by a law enforcement person, and they seem to have no protection from him. Sensitive readers will definitely find themselves being impacted some some aspects of this storyline. There is a sympathetic member of the sheriff's department, but his ability to help them is practically nil. Sadly, not much has changed in that scenario.
Royce is excellent at building tension. The suspense-filled scenes totally drew me in. The uncanny aspects are both fascinating and at times deeply creepy. I absolutely loved some of those aspects of the story, which I cannot talk about because it would spoil the story.
Root Magic is a great book to read in October, or really any time of the year. I loved the descriptions of the food and culture of Jezebel's family. The setting is so well-described, I could feel the heat of the swamps and hear the sounds of the animals that lived there. This book made me so hungry. I love rice, so I definitely got into that aspect of the story. But the characterization is the star of the book. Every one of the main characters and the pivotal secondary characters are well developed and distinct. As much as I would have liked the bullying issue resolved more definitively, I realize that things happened the way they should have. I highly recommend this book.
There is a lot of complexity to this novel. The writing is very good. I think that readers going into it, should understand that while there are some thrilling and very supernatural moments, this story is more focused on Jezebel's character arc. With that in mind, I can't imagine a reader not being sucked into this earnest and beautiful narrative. The narrator captures the young lead character very well, and adds a sense of pathos to her struggles. I was bullied when I was a kid, and it's really hard to see kids getting treated like that by others. This book also deals with racism as the family is literally being harassed and abused by a law enforcement person, and they seem to have no protection from him. Sensitive readers will definitely find themselves being impacted some some aspects of this storyline. There is a sympathetic member of the sheriff's department, but his ability to help them is practically nil. Sadly, not much has changed in that scenario.
Royce is excellent at building tension. The suspense-filled scenes totally drew me in. The uncanny aspects are both fascinating and at times deeply creepy. I absolutely loved some of those aspects of the story, which I cannot talk about because it would spoil the story.
Root Magic is a great book to read in October, or really any time of the year. I loved the descriptions of the food and culture of Jezebel's family. The setting is so well-described, I could feel the heat of the swamps and hear the sounds of the animals that lived there. This book made me so hungry. I love rice, so I definitely got into that aspect of the story. But the characterization is the star of the book. Every one of the main characters and the pivotal secondary characters are well developed and distinct. As much as I would have liked the bullying issue resolved more definitively, I realize that things happened the way they should have. I highly recommend this book.
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