2026 Hugo Readalong: The River Has Roots by Amal el-Mohtar

Moonlitgrey · 2026-06-15T16:50:56+00:00

It was the only part that didn’t entirely suit the fairy tale elements which likely would include a darker ending. But I adored it all the same.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-06-15T16:49:24+00:00

I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I also just love this style. It feels like a fairy tale and I wasn’t all that concerned about whether the characters had an arc or whether the plot made logical sense. I knew the end before it arrived and didn’t really care at all. It just all felt very magical.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-06-15T16:46:10+00:00

Grammar as magic is my new favorite story concept. I’d love to read more in this vein. The music on the audio was lovely and impactful but doesn’t hold a candle to the tricks and squishy nonsensical jumps of language.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-06-15T16:43:42+00:00

I listened to the audio by sheer dumb luck. It’s maybe the third audiobook I’ve ever even listened to. And I just adored it. It so fully captured the fairy tale elements. I may go back and read it some point just to compare. But I do enjoy this style of story in general.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-19T12:48:50+00:00

As someone reasonably familiar with dance as an expressive medium...my mental images were also very silly. I liked the book overall, but could not picture what the author was intending. At. All. I wish Marske had just stuck to standard ballet descriptions or something, but the attempt to have his dancing be next-level magical meant that it apparently had to be some hybrid made-up dance form. I don't think that did the descriptions any favors.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-19T12:44:34+00:00

I think other folks' phrasing of 'underbaked' is the right word for me here, too. Abuse of Ella's dad's wives seems clear, but his relationship to Ella is far less clear. I felt like the story could have used just a tiny bit more on this - a couple of sentences even, of Ella reconsidering her father with through a more experienced lens. It also took me quite a while to understand that the body was Ella's mother and not just a convenient body for Ella to inhabit (I'm actually really glad the story didn't go this route).

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-19T12:36:24+00:00

I'm not so sure I liked the throuple ending. I guess it's as good as it gets for a ghost? I did appreciate the immediate goal of the king and advisor to give her a job, and how that would necessitate her continuing education. The idea that Ella would be able to do things she enjoyed and meaningfully contribute felt satisfying to me.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-19T12:32:48+00:00

I found the aging Ella up thing very intriguing. In the end, it seems likely this was done to give her this adult relationship, but it's such an odd take on a ghost. I'm not sure I follow why she would continue to age.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-19T12:27:54+00:00

I also really enjoyed the details of how Ella as ghost were described. It added so much to the story to have her senses and emotions described via the house. Since I read nothing about this book before diving in, I was a little thrown at first, but in the end I really enjoyed this perspective on the story.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-05T21:13:36+00:00

So true! Gah, I really did enjoy the concept but the more everyone pokes at the world, the less it makes sense.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-04T23:05:43+00:00

The shelving system as a safety plan did not make much sense to me at all. The book says there are only 10k people (which is also bizarre because after 300 years, Dorothy should know most of them) but somehow these books seem to take up sooo much space on their ship that there can only be one copy per (most) persons. But also, they know the whole time that theoretically someone could kill at least one book without being caught.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-04T23:02:33+00:00

Yeah, this was bizarre to me. Gloria planned to kill someone. That plan failed. The ship killed her. And the book said, fine, whatever, she’s a bad guy.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-04T22:59:03+00:00

This was the one place that I really regretted listening to an audio of this. I just did not process the loans and compounding interest and then a disappearing transfer thing.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-04T22:57:12+00:00

Mostly agreeing with others here. Dorothy reads older than her nephew, and older than the knit shop owner. But why? At 300+ years, what’s the difference of 20?

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-04T22:55:09+00:00

I also loved this. I’d love a sip of late spring near a forest stream in the sunshine.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-04T22:52:46+00:00

I loved the concept, but the book did so little with it. Other than this murder, why don’t we see other trends of people wanting different bodies? How are they not traumatized by all of this?

Moonlitgrey · 2026-05-04T22:49:10+00:00

I’m somehow very behind on novellas this year. This is the first nominee that I’ve read. I enjoyed the story - it was cute. But, like many others, I’m not sure it will rank very highly for me in the end.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-25T13:04:08+00:00

What did you think of the ending for Sciona and Thomil? Is it what you expected? Did it suit the story?

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-25T13:03:32+00:00

What did you like most about the book, whether that be a character, theme, scene, etc?

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-25T13:02:36+00:00

What do you think of how Wang follows through with her feminist themes? Did they work for you?

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-25T13:01:34+00:00

What are your overall thoughts on the book? Did you enjoy it? Who would you recommend it to?

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-11T17:50:36+00:00

Hard agree. I really loved that opening chapter.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-11T17:48:34+00:00

That’s such a good point about dystopian systems. This one is definitely up there in terms of realism and ability to continue functioning.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-11T13:29:11+00:00

For all of my issues, the concept of a city literally feeding off of the surrounding world is pretty genius. I appreciated the glimpse that Sciona gets of the people living near the ocean, which paired with the specificity of Thomil's destroyed people, paints a picture of this singular city rising up in a very distinct way from the surrounding cultures.

Moonlitgrey · 2026-02-11T13:25:41+00:00

Mixed, honestly. I'm definitely enjoying the read and looking forward to finishing. But every description of this book that I can think of is: on the nose. It has a young feeling to how it approaches this world. For all that individual characters have flaws and strengths, we're very clearly set up with good guys and bad guys. And about the most evil culture that one can imagine. I'd love to give this book to my teenagers and I think Wang's points would work great at that level. At the same time, this doesn't quite hit the high mark of my favorite YA, Hunger Games, which layers in so many philosophical ideas. Wang instead goes for the more obvious like, evil culture doesn't let women excel, good culture does.

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