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I received this book for free from Hear Our Voices Book Tours & the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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Tangleroot by Kalela Williams Published by Feiwel & Friends on October 15, 2024
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Mysteries & Detective Stories, Young Adult Fiction / People & Places / United States / African American & Black, Young Adult Fiction / School & Education / College & University, Young Adult Fiction / Social Themes / Prejudice & Racism
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Hear Our Voices Book Tours & the publisher
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The INDIES INTRODUCE and INDIE NEXT debut YA novel about blood and family that is both history and mystery.
Noni Reid has grown up in the shadow of her mother, Dr. Radiance Castine, renowned scholar of Black literature, who is alarmingly perfect at just about everything.When Dr. Castine takes a job as the president of the prestigious Stonepost College in rural Virginia, Noni is forced to leave her New England home and, most importantly, a prime internship and her friends. She and her mother move into the “big house” on Tangleroot Plantation.
Tangleroot was built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune—who Dr. Castine believes was also the original founder of Stonepost College, and that the school was originally formed for Black students. Dr. Castine spends much of her time trying to piece together enough undeniable truth in order to change the name of the school in Cuffee’s honor—and to force the university to reckon with its own racist past.
Meanwhile, Noni hates everything about her new home, but finds herself morbidly fascinated by the white, slaveholding family who once lived in it. Slowly, she begins to unpeel the layers of sinister history that envelop her Virginia town, her mother’s workplace, her ancestry—and her life story as she knew it. Through it all, she must navigate the ancient prejudices of the citizens in her small town, and ultimately, she finds herself both affirming her mother’s position and her own—but also discovering a secret that changes everything.
Welcome to my stop on the Tangleroot by Kalela Williams Book Tour hosted by Colored Pages Book Tours!
Sometimes when you are young you have to learn a few lessons the hard way, among them being: that sometimes your Mom is right and you should’ve listened to her. Don’t judge a person based on stereotypes. When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
Tangleroot by Kalela Williams is the story of Noni Reid, the daughter of renowned Black Literature scholar, Dr. Radiance Castine, who is extremely good at what she does. When her mom gets a job as the president of Stonepost College in rural Virginia, Noni sees her hopes of a career beginning internship in costume design in Boston go down the drain. She has to move to Virginia with her mother for the summer after she graduates and she is less than pleased.
Plantation history
This is where the story also becomes about Tangleroot plantation. The house that they move in on the Tangleroot plantation is the former “big house” where the white slaveholding family once lived. Noni becomes obsessed with the girl whose room she now occupies as a distraction to her current circumstances.
Coming of Age
In many ways, Tangleroot has the feel of a coming of age story. The way Noni interacts with her new coworkers is extremely immature and motivated by her hate for Virginia and desire to go back to Boston. She discovers that most people don’t have her privileges and when she insults someone who was trying to befriend her, her mother helps her realize those privileges by taking them away.
Mother-Daughter Relationships
The mother-daughter relationship is tense at best. While Radiance is intent on proving that Stonepost was stolen from her Black ancestor, renamed and then turned into a whites-only college. Noni is focused on getting back to Boston any way she can. Even if it means colluding with a family enemy to get the money.
While the reader will recognize the danger of engaging with Lana Jean, a woman entrenched in the southern mythology of the innocent and glamourous southern belle. Noni has to learn some hard lessons about who she can trust.
Historical Mysteries
If you like historical mysteries, you will enjoy this book. As Noni tries to unravel the mystery of the girl, Sophie, whose room she lives in and her mom tries to find the journal of Cuffee Fortune, the reader will be trying to figure it out too. But Noni’s journey to maturity is also intriguing, and frustrating at times.
Check out the Audiobook
If you prefer audiobooks, then definitely check this one out! The narrator does an excellent job of differentiating the characters by using different voices. Sometimes the southern accent seemed intense, but when I thought about it, she matched it very well to the characters. For example, her voice for Lana Jean perfectly characterizes that woman’s dedication to the southern belle myth.
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