Book Review: Blood at the Root
Book Title: Blood at the Root (#1)
Author: LaDarrion Williams
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Basics:
Blood at the Root is written in first person from the point of view of Malik who is the main character. I read this 448 page book in physical form.
What’s it about?
Malik has never had it easy. When he was seven years old, he witnessed his mother’s possible death when he walked into a situation he didn’t understand. Ten years later, after being shuffled around to multiple foster homes, he’s now emancipated and aims to remove his little brother, Taye. In the process, he finds himself approached by a stranger who claims to have knowledge of Malik,his unknown family and his past while being able to care for Taye’s medical needs. Upon investigating the stranger’s claims, he finds himself in a world of magic,learning about his own abilities, his past and uncovering secrets. Chaos ensues.
My Favorites:
My Favorite Character: My favorite character was Mama Aya.She was smart,caring,loving and she didn’t take any crap. She was strong. While I wasn’t sure I could trust Mama Aya, I couldn't help but love her.
My Least Favorite Character: Alexis. I don’t know if it was my dislike of their relationship or if it is totally her but I had a hard time liking her. I didn't agree with some of her choices. I felt like she came off too strongly. Really, I found her to be off putting.
My Favorite Part: I liked a lot of the time that Malik was with Taye.I really love their relationship.I also like his time with Mama Aya.There was so much love,respect and appreciation between the two of them. But if I had to chose one moment,I don’t know that there is just one moment that I loved.
My least Favorite Part: The very beginning. I know that it’s important and if it were removed, the story wouldn’t makes much sense. It just had a different feel then the rest of the book and I really liked the rest of the book.
Other Thoughts:
I originally heard about this book on Tik Tok and loved the premise. When I picked it up, I had no idea that I was picking something up that would aling so much with Legendborn, another series I loved. Both take place in academia, use root magic, travel through time and memories to get to know their ancestors, have been hiding their own talent, struggle with race and secret communities.
I was kind of on the fence with the writing style. I liked it,through sometimes the conversational writing style (writing the way a southern 17 year old boy would speak)through me off. And I wasn’t thrilled with so much use of the “n” word. With that being said, I did appreciate that Malik thought the way he spoke.
I found it difficult to trust pretty much anyone in this book. I was constantly waiting for everyone to become the enemy. Though,I had pretty much worked out the twists that would come at the end about halfway through the book and started to trust some of the characters a little more, it was such a fun and enthralling journey to get to the end that I didn’t want to but the book down! I was so happy that I had Bones at the Crossroads (the second book in the series) already on deck on my bookcase as soon as I as finished Blood at the Root and I didn’t even consider the end of the first one being a cliff hanger. The second book, though did kind of leave me yelling “What?! That’s how you’re gonna leave me?!” And immediately had to look up when the third book is expected to come out. (Ashes at the Alter comes out in September 2026!)
Honestly, I will totally recommend Blood at the Root and the subsequent books of the books. It’s an awesome series.
Other Thoughts:
I give this book a
8
Out of
10 bottle trees
But that’s just what I thought. What did you think? Did this series give you Legendborn vibes, too? Did you fall in love with this series or did you hate it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
