Rust in the Root
By Justina Ireland
Balzer + Bray, 2022. 464 pages. Young Adult
It is 1937, and Laura Ann Langston lives in an America divided—between those who work the mystical arts and those who do not. Ever since a catastrophic event that blighted the arcane force called the Dynamism and threw America into disarray, the country has been rebuilding for a better future.
Laura applies for a job with the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, a branch of the US government dedicated to repairing the Dynamism, and there she meets the Skylark, a powerful mage who reluctantly takes Laura on as an apprentice. As they're sent off on their first mission together into the heart of the country's oldest and most mysterious Blight, they discover the work of mages not encountered since the darkest period in America's past, when Black mages were killed for their power—work that could threaten Laura's and the Skylark's lives, and everything they've worked for.
I loved this book on so many levels! It was super engaging and hard to put down. The characters were multifaceted, and Laura is a driven, strong-willed protagonist. She just wants to own her own bakery, but is thrust into a job that, despite difficulty and danger, she excels at. Despite this being a relatively dark historical fantasy, elements of humor are interspersed throughout to lighten the mood from time to time, and the story and character interactions left me thinking about it long after I’d put the book down. This is definitely one of my favorite titles from the last year. Highly recommended.
If you liked Rust in the Root, you might also like:
This Poison Heart
By Kalynn Bayron
Bloomsbury YA, 2021. 373 pages. Young Adult
Teenaged Briseis, who possesses a supernatural power over plants, even poisonous ones, inherits a dilapidated estate in rural New York and must protect herself and her family from centuries-old secrets that threaten their lives.
Legendborn
By Tracy Deonn
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020. 501 pages. Young Adult
Wanting to escape her previous life after the accidental death of her mother, 16-year-old Bree enrolls in a program for high school students at the local university before her witness to a magical attack reveals her undiscovered powers as well as sinister truths about her mother’s death.
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