What do you think?
Rate this book
Rooted
Rooted is the story of Chloe Chastain, a not-quite-average teenage girl living in the Pacific Northwest. Chloe is a tree spirit doing her best to avoid the local werewolf pack, and she’s determined not to get caught up with the werewolf hunters that have descended upon her small town. Or fail her sophomore year of high school. Or get stuck in detention. Again.
374 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Amy Good
8 books10 followersI am a writer from the U.S. currently living in Dublin. I write part-time, but only when my tyrannical toddler allows it! When I'm not writing, I tweet about the joys and troubles of being a writer, a geek, a toddler mom and a non-native Dubliner.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 18, 2014
Book review: Rooted by Amy Good
Therianthropy at its best.
This is an easy book for me to recommend. Why? It’s brilliant. Easy to read, action packed, wonderfully written characters, a touch of romance, and most importantly werewolves!
Right from the very start the story grips you, as a brutal murder of a mother takes place in a small sleepy town in America where nothing out of the ordinary normally ever happens. The significance and the effects of this death are unravelled throughout the story as the plot thickens.
The son of the dead woman, Grayson, who is a strongly written and is a beautiful tortured soul, battles with who he is and although strong, has a fragility that is heart-warming.
My favourite character from Rooted has to be Chloe, and we view the story from her perspective. Chloe, a recent orphan herself, is a resilient teenager, and even though she has super powers, she is a very warm human character, worrying about her friendships and her place in the world.
At the start of the story, her best friend of two years is Lillian, a cheerleader and natural beauty. Chloe starts the story off very much walking in her shadow and in complete admiration of her friend. But the introduction of a strange and somewhat out-of-place new character called Margot, who dresses like she is from the 1950s, shifts the dynamics of their friendship, with disastrous results.
Thankfully, Chloe gets the support of a new friend Rebecca, and you feel Chloe’s relief in having a good friend. Rebecca is as human as you can get and her character grounds the story. Rebecca’s father, who gives respite and food to Chloe, adds a caring adult to the plot, which balances it nicely.
I liked Chloe’s interaction with nature; she was soulful and kind. Never had I ever wanted to be a character in a book more than I did with Chloe.
There is so much that I loved about this book, there are several plots and things happing at once, but it all comes together at the end; and like a light being switched on, you see the whole story.
Amy beautifully writes every word with care. I love how she describes every detail from the food they’re eating, the clothes they’re wearing, even the coldness and dampness of the weather.
I am a slow reader normally. But was hooked from the start. I forgot everything, from the washing up and even my writing. I just had to read the next chapter and the next until it was finished; it was like a drug.
I cannot believe that this was Amy’s first book; here is a great writer, I am proud to write this review, and I look forward to reading anything else she writes. So if you have not read Amy’s book, go and read her book, and it’s free to download here https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Amazing art work on the cover also by Danielle Tunstall (http://www.danielletunstall.com/).
Therianthropy at its best.
This is an easy book for me to recommend. Why? It’s brilliant. Easy to read, action packed, wonderfully written characters, a touch of romance, and most importantly werewolves!
Right from the very start the story grips you, as a brutal murder of a mother takes place in a small sleepy town in America where nothing out of the ordinary normally ever happens. The significance and the effects of this death are unravelled throughout the story as the plot thickens.
The son of the dead woman, Grayson, who is a strongly written and is a beautiful tortured soul, battles with who he is and although strong, has a fragility that is heart-warming.
My favourite character from Rooted has to be Chloe, and we view the story from her perspective. Chloe, a recent orphan herself, is a resilient teenager, and even though she has super powers, she is a very warm human character, worrying about her friendships and her place in the world.
At the start of the story, her best friend of two years is Lillian, a cheerleader and natural beauty. Chloe starts the story off very much walking in her shadow and in complete admiration of her friend. But the introduction of a strange and somewhat out-of-place new character called Margot, who dresses like she is from the 1950s, shifts the dynamics of their friendship, with disastrous results.
Thankfully, Chloe gets the support of a new friend Rebecca, and you feel Chloe’s relief in having a good friend. Rebecca is as human as you can get and her character grounds the story. Rebecca’s father, who gives respite and food to Chloe, adds a caring adult to the plot, which balances it nicely.
I liked Chloe’s interaction with nature; she was soulful and kind. Never had I ever wanted to be a character in a book more than I did with Chloe.
There is so much that I loved about this book, there are several plots and things happing at once, but it all comes together at the end; and like a light being switched on, you see the whole story.
Amy beautifully writes every word with care. I love how she describes every detail from the food they’re eating, the clothes they’re wearing, even the coldness and dampness of the weather.
I am a slow reader normally. But was hooked from the start. I forgot everything, from the washing up and even my writing. I just had to read the next chapter and the next until it was finished; it was like a drug.
I cannot believe that this was Amy’s first book; here is a great writer, I am proud to write this review, and I look forward to reading anything else she writes. So if you have not read Amy’s book, go and read her book, and it’s free to download here https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Amazing art work on the cover also by Danielle Tunstall (http://www.danielletunstall.com/).
September 19, 2013
I loved this book, I'll say that straight out. It's like a cross between Need and Shiver, but it's unique, too. It smashes stereo-types about wolves, spirits and even cliques. This book... Well, lets just safely say that this review will probably contain a lot of fangirling.
Ok, so firstly, I absolutely ADORE the cover of Rooted. It's purely beautiful! It's mysterious, so you want to find out what the relations are between the cover and the book. The first few chapters seem pretty uneventful, though further in the book you do realise bits of it are significant.
I imagine Amy must have had a lot of fun with the fact that Chloe works in an ice-cream shop. This is one of my favourite little passages from it, even though it doesn't have any action or anything like that:
"Cameron, the owner’s daughter, walked from the back room to help me. She made the espresso shot while I scooped coffee-flavored ice cream into a large bowl shaped like a coffee mug. I added chocolate-covered coffee beans, hazelnut and chocolate syrups, and enough whipped cream to send a person into a diabetic coma. She poured the espresso shot around the edges of the whipped cream and followed it with a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg." - personally, I hate coffee, but this makes it sound awesome! All the other ice creams that are described in Rooted sound awesome, too! And there names! The one above is the Express Yourself, which is an awesome pun.
I mentioned before that Rooted is way different from stereotypes. I'm a person who HATES stereotypes, because I hate people being carbon copies and not having their own mind. Grayson is a werewolf, and Chloe is a tree spirit, but they're not like in other movies, books etc. "He didn’t look like werewolves from books or movies. He never sported a five o’clock shadow or hairy arms. He wasn’t all that tall or menacing. I’d never seen him glower." Grayson actually seems like quite a nice guy, a proper gentleman, when the wolf is under control! Rooted also shows us about typical cliques... I hated Lillian, Margot and the other brainless sheets in their clique!
Even though it's about a werewolf and a tree spirit, where there are a lot of problems around, I love how Chloe's character is still a very typical teen girl. When she and Rebecca are in tons of trouble, running away, getting hurt, what does she do? Think about her geometry test. Or was it English?
Chloe is slightly judgemental of others, probably due to the fact that she doesn't know if they are werewolves or spirits too. She always seems to analyse Rebecca's shirts, which made me laugh!
Rooted doesn't have a lot of romance in it, but I think if it had got a romance in it, it would have taken the action and slight mystery out of the story, and it would just be yet another werewolf romance book, not the perfect book that it is. However, there are a few cute interactions between Grayson and Chloe... I ship them so much now!
Overall, Rooted is just awesomely amazing ASDFGHJKL perfect. Beautiful, thought-provoking, well-formed characters and a perfect balance of action, mystery, drama and typical teenage stuff. I loved it, and I'm sure you will too... Because you can get it FREE, here!
Rating: 5/5
Ok, so firstly, I absolutely ADORE the cover of Rooted. It's purely beautiful! It's mysterious, so you want to find out what the relations are between the cover and the book. The first few chapters seem pretty uneventful, though further in the book you do realise bits of it are significant.
I imagine Amy must have had a lot of fun with the fact that Chloe works in an ice-cream shop. This is one of my favourite little passages from it, even though it doesn't have any action or anything like that:
"Cameron, the owner’s daughter, walked from the back room to help me. She made the espresso shot while I scooped coffee-flavored ice cream into a large bowl shaped like a coffee mug. I added chocolate-covered coffee beans, hazelnut and chocolate syrups, and enough whipped cream to send a person into a diabetic coma. She poured the espresso shot around the edges of the whipped cream and followed it with a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg." - personally, I hate coffee, but this makes it sound awesome! All the other ice creams that are described in Rooted sound awesome, too! And there names! The one above is the Express Yourself, which is an awesome pun.
I mentioned before that Rooted is way different from stereotypes. I'm a person who HATES stereotypes, because I hate people being carbon copies and not having their own mind. Grayson is a werewolf, and Chloe is a tree spirit, but they're not like in other movies, books etc. "He didn’t look like werewolves from books or movies. He never sported a five o’clock shadow or hairy arms. He wasn’t all that tall or menacing. I’d never seen him glower." Grayson actually seems like quite a nice guy, a proper gentleman, when the wolf is under control! Rooted also shows us about typical cliques... I hated Lillian, Margot and the other brainless sheets in their clique!
Even though it's about a werewolf and a tree spirit, where there are a lot of problems around, I love how Chloe's character is still a very typical teen girl. When she and Rebecca are in tons of trouble, running away, getting hurt, what does she do? Think about her geometry test. Or was it English?
Chloe is slightly judgemental of others, probably due to the fact that she doesn't know if they are werewolves or spirits too. She always seems to analyse Rebecca's shirts, which made me laugh!
Rooted doesn't have a lot of romance in it, but I think if it had got a romance in it, it would have taken the action and slight mystery out of the story, and it would just be yet another werewolf romance book, not the perfect book that it is. However, there are a few cute interactions between Grayson and Chloe... I ship them so much now!
Overall, Rooted is just awesomely amazing ASDFGHJKL perfect. Beautiful, thought-provoking, well-formed characters and a perfect balance of action, mystery, drama and typical teenage stuff. I loved it, and I'm sure you will too... Because you can get it FREE, here!
Rating: 5/5
September 1, 2013
Rooted hooked me from the first page. I'm a huge fan of fantasy, both adult and young adult. Fantasy has to draw you into it's imaginary world and make you believe that anything is possible. And, that's what Amy Good has done. I loved that the characters were well-rounded, likable and not-so-likable. Once begun, I guarantee you'll read fast, furious and love every minute of it.
November 12, 2013
A lovely, wonderful book that touches brilliantly on the sense of isolation and growing pains that being a teenager so often brings with it. Amy Good skillfully weaves a supernatural storyline into very realistic issues of pain, loss, betrayal, and abandonment that will be completely relatable to almost anyone. The book promises a sequel by the threads left hanging, and I can't wait for it.
February 25, 2016
The best book I'e read in a long time. I was glued to the words! It felt fresh and alive.
May 18, 2014
Why I loved this book: The main character and her sidekick felt very real to me. I sympathized with their problems so much, that parts of the book were extremely emotionally painful to read. Chloe’s pain and anguish kept me turning pages, in the hope that things would get better for her. Only really excellent writers can write with this kind of emotional depth, the kind that has you rooting for the main character 100 times more than you would root for your favorite sports team.
I describe this as a not-quite-romance because the focus is really on Chloe and her female friendships, rather than on Chloe’s love life. We do have moments of sexual electricity with a compelling and mysterious male individual, but those are definite side notes. When I was a teen mentor, I read all the books my kids liked, which meant I basically read dozens of Twlight rip-offs (sigh.) Those books all defined the teenage women in terms of the men they liked, which got so old so fast. So it made me feel like leaping up and cheering, that this book showed there was MORE to teenage women– and broke the pattern of sexism we’ve seen developing in the supernatural romance genre!
This book captured the emotional intensity of the teenage years really well. For Chloe, a fight with her best friend is as disastrous as an earthquake opening up to swallow the world. With all the drama and upheaval teenagers feel inside themselves, it’s amazing they are still standing at the end of the day. (And in this case, the drama and upheaval is complicated by werewolf incidents.)
Chloe works part-time in an ice-cream shop, and the customer service war stories are so real I feel like the author surely must have worked in retail at one point. Another thing which adds realism to the story is the meticulous detail Amy uses to describe every character’s clothing. At first I was thrown off by it, but then I started to understand how she was using clothing to establish characterization, and it became enjoyable.
The ending of the story leaves many loose ends untied, so thank God there’s going to be a sequel. (Although the untied loose ends make it more like real life- incidents in real life are never tied off with a tidy little bow.) I suppose my only real complaint about this story is I wish the secondary characters were more developed. Particularly Lilian. When the main character becomes disillusioned with Lilian, we never circle back and see what is Lilian’s side of the story.
I felt like this book really raised awareness for injustices we usually pass by. Chloe is in the foster care system and terrified of social services. She experiences horrible betrayal and ends up partially forgiving the people who betrayed her. Her poverty limits her choices in a way her peers aren’t good at noticing. She’s ostracized and slut shamed for situations in which she was the victim. We don’t often see this kind of raw honesty in YA books, and I think it’s very helpful for all of us who struggle to grapple with a tough reality.
I describe this as a not-quite-romance because the focus is really on Chloe and her female friendships, rather than on Chloe’s love life. We do have moments of sexual electricity with a compelling and mysterious male individual, but those are definite side notes. When I was a teen mentor, I read all the books my kids liked, which meant I basically read dozens of Twlight rip-offs (sigh.) Those books all defined the teenage women in terms of the men they liked, which got so old so fast. So it made me feel like leaping up and cheering, that this book showed there was MORE to teenage women– and broke the pattern of sexism we’ve seen developing in the supernatural romance genre!
This book captured the emotional intensity of the teenage years really well. For Chloe, a fight with her best friend is as disastrous as an earthquake opening up to swallow the world. With all the drama and upheaval teenagers feel inside themselves, it’s amazing they are still standing at the end of the day. (And in this case, the drama and upheaval is complicated by werewolf incidents.)
Chloe works part-time in an ice-cream shop, and the customer service war stories are so real I feel like the author surely must have worked in retail at one point. Another thing which adds realism to the story is the meticulous detail Amy uses to describe every character’s clothing. At first I was thrown off by it, but then I started to understand how she was using clothing to establish characterization, and it became enjoyable.
The ending of the story leaves many loose ends untied, so thank God there’s going to be a sequel. (Although the untied loose ends make it more like real life- incidents in real life are never tied off with a tidy little bow.) I suppose my only real complaint about this story is I wish the secondary characters were more developed. Particularly Lilian. When the main character becomes disillusioned with Lilian, we never circle back and see what is Lilian’s side of the story.
I felt like this book really raised awareness for injustices we usually pass by. Chloe is in the foster care system and terrified of social services. She experiences horrible betrayal and ends up partially forgiving the people who betrayed her. Her poverty limits her choices in a way her peers aren’t good at noticing. She’s ostracized and slut shamed for situations in which she was the victim. We don’t often see this kind of raw honesty in YA books, and I think it’s very helpful for all of us who struggle to grapple with a tough reality.
February 15, 2014
Ok. So I am unsure why I accepted this book for review. I am not a werewolf fan.
That said I started the book, not really expecting much. What a delightful surprise I got when I found no insta love. No triangle. The character development for Cloe is brilliant. She is a loner, rash and very young. This is all apparent at the start. She grows up soon though, and her back story forms as much of her growing character development as it served to form her to be what the reader finds at the start.
Admittedly near the halfway mark the book took a turn, I saw Twilight, I saw a triangle. The ever dreaded insta love. The author however did a brilliant job in sidestepping the model and bringing us a fresh book.
The one reason this book did not make it all the way back up to 5* is due to the over use of whole, um and like in the book. Whole is a private pet peeve although um and like, is like used like um often. It is true that most teenagers speak like this and even worse. However to read such a speech pattern is a bit annoying if it does not change.
That said, this book is worth every star it is getting and I am convinced that YA readers will really love it. I sure enjoyed it!
Ps. The cover in my opinion needs a 5* rating all its own. I love it.
WaAr.
That said I started the book, not really expecting much. What a delightful surprise I got when I found no insta love. No triangle. The character development for Cloe is brilliant. She is a loner, rash and very young. This is all apparent at the start. She grows up soon though, and her back story forms as much of her growing character development as it served to form her to be what the reader finds at the start.
Admittedly near the halfway mark the book took a turn, I saw Twilight, I saw a triangle. The ever dreaded insta love. The author however did a brilliant job in sidestepping the model and bringing us a fresh book.
The one reason this book did not make it all the way back up to 5* is due to the over use of whole, um and like in the book. Whole is a private pet peeve although um and like, is like used like um often. It is true that most teenagers speak like this and even worse. However to read such a speech pattern is a bit annoying if it does not change.
That said, this book is worth every star it is getting and I am convinced that YA readers will really love it. I sure enjoyed it!
Ps. The cover in my opinion needs a 5* rating all its own. I love it.
WaAr.
December 6, 2013
I’ll be one of the first people to admit the majority of books and shows that focus on either vampires or werewolves kind of just turn me off for the most part. Usually it’s all about teenage heart-throbs and really terrible or out-dated morals being tossed on you. And while Rooted by Ami (YOU GET AN I, DEAL WITH IT) Good, does draw on a lot of the themes of high school with werewolves and such, it manages to actually not focus on romance really at all, which is a great thing to see, when it easily could have gone in that direction.
Instead we get a supernatural snoop story, with the main character. Chloe, caught up between were-creatures and the hunters killing them. Apt of young high school girls (that aren’t Veronica Mars), Chloe doesn’t exactly have super awesome detective skills, nor is she actually purposely trying to get in between predators and prey, at least in the beginning. Over time, Chloe becomes invested and then tries to pull away again only to get dragged in. And it eventually becomes obvious that she might actually be more than she thought she was.
+The Rest of the Review is here: http://randomjordan.com/2013/11/14/bo...
Instead we get a supernatural snoop story, with the main character. Chloe, caught up between were-creatures and the hunters killing them. Apt of young high school girls (that aren’t Veronica Mars), Chloe doesn’t exactly have super awesome detective skills, nor is she actually purposely trying to get in between predators and prey, at least in the beginning. Over time, Chloe becomes invested and then tries to pull away again only to get dragged in. And it eventually becomes obvious that she might actually be more than she thought she was.
+The Rest of the Review is here: http://randomjordan.com/2013/11/14/bo...
January 2, 2014
I enjoyed this debut book and thought the supernatural premise of the main character, Chloe, was one of the most unique and original I've ever come upon. I liked the mix of action and mystery as the story progressed. Good was able to keep my interest through the whirlwind end, and I am more than curious where this story will go as the series unfolds.
So why only 4 stars? The dialogue needs some work. As mentioned by other reviewers, Good's overuse of "um" quickly becomes grating. That said, I believe this is something easily fixed moving forward, and it certainly won't stop me from reading more from this author!
So why only 4 stars? The dialogue needs some work. As mentioned by other reviewers, Good's overuse of "um" quickly becomes grating. That said, I believe this is something easily fixed moving forward, and it certainly won't stop me from reading more from this author!
September 24, 2013
Just finished this book today. My first reaction is I WANT MORE! I loved Chloe as a character. I love the supernatural world Amy has constructed. Every character is fledged out so wonderfully you immediately feel yourself apart of this world. It is a fast read but in a good way. You will love this book. You will want more of Chloe. You will want to read more of Amy's work. An amazing experience all the way around.
July 14, 2025
This author tweets alright. She tweets about how all blacks are niggers who deserved to be beaten, raped, murdered and killed. Amy Good said that if she own slaves yesterday that she wouldn’t give them any respirations for forcibly kidnapping blacks and forcing them to work for you with no pay. You’re a worthless piece of racist shit and eveyone now knows it. You should write you next book how miserable your life is as a worthless racist troll online. DO NOT BUY this woman’s book at all. She has had multiple TikTok’s accounts removed for threatening and harassing black women. In one video she’s uses a monkey face AI to try to “act” like a black woman. And sits online with her worthless incel troll followers in a circle jerk obsessing over there very “niggers” they claim to hate. If you support her content or are publicly seen supporting her then be prepared to be exposed just like this stupid racist bitch. Because if you think like the author of this book that all blacks should STILL be enslaved to continue to be violently raped, beaten and murderer while their babies get fed to alligators then people need to be warned that you’re a sick vile degenerate who should not be trusted. The world would be a far better place without people like you in it.
May 29, 2025
Racist ignorant bitch, your work is trash.
November 13, 2013
I had expected so much more from this book. I found the main character very unlikable. She was naive and simply couldn't figure anything out. She misjudged everything and acted without thinking, and that didn't lead to suspense or thrilling action like it usually would in a book.
All the characters' reactions seemed super muted as well, there was no outbursts or thoughtful reasoning.
There was a lot of repetition, too, of phrases and information and internal thoughts. The components of the story didn't connect, random ideas were thrown in without explanation. Ideas weren't fully developed either.
The ending was uncreative. It's something I've read again and again. The main character with supernatural abilities seems to lose them after over exertion.
All the characters' reactions seemed super muted as well, there was no outbursts or thoughtful reasoning.
There was a lot of repetition, too, of phrases and information and internal thoughts. The components of the story didn't connect, random ideas were thrown in without explanation. Ideas weren't fully developed either.
The ending was uncreative. It's something I've read again and again. The main character with supernatural abilities seems to lose them after over exertion.
October 13, 2013
ok this is not the book for me. It was very "mean girls". Everyother word was like or um. most of the story was how everyone was just so mean to Floe and I mean everyone. customers classmates and so on.
I did not enjoy this story. The characters had only two personalities valley girl and loner. It didn't flow well and I felt there was not enough information or back story. I think it would be better if the launguage was more currant and not every character she interacted with didn't automatically hate her
I did not enjoy this story. The characters had only two personalities valley girl and loner. It didn't flow well and I felt there was not enough information or back story. I think it would be better if the launguage was more currant and not every character she interacted with didn't automatically hate her
December 19, 2016
I read this book a few years ago and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. Unfortunately the author has sort of disappeared without a trace and taken all copies of the book down- there's no way to reread it! It's very disappointing that now no one will have a chance to enjoy this novel as much as I did. I can only hope that copies will be available again sometime soon...
did-not-finish
October 8, 2014Stopped after first chapter - Very YA, which is not my thing.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews