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Roots
SHE WENT BACK TO THE OLD WORLD TO FIND HER ROOTS, NEVER SUSPECTING THAT SHE WOULD LAY DOWN NEW ONES.
After a messy year of heartbreak and setbacks, Tara sets off to Ireland in search of clues to her family's ancestry, but what she found wasn't at all what she expected. Some of it has to do with the lack of records, but a lot has to do with John, the charming cartoonist she met on Twitter.
Wrapped in real family history and set amidst the natural beauty of the Irish countryside, Roots is a classic romantic-comedy adventure and a page-turning account of a young woman finding herself.
After a messy year of heartbreak and setbacks, Tara sets off to Ireland in search of clues to her family's ancestry, but what she found wasn't at all what she expected. Some of it has to do with the lack of records, but a lot has to do with John, the charming cartoonist she met on Twitter.
Wrapped in real family history and set amidst the natural beauty of the Irish countryside, Roots is a classic romantic-comedy adventure and a page-turning account of a young woman finding herself.
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
489 people are currently reading
803 people want to read
About the author
Tara O'Connor
19 books66 followersTara is a cartoonist currently residing in the New Jersey wilderness. When she's not drawing comics, she's teaching them. She drinks way too much tea and coffee, and on any given day there's a 90% chance that every meal she had was cereal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
January 9, 2018
"'Roots.' The word seems to have taken on a new meaning. It's become less and less about my family roots, and more about where I'll lay down my own."
Roots is Tara O'Connor's first long form graphic project, a memoir. It's kind of a book within a book, focused as it is in part on a kickstarter project that was successful, yay, preceding this book, a project about O'Connor's "finding her roots," in Ireland. Which wasn't as successful as she had hoped in making dramatic discoveries about her family in Ireland.
This book begins with O'Connor being divorced, getting the kickstarter going and getting out of the country. To Ireland, where she spends most of her time, a month, touring with a cartoonist friend she met on twitter. So that happens, they find out a few small things about her genealogy, and develop a friendship that morphs into a romantic relationship. We don't learn much about Ireland, and in truth don't learn much about the guy, but it is a nice and hopeful romantic story about love's return. It feels short, like too much is left out--Jersey diner adventures! Halloween! Christmas! NYC! Dublin!--but it mainly just mentions these things briefly, without many anecdotes, and doesn't go deep enough, but hey, it is just the beginning of a relationship, so it can't be that deep yet I guess.
I liked the energy and the cute art and the cover with the red hair which seems to suggest another kind of "roots," ha.
Roots is Tara O'Connor's first long form graphic project, a memoir. It's kind of a book within a book, focused as it is in part on a kickstarter project that was successful, yay, preceding this book, a project about O'Connor's "finding her roots," in Ireland. Which wasn't as successful as she had hoped in making dramatic discoveries about her family in Ireland.
This book begins with O'Connor being divorced, getting the kickstarter going and getting out of the country. To Ireland, where she spends most of her time, a month, touring with a cartoonist friend she met on twitter. So that happens, they find out a few small things about her genealogy, and develop a friendship that morphs into a romantic relationship. We don't learn much about Ireland, and in truth don't learn much about the guy, but it is a nice and hopeful romantic story about love's return. It feels short, like too much is left out--Jersey diner adventures! Halloween! Christmas! NYC! Dublin!--but it mainly just mentions these things briefly, without many anecdotes, and doesn't go deep enough, but hey, it is just the beginning of a relationship, so it can't be that deep yet I guess.
I liked the energy and the cute art and the cover with the red hair which seems to suggest another kind of "roots," ha.
October 14, 2023
In the wake of a divorce, Tara O'Connor crowdfunded the creation of a book about her journey to Ireland to research her family roots. Turns out she's not much of a researcher, and her travelogue/graphic diary turns into Eat Pray Love 2: Irish Boogaloo, essentially an Instagram of her eating, drinking, and getting laid as she tours the country.
It's not bad, but I just couldn't care.
It's not bad, but I just couldn't care.
January 24, 2018
Roots reads like Tara O'Connor wrote a book because she started a Kickstarter saying she'd write a book. She flies to Ireland, ostensibly to uncover her family tree after a painful divorce, but instead ends up in the welcoming arms of a local fellow. They fall in love and stuff and long distance relationships suck and...wait, wasn't this book about Tara's family tree? Every 50 pages, there's a little blip about her ancestors, but most of those sentences end with question marks.
Sure, I understand that maybe Tara was too busy falling in love to complete her assignment, but the book feels shortchanged because the actual "roots" elements are so few and far between. And the love story itself is fine in that the love feels real, but it's also not very exciting since about half the pages involve Tara and her beau hanging out in an Irish hotel room watching movies. Riveting! Besides that, there's also almost no sense that things won't work out. Tara goes to Ireland, finds a mate, lives happily ever after. I appreciate that this is all good for Tara, but it's not really a fully realized story, and it's definitely not a story about anyone's roots.
Sure, I understand that maybe Tara was too busy falling in love to complete her assignment, but the book feels shortchanged because the actual "roots" elements are so few and far between. And the love story itself is fine in that the love feels real, but it's also not very exciting since about half the pages involve Tara and her beau hanging out in an Irish hotel room watching movies. Riveting! Besides that, there's also almost no sense that things won't work out. Tara goes to Ireland, finds a mate, lives happily ever after. I appreciate that this is all good for Tara, but it's not really a fully realized story, and it's definitely not a story about anyone's roots.
November 16, 2025
it felt fortuitous for me to read this on return from an october trip to ireland, as o'connor begins this supposed "travelogue" during a rainy october, too!
but between this and snowbird, i've come to the recent conclusion that kickstarter-funded graphic novels can be a recipe for disaster. here, o'connor spends pages apologizing for not having the trip she planned or being able to write the book she promised. and ten years later, casual readers aren't going to be aware of the crowdfunded origins, so the pressure to live up to the kickstarter arrangement kinda kills the whole book.
she had advertised this as a return to her family's irish roots, but it seems o'connor didn't do enough genealogy work prior to the trip (understandably, as she was reeling from a difficult breakup). but then it seems she wasted much of her journey watching movies and tv, rather than immersing herself in all the delectable details to be absorbed while visiting a new country. this is not a travelogue, and it's not nearly as rooted in a sense of place as it should be. there are sadly few sparse moments in which o'connor seems to make an effort to soak in the culture, and the art does not evoke the beauty of ireland, with not a single green landscape to be found.
o'connor began drawing the comic while she was still on her trip to ireland, and perhaps she didn't have enough time to process her adventure and decide what story she wanted to tell. because it's not really about the irish setting, it's not a romcom, and there's not much about her family history. this book is really just about one particular transitional moment in the author's life.
but between this and snowbird, i've come to the recent conclusion that kickstarter-funded graphic novels can be a recipe for disaster. here, o'connor spends pages apologizing for not having the trip she planned or being able to write the book she promised. and ten years later, casual readers aren't going to be aware of the crowdfunded origins, so the pressure to live up to the kickstarter arrangement kinda kills the whole book.
she had advertised this as a return to her family's irish roots, but it seems o'connor didn't do enough genealogy work prior to the trip (understandably, as she was reeling from a difficult breakup). but then it seems she wasted much of her journey watching movies and tv, rather than immersing herself in all the delectable details to be absorbed while visiting a new country. this is not a travelogue, and it's not nearly as rooted in a sense of place as it should be. there are sadly few sparse moments in which o'connor seems to make an effort to soak in the culture, and the art does not evoke the beauty of ireland, with not a single green landscape to be found.
o'connor began drawing the comic while she was still on her trip to ireland, and perhaps she didn't have enough time to process her adventure and decide what story she wanted to tell. because it's not really about the irish setting, it's not a romcom, and there's not much about her family history. this book is really just about one particular transitional moment in the author's life.
January 2, 2018
Mmm... I wanted to like this graphic novel, I really did. I went into it expecting a travelogue of Ireland, but it quickly morphed away from that. I'm guessing the author is not comfortable with landscapes, because those were mostly avoided (which is half the point of Ireland). And despite having a data dump of the author's family background, I felt like she didn't do enough research before going to Ireland and therefore sort of fumbled around out there.
The book quickly morphs into a love story when she arrived in Ireland (from the moment John is introduced you know what's up - I suspect she knew what was up before she went over there too...). Unfortunately I think she was bound by her Kickstarter to try to make this into a story about her roots, so all these themes get mashed together awkwardly. Most of the book is spent detailing what she did each day of her trip, things you don't really need to know. Even as the rewrite of the original graphic novel with "two years later" addition, this book still falls short.
Still, the bits where she discussed her past relationship were spot on and hit close to home. I would have loved to see more of that level of honesty and thoughtfulness in the rest of the book. I look forward to seeing what else she creates, especially without the restrictions placed on her by the Kickstarter campaign.
The book quickly morphs into a love story when she arrived in Ireland (from the moment John is introduced you know what's up - I suspect she knew what was up before she went over there too...). Unfortunately I think she was bound by her Kickstarter to try to make this into a story about her roots, so all these themes get mashed together awkwardly. Most of the book is spent detailing what she did each day of her trip, things you don't really need to know. Even as the rewrite of the original graphic novel with "two years later" addition, this book still falls short.
Still, the bits where she discussed her past relationship were spot on and hit close to home. I would have loved to see more of that level of honesty and thoughtfulness in the rest of the book. I look forward to seeing what else she creates, especially without the restrictions placed on her by the Kickstarter campaign.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2019
3.5 Stars
This is a very cute and nice graphic novel. I was expecting a little more facts on Tara's past and her ancestors but I'm also really happy that the story took another turn and showed us how in this journey she unravels her own future. I also really liked how the word "roots" took on a whole other meaning in the story, it was such a sweet concept.
This is a very cute and nice graphic novel. I was expecting a little more facts on Tara's past and her ancestors but I'm also really happy that the story took another turn and showed us how in this journey she unravels her own future. I also really liked how the word "roots" took on a whole other meaning in the story, it was such a sweet concept.
April 11, 2020
Once again I find myself having an unpopular opinion. This was really cute and it brought a smile to my face. Right now I don't know to rate but it's more than ⭐⭐⭐
March 22, 2018
DNF.
Picking this up I was very wary. Right off the bat I was a tad annoyed with the title. It felt like with an already well-known piece of literature with that title, one with significantly more gravity, you could have picked something else, but okay. It was a tone deaf choice.
Granted, I did not get beyond halfway, but hardly any of the story is actually about discovering the author’s heritage. It’s mostly about how she hoodwinked a bunch of people into crowdfunding a trip to Ireland to hookup with someone she met on Twitter, then subsequently wrote an unremarkable story as a result. The art is okay, not particularly unique but consistent.
I am happy the author got her happy ending after a divorce, but this story is boring, its financing troubling, and it doesn’t really add anything to the genre of memoir graphic novels.
Picking this up I was very wary. Right off the bat I was a tad annoyed with the title. It felt like with an already well-known piece of literature with that title, one with significantly more gravity, you could have picked something else, but okay. It was a tone deaf choice.
Granted, I did not get beyond halfway, but hardly any of the story is actually about discovering the author’s heritage. It’s mostly about how she hoodwinked a bunch of people into crowdfunding a trip to Ireland to hookup with someone she met on Twitter, then subsequently wrote an unremarkable story as a result. The art is okay, not particularly unique but consistent.
I am happy the author got her happy ending after a divorce, but this story is boring, its financing troubling, and it doesn’t really add anything to the genre of memoir graphic novels.
February 8, 2021
I did not enjoy this graphic novel. The storyline was lacking and felt self-indulgent at best, masturbatory at worst. Glad I read this for free on Kindle Unlimited. I can't believe the author was able to get this funded on Kickstarter; it lacks substance and storytelling. I do like the artwork but it wasn't enough to carry the book.
This is basically a poorly assembled retelling of a trip that other people paid for. There’s no actual plot or story line. I was not at all invested in the characters, who are flat and unsympathetic, which is extra strange when you consider they are actual people. To quote another reviewer, "I can find a better story line on Twitter."
This is basically a poorly assembled retelling of a trip that other people paid for. There’s no actual plot or story line. I was not at all invested in the characters, who are flat and unsympathetic, which is extra strange when you consider they are actual people. To quote another reviewer, "I can find a better story line on Twitter."
January 14, 2022
A nice, feel good graphic novel of a divorcee on a road of recovery from heartbreak and a cold marriage through a the discovery of her ancestors in Ireland and falling in love again. A pleasant read and good to wind down with.
December 12, 2020
Meh. Wasn’t really that great. Also didn’t know it was a memoir. I don’t think I’ll write a review on it cause there isn’t much to say
January 27, 2021
Sometimes a story can be too personal, and it especially doesn't work when they story itself or the adversity the person faces aren't terribly interesting. Like I am sure Tara is a lovely and charming person and her friends and family will love this book, but I am not sure it really matters to anyone else. In a cliche, a heartbroken young woman crowdsources a trip to Europe to research her family history (of which there is little in this book) only to fall in love with some other guy.
February 26, 2023
A quick, easy read. The graphic novel is a memoir of the illustrator's time researching her Irish roots for her graphic novel (meta), finding her footing again post-divorce, and falling in love while visiting Ireland.
March 11, 2018
The searching for your heritage thing was so pushed aside that she really should have just gone with the Ireland romance part. Because neither felt 100% explored, and if the heritage was removed, well, then more romance time, right? Also, if the roots were so important, I family tree would have GREATLY helped.
March 9, 2021
cute graphic memoir but not much of a family origins story and not much of a rom-com story
December 12, 2017
"Roots." The word seems to have taken on a new meaning. It's become less and less about my family roots, and more about where I'll lay down my own.
I think this is exactly what I liked the most about this book. It wasn't the fact that it was really cute and relatable but how Tara's 'roots' were sprouting as her story unfolded, instead of being already deep underneath the ground. It was how her future ended up mattering more than her past because that's exactly how life works. Because it is a true story, it only touched me more, way more than I was expecting. The long-distance relationship, the self-doubting, and even the doctor's scene forced me to remember pivotal moments of my own life and I found myself smiling and tearing up a little as I read it. I wasn't really planning on reminiscing about those moments anytime soon but that's what a good book can do: make you feel and remember even when you're not planning on it.
Roots is about overcoming really hard times and finding yourself in the middle of your own mess. It's about all the new possibilities that come with being brave, and curious about yourself. And it's about love and family and how things may not go the way you want just to go the way you need. It is true and as real as it can get.
The artwork is beautiful in a dorky way, which is exactly my favourite kind of beautiful. The drawings seem to have been drawn in just one sitting (and that's a compliment). There are no gaps that should have been filled and the style is consistent and whole-hearted. You can feel how important this book is to the artist by just looking at it and I think that's very special. Tara O'Connor threw her heart into this memoir and I'm grateful to have had the chance to have taken a peek into her life.
Thank you, IDW Publishing, for sending me this book!
I think this is exactly what I liked the most about this book. It wasn't the fact that it was really cute and relatable but how Tara's 'roots' were sprouting as her story unfolded, instead of being already deep underneath the ground. It was how her future ended up mattering more than her past because that's exactly how life works. Because it is a true story, it only touched me more, way more than I was expecting. The long-distance relationship, the self-doubting, and even the doctor's scene forced me to remember pivotal moments of my own life and I found myself smiling and tearing up a little as I read it. I wasn't really planning on reminiscing about those moments anytime soon but that's what a good book can do: make you feel and remember even when you're not planning on it.
Roots is about overcoming really hard times and finding yourself in the middle of your own mess. It's about all the new possibilities that come with being brave, and curious about yourself. And it's about love and family and how things may not go the way you want just to go the way you need. It is true and as real as it can get.
The artwork is beautiful in a dorky way, which is exactly my favourite kind of beautiful. The drawings seem to have been drawn in just one sitting (and that's a compliment). There are no gaps that should have been filled and the style is consistent and whole-hearted. You can feel how important this book is to the artist by just looking at it and I think that's very special. Tara O'Connor threw her heart into this memoir and I'm grateful to have had the chance to have taken a peek into her life.
Thank you, IDW Publishing, for sending me this book!
March 1, 2020
This was a quick, pleasant read. It seems that as it progressed, the story became less focussed on her ancestry and more focussed on her love life. But you know what? I'm not mad at it. Distractions happen. People get sidetracked. Ultimately, she found what it was she was truly looking for so I guess it wrapped up nicely. The couple and their story were super cute and the art was nice to look at.
January 27, 2021
This graphic novel genuinely put a smile on my face. I went into it without knowing what it was about, so I was happily surprised when I seen it was centred around Ireland. Also, it was cool knowing some of the comic creators and companies name dropped (uproar comics). The illustrations are beautiful and the story is so charming and gripping. 4 stars 🥰
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July 17, 2023this book graphic novel was quite boring. i was uninterested the entire time and i think it’s mainly the way the book flowed and how it was written. i still am going to dip into graphic novels but this one was not the best i won’t think about it again (and if i do i will have negative thoughts)
June 13, 2018
Really 3.5 stars, it was a pleasant graphic memoir.
April 6, 2025
so cute
I love it when our main girl goes out looking for herself and finds the perfect guy who wants nothing more than to help her search
I love it when our main girl goes out looking for herself and finds the perfect guy who wants nothing more than to help her search
February 5, 2023
2023 read #15
3 stars! I did not realize this was a memoir at first! It is very unique that it was done in graphic novel form! I was rooting for her to be happy the whole time. I am glad she does what she wants.
3 stars! I did not realize this was a memoir at first! It is very unique that it was done in graphic novel form! I was rooting for her to be happy the whole time. I am glad she does what she wants.
March 9, 2021
This made me happy! Tara's story is a simple one, written in an easy style.
January 13, 2019
This graphic novel memoir covers the story of a young woman fresh off the heals of the heartbreaking end to a relationship, looking to find purpose and thinking that the place to start is a new project about re-discovering her Irish roots.
This was a random pull for me from the library shelves, based purely off the cover alone. Happy accident that I love travel memoirs.
So that being said, I really wanted to love this story. But throughout the whole graphic novel you can feel O'Connor's difficulty that her trip wasn't turning out as planned. I feel like that her journey should have been more of the focus rather than trying to deliver on what she had initially promised for the premise of the book. However, knowing that this book was crowd funded makes the pull focus make much more sense. I would love to see what this book would have looked like if it was written in past tense rather than created while it was happening. I think there is a lot of potential there that was overshadowed by lingering obligations.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the way the story relied on a narration to get the details of the scene across. I feel like O'Connor's art is strong enough that she could have let it do more of the heavy lifting.
I know I probably say this too much, but I really enjoy this book's particular art style. The way O'Connor does character expressions and full body illustrations is fantastic. It brings in emotion in unexpected places. I also just fell in love with how she shades all of her panels. It gives this feel that the book is in full colour, even though it is only in select gray tones.
I would say, pick this up if you have it at hand for a story about personal growth, but don't expect to be blown out of the water by the storytelling.
This was a random pull for me from the library shelves, based purely off the cover alone. Happy accident that I love travel memoirs.
So that being said, I really wanted to love this story. But throughout the whole graphic novel you can feel O'Connor's difficulty that her trip wasn't turning out as planned. I feel like that her journey should have been more of the focus rather than trying to deliver on what she had initially promised for the premise of the book. However, knowing that this book was crowd funded makes the pull focus make much more sense. I would love to see what this book would have looked like if it was written in past tense rather than created while it was happening. I think there is a lot of potential there that was overshadowed by lingering obligations.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the way the story relied on a narration to get the details of the scene across. I feel like O'Connor's art is strong enough that she could have let it do more of the heavy lifting.
I know I probably say this too much, but I really enjoy this book's particular art style. The way O'Connor does character expressions and full body illustrations is fantastic. It brings in emotion in unexpected places. I also just fell in love with how she shades all of her panels. It gives this feel that the book is in full colour, even though it is only in select gray tones.
I would say, pick this up if you have it at hand for a story about personal growth, but don't expect to be blown out of the water by the storytelling.
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December 9, 2019A bit thin on story line.
December 8, 2017
3.5 stars. I liked this book, but found it somewhat slow, it did get better as it went along. The graphics are excellent, and children could also use it as a coloring book. It is basically an authors story of her own journey, and her visit to Ireland, which leads to romance. It was ok as I said just too slow paced for my taste.
September 4, 2017
ROOTS is a very personal memoir that is more about personal growth than the life story of a young artist. The book began as a journal of O'Connor's trip to her family's homeland, Irealand, after her life took a stark turn. However, it became a chronicle of change, as she struggled to find answers and purpose in a life she thought she knew. Comics became more than just a passion, but an outlet. The weeks that followed were something of a whirlwind, and O'Connor found herself exploring her family less, and her own future more.
ROOTS is O'Connor's first long-form graphic novel, after a number of single comics, and features the themes of self-exploration and wonder that run throughout her work. O'Connor is developing a body of work that is perfect for teens and young adults who are looking for stories that are a growth in maturity and themes bridging the works of Raina Telgemaier and Roz Chast.
O'Connor has worked for years to tell her stories, and she is on the verge of "overnight success" often found by long-time creators with a strong voice in search of an audience. Her art is full and evocative, paced and delineated with a skill that belies her age. Despite the somewhat heavy stories she sometimes tells, Tara infuses her work with a humor and ease that make her stories easy to get lost in while reading.
ROOTS is no different, and even though you feel as if you are eavesdropping on a sometimes heart-heavy, sometimes goofy story, you can't put it down. Thankfully, an extended edition is due in the Fall of 2017, giving readers a chance to share in even more of O'Connor's life.
ROOTS is O'Connor's first long-form graphic novel, after a number of single comics, and features the themes of self-exploration and wonder that run throughout her work. O'Connor is developing a body of work that is perfect for teens and young adults who are looking for stories that are a growth in maturity and themes bridging the works of Raina Telgemaier and Roz Chast.
O'Connor has worked for years to tell her stories, and she is on the verge of "overnight success" often found by long-time creators with a strong voice in search of an audience. Her art is full and evocative, paced and delineated with a skill that belies her age. Despite the somewhat heavy stories she sometimes tells, Tara infuses her work with a humor and ease that make her stories easy to get lost in while reading.
ROOTS is no different, and even though you feel as if you are eavesdropping on a sometimes heart-heavy, sometimes goofy story, you can't put it down. Thankfully, an extended edition is due in the Fall of 2017, giving readers a chance to share in even more of O'Connor's life.
February 3, 2020
A more apt title would be "The Making of Roots." Tara O'Connor goes through a divorce after several years of relationship struggle and decides to bring her cartooning project to the forefront. The novel starts before the project is funded and recounts how it got funded, how Tara went to Ireland to research her grandparents' past, how she fell in love with another cartoonist she had met through Twitter. The novel is mostly a day-to-day account of Tara's travels, hotel room stays, walks in different cities, cartooning, and falling in love. There's very little about the research and it seems like the research hit a wall several times and the novel includes Tara's own anxieties about how the book will be received as a result of this "failing."
Overall, Roots is a solid travel story, but it spends too much time in hotel rooms and not enough exploring some of the more important issues, like the problems she's having with intimacy and letting go of her previous relationship and what it means to be falling in love and starting a long-distance relationship so soon after such a long and kind of painful relationship and so on. I imagine the author has a lot to process still and this book could have been better with some of that processing or post-processing. Or perhaps, that's for Roots 2.
Overall, Roots is a solid travel story, but it spends too much time in hotel rooms and not enough exploring some of the more important issues, like the problems she's having with intimacy and letting go of her previous relationship and what it means to be falling in love and starting a long-distance relationship so soon after such a long and kind of painful relationship and so on. I imagine the author has a lot to process still and this book could have been better with some of that processing or post-processing. Or perhaps, that's for Roots 2.
July 19, 2021
I enjoyed this comic as I can relate to the story of a past failed relationship. I loved the journey she took to find her “roots” and the traveling portions brings me back to times when I explored different places with my now boyfriend . It brings back a lot of memories for me and it’s also very nice to read about her trying again and falling in love after years of hurt.
I rated this 3 ⭐️s only because I wished some parts of the comic were explained more. It felt like there were huge time skips due to the lack of explanation for certain scenes. maybe it seemed very minimal to even add it but it would have been nice to see how one part transitioned to another.
I rated this 3 ⭐️s only because I wished some parts of the comic were explained more. It felt like there were huge time skips due to the lack of explanation for certain scenes. maybe it seemed very minimal to even add it but it would have been nice to see how one part transitioned to another.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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