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A review by whogivesabook
Rootbound: Rewilding a Life by Alice Vincent
2.0
I think this one is a case of a book trying to do too much. Pitched as a mix of memoir, botanical history and biography (although it wedges in some gender politics, travelogue and generational commentary too) it just fails to register as enough of any of them to become something substantial.
It feels like a great first book. (Though the author has written a guide to gardening before this in 2017). It's a well written book, but it's the same as an elegant speech about three different subjects... You're never going to get much because there's not enough space for anything to grow.
I kept wanting to stay on the one trail of thought. But every time the author would switch to a new subject and it would annoy me.
And besides that, I didn't care much about her love life. It wasn't dramatic enough to be interesting or insightful enough to be informative. She just left one guy, pottered around thinking she was growing, but instead used a ton of other things as crutches and never really gained more than a false epiphany and sense of psuedo-transformation that wasn't at all convincing.
So, regrettably, I rate this one 2/5. The title is apt, the whole thing just got rootbound and needed repotting into several other pots. The author could have had three great books, rather than one bad one.
That said. I will keep an eye out for her next and give that a go. She is very good at her descriptions and can carry a story.
It feels like a great first book. (Though the author has written a guide to gardening before this in 2017). It's a well written book, but it's the same as an elegant speech about three different subjects... You're never going to get much because there's not enough space for anything to grow.
I kept wanting to stay on the one trail of thought. But every time the author would switch to a new subject and it would annoy me.
And besides that, I didn't care much about her love life. It wasn't dramatic enough to be interesting or insightful enough to be informative. She just left one guy, pottered around thinking she was growing, but instead used a ton of other things as crutches and never really gained more than a false epiphany and sense of psuedo-transformation that wasn't at all convincing.
So, regrettably, I rate this one 2/5. The title is apt, the whole thing just got rootbound and needed repotting into several other pots. The author could have had three great books, rather than one bad one.
That said. I will keep an eye out for her next and give that a go. She is very good at her descriptions and can carry a story.