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Tess of the Road

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Tess of the Road

By: Rachel Hartman
Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
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About this listen

 Award-winning Rachel Hartman's newest YA is a tour de force and an exquisite fantasy for the #metoo movement.

"Tess of the Road is astonishing and perfect. It's the most compassionate book I've read since George Eliot's Middlemarch." --NPR

In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is. . . different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can't seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. What she's done is so disgraceful, she can't even allow herself to think of it. Unfortunately, the past cannot be ignored. So Tess's family decide the only path for her is a nunnery.

But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She's not running away, she's running towards something. What that something is, she doesn't know. Tess just knows that the open road is a map to somewhere else--a life where she might belong.

Returning to the spellbinding world of the Southlands she created in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling novel Seraphina, Rachel Hartman explores self-reliance and redemption in this wholly original fantasy.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR * BOSTON GLOBE * The Chicago Public Library * KIRKUS REVIEWS

Four starred reviews!

"The world building is gorgeous, the creatures are vivid and Hartman is a masterful storyteller. Pick up this novel, and savor every page." --Paste Magazine Classics Fantasy Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy

Critic reviews

One of Paste Magazine’s 15 Best Fantasy Novels of 2018

PRAISE FOR Tess of the Road:

"This achingly real portrayal of a young woman whose self-loathing takes help to heal is a perceptive examination of rape culture rare in high fantasy. Not to be ignored, this is also a fascinating road trip adventure. Absolutely essential." --Starred Review, Booklist

"Like Tess' journey, surprising, rewarding, and enlightening, both a fantasy adventure and a meta discourse on consent, shame, and female empowerment." --Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews

"[A] rousing adventure set in a richly drawn world. . . . Newcomers to Hartman’s work will be every bit as enthralled as her fans with this companion novel to Seraphina and Shadow Scale." --Starred Review, Bulletin
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It's been a while since a book gripped me this much, especially the second half, just couldn't put it down I was so desperate to hear what happened next! Please please let there be another one in this series. Such a rich and unique world, dragons yes but not as you've seen them before and new and intriguing creatures and myths. Love it.

Riveting!

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In some ways this doesn't have narrative push of the others.,however great read and hoping for more

I want the next one

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A fully realised world with fully human characters who are simultaneously flawed and fantastic, as are we all. Oh, and dragons, Quigtl (sp?), Anathuthia (spsp???) and feminism, polyamory, LGBTQ++ (the extra + because who can even guess about saints and dragons and how they identify?) families, motherhood and the whole darn world. These books take very current issues and ideas and transpose them into a world of fantasy, thereby somehow holding a mirror up to our own society to help us see it more clearly by comparison. This trilogy is a masterpiece and a delight but I'd much rather that it didn't end here.The author's imagination is as tall and broad as the sky and brings forth wonders, monsters and the people down the road. And it's... wonderful. More, please.

Just wonderful

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This is one of my all time favourite books. There is a perfect balance of adventure, fantastic storytelling, beautiful prose and insightful character development. This is a book that offers fresh vistas into the human soul and psyche, delivered through an engaging story with characters you might fall head over heels in love with.

Fantastic!

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Get this book if you want something a bit (a lot) darker, than the stereotypical romantic fantasy genre has to offer, and love a plot twist.
This is by far my favorite book by Rachel Hartman and Katharine Lee McEwan reads it wonderfully!

Refreshing!

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