Arborescence - Rhett Davis

ARBORESCENCE

RHETT DAVIS

****

What makes a person want to be a tree?

Bren and his partner Caelyn are feeling at a standstill in their lives. One day they come across a video of people in the forest who believe that if they stand still for long enough they will transform into trees. The idea is absurd. But it's spreading. Soon, people start to go missing and trees appear in unlikely places.

As cities decay and the world becomes greener, Caelyn becomes more and more convinced that arborescence is exactly what will save the planet from human destruction. Bren isn't so sure. Drifting apart, Bren and Caelyn are forced to question what it really means to be human - and if they are ready to stand still.

MY REVIEW

****

I was obsessed with the blurb (and title, although it’s hard to spell!) for Arborescence and it was one of my most anticipated reads of my January 2026 releases.

As the world gets more automated and AI is taking over, a new movement is beginning across the globe. People are standing still, touching grass, taking root and turning into trees.

Arborescence follows the story of Bren, as he goes about his days working for a shadowy corporation on ‘The Queue’ and his nights trying to support his directionless girlfriend Caelyn as she starts to become interested in people turning into trees. The narrative is quite disjointed in places, just one or two sentences to describe a place, a feeling, a day. It also frequently jumps weeks or even years. The general sense of foreboding persists throughout though, and this narrative technique makes it easy to read and even easier to get hooked on what might happen next.

The plot is perfectly placed for the modern day and uses a lot of themes and issues which are so relevant to society as we know it right now. The timeline is a little further ahead of us, with AI running a lot of corporations and using humans as the ‘face’ of a business in order to make other humans feel more at ease. This, crazily, isn’t so hard to believe and makes the more sci-fi elements of people being able to take root in the ground, a little easier to swallow.

Although I absolutely loved the premise, I did find the plot a little simplistic why is why I give it the 4-star rating - it was easy to see where it would be going and nothing particularly shocked me whilst reading. It is a strong read though and I would recommend it – it’s also quite short and well-paced which helps to make it a compelling read.

Overall, Arborescence is a brilliant premise and one that is so suited for society at this moment in time - it reminds us how important it is to remain human. Thank you to NetGalley & Little Brown Book Group UK – Fleet for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon UK Waterstones