Uprooted
Ratings570
Average rating3.9
How I have not read Naomi Novik sooner, I do not know, but I know after reading Uprooted, I am now working my way through her other works. Her writing has such a way of making you feel a part of the place, which is one of the main things I look for in a fantasy book. By the end of the book I also felt like I had a tie to the valley that will last far longer than I had expected coming into this stand-alone novel. I am not one to reread books or even buy physical copies of, but this book will be one that I do, as well as one I have my daughter read when she is old enough.
We all know you can't 100% depend on ratings and reviews, but if you need absolute proof, there's Uprooted.
It all starts off ok, and was more or less enjoyable until somewhere around the middle. Yes, the protagonist is the speshulest twee girl you can imagine (grind teeth and carry on), and the “Dragon” is an ass with few redeeming qualities (sigh), and the whole men's magic / women's magic thing is pretty damned heavy handed, but all around readable. Until the middle.
Suddenly everyone's a threat. Characters pop into the story, only to be randomly killed pages later, and I'm guessing I'm meant to care. And now they've moved there! And now they're somewhere else! And that happens! And Ms. Speshul is the bestest with magic ever! It doesn't make any sense, but she is, um, because! And the bad is soooooo bad! And, um where are they and what's going on? Oh look, sex! And boom, thousands die! Except for Ms. Speshul and her Dragon because... actually, y'know, I stopped caring chapters ago.
The worst thing about this thoroughly underwhelming book? My inability to DNF, and irrational hope that it would somehow be worth finishing. Trust me, it wasn't.
The writing was awful. It's like the protagonist is the narrator at the same time, trying to make this book more like a fairy tale but failing most of the time. It creates so much distance between the reader and what is happening as well as making me pause every few sentences as I'm not entirely sure what just happened. It messes up with the pace too because sometimes it's extremely detailed - how would someone in that story even remember such details and retrospectively add them in a way that doesn't even create tension? It's basically so much telling but no showing. None at all. I don't know how to explain this better but I just can't get myself to read more of this.
I didn't dislike this book at all! I just feel like there are so many books to read and this one isn't really keeping me gripped.
DNF at 4.32 hours. This is extremely boring. I started it again but it's still freaking boring.
This has looked so appealing for a long time, I mean that cover is gorgeous and it looks like it's going to be an awesome fairy tale retelling. I listened to the first five minutes (Thanks Libby) and Julia Emelin, the reader, is Russian – yay she'll be able to pronounce names and places, but it also seems like she was told to exaggerate her accent. I've browsed my goodreads friends' reviews and it seems that I will not be onboard for this brand of romance. I think I'm going to save myself from this one.
I'm marking it as abandoned rather than just deleting it because I'm pretty sure I'll see the cover of this and be like ‘oh, that looks like something that I might be interested in.'
Although, now I'm eyeing Spinning Silver...
Gave it a few chapters and just couldn't get into it at all. Maybe I'll try again in the future...
I finally picked this one up, and finished it! Uprooted has been recommended to me about a million times over, and for some reason or another, I never actually dived in. (I think I might be the last person on here to read this book?) I'm glad I did. This wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I still enjoyed it. I think I was looking for more romance, but there just wasn't a whole lot of it in here. My fault for thinking it would be – this one is NOT listed as a fantasy romance. It's a retelling of Polish myths. It's exceedingly well done, just not quite what I was expecting.
I did love Agnieszka very much. She's stubborn, but airy. She's of the earth, and absolutely not bound to any rigid rules about magic. She baffles The Dragon very much, and I loved watching that dynamic play back and forth between them. I loved that her magic flowed, and wasn't really forced in any way whatsoever. The Dragon is very much a mimic (not copy) of Howl Pendragon, and I did like him but I really, really wanted to see more of a softer side of him. At least in a more obvious way than what we are given.
Kasia, I adored. She spent her whole life thinking one thing was going to happen to her, and when that didn't happen she didn't just wilt and give up. She kept going, kept searching for her freedom. I loved that Agnieszka was able to save her, that they both were able to get what they wanted at the end.
Four stars, and I do recommend it if you haven't read this one yet!
Eu estava a precisar de uma leitura destas. Estava a precisar do whimsical, do misterioso, do mitológico, do mágico. Precisava de algo com a energia de Juliet Marillier, mas com um espírito de outubro.
Peguem nas histórias de Marillier e coloquem-nas no norte da Europa, troquem o céltico pelo mítico, adicionem uma pitada de lendas populares, de tradição oral, de magia natural, e têm este livro.
Devoured this in one day, absolutely loved it. Best thing I've read in years, much better writing than all the mediocrity I've read lately.
I always love it when folklore is adapted with the weirdness intact. While this isn't an adaptation of any one story, this is a book that does that kind of weird very well. Uprooted has the feel of a pre-Disney fairytale where the moral of the story isn't, “be good and kind” but rather, “don't go too close to the woods or your eyes will get poked out and all your friends will die!” It features a non-contemporary protagonist, it's not about the small town girl who dreams of adventure and unknown lands, it's about the small town girl who loves her family would be genuinely happy to stay in the boring little valley she grew up in forever. It's a mix of fables, folklore and fairy tales that blend together to create something strange, immersive, original and sometimes moving. For fans of folklore and a slightly stranger brand of fantasy I'd definitely recommend this book.
The first half was interesting to me. The second half I couldn't skim fast enough.
Every ten years, a sorcerer known as Dragon picks up a 17 year old girl from the valley, to live with him in a tower. They are usually very pretty, but he never touches them, and all we know is that, when they leave, they never return to their villages.
Comes Agnieszka, who being quite normal and very clumsy, never expects to be the one picked by the Dragon.
Uprooted is a much darker book than I was expecting and I wouldn't recommend it to all fantasy readers.
That said, I do understand why it is so recommended:
- The premise was promising and intriguing, and it only got more mysterious the more I stepped into the book.
- Novik's prose is beautiful and I was fully immersed in this magical world. The story consumed me, and I couldn't stop reading until I finished it.
- It felt truly original. It is a wonderful mix of fantasy with a lyrical prose, and a touch of romance, but not overwhelmed by it. I see now why it kept being recommended to people who enjoy Juliet Marillier stories! I agree.. except it is much much darker, so maybe save it for the spooky season.
I wished Dragon was more developed and less toxic, and Agnieszka less of a Mary Sue. This was not enough to make me dislike the book though.
The sex scene is tasteful, sexy and beautifully written. I wish current Romantasies learned with this.
Another book that has been in my TBR forever! When I finally read it, it reminded me of a mashup of Beauty and the Beast, zombies, and Theseus and the Minotaur. Maybe a little random, I know, but it comes together rather well! xD
My one reservation is that while I liked the twist on the main character–that she's clumsy and wild, and that's her strength–I didn't connect with her much more deeply than that. Maybe it was her narrative style, but I felt a little distant from her. However, it was still an intriguing and magical story!
I really enjoyed this book. The characters, political intrigue, and magic system were all really well done and captivating for me. I loved the main character and although some people didn't like the romance, I did.
Uprooted felt much more intense than Spinning Silver and I think I liked it better.
The sex scene was a surprise, never had one of those in my fantasy books. Not sure that it needed to be that much detailed.
The idea that baddies have a reason to be bad and there is room for some kind of redemption seems repetitive in Novikcs novels and I like it. Not always ‘the bad' need to be vanquished, sometimes they need to be helped to move on or to change their ways. It gives me a sense of hope.
I just didn't really get into it, but I have read too few books to let myself DNF.
I just loved this story! Amazing plot and characters.
If you like magic, dark forest and a lot of adventure, highly recommend this book!
Well-written and the plot really trips along, dragging the reader with it. I hated the romantic subplot though; it was unnecessary and very tacky.
