Uprooted in What's the Name of That Book???

Apr 26, 2019 karen rated it liked it

Shelves: books-everyone-loves-but-me, nature-will-end-you

fulfilling my 2019 goal to read (at least) one book each month that i bought in hardcover and put off reading long enough that it is now in paperback.

although i know, with my logic-brain and my experiences and my readers’ advisory training, that not every book is going to “work” for every reader, i always feel a little bit guilty, a little bit broken, when a wildly popular book i had every expectation of loving falls short for me.

and in this case, i’m not even sure why we didn’t click.

its hook ...more

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Feb 26, 2015 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Agnieszka lives in a little village bordered by the Wood, a forest so malevolent it almost seems to be sapient. In exchange for protection, one girl from the villages is chosen to serve the powerful wizard called The Dragon. Everyone knows that the girl who will be chosen is Kasia, the most beautiful, brave, clever, and kind child the villages have to offer. Despite knowing this, Agnieszka can't help but be Kasia's best friend. But when the Dragon comes for his payment, he chooses Agnieszka, who Agnieszka lives in a little village bordered by the Wood, a forest so malevolent it almost seems to be sapient. In exchange for protection, one girl from the villages is chosen to serve the powerful wizard called The Dragon. Everyone knows that the girl who will be chosen is Kasia, the most beautiful, brave, clever, and kind child the villages have to offer. Despite knowing this, Agnieszka can't help but be Kasia's best friend. But when the Dragon comes for his payment, he chooses Agnieszka, who is woefully unprepared to be anyone's servant. Especially for someone as persnickety and fastidious as the Dragon.

Agnieszka, it turns out, (view spoiler)

So, basically, this book is utterly awesome. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going--oh, this is the part where she reveals her true powers, or oh, this is the part where they fall in love--I was wrong. And I was so glad to be surprised--what Novik comes up with is better than my expectations in every instance! I loved the friendship between Agnieszka and Kasia, which is not just about sharing years of history and adventures, but also about acknowledging the petty hurts and differences between friends and then welcoming the friendship regardless. I loved Agnieszka's (view spoiler) ...more

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Nov 15, 2014 katayoun Masoodi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, ebook

3 1/2 really, and sometimes 3, there were many things that i didn't really like but the overall feeling is one of enjoyment. loved the writing and the world, really didn't like the fighting scenes (but then that's me) but they were portrayed superbly and left you breathless. the characters, well can't say they were all that well defined, maybe and didn't like that it all came so easy for Agnieszka. and oooh i didn't like the maybe unnecessary sex scene, it felt shoved it and couldn't see any rea ...more

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Dec 23, 2015 Melissa Rochelle rated it liked it

Shelves: library, scifi-fantasy, read-2016

After hearing a lot of good buzziness about this one, I finally checked it out. I liked it, I didn't love it. I would put it down one night and not pick it up again for a couple of days. While I was reading it, I was IN IT. I was IN Agnieszka's world, but there was no pull. Often while reading it, I thought I was missing something because things never felt explained -- (view spoiler)

Don't ge ...more

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Jan 30, 2022 junia rated it really liked it

Wait, it's weird but this book has a similar cover to Orson Scott Card's Enchantment AND they have similar motifs and references INCLUDING Baba Jaga!

I enjoyed this book, the allusions to other fairytales and myths and even the wordplay. I also love the super practical/no-nonsense protagonist and the eccentric cast of characters.

It felt like a mix of Howl's Moving Castle at first and... I don't know, the story just felt familiar. I loved how it kept growing and how as she understood her power, w ...more

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Aug 08, 2015 Emma rated it it was ok

Agnieszka has always known her best friend Kasia would be taken by the Dragon on the next choosing day. Everyone in their valley knows that the Dragon will choose beautiful, smart, kind Kasia to serve him for the next ten years.

The Dragon won't eat Kasia--wizard's don't do that--and he won't hurt her. People whisper about what the Dragon must do to the girls--what any man would do with a girl locked away for ten years--despite every girl's denials. Either way, she'll be ruined. When her service Agnieszka has always known her best friend Kasia would be taken by the Dragon on the next choosing day. Everyone in their valley knows that the Dragon will choose beautiful, smart, kind Kasia to serve him for the next ten years.

The Dragon won't eat Kasia--wizard's don't do that--and he won't hurt her. People whisper about what the Dragon must do to the girls--what any man would do with a girl locked away for ten years--despite every girl's denials. Either way, she'll be ruined. When her service ends, she'll never call the valley home again.

Except that isn't what happens at the choosing. Instead, Agnieszka finds herself whisked away to the Dragon's tower. In exchange for her service the Dragon will continue to protect the valley from the enchanted Wood that plagues them with strange creatures and the threat of encroachment.

But the Wood is changing; the creatures are growing bolder. With secrets and strange revelations at every turn it will take everything Agnieszka and the Dragon have together to fight what's coming for them in Uprooted (2015) by Naomi Novik.

Uprooted is a standalone fantasy novel. This review includes a lot of critical analysis and it will have spoilers from here on out.

(view spoiler)[

Before even talking in length about the story or characters in this novel, it's important to note that the threat of rape is a constant. The fear of what the Dragon does to girls in his tower looms over the entire first third of the novel while Agnieszka fears first for her friend Kasia and then for herself. Does anything ever come of these fears? Not really. Does that make it any more enjoyable to read about as a key driving force of the narrative? Absolutely not. (Cecelia also talks at length about this--often more articulately than me--in her review at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia.)

Why am I talking about rape culture in Uprooted? Because it's impossible not to when the subject of that fear is also the romantic lead. After spending a third of the book bickering, fighting, and downright hating the Dragon (while wondering when, exactly, he will try to take advantage of her), Agnieszka finds herself attracted to the Dragon. In fact, she sees him not just as quick infatuation but an actual potential partner. Which forces me to stress, again, that Agnieszka spent the first third of the novel convinced the Dragon would try to rape her. Convinced. To even consider a romantic relationship between characters when one has spent so much of the narrative literally afraid of the other is impossible. This issue is further compounded by the fact that every seemingly romantic interaction between Agnieszka and the Dragon is preceded by the two having some kind of argument before the Dragon handles Agnieszka harshly and kisses her. What?

Unfortunately, the problems only mount from there.

Have you ever read a story about someone who is supposedly the best at what they do but, in order to move the plot along, they keep making dumb mistakes and are actually more like the worst at what they do? Uprooted is that kind of story.

Agnieszka willfully and blissfully defies the Dragon at every turn--even after she realizes he is trying to help her by teaching her magic rather than punish her abstractly. She ignores his instruction, forgets what he teaches her and even tries to sabotage him. Despite that Agnieszka apparently has an innate magic ability the likes of which haven't been seen in their country in generations. Furthermore, despite her complete and total lack of study or practice, Agnieszka becomes a magic prodigy by the end of the novel as she creates new spells and singlehandedly sorts out how to effectively fight the Wood and its creatures.

Which leads to my next issue with Uprooted: The complete and total lack of communication throughout the novel. Absolutely every problem faced by Agnieszka and the Dragon could be sovled in half the time if only anyone in the novel talked to each other.

This lack of communication makes Uprooted a novel with poor pacing that drags interminably despite the breakneck action that Agnieszka faces at every turn throughout the story. Readers are told constantly that the situation is both dire(!) and urgent(!) but neither emotion manages to come across in the prose as the story jumps abruptly from one action sequence to the next--often serving only to move away from a plot thread that had finally become interesting.

(hide spoiler)]

Uprooted should appeal to readers of all ages who enjoy fantasy novels with rich settings and unlikely villains (and heroes). It should appeal to readers looking to support talented female authors. Yet, for me, Uprooted did not work on any level because I never felt invested enough to buy into anything the novel tried to sell me. Read at your own risk.

Possible Pairings: A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox, The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope ...more

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