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maeverose's review against another edition
Dnfed at 6%
I’m just writing this for my own reference bc I know I can barely count this as a dnf if I only read a chapter and a half.
I found the main character to be incredibly naive (like there’s one part that says she only just learned how sex works and she’s 17???). I didn’t like how physically aggressive the Dragon was with her from the moment they met. He also just gave me gross vibes when he was picking the girls. Which like duh I know we’re not supposed to like him at first but if he’s the love interest I don’t want him to be aggressive or seem predatory at any point in the book. You can make him an ass without those things. In the second chapter there was a misunderstanding that caused the Dragon to physically pin Agnieszka down and threaten her and it just made me uncomfortable. Plus I hate misunderstandings/ miscommunication. I also heard that he does some kind of unforgivable things to her later and I can already tell this book just isn’t for me.
I had high hopes for spinning silver so hopefully that one’s better.
I’m just writing this for my own reference bc I know I can barely count this as a dnf if I only read a chapter and a half.
I found the main character to be incredibly naive (like there’s one part that says she only just learned how sex works and she’s 17???). I didn’t like how physically aggressive the Dragon was with her from the moment they met. He also just gave me gross vibes when he was picking the girls. Which like duh I know we’re not supposed to like him at first but if he’s the love interest I don’t want him to be aggressive or seem predatory at any point in the book. You can make him an ass without those things.
I had high hopes for spinning silver so hopefully that one’s better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Vomit
fatherprozac's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I kept rooting for this book and it kind of kept letting me down, sadly. I fell in love with the magic system, the visualizations of spell casting, the descriptions of reading the Summoning, and the dark horror of the Wood. Unfortunately, Sarkan's never ending verbal abuse toward Nieshka, her being 17 to his 150, the weird sympathetic framing of a rapist, and the inclusion of only one explicitly black character just to have her be the daughter of a slave really soured me on the whole thing.
I'll just rant here. The fact that Sarkan chooses specifically girls (never explained why boys aren't chosen if everyone with the gift must be trained) and expects them to cook all his meals for him for ten years was already irredeemable in my eyes. His constant berating of Nieshka literally left her EXPECTING abuse multiple times throughout the book which left me feeling sick at its romanticization. Truly, Sarkan's only traits were that he liked cleanliness and that he was mean. Their hideous age gap (of literally a child and a very old man) being framed as his excuse to momentarily hesitate from sex with her? yikes. Why did she need to be 17? I would have much preferred reading about an adult woman and her ages old immortal boyfriend. Lastly, the rape scene was handled unbelievably poorly and just made Sarkan even more monstrous to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, and Vomit
naomi_k's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
Minor: Kidnapping, War, and Sexual assault
suneaters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I loved this story! Super interesting world, super interesting main character. I love Agnieszka's relationship with her friend Kasia and the wizard. I was disappointed that Agnieszka and the Dragon (A.K.A. Sarkan) ended up together. He's an abusive prick and by having sex with Agnieszka, I guess we can add pedophile to the list of his character flaws alongside rape apologist, perpetrator of verbal abuse, and physically abusive. I saw this awful romance coming, but I was hoping I was wrong and that there wouldn't be any romance or if there was, it would be between Agnieszka and Kasia. I hope Novik feels bad about writing a 17 year old girl with a 100+ year old man who kidnapped and abused her. The writing and worldbuilding is fantastic, so I couldn't drop the rating too far especially since I was able to just ignore this relationship. Truly felt sad for many of the characters, but was so, so relived when Kasia lived. I felt for the prince, desperate to have his mom back and unable to see the reality that she was gone. Then Kasia raising the royal children...sad, but a hopeful ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Animal death, and Body horror
beesknees's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Uprooted provides a slow-paced, ever-expanding adventure reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. Agnieszka is not a girl following her fate, but an unsuspecting heroine who follows her intuition for better or for worse. Agnieszka truly is the highlight of this book, I was delighted to follow alongside her journey and watch her grow. Uprooted showcases complex relationships between friends, family, lovers, enemies, and community. Specifically the relationship between Agnieszka and Kasia was unique and well-documented. Again, this is a rather slow-paced story, so paying attention is crucial to gather the imagery author Novik describes. The story takes some classic tropes such a young and prideful princes, and moody loner wizards, and expands on them to create this new fairy tale.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping and Death
Minor: Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and War
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Kidnapping, and Murder
amyemm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I went into this books and really wanted to like it. I pushed through it really trying to enjoy it, but it wasn't for me. I couldn't connect much to the main character and struggled to find her as much developed, rather than someone with a few I'll defined traits who things happened to.
I truly disliked the romance in the book.The trope of student/teacher would be something I'd have been willing to hand wave if Sarkan had anything developed or redeeming to him at all other than being grouchy and verbally abusive all the time. It felt as though the author married a pick up artist and wanted to normalize that. Or just felt that romance and sex would be need d to sell the book rather than letting the overall story exist in it's own right. Either way, it detracted and felt unnecessary.
The largely redeeming part of the book is Kasia. There aren't many other relationships with characters that develop enough to know them and care about them much. I did enjoy parts of the reveal at the end of the book, however, and wish there had been more exploration around that.
I truly disliked the romance in the book.
The largely redeeming part of the book is Kasia. There aren't many other relationships with characters that develop enough to know them and care about them much. I did enjoy parts of the reveal at the end of the book, however, and wish there had been more exploration around that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
antjeliest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Vomit
Minor: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
kthedestroyer's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Warning! There might be spoilers!
Oh well... That was underwhelming.
Don't get me wrong. The book has it's charms and I like the whimsical vibe of it.
However, once those two idiots leave the tower, everything gets so much worse.
The book has a good premise - kinda reminds me of Beauty and the Beast - but the romance gets cast aside and this becomes "the mc has no influence on her life whatsoever and lets others make her decisions" kinda book.
And if we are already here... The romance was horrible, yet the best part of the book. They had no chemistry at all and it all happened too fast. It think this book shouild be a slow burn romance and it would be about the mc learning about her powers. But nope. Why not add the corrupted king and a bunch of other douchebags to destroy it.
I would even be willing to overlook the age gap if there would be a good enemies to lovers.
That kinky scene though... It got me completely off guard. It was not needed and there was no reason for the author to be that descriptive.
There was a few good scenes here and there but in the end the book was not well put together and the plot was a big mess.
Oh well... That was underwhelming.
Don't get me wrong. The book has it's charms and I like the whimsical vibe of it.
However, once those two idiots leave the tower, everything gets so much worse.
The book has a good premise - kinda reminds me of Beauty and the Beast - but the romance gets cast aside and this becomes "the mc has no influence on her life whatsoever and lets others make her decisions" kinda book.
And if we are already here... The romance was horrible, yet the best part of the book. They had no chemistry at all and it all happened too fast. It think this book shouild be a slow burn romance and it would be about the mc learning about her powers. But nope. Why not add the corrupted king and a bunch of other douchebags to destroy it.
I would even be willing to overlook the age gap if there would be a good enemies to lovers.
That kinky scene though... It got me completely off guard. It was not needed and there was no reason for the author to be that descriptive.
There was a few good scenes here and there but in the end the book was not well put together and the plot was a big mess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Rape
queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Kidnapping and Emotional abuse