Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

40 reviews

k_fry's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Moderate: Miscarriage

taliesinrex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Another great read from Naomi Novik. I just love the way she writes women and the way she writes about women - Agnieszka's inner world feels so fully fleshed-out from the start and Novik throws you right into it in all Agnieszka's insecurity, fear, and anger. Her portrayal of female characters and how they navigate their world never feels trite or preachy or flat to me, and the worlds in question are immersive with a real sense of both beauty and danger.

While I did love this book and don't feel quite right comparing it to Spinning Silver, I can't help but note that I think I did enjoy Spinning Silver just a little more, as sometimes the pacing of Uprooted had me a little perplexed. I felt myself flagging towards the end through the siege of the Dragon's tower - while it was a well-written segment it did run a little long and I felt a bit overwhelmed. While I also loved Kasia I would have loved even more if we got more development or insight into her character; her relationship with Agnieszka was a real highlight of the book and I think the story would have been made all the better by having her be slightly more active in some of the scenes she was in, though I also acknowledge the potential difficulty in portraying that without straying from the story truly belonging to Agnieszka.

Lastly, the romance - just like in Spinning Silver, you maybe wouldn't anticipate it working due to the bitter distaste Agnieszka and the Dragon have for one another but Novik expertly sets them up to challenge one another intellectually and emotionally. It pays off so well in the end. The tension is palpable between them and the open-ended but undeniably tender ending had me grinning like an idiot and reading the encounter three times over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Animal death

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault

the sexual assault is attempted but does not escalate before the offending party is knocked out

laynerinke's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

asahome's review against another edition

4.25

A woman befriends the woman who will be taken by the wizard, only he takes her instead. She's mad at him for taking her and also mad at him for not taking the other girl.

I like how they handled the

conflict resolution

at the end. It was a very realistic approach to what happens in my opinion

after war if you want their to be peace and not just a pause in the physical conflict

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, War, Blood, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Kidnapping, Torture, Confinement, Gore, and Sexual content

Minor: Medical trauma, Rape, Genocide, Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy

Possession: the Woods possesses people, the book calls it corrupting them

callitz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Classism, Gore, Blood, War, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Violence

Minor: Body horror, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Vomit, and Bullying

silversparkles50's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was hard to get through for me.  I didn't like the fact the main character was instantly the best at magic, I hated the verbally abusive love interest, there was a sex scene that came out of nowhere that seemed out of place,  the story was too complicated.  I liked the premise and some of the writing,  but it was way too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, and Violence

margaret_k30's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual content and Kidnapping

siglerbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Where to begin? This book is as close to a unique story as I've ever read. It's hard to describe because it feels quite original.

The underlying tones are definitely Beauty and the Beast but in very much its own way. 

Our heroine, Nieshka is instantly loveable for her clumsy, messy, confident self. I've never read a hero quit like her and it was very enjoyable.
Her sunshine to the Dragon's grumpy was delightful.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about this book was the themes of friendship and individuality seen side by side without being pitted against each other. Nieshka and her best friend Kasia have a beautiful friendship that acknowledges their flaws but never stops them from loving each other. We see hints of real human jealousy, grief, annoyance, and love in both girls even though their personalities couldn't be more different. I don't know if I've ever seen such a wholesome and believable friendship in literature before.

I enjoyed the story over all, though for a while the plot did get terribly confusing and difficult to follow. Once we were given answers they were mostly satisfying.

While I will never completely enjoy the "undefeatable villain" trope, the reasoning behind this one was at least understandable.

Even the ending was quite unique. I enjoyed the less-than-perfect end. I think everything neatly wrapped in a bow would have betrayed the overall feel of the story.

Over all I definitely liked Uprooted, and am likely to read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Body horror, and Confinement

Minor: Toxic friendship, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and War

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

inspiring reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Murder, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, Confinement, Death of parent, Vomit, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Blood, Animal death, Medical content, Body horror, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Child death, Rape, Slavery, and Colonisation

huntress's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment