Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Uprooted

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.

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bookishchef's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There's a few tropes in here that I am not the biggest fan of

- Ancient creature x barely legal teenager romance.

I know that there is no equivalent to this irl so I should stfu, but it still makes me uncomfortable, even if it is later revealed that the MC is immortal as well. It is even mentioned within the text by Sarkan that this has weird undertones (right before he has sex with the MC anyway, so he obviously was not too concerned).

- Best friend character that should have been the love interest instead but is not because heteronormativity says no.

I did not dislike Sarkan as a love interest. Gloomy, grumpy, bookish boys are a weak spot of mine. But Kasia x Agnieszka would have been immaculate. Super strong sword fighter girl x witch? I want that story dammit!

- Ancient magical objects and places getting a thorough explanation instead of staying mysterious.

Stories with fairy tale vibes do not need to explain everything. Why can the bears in Goldilocks talk? Because they can. Why do they eat porridge? Because they do. Not everything needs an explanation in fairy tales. And for me explaning why The Woods existed felt a bit unnecessary.

It is an enjoyable read nonetheless! And there was much I did enjoy!

- Uneasy allies to lovers
- Well written friendship
- A fairy tale esque feeling
- Female characters calling men out for their bullshit
- "Being strong" not being linked to violence or traditionally masculine tasks and features
- Eastern european influences (Baba Jaga, the food, the names of the characters, hell maybe even the Woods itself)
- Everything about the Summoning
- That singular smut scene

I don't love the ending of the book either, but somehow it did not take away from the rest of the story for me. There is just too much to enjoy here.

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freya_amber's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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raenyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much, from start to finish, I was thoroughly invested in the plot and characters. So many things happened but it also didn't go so fast that I felt lost or confused on what was going on, to me the pace was exactly right. I liked the main character and felt her reactions were relatable. I also liked the romantic side plot we got too!

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