Reviews with content warning for Violence - Uprooted

Ok I was highlyyy anticipating rating this 5 stars but I think the last 25% marked it down for me a tiny bit - I didn’t lovee how dark and abruptly really shifted in tone and kinda pace too at the end but overall I really liked the ending and the story as a whole - definitely a really solid first read of Novik’s and a really good stand alone I think :)
Oh also - the huge ass age gap between the two characters? Weirddd - especially cause she starts the book at 17 and it does not clarify at alll how long this book goes on for and therefore how old she is at the end which made me a bit uncomfortable

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rivercat0338's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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suneaters's review against another edition

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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.

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themoonlightarchive's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

In Uprooted by Naomi Novik, a dark fairy tale with Polish roots, the most powerful wizard in the nation chooses one girl to serve him every ten years. In return, the Dragon protects the villages from the rotting corruption of the Wood that spreads its roots further and further every year. Agnieszka has always known that her best friend, Kasia, would be chosen, just as everyone else in their village has always known it. But when the Dragon comes, it isn’t Kasia that he takes away to his tower.

What I loved:

• The magic system in this book has to be one of my favourites that I’ve read.

• The main character, Agnieszka, was full of determination, never hesitated to help those in need, and held an emotional connection to her magic that I truly loved. She was stubborn as hell and I adored that about her. Every scene where she used magic held me captivated in a way I haven’t experienced in quite a while.

• The side characters were well-rounded and fleshed out. The love interest was mysterious, brooding, sulky and powerful. Exactly what I’m most weak for. I also adored Kasia, the main character’s best friend. She was just as determined as Agnieszka, as well as strong and caring and funny and beautiful.

• The writing, while a bit wordy at times, was full of beautiful imagery that drew you into the world the author created and put down roots. The vibe of the entire novel was immaculate, to be honest. It was dark and tense and perfect.

What I wish were different:

• I wish the book had been a bit longer because the pacing of the third act of the book felt rushed. There was definitely a lot of information crammed in there towards the end and it made it a little difficult to keep up at times.

• There were many characters that I wanted more closure with, including Agnieszka, Kasia and the Dragon. I don’t normally enjoy side stories but for this book, I would have gobbled those stories right up if they existed. I want to know how the prince turns out with Kasia’s influence. I want to know how Kasia’s life turns out. I want to see Agnieszka and the Dragon a few years down the road.

• My biggest complaint was the lack of maps. I didn’t understand the location of most places and didn’t understand the layout of the Tower. It would have helped with visualizing quite a bit.

Despite my complaints about this book, I truly adored and thoroughly enjoyed it. With a lush magic system, well-written characters and breathtaking imagery, Uprooted is most definitely getting added to my favourites list.

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andromeda_1998's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Uprooted is one of those books that I have loved for years. It’s one of my favorite books off all time and it has been a couple of years since I last read it. I wanted to refresh my memory and see if I still loved the book that has meant so much for me over the years. Now is the question, did I still love it and why is this book one of my comfort reads?

Characters
Uprooted focuses on Agnieszka, a girl from a far of village, who grew up near an ancient dangerous wood. She is clumsy , brave and wild without it being a cliché. I love her very much as a main character even though she can be naive and well, a bit on the slow side of things. She’s sweet and we see her grow from an naive, stupid clumsy girl to a strong, accepting clumsy woman.

Sarkan or “The dragon” is the second main character and he is, in many ways, the opposite of Agnieszka. He is proud, stark and well, he can be a bit of an ass but he has a sweet side to him. Yes, he is a bit of an cliché character but he is one of those characters that you will love anyway.

The story
The story is full of tropes that I love and I have to admit I’m a sucker for magical cursed forests. So a book has to be written very badly for me not to like it if it has a magical forest but the reason why I like that trope so much is uprooted. This book was the first one with the trope I read and since then all the books with the trope give me nostalgic feelings about this book.
It also has an enemy to lovers trope and well I love it.

Writing
Naomi Novik is one of my favorite writers for a reason. She writes in a very magical and beautiful way. If I see that she has written something new, I will buy it.

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