Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Fun fast read, begging to be adapted into a Korean drama. Cold, ever angry male protagonist, check; said dude constantly sneering and raging at female protagonist yet irresistibly attracted to her, check; female main character is a hapless, absent-minded, total mess yet somehow the most special person who can mysteriously do All The Things through sheer innate ability, check; naturally they fall thoroughly in love with each other, check. All against a backdrop of intrigue, betrayal, life and death stakes, and quite nearly the end of the world. The stuff of drama crack, really. SBS, get a screenwriter on this stat!
This was a slow starter for me. I *almost* threw the towel in on this one. I'm not a fan of YA fantasy books normalizing abusive speech in love interests. (Totally not judging if that's your kink, but in my book, book bully romance is firmly in the adult romance category.) There's just something that rubs me the wrong way about saying to impressionable young women, "Oh it's okay if he calls you names and speaks cruelly to you. He's just hopelessly misunderstood, and you can change him." ... and then we wonder why young women end up in abusive relationships. 🙄 No thanks. I'm firmly in the camp of taking a HARD PASS on that. And that's the story of how I *almost* sent this one to the rubbish bin. I'm quite glad for that almost, however.
Instead for my gritted teeth and perseverance, I was rewarded with a delightful story about an enchanted wood gone bad and the war it is waging against humans. This war ends up being what unites the FMC and MMC into working together without the abusive verbal barrage. (Thank heavens, because if that hadn't let up I *would* have chucked it.) And, honestly, the story of this war was so engrossing that I was pretty much ignoring the little romance wedged in here and there. With hapless humans being spliced into the evil Wood's tormented trees, heroic feats of magic to save a beloved friend, a quest to find a Queen long lost to the Wood, court trials and intrigues, political assassinations, a bestiary tome that can turn its readers into nightmarish creatures, a military/magical siege of a tower ... this story was absolutely absorbing. And aaaaaaaaallllllll of it leads back to an ancient history that our protagonist has to discover.
Novik's prose was gorgeous. It was, in fact, so good that I am utterly perplexed as to why she included the abusive language. She is a skilled enough writer to have to have portrayed the MMC as arrogant, introverted ... event truculent and with all the snarky banter but sans the cruel and abusive language. It is well within her capabilities. That particular writing choice in shaping her MMC seems in particularly poor taste given the initial disparity in position/power between the most skilled magician in the kingdom and a poor uneducated woman he has chosen to become his apprentice (particularly without him even explaining that she is, in fact, meant to be an apprentice). I feel rather like Knightley when he scolds Emma for mocking Mrs. Bates. If there had been a similar level of position, I might not balk at any manner of unkind banter, but given the circumstances of the characters, it was (to put on my Mr. Knightley voice again), "badly done indeed!" That poor writing choice this accounts for a full star deduction. Frankly, I considered deducting 2 full stars ... that is really how incredibly off-putting it was for me. It is unfortunate, as I would otherwise be rating it 5 shining stars.
Will I read it again? Probably. Will I recommend it? Hmmm, probably not without some major caveats and warnings in advance ... and even then, only to a very specific kind of reader.
Instead for my gritted teeth and perseverance, I was rewarded with a delightful story about an enchanted wood gone bad and the war it is waging against humans. This war ends up being what unites the FMC and MMC into working together without the abusive verbal barrage. (Thank heavens, because if that hadn't let up I *would* have chucked it.) And, honestly, the story of this war was so engrossing that I was pretty much ignoring the little romance wedged in here and there. With hapless humans being spliced into the evil Wood's tormented trees, heroic feats of magic to save a beloved friend, a quest to find a Queen long lost to the Wood, court trials and intrigues, political assassinations, a bestiary tome that can turn its readers into nightmarish creatures, a military/magical siege of a tower ... this story was absolutely absorbing. And aaaaaaaaallllllll of it leads back to an ancient history that our protagonist has to discover.
Novik's prose was gorgeous. It was, in fact, so good that I am utterly perplexed as to why she included the abusive language. She is a skilled enough writer to have to have portrayed the MMC as arrogant, introverted ... event truculent and with all the snarky banter but sans the cruel and abusive language. It is well within her capabilities. That particular writing choice in shaping her MMC seems in particularly poor taste given the initial disparity in position/power between the most skilled magician in the kingdom and a poor uneducated woman he has chosen to become his apprentice (particularly without him even explaining that she is, in fact, meant to be an apprentice). I feel rather like Knightley when he scolds Emma for mocking Mrs. Bates. If there had been a similar level of position, I might not balk at any manner of unkind banter, but given the circumstances of the characters, it was (to put on my Mr. Knightley voice again), "badly done indeed!" That poor writing choice this accounts for a full star deduction. Frankly, I considered deducting 2 full stars ... that is really how incredibly off-putting it was for me. It is unfortunate, as I would otherwise be rating it 5 shining stars.
Will I read it again? Probably. Will I recommend it? Hmmm, probably not without some major caveats and warnings in advance ... and even then, only to a very specific kind of reader.
This started out a little slow -- but then it got going, and the going was good. The world-building was wonderful; it's very much out of Polish fairy tales. Agnieszka really developed well over the book; at the beginning, I was a little put off by the bumbling/messiness (it felt overdone and too like "well here's my one character flaw"), but both that and the rest of her character developed very nicely. The Wood was fantastic, especially the Wood-queen, and I loved the Baba Jaga aspects so much.
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Holy buckets! This was an exceptional story. I read it in two days and was enraptured the whole time. I loved every piece of this story. Extremely well done
Had some really interesting elements, including some very intriguing uses of soft magic in a fantasy book, but the plot was too meandering and got lost to give an unsatisfying ending
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A enchanting tale of a dark forest, a mysterious wizard and an odd girl with a spark of magic
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
It's not the kind of book I think everyone would like. But at this point Naomi Novik can tell me any story and I'm here for it.
FINALLY. I have finally read this and I was not disappointed even a little bit.
Uprooted follows Agnieszka as the Dragon unexpectedly chooses her to return to his tower despite living her whole life believing her best friend was to be chosen. No one understands this shift in decision, especially Agnieszka who has grown up clumsy, messy, and unsuspecting that this would ever be her future. The lore of what happens in the Dragon's tower has never been confirmed but what she finds for herself is nothing she would've imagined.
Being introduced to magic with someone who lacks the patience to properly teach her causes frustration and lack of interest immediately in her but when she's forced to try her hand at magic to save someone she cares about, it is no longer a petty game to get back at Dragon. The two work together with their abilities and are able to create and prevent much more than they'd expected. The Wood that has threatened them comes alive in the midst of these disturbances and Agnieszka and the Dragon have to work together to put an end to it all.
Dude, I just couldn't put this down. I loved so much about this but I think I really just missed Naomi's writing. It reminded me a lot of For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten but with a much darker tone to it. I loved the shared magic element the most and although there is romance in this story, it doesn't take up much space in the story overall.
If you haven't read it, I suggest you do. I loved.
Uprooted follows Agnieszka as the Dragon unexpectedly chooses her to return to his tower despite living her whole life believing her best friend was to be chosen. No one understands this shift in decision, especially Agnieszka who has grown up clumsy, messy, and unsuspecting that this would ever be her future. The lore of what happens in the Dragon's tower has never been confirmed but what she finds for herself is nothing she would've imagined.
Being introduced to magic with someone who lacks the patience to properly teach her causes frustration and lack of interest immediately in her but when she's forced to try her hand at magic to save someone she cares about, it is no longer a petty game to get back at Dragon. The two work together with their abilities and are able to create and prevent much more than they'd expected. The Wood that has threatened them comes alive in the midst of these disturbances and Agnieszka and the Dragon have to work together to put an end to it all.
Dude, I just couldn't put this down. I loved so much about this but I think I really just missed Naomi's writing. It reminded me a lot of For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten but with a much darker tone to it. I loved the shared magic element the most and although there is romance in this story, it doesn't take up much space in the story overall.
If you haven't read it, I suggest you do. I loved.