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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
reviews.metaphorosis.com
3.5 stars
Every ten years, a sorceror named the Dragon takes a girl from the neighbouring villages as a servant. This time, everyone knows it will be Kasia - beautiful, graceful, talented Kasia. He takes her best friend Agnieszka instead - clumsy, unattractive Agnieszka. Bewildered, Agnieszka struggles to meet the Dragon's needs - mostly failing, until one day he's gone, and she has to step into his shoes.
There's a lot of evidence around these days that traditional publishers are slowly slipping under. But they do sometimes fill their traditional role as gatekeepers - now filters - separating good fiction from bad. I'm happy to say that's the case with Del Rey (one of my once favorite, now diminished publishers) and Uprooted.
I'd never heard of Naomi Novik before seeing this book on NetGalley, but the cover and description caught my interest. That lack of awareness led me a little astray. In the first few pages of Uprooted, I was sure I was in the hands of young but growing talent - a writer who was still fledging, but destined for good things. Rather to my surprise, it turns out Novik has quite a few books under her belt. That accounts for the skill she shows, but throws a harsher light on some of the book's shortcomings.
Novik seems to specialize in fantastic alternate history, and that's what she offers here. She draws on Slavic languages, which I found a pleasant change from the norm. However, it soon became evident that the setting was not just vaguely Polish, but an actual alternate Europe, complete with Baba Yaga references. Because the parallels don't really add much to the story, I found them rather disappointing - suggesting a lack of effort, perhaps. It's also disappointing that while Uprooted has a strong female lead, she lives in a somewhat traditional world - men fight silently, women dress up, though both do lead.
The broad outlines of the story are equally familiar - a teen romance of awkward but plucky young girl, handsome but distant sorceror, and circumstances that force them to become close. What makes Uprooted stand out is Novik's facility with language and character. No verbal pyrotechnics here, just a fine balance of imagery, action, and dialogue. At the same time, Novik stumbles over some genre norms that I would have expected a practiced writer to catch.
The characters, for all their stock-romance nature, feel real and sympathetic. While much of the action is predictable, we care about Agnieszka and Kasia, though the Dragon remains underdeveloped. To her credit, Novik veers clear of the Hollywood ending, and the character element remains strong throughout.
All in all, Novik has made a nice, surprisingly effective novel out of off the shelf ingredients. When I thought she was a new talent, I meant to watch for her books and hope that she reached for a little more originality in future. As it is, I assume she's reached her stride. I'll certainly be interested to consider her new books, but hope they'll dive a little deeper into worldbuilding. In any case, I recommend this book. Pluck Uprooted off the nearest shelf and enjoy it.
NB: Received free copy from Net Galley.
This book is beautiful, and smart, and you must pay attention! It’s not a YA fairytale that you can just skim by and allow your mind to wander. I like that. That is the book I was looking for: dark, fairytale-esque, and smart.
What fell flat for me in this book was the romance between Agnieshka and the Dragon. I didn’t like their first “make out” scene together. I didn’t like the way he treated her for a majority of the book. I didn’t like that the romance didn’t seem to develop but rather appeared out of nowhere. And I don’t like the creepy age difference.
What fell flat for me in this book was the romance between Agnieshka and the Dragon. I didn’t like their first “make out” scene together. I didn’t like the way he treated her for a majority of the book. I didn’t like that the romance didn’t seem to develop but rather appeared out of nowhere. And I don’t like the creepy age difference.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I started listening to this in the car yesterday and got up to Chapter 5. I happened to also have a hard copy of the book on hand. When I got out of the car, I quickly picked up the book to continue where I had left off. I nearly stayed up all night to finish it! Instead, I sat all morning reading.
The publisher's summary does not begin to describe the scope and breadth of this story. Agnieszka must come to terms with magic, her roots in the valley where she grew up, and the wizard called Dragon to try to save her home and the entire kingdom from the darkness in the Woods. It is dark and magical, evocative of the best fairy tales with a dash of Polish folk tales.
I didn't care much for the audio version, what little I listened to. The heavy Slavic accent was distracting for me. I understand the desire to capture the atmosphere of a Slavic fairy tale. But to me it felt stilted and kept me from getting fully swept up in the story. The one thing it did do was make me comfortable with the pronunciation of names and places while I was reading the book myself.
An adult book that will likely appeal to older teens - possible Alex award candidate?
The publisher's summary does not begin to describe the scope and breadth of this story. Agnieszka must come to terms with magic, her roots in the valley where she grew up, and the wizard called Dragon to try to save her home and the entire kingdom from the darkness in the Woods. It is dark and magical, evocative of the best fairy tales with a dash of Polish folk tales.
I didn't care much for the audio version, what little I listened to. The heavy Slavic accent was distracting for me. I understand the desire to capture the atmosphere of a Slavic fairy tale. But to me it felt stilted and kept me from getting fully swept up in the story. The one thing it did do was make me comfortable with the pronunciation of names and places while I was reading the book myself.
An adult book that will likely appeal to older teens - possible Alex award candidate?
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Not gripped by plot + in a reading slump
Quite spellbinding, if you'll pardon the pun. I loved the world-building and the characters. I felt it got a little overlong in the middle but the ending was just as I wanted it to be.
Spoiler
(especially with all of the politicking for the throne)
I'm so glad I bought into the hype. In Uprooted, Naomi Novik creates characters who are compelling on their own but become even more fascinating when they start to bump up against each other.
From the start, we learn that the narrator, Agnieszka, is a hot mess. I mean this in the most loving way possible. She's not a secret beauty. She's not graceful. She's not particularly brilliant. She can't walk down the street without ripping or getting mud on her dress. She is utterly imperfect and she knows it, and what's even better is that she's comfortable in her skin.
For the majority of her life, Agnieszka has lived in the shadow of her best and dearest friend Kasia. Because of it, there's a complexity to how she looks at and relates to Kasia – and amazingly that's something we get to unpack in one of the most powerful moments in the book, when both girls' most hidden thoughts are revealed to each other in the midst of a maelstrom of magic. It really makes you think about relationships – how they're not easy, how there are insecurities and jealousies, how different people experience the world in such different ways but can still always come back together. It's moments like these that make Agnieszka and Kasia's friendship such a force to behold.
And it's not just their friendship that is extraordinary. I spent a lot of time with Uprooted on my subway commute to work, and reading about Agnieszka and the Dragon was a constant exercise in reigning in the compulsion to shriek. The Dragon is a perfect example of someone who stays true to his character but evolves with Agnieszka's influence. He's a grouchy, cranky old man – that's just who he is. But as he comes to know and understand Agnieszka, he becomes a softer version of himself. A couple years ago, an engineer friend told me something I haven't been able to forget: "Hard, brittle objects shatter. Malleable ones bend gracefully." I feel like that describes the Dragon (and his dynamic with Agenieszka) well. At first glance, they are opposites – he believes in order and method; she is a free-spirited wild child – but you come to see that they complement each other in the best way possible, her softness balancing out his hard edges. They each bend a little bit, and they both become better versions of themselves because of it.
Each of the characters in Uprooted have their own lives and their own compelling character arcs. They're not just a means to an end – they have their motivations and their histories and their flaws and their own redeeming qualities. It's that richness in characters that makes Uprooted resonate so deeply with me. And that's without even touching on the plot, the stark setting, the sinister trees, graphic battle scenes, or the terrifying deaths that feel almost psychopathic. This book is Creeptown, USA, and it's deliciously eerie.
I can't believe I'm saying it but I kind of wish this book was part of a series. I know. I know. As if there aren't enough series in the world of YA. As if I don't have a laundry list of books that I still have yet to read. But I loved these characters so much and I feel like they have more stories that are just waiting to be unraveled. I couldn't put it down and I want to read it again and soak in all the little moments that really do feel like magic.
More reviews, including this one, on my blog: Bookplates for Brunch.
From the start, we learn that the narrator, Agnieszka, is a hot mess. I mean this in the most loving way possible. She's not a secret beauty. She's not graceful. She's not particularly brilliant. She can't walk down the street without ripping or getting mud on her dress. She is utterly imperfect and she knows it, and what's even better is that she's comfortable in her skin.
For the majority of her life, Agnieszka has lived in the shadow of her best and dearest friend Kasia. Because of it, there's a complexity to how she looks at and relates to Kasia – and amazingly that's something we get to unpack in one of the most powerful moments in the book, when both girls' most hidden thoughts are revealed to each other in the midst of a maelstrom of magic. It really makes you think about relationships – how they're not easy, how there are insecurities and jealousies, how different people experience the world in such different ways but can still always come back together. It's moments like these that make Agnieszka and Kasia's friendship such a force to behold.
And it's not just their friendship that is extraordinary. I spent a lot of time with Uprooted on my subway commute to work, and reading about Agnieszka and the Dragon was a constant exercise in reigning in the compulsion to shriek. The Dragon is a perfect example of someone who stays true to his character but evolves with Agnieszka's influence. He's a grouchy, cranky old man – that's just who he is. But as he comes to know and understand Agnieszka, he becomes a softer version of himself. A couple years ago, an engineer friend told me something I haven't been able to forget: "Hard, brittle objects shatter. Malleable ones bend gracefully." I feel like that describes the Dragon (and his dynamic with Agenieszka) well. At first glance, they are opposites – he believes in order and method; she is a free-spirited wild child – but you come to see that they complement each other in the best way possible, her softness balancing out his hard edges. They each bend a little bit, and they both become better versions of themselves because of it.
Each of the characters in Uprooted have their own lives and their own compelling character arcs. They're not just a means to an end – they have their motivations and their histories and their flaws and their own redeeming qualities. It's that richness in characters that makes Uprooted resonate so deeply with me. And that's without even touching on the plot, the stark setting, the sinister trees, graphic battle scenes, or the terrifying deaths that feel almost psychopathic. This book is Creeptown, USA, and it's deliciously eerie.
I can't believe I'm saying it but I kind of wish this book was part of a series. I know. I know. As if there aren't enough series in the world of YA. As if I don't have a laundry list of books that I still have yet to read. But I loved these characters so much and I feel like they have more stories that are just waiting to be unraveled. I couldn't put it down and I want to read it again and soak in all the little moments that really do feel like magic.
More reviews, including this one, on my blog: Bookplates for Brunch.