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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
It's a 4.75 for me. I want to give it 5 stars but magic, castles ... these aren't something I am really into. But this book has really stretched things for me. At least I enjoy it more than I expected. (should i give it 5 stars exactly because of that?) But too many magic battles for me.
Absolutely love Agnieska. At the beginning she annoyed me a little because she was quite timid, not wanting to deal with being chosen by the Dragon. But when she started to have motivation to do things, I began to like her a lot. And her loyalty to Kasia just makes reading this book so enjoyable.
Absolutely love Agnieska. At the beginning she annoyed me a little because she was quite timid, not wanting to deal with being chosen by the Dragon. But when she started to have motivation to do things, I began to like her a lot. And her loyalty to Kasia just makes reading this book so enjoyable.
DNF about halfway through. My brain hurt trying to follow the pacing and storyline of this book. Everything moved way too fast. There was no development of relationships or plot. There was no world building. It was really not good.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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
After thoroughly enjoying one of Ms. Novik’s other fantasy novels, Spinning Silver, I was excited to pick up this book as well. For me, it did not disappoint, despite there being a few (for me) negative elements.
Right off the bat, I want to address some similarities that I saw between Uprooted and Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. They were definitely there (powerful people being more concerned about political infighting than the “real” threat to everyone, as well as the children of the forest sort of scenario). Those similarities were there, and a little hard to ignore, but I still enjoyed the story nonetheless.
Additionally, I felt the denouement to be a little…underwhelming? There was so much exposition, but then when we finally got to the moment of understanding I guess, who, what, or why was the Wood, it was…a little fuzzy to me, and I felt like this was because Ms. Novik had really sort of buried too deeply the element that the valley where the Wood grows is actually magical, and the home to a race of tree-people (treeple?) who clashed with the humans who inevitably showed up. I think that giving some more pages to that element rather than the sometimes overly-long description of magical battles would have made a difference in how the book was balanced and paced.
That all being said…I really enjoyed how Agnieszka’s approach to magic was so very different from all the other wizards. The approach the others take is very scientific and academic, whereas Agnieszka approaches it from a place of intuition and emotion. I loved the way other wizards would think her nuts for what she was doing, and then it would end up working, and working quite well. She sort of embodied the idea that there is more than one way to skin a cat. She brings fresh eyes and perspective to problems they’re so used to thinking about tackling in a very rigid and proscribed way. I also really liked how she wants to use her magic in service of regular people, rather than exclusively in service to the rich and powerful.
Overall, I felt this was an engrossing and entertaining stand-alone, female centered fantasy read.
I could not put it down. What a great story, what a great protagonist. I loved it.
I finally picked this one up, and finished it! Uprooted has been recommended to me about a million times over, and for some reason or another, I never actually dived in. (I think I might be the last person on here to read this book?) I'm glad I did. This wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I still enjoyed it. I think I was looking for more romance, but there just wasn't a whole lot of it in here. My fault for thinking it would be -- this one is NOT listed as a fantasy romance. It's a retelling of Polish myths. It's exceedingly well done, just not quite what I was expecting.
I did love Agnieszka very much. She's stubborn, but airy. She's of the earth, and absolutely not bound to any rigid rules about magic. She baffles The Dragon very much, and I loved watching that dynamic play back and forth between them. I loved that her magic flowed, and wasn't really forced in any way whatsoever. The Dragon is very much a mimic (not copy) of Howl Pendragon, and I did like him but I really, really wanted to see more of a softer side of him. At least in a more obvious way than what we are given.
Kasia, I adored. She spent her whole life thinking one thing was going to happen to her, and when that didn't happen she didn't just wilt and give up. She kept going, kept searching for her freedom. I loved that Agnieszka was able to save her, that they both were able to get what they wanted at the end.
Four stars, and I do recommend it if you haven't read this one yet!
I did love Agnieszka very much. She's stubborn, but airy. She's of the earth, and absolutely not bound to any rigid rules about magic. She baffles The Dragon very much, and I loved watching that dynamic play back and forth between them. I loved that her magic flowed, and wasn't really forced in any way whatsoever. The Dragon is very much a mimic (not copy) of Howl Pendragon, and I did like him but I really, really wanted to see more of a softer side of him. At least in a more obvious way than what we are given.
Kasia, I adored. She spent her whole life thinking one thing was going to happen to her, and when that didn't happen she didn't just wilt and give up. She kept going, kept searching for her freedom. I loved that Agnieszka was able to save her, that they both were able to get what they wanted at the end.
Four stars, and I do recommend it if you haven't read this one yet!
Enchanting lead, unique antagonist, and interesting notes of Slavic folklore interwoven throughout an exciting and well-paced fantasy novel.
The story and its characters grew on me as I ventured deeper into the book, and as Agnieshka allowed herself to venture deeper into her talents, her feelings, and the Wood. I love the strong-willed, creative, determined-to-try woman that she represents by the end of the story. Her early attitudes were less convincing to me, and I found her more authentic as a character in the second half of the novel. Hooray for female fantasy leads, for magic, and for working together to grow stronger!
gdi naomi novik stop being so cool!!! (please never stop) i loved the magic so much, and agnieszka and kasia and even (begrudgingly) sarkan! LOVED the ending, it had that same thread of compassion and effort being the only way to fix what's broken that i loved so much in scholomance. the only thing that would've improved this is if the trio ended up together (nieshka was at least a bit in love with kasia and no one can convince me otherwise) BUT it doesn't even really matter because romance wasn't the point it's about the Bonds. god i love novik's writing