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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I picked up this book after reading an interview where Sabaa Tahir recommends it, and I loved it. The heroine, Agnieszka, is at first represented as self conscious and unsure of herself, but throughout the text, she’s shown to have always been powerful and competent in her own right. I think this is particularly important, because so often heroines go through a metamorphosis only after meeting “the guy,” but that’s not the case for Agnieszka. She only further grows into (generally on her own terms) into a strength and bravery that she had always had in some way. And while she does have a love interest that starts in a problematic way, she very much shapes their relationship and engages with him on her terms. Would recommend to others and it would make a great Holiday gift for folks who enjoy fantasy novels.
After seeing a minor buzz about this book on Tumblr, I was curious enough to pick it up. I’m always looking for good fantasy, and I’m a bit picky - I’m never really satisfied with stories set in some faux English Middle Ages. This book, however, was a pleasant surprise in terms of the plot revolving around the enchanted Wood. It had the feel of a classic fairy tale, and the charm of a simple world filled with wondrous magic. I would have rated it higher if not for the overall attitude of the Dragon and the subtle misogynistic tendencies - nothing outright, but still present enough to make me uncomfortable. The summary, too, makes it seem like this is going to be a kind of girl-in-the-tower/Beauty and the Beast-esque book, but to fully enjoy this novel, I think it’s best to just let that go after about the first 100 pages and just embrace it’s real plot: a witch discovering her magical abilities and using them to fight evil.
Things I Liked
1. Balance of Power: This is a huge spoiler, but one that comes early in the book, so read at your own risk.
2. Female Friendship: I’m sick of fantasy that pits women against each other (mostly in a “I’m a tomboy so girly women are my rivals because they’re frivolous” kind of way), so even though this book is primarily about one woman and a male wizard, there’s still room for a friendship between Agnieszka and Kasia. Kasia is never resented for her “girly” interests and accomplishments, and she proves to be a loyal companion. Even when there is some tension between the two, Novik ensures the strength of their friendship rather than have them turn away from each other.
3. Enchanted Forest: I loved the weirdness and creepiness of the Wood, which serves as an evil enchanted forest from many fairy tales. There are not only creepy trees, but strange-looking creatures and a sort of unidentifiable consciousness that creates an intense battle between the Wood and civilization. That and the fact that the Wood could “contaminate” people made for a fun use of the dark forest trope.
4. Use of Slavic Traditions: The names, spells, and traditions used in this story mostly stem from Slavic traditions and folklore. It was a fun departure from your typical fairy tale-inspired fantasy novels, and it both had a sense of novelty and familiarity so that I was never confused.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Attempted Rape Scene: Why. Does. So. Much. Fantasy. Have. Attempted. Rape. Scenes. Seriously, it’s unnecessary and gross. This book is no exception.
2. Physical Assault/Verbal Abuse: There’s one point in the novel where the Dragon thinks Agnieszka is a spy, and in response, he holds her down on the bed and nearly chokes her. On top of that, he repeatedly calls her stupid, dirty, horse-faced, and other similar insults to the point where I grew tired of it and wanted to punch him in the face. Chill out, dude. You just took her away from her home and she’s learning her way around your world. He also blames Agnieszka for the prince's attempted rape of her, and doesn't seem to care about her or respect her in any meaningful way. As a result, I simply could not understand why Agnieszka desired him towards the end of the book. The “love story” felt extremely forced.
3. Political/Social Plot: There’s a point in the novel where Agnieszka goes to the castle to attend court, and it has to be one of the lows of this book for me. I was so enthralled with the Wood and the life in the Dragon’s tower that to get away from all of that felt disappointing.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in fantasy with magic and enchanted forests. You might also like this book if you like classical fairy tales and/or Slavic folklore.
Things I Liked
1. Balance of Power: This is a huge spoiler, but one that comes early in the book, so read at your own risk.
Spoiler
>The reason the Dragon takes Agnieszka is because she has magical potential. When I realized this, I was afraid it was going to be a repetition of some stale fantasy tropes concerning wizards and their apprentices. But with Agnieszka and the Dragon, I liked that there was a kind of balance: he was all about precision and doing things by the book, whereas she was all about intuition. This made for wildly different approaches to magic, and though the Dragon still has to teach Agnieszka, there wasn’t really a sense of his complete superiority over her. Agnieszka held her own and was powerful in her own right, though not so powerful that she didn’t need a tutor at all. It kind of reminded me of the power dynamic in Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.2. Female Friendship: I’m sick of fantasy that pits women against each other (mostly in a “I’m a tomboy so girly women are my rivals because they’re frivolous” kind of way), so even though this book is primarily about one woman and a male wizard, there’s still room for a friendship between Agnieszka and Kasia. Kasia is never resented for her “girly” interests and accomplishments, and she proves to be a loyal companion. Even when there is some tension between the two, Novik ensures the strength of their friendship rather than have them turn away from each other.
3. Enchanted Forest: I loved the weirdness and creepiness of the Wood, which serves as an evil enchanted forest from many fairy tales. There are not only creepy trees, but strange-looking creatures and a sort of unidentifiable consciousness that creates an intense battle between the Wood and civilization. That and the fact that the Wood could “contaminate” people made for a fun use of the dark forest trope.
4. Use of Slavic Traditions: The names, spells, and traditions used in this story mostly stem from Slavic traditions and folklore. It was a fun departure from your typical fairy tale-inspired fantasy novels, and it both had a sense of novelty and familiarity so that I was never confused.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Attempted Rape Scene: Why. Does. So. Much. Fantasy. Have. Attempted. Rape. Scenes. Seriously, it’s unnecessary and gross. This book is no exception.
2. Physical Assault/Verbal Abuse: There’s one point in the novel where the Dragon thinks Agnieszka is a spy, and in response, he holds her down on the bed and nearly chokes her. On top of that, he repeatedly calls her stupid, dirty, horse-faced, and other similar insults to the point where I grew tired of it and wanted to punch him in the face. Chill out, dude. You just took her away from her home and she’s learning her way around your world. He also blames Agnieszka for the prince's attempted rape of her, and doesn't seem to care about her or respect her in any meaningful way. As a result, I simply could not understand why Agnieszka desired him towards the end of the book. The “love story” felt extremely forced.
3. Political/Social Plot: There’s a point in the novel where Agnieszka goes to the castle to attend court, and it has to be one of the lows of this book for me. I was so enthralled with the Wood and the life in the Dragon’s tower that to get away from all of that felt disappointing.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in fantasy with magic and enchanted forests. You might also like this book if you like classical fairy tales and/or Slavic folklore.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
could not get over the emphasis on how clumsy she is. and then how rude and jarring the wizard is. which resulted in me looking things up about the book and deciding this is not for me. very sad as this is my first shot at novak and have been looking forward to this story for about a year at least
Revising my opinion of this book. It's bad, rather than simply mediocre. Don't waste your time.
I read this book on a transpacific flight, so it needed to distract me from the sound of the engines, since I simply cannot get rest on an airplane. As a distraction, I enjoyed the fast pace of the storytelling and the fairytale story itself -- light but imaginative, and outlined deftly with just enough depth to work.
But I disliked most of the main characters, including Agnieszka, mostly for her overemphasized clumsiness. Ugh, look: she can be clumsy and that's fine, so shut up about it, but if she's really so clumsy it needs mentioning (and insulting) every two pages, then I don't see how she can turn into a talented magician almost overnight.
More importantly: I found the Dragon's abuse of Agnieszka really disgusting. Partway through the book, they fall in love, for no reason at all except, perhaps, so that the author could throw in a sex scene. At that point I just wanted to chuck the thing out of the airplane. I should have stopped reading the moment I sensed that that author intended to make them fall in love. Verbal, emotional, and physical abuse is not flirting, and it is not romantic.
I read this book on a transpacific flight, so it needed to distract me from the sound of the engines, since I simply cannot get rest on an airplane. As a distraction, I enjoyed the fast pace of the storytelling and the fairytale story itself -- light but imaginative, and outlined deftly with just enough depth to work.
But I disliked most of the main characters, including Agnieszka, mostly for her overemphasized clumsiness. Ugh, look: she can be clumsy and that's fine, so shut up about it, but if she's really so clumsy it needs mentioning (and insulting) every two pages, then I don't see how she can turn into a talented magician almost overnight.
More importantly: I found the Dragon's abuse of Agnieszka really disgusting. Partway through the book, they fall in love, for no reason at all except, perhaps, so that the author could throw in a sex scene. At that point I just wanted to chuck the thing out of the airplane. I should have stopped reading the moment I sensed that that author intended to make them fall in love. Verbal, emotional, and physical abuse is not flirting, and it is not romantic.
3.5 rounded up to 4! i usually hate the "17-year-old girl with a 200+ year old love interest" trope but this was like a beauty and the beast/howl's moving castle slay
adventurous
dark
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
I loved this book. The writing was masterful and the descriptions beautiful. I got lost in the story telling and really felt all the magic come alive. The characters fell a little flat, aside from Agnieszka, and I was surprised some people called this book a romance because it really wasn’t. The book did drag on a little with the never ending descriptions, but I quite liked that about it.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No