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A review by dahabow
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
5.0
After a year of lusting after this book because of its premise and it's cover (yes the cover is gorgeous) I finally bought and read this book in the span of a day. I'm in awe at the fact that I devoured it in such a short while, especially during exam season. But at the same time, this book deserves nothing short of my full attention. The world building was phenomenal. In the absence of a map, all I had to go on were the main protagonist's words and the author was able to make me picture every mountain, colour and detail of everything, without boring or slowing down the pace.
The writing style was fun and whimsical and it helped that I enjoyed the main protagonist, Agnieshka's voice/narrative. She was hilarious and witty and clumsy and odd and I. LOVED. EVERYTHING. I loved this aspect of her clumsiness since it made her flawed and thus, more real. It also made her motives that much more convincing since she had never aspired to be a hero and would rather run, even though she knew she would have to brave through it. I loved her and she's easily one of the most enjoyable characters I've read about. Her relationship with the Dragon was one that had me laughing out loud and quickly trying to calm myself down enough to read on. He was the complete opposite of her in everyway: he was always scowling, annoyed and such a perfectionist. This made me cherish their interactions even more since he'd call her an idiot even when they were on *good* terms. I adored the intimacy and I love that the romance was slow burn and that it took a back seat so that we could enjoy this book for what it is - an epic fantasy book that made me anxious to know what awaited beyond each chapter.
In terms of the plot, wow. Just absolutely wow. It is so original and interesting that it was hard for me to let go off the book at any point. I was unable to function during the day unless I had the book and unless I was in the midst of eating it up. The story that is unravelled, about the Wood and it's origins had me on the edge of my seat and there were moments that tears would well up in my eyes.
Now, the action. So much would happen and every time we were blessed with a great happy, tear jerking (but in a good way) scene, we would be tossed into so much chaos, death and destruction. The premise of the Wood was terrifying and haunting enough but to add to the fact that there were people who returned from it no longer themselves? yeah, scary. There was so much bloodshed and epic parts that I had to read through it ONLY because it was to good to set down.
Finally, Kasia and Agnieshka. The story is told in the POV of Agnieshka but it also has so many elements and parts that show us the beautiful bond between these two girls. I loved the realness and honesty of their bond and I loved the moments that were shared between them. They are the definition of best friend goals. You see how much they care for one another and you also see the lengths they'd go for each other. I loved this because books with heartbreaking moments are what I thrive for.
All in all, I'm so happy that everyone was enjoying themself and that we found out about the story behind the Woods origins. I love that Sarkan is with her ans still the same scowling person but I'm just...I'm so satisfied and happy. I have no other words to describe my enjoyment. This book deserves all the stars for holding my attention, for hurting me, for putting my heart at stake of breaking for making me laugh (out loud!) and for making me smile :)
The writing style was fun and whimsical and it helped that I enjoyed the main protagonist, Agnieshka's voice/narrative. She was hilarious and witty and clumsy and odd and I. LOVED. EVERYTHING. I loved this aspect of her clumsiness since it made her flawed and thus, more real. It also made her motives that much more convincing since she had never aspired to be a hero and would rather run, even though she knew she would have to brave through it. I loved her and she's easily one of the most enjoyable characters I've read about. Her relationship with the Dragon was one that had me laughing out loud and quickly trying to calm myself down enough to read on. He was the complete opposite of her in everyway: he was always scowling, annoyed and such a perfectionist. This made me cherish their interactions even more since he'd call her an idiot even when they were on *good* terms. I adored the intimacy and I love that the romance was slow burn and that it took a back seat so that we could enjoy this book for what it is - an epic fantasy book that made me anxious to know what awaited beyond each chapter.
In terms of the plot, wow. Just absolutely wow. It is so original and interesting that it was hard for me to let go off the book at any point. I was unable to function during the day unless I had the book and unless I was in the midst of eating it up. The story that is unravelled, about the Wood and it's origins had me on the edge of my seat and there were moments that tears would well up in my eyes.
Now, the action. So much would happen and every time we were blessed with a great happy, tear jerking (but in a good way) scene, we would be tossed into so much chaos, death and destruction. The premise of the Wood was terrifying and haunting enough but to add to the fact that there were people who returned from it no longer themselves? yeah, scary. There was so much bloodshed and epic parts that I had to read through it ONLY because it was to good to set down.
Finally, Kasia and Agnieshka. The story is told in the POV of Agnieshka but it also has so many elements and parts that show us the beautiful bond between these two girls. I loved the realness and honesty of their bond and I loved the moments that were shared between them. They are the definition of best friend goals. You see how much they care for one another and you also see the lengths they'd go for each other. I loved this because books with heartbreaking moments are what I thrive for.
All in all, I'm so happy that everyone was enjoying themself and that we found out about the story behind the Woods origins. I love that Sarkan is with her ans still the same scowling person but I'm just...I'm so satisfied and happy. I have no other words to describe my enjoyment. This book deserves all the stars for holding my attention, for hurting me, for putting my heart at stake of breaking for making me laugh (out loud!) and for making me smile :)