Uprooted: A Novel

by Naomi Novik

NEBULA AWARD WINNER • HUGO AWARD FINALIST • “If you want a fantasy with strong characters and brilliantly original variations on ancient stories, try Uprooted!”—Rick Riordan
 
“Breathtaking . . . a tale that is both elegantly grand and earthily humble, familiar as a Grimm fairy tale yet fresh, original, and totally irresistible.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, BuzzFeed, Tordotcom, BookPage, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Praise for Uprooted

“Uprooted has leapt forward to claim the title of Best Book I’ve Read Yet This Year. . . . Moving, heartbreaking, and thoroughly satisfying, Uprooted is the fantasy novel I feel I’ve been waiting a lifetime for. Clear your schedule before picking it up, because you won’t want to put it down.”—NPR

• ISBN10: 0804179050
• ISBN13: 9780804179058
• Publish Date: 1 March 2016 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Del Rey Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 480
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780804179058

Reviews

[vagasker]

I really liked this book! The story was enjoyable and interesting. A thing I likes less was the building of the romance which felt a bit rushed. It did not feel like it developed at all and suddenly it was there. Also, I would've liked to explore the magic some more and understand the difference between Agnieszka's and the others. But overall quite an enjoyable read.

[Berls]

4.5 stars

When I first started Uprooted, I could instantly tell it was the sort of book I would like. It pulled me in immediately and yet... it took me a couple days to finish the 1st chapter!! To be fair, I was reading before bed both days and was very tired. But also - Uprooted is a LONG book and it's chapter's follow suit. I think it's worth it to dig in and go for the ride, but be prepared - this is a time investment.

The plot, the world, and the characters are all fantastic and well developed (they better be, when the book is this long), but the world forms the roots (pun intended) of this story. The Wood is a sentient, evil place, that haunts and actively tries to take over the nearby villages. If someone wanders into the Wood they are unlikely to be seen again... if they do return they are corrupted and dangerous - turned into tools of the Wood to take over more people. The craftiness, plotting, viciousness of the Wood kept the story fascinating.

I also really loved the characters - most especially Agnieszka. She is messy and defies every attempt at taming her. There are moments where I would almost shout at her... At least clean yourself up so people will take you seriously!... but no, that's not who she is. She is mud stained, food splattered, tangled hair Agnieszka. And they will learn to take her seriously because she is so much more than she appears. Loved that about her. And then there's the Dragon - the wizard who she is forced to stay with at the start of the book as part of the local villagers tribute to him for their protection from the Wood. He is everything she is not... and he tries, with rather epic failure to tame her. I loved watching their battle of wills as they go from master and tribute to wizard and apprentice to friends and allies.

There are so many more characters that I grew to love and appreciate - but I feel like going too much further in the review with the characters would peel away perhaps too much of the experience of reading. There are kings, queens, princes, wizards, priests, villagers, and so much more.

This is a fairly epic fantasy tale of a simple woodcutter's daughter whose whole life changes on her quest to save her people for the menacing Wood. There is magic, love, loss and so much action (this would make a pretty fantastic movie BTW). I am very glad it was selected for bookclub and that I was able to read it.

Side note: I had intended to read this in audio... less than 2 minutes in, I gave up that venture. I HATED the narration terribly. Perhaps it was an effort to be as authentic as possible to the culture this is coming out of (Polish fairy tales), but for me it was too much. I couldn't understand without great focus... and that's the opposite of a good audiobook experience for me. I like to do other things - clean, cook, drive, garden, walk, etc. I could only sit and listen to understand- so why not just read?

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Uprooted has a good story in the depths of it, but my personal experience was that it did not live up to all the hype.

I think part of my bias comes from the narrator - she wasn't bad exactly, but her cadence really bothered me.  The pauses and enunciation was not what I am accustomed to, and I found the narration robotic, which made it a bit difficult to listen to, especially since the audiobook was over 17 hours long.  So there's that - maybe I would find this book less tedious if I had been reading it in hardcopy instead.

Even then, though, I'm not sure.  There was a lot of ambling in Uprooted.  The story didn't really start until almost halfway through, and even then it took its dear time.  Uprooted felt like it should have been a trilogy, or it should have been a shorter, more concise book.  I felt my mind wandering, only being able to truly focus when there was an action sequence or a particularly beautiful bit of world building.

Sometimes, when books move along like this, they are balanced by particularly interesting characters.  Unfortunately, the only character I found vaguely interesting was Agnieszka, our protagonist.  There didn't seem to be a lot of time spent on character depth in Uprooted, and Agnieszka had a few fun little quirks when we were first introduced to her.  I felt this faded the deeper we got into the story, and the characters blended together after a while.

There is a romance in this novel, but it is an afterthought - a side branch, if you will.  There was chemistry between the characters, but the whole situation was very stiff.  I was rooting for the couple, but the relationships between characters were all awkward... whether it was a romantic interlude or a platonic friendship.  I blame the flat characters for this, but it was still disappointing.  I know I'm not usually the one pining for a good romance, but I'd rather have no romance than one that feels like an afterthought.

All the energy in this novel went toward the fairytale feeling, and in that, Naomi Novik succeeded.  The Wood is so many different things and made me continually revise my opinion of it.  There is a strange otherness to the world that is beautifully done.  I adore stories about magic and forests, and in that, I liked Uprooted.  I just didn't have the patience for how long it took the story to get moving, and keep moving.

Like I said, it's not a bad book, but it is not a world changing fantasy.  It's a good book for those who enjoy dark fairytales, like Wintersong or The Hazel Wood - Uprooted has the same deep feeling to it that can wrap up the reader in its peculiar magic.  I think that feeling is why so many people love it so much.  I think that Naomi Novik is a very creative author, if a slow storyteller, and I intend to read Spinning Silver.  Uprooted is a wonderful story for the right reader, but they must love fairytales and have a bit of patience.

[leahrosereads]

This was a magical book! It's a beautiful story with such creative, fantastical elements. As a whole.

However, when I look at the parts individually, it has some flaws. I wish the romance just didn't exist. I felt it would've been better to keep a friendship between the love interests. I thought it was stronger as a friendship. After the MCs, who were very dimensional and interesting, everyone else were backdrops. The side characters were one dimensional and so bland.

This issue includes the villain.

[HekArtemis]

3 stars. I really enjoyed this story, the Wood was wonderful, the lore was interesting. All of it was great except... It is based on Beauty and the Beast so of course it has to include the girl falling in love with the "beast" who has essentially captured her. There are ways around this - I understand Aliette de Bodard decided to focus on the idea of consent very closely in In the Vanishers Palace (future read so I am not entirely sure), and I personally can think of several ways this can be worked with, so it can definitely be done. Novik instead chose to make her Beast/The Dragon be an absolute arsehole to Nieshka, constantly insulting her, yelling at her, growling at her, through the entire book. And there isn't even character growth to trick us into thinking he was just misunderstood all along - nope he is just an arsehole and is still insulting her and growling and scowling away right up to the end of the story.

This unfortunate choice has made me bump my rating down, it would have been 4 or maybe even 4.5 otherwise.

I look forward to the day I read a Beauty and the Beast retelling that has Beauty kill the Beast at the end and live happily ever after in his palace, which she has claimed for herself of course. I think that could have worked quite well in Uprooted, pity Nieshka was written to fall in love with her abuser. Oh well.

[ktshpd]

Couldn't guess the plot at all, and that's one of my superpowers. Beautiful writing. Actually liked the romance (gasp!) Makes me want to go hiking and/or build a house in the woods.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I’ll be honest Uprooted by Naomi Novik intimidated me. It’s an adult fairy tale and I was worried that it would be inaccessible to me. Some times adult fantasy books build complicated worlds and there is so much unknown I get lost in the woods and feel like I’m not smart enough to read the book (and I was an English Lit major so it makes me feel INCREDIBLY stupid when I don’t get a book).

I was mesmerized by Uprooted. Simply mesmerized. Certainly the world of Uprooted is a new world, but the elements of a kingdom, magic and creepy woods are familiar fairy tale mechanics and I quickly settled in Novik’s writing and storytelling style. So while this was a new fairy tale and culture for me, there were familiar elements marking the path from start to finish that made it feel familiar.

Plus one can’t help but admire and root for Agnieszka and her approach to her world, its politics and seemingly unshareable magic. I grew so attached to her, and her friend, Kasia, and the Dragon that I actually found ways to AVOID reading towards the end. Yes, my heart even warmed toward the Dragon, with his cold shoulder and stubbornness. As the pages in the book started to dwindle I thought for sure there was only one way the story would end and I didn’t want it to end like that.

I wish I could find more books like Uprooted. It resides in this perfect place in my reader heart—that place between the known and unknown where there is just enough of both to make you feel comfortable because as a reader you KNOW this but there is just enough of the unknown to keep you on your toes and delightfully surprised along the way.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Incredible is all I have to say. I hung on to every word.

[Kate (Blogging with Dragons)]

Review originally from Blogging with Dragons.

When I first heard about this book, I was expecting it to be like Dragon Rose by Christina Pope, which was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with a dragon as the beast! Perhaps I set myself up for disappointment, but I couldn’t seem to like this book as much as Dragon Rose and even struggled to get through it. It really didn’t help that the Dragon of the book was not actually a dragon at all. And I just couldn’t get past the main character Agnieszka’s specialness and the descriptions of her magic, even though I enjoyed the unique aspects of the story at the same time.

I felt pretty letdown when I realized the “Dragon” taking a girl into his tower every 10 years wasn’t even a dragon. Instead, he was just a super crotchety semi-immortal wizard, who really didn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities except being a skilled wizard. And he couldn’t seem to say anything nice to the main character, but I was able to forgive him of that, because I really didn’t like her much either. I don’t really enjoy when characters are so special and unique in their unive­rse that I can’t relate to them at all, and that is definitely the case with Agnieszka. Despite their personality hang-ups, I did sort of enjoy the developing romance between the Dragon and Agnieszka. Admittedly, their romance was more like two societal misfits who found that their magic complimented each other, with their attraction simply being byproduct of that magic, and not real romantic or sentimental feelings.

On the other hand, Agnieszka’s relationship with her friend Kasia, whom she saved from her ensnarement from the very heart of the evil Wood, was absolutely solid and interesting. The dynamic of their entire friendship was forever changed when Agnieszka, and not Kasia, was chosen by the Dragon to be taken into the tower, but the two remained true friends through it all. Agnieszka’s determination to save her friend from not only the Wood and its possession and the changes it wrought for Kasia, but also execution for assumed corruption, was the true standout relationship in the book to me, and not that of the Dragon’s and Agnieszka’s.

Despite not being thrilled with the romance and the lack of a real dragon, I had to give author Naomi Novik props for creating such an original work, one that wasn’t actually like Dragon Rose at all. I was surprised by the way Novik set up what seemed like a typical fairy tale retelling, only to break down the walls, and turn it into something else instead. The evil and insidious entity, the Wood, and its ability to set traps for the main characters was really interesting and not something I had read before. And Novik deftly made the trip into the eerie Wood feel like a march towards death. The heartwood trees, their fruit, and the Walkers were extremely well-written and menacing. Who would have thought to make an ever-growing Wood, with roots all over the world, the main evil of the book? It was truly an inspired idea and the mere thought of getting stuck in one of those evil heartwood trees was truly fearful.

But it was the parts of the book not featuring the omnipresent Wood with which I had issues. Descriptions of the main character’s magic, along with her journey to the castle, felt super boring after the harrowing fight in the Wood. I found myself skimming through the descriptions of the character’s magic, utterly sick of hearing long descriptions about Agnieszka’s song magic and what folk song she plucked it from and what it meant. It was constant and just got very old. I also didn’t care that she derived her magic from Baba Jaga’s branch of it, as she wasn’t at all pertinent to the story. And I frankly didn’t care about the courtier’s dislike of Agnieszka because she didn’t fit in, their politics, or the Falcon’s attempts to flirt with Agnieszka. Perhaps this was Novik’s way of attempting to make it more like a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and Agnieskza more like Belle, but I didn’t care—I simply wanted more of the sinister Wood and its plotting.

Though the book wasn’t my favorites by any means, it was still a very interesting and unique read and I was glad that I read it. And if you’re a fan of Gregory Maguire’s books, or other retellings, it’s certainly something that you will enjoy. However, if you’re looking for anything more than a fresh concept, or a retelling with an emphasis on romance, this isn’t the book for you.

First - OMG look at that cover. It's gorgeous. Second this was perfect. I LOVED Agnieszka. I think she might actually be one of my favourite heroines. She was such a klutz and a walking disaster and she didn't change as such but she did grow into herself, gaining confidence and her voice. The friendship between her and Kasia was without a doubt one of the best I've ever seen in literature. They had their faults and the human moments with fear and envy and hate but they were also overwhelmingly supportive of one another. I really enjoyed that there was this focus on their friendship rather than just the trials Agnieszka faces or romance. On the other hand the relationship between her and Sarkan had me swooning. It wasn't overwhelmingly in your face and it wasn't love at first sight but it progressed into something better - a realistic relationship. I liked that he picked on her and it was awesome when she started to get him back. My husband and I have that relationship teasing and bickering and calling each other idiots so I guess that really resonated with me. Their relationship is best because she doesn't let him consume her - they do spend time apart, there's a huge focus on her friendship with Kasia and she still makes a point to seek out her family. She doesn't gloss over his faults, she just falls for him anyway. I loved that Agnieszka was close with her parents. I just loved her. She was great. Kasia was pretty awesome too. I liked that she was beautiful but she was also a fighter. She's not afraid to pick up a sword and get her hands dirty. I enjoyed that Kasia and Agnieszka share the spotlight.

I did have a few issues. I found towards the end it started to seem rather long. It felt a little drawn out with all the deaths - and seriously they wiped out like the entire world - I would've liked maybe more soldiers left or less amounts of them dead. And I hated the whole Court. I would've preferred it to be cut a lot shorter. I liked Alosha but the rest of it made me impatient. I think that was partly to do with wanting to see more of Sarkan and her working magic. So maybe not perfect perfect. But it was still pretty perfect.