Uprooted

by Naomi Novik

[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?