Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Review: Uprooted by Naomi NovikUprooted by Naomi Novik
Published by Del Rey in May 2015
Format: ebook
Source: Library
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three-half-stars

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.

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

Uprooted by Naomi Novik was a beautifully written and fairly popular fantasy novel. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading Uprooted, I didn’t quite love it. The plot was interesting, but the character development felt a bit flat.

The plot of Uprooted was unique and unfolded in a manner, which kept me on my toes. I truly didn’t know how the story would end up. I did find the plot to be slow at times; however, it picked up pace about a quarter of the way into the story. The whole idea of the corrupted Wood is what kept me engaged to the very end.

The magic in the story was interesting as well: part science and part art. Each witch and wizard seemed to use and perform magic in their own way, and they didn’t seem to always agree on which way was best.

What I didn’t particularly enjoy was the relationship between Agnieszka and the Dragon. Individually, they were decent characters. I don’t think that they grew a ton over the course of the story, but they were engaging enough. I particularly didn’t understand their romance. The Dragon was never outwardly nice to Agnieszka. He tended to belittle her, and this never changed much even at the end of the story. I’m not sure how they work romantically.

I recommend checking out Uprooted  by Naomi Novik, if you’re looking for a fantasy novel with an interesting plot and can look beyond some of the shortfalls of the characters. Plus it’s a single novel, which is a nice change of pace from all of the fantasy series. If you’ve read Uprooted by Naomi Novik, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

three-half-stars