Uprooted - Naomi Novik (Review)

(4.3 / 5)

Uprooted – Really impressive! What a lovely book!

I was assuming this was going to be another fairy-tale, beauty and the beast retelling, the typical predictable type. But it got some wonderful reviews from some reviewers that I trust, so I decided I had to see for myself. Glad I did!

Uprooted – The Plot:

So every ten years the dragon (Not actually a dragon, but an immortal wizard) takes a girl from the village for ten years to serve him. The year of choosing is here and all Agnieszka and the other girls of age must stand before the dragon for him to pick one. Agnieszka, along with everybody else is expecting her best friend Kasia to be chosen. Kasia is the most beautiful, the most lovely, the most kind. However she is not the one that he chooses.

This synopsis is pretty much the one on the cover and described on all the sites such as goodreads and such. However this doesn’t even begin to describe the events of the novel. It is so, SO much more intricate and interesting than this, and I feel it gives very little of the atmosphere of the book and the magic away.

So, Agnieszka gets chosen to serve the dragon, I think that much you have probably figured out for yourself without me spoiling it for you. And Agnieszka soon discovers that the dragon is not who she expected him to be. And she is not who she thought she was. You see, there is much more to Agnieszka than meets the eye. Pretty soon she and the dragon are teaming up to defeat the enchanted wood that borders their lands. Yes, the villain in this novel is an enchanted, corrupted, magical, evil wood. And my gosh it works!

The Characters

All of the characters in this novel are extremely well written and likeable. Even the Prince is likeable in a want-to-shove-your-fingers-down-your-throat way. Agnieszka and the Dragon are worthy characters in their own right, but together they are extremely entertaining with the dynamics of their bickering relationship. But the woods… It steals the show.

Did I Like it?

Did I EVER!!! Novik has managed to create an amazing bad guy here, who is not even a person! I think it takes a great deal of skill to pull off what she has managed to pull off in writing this novel and not making it come out corny or stupid. I am thoroughly impressed with her style of writing and the atmosphere she creates in this book. Its dark, mysterious, sweet, clever, complicated and just downright entertaining.

There is a lot of action in this novel, enough to keep an action fan like me turning the pages, and a lovely sweet dash of heart melting romance.

It had many elements of Cruel Beauty in it, a similar premise and story, but this one was much more entertaining and so much more mature, and didn’t have a STUPID LOVE TRIANGLE!!!!