Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Publisher: Macmillan
Format: E-galley
Series: No
Pages: 400
Date Finished: 28.05.15
Rating: 5/5
Summary: “Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”
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.

I could probably count on both hands the books that have utterly enthralled me, swept me off of my feet and transported me into an engrossing, magical and wonderful tale. To put it simply, Uprooted was divine.

I tried to take notes whilst reading this so I could form a coherent review, but in the end I had to stop because this book demanded every ounce of my attention so I'm sorry if this review is a bumbling mess.

The summary is purposefully vague and I don't want to give away anything else about the book because I think it's best to go into it without knowing anything apart from the fact that you're starting something amazing. Novik has created a world that is vivid and real, but ultimately it feels like you're reading a fairytale.

Perhaps my favourite thing about this book was the characters. None of them fall into standard tropes, and each one feels real, almost like they're dancing off of the page. I loved Agnieszka (don't ask me to pronounce that haha). The character development she goes through is amazing, and I loved her scenes with the Dragon. They were hilarious, charming, heartwarming and sometimes even a little heartbreaking. The romantic elements didn't dominate the plot, but that doesn't change the fact that they were sexy and wonderful.

Uprooted is completely unpredictable. I never knew what would happen beyond the next page, and the book went in a completely unexpected direction from what I originally thought. The summary sounds similar to a lot of other books, but Uprooted is nothing like any of them. It's this strange blend of high fantasy and fairytales, and despite everything it just works.

It starts out in Agnieszka's village where we're introduced to the premise--one girl is taken by the Dragon (a wizard) every ten years. From the outset I was on board with the characters and their struggles became mine.

The Wood is creepy and mysterious, and from the outset Novik paints a picture of how dangerous it is. No one who enters the wood comes out the same, if they get out at all. I haven't read anything like it before.

Reading Uprooted felt like peeling an onion (in the best way, I promise). After you think you've finished with one layer of the story, another appeared making the stakes higher and the story richer. Like I said earlier, it was impossible to know what would happen next because the story was so intricate. Saying that, it also felt simple and effortless, showing how amazing Novik's writing is.

There were parts when I felt confused, but honestly that didn't bother me one bit. If anything, it made the story even more magical.

Uprooted is clearly an immensely well thought out book and I won't dare to think how many hours of planning went into it. I'm finding this review hard to write because I don't want to give anything away, not when this story was just so magical.

I received this book from NetGalley, but I loved it so much that I definitely plan on buying a physical copy for my shelf. And then one for everyone I know. Seriously, just read this book.