Publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 0804179034
Format: Hardback, Paperback, E-Book,
Audio-Book
Release Date: 19th May 2015
Links: Goodreads, Amazon.com, Indigo,
B&N, Book Depository
Website, Twitter
Rating: 9/10
Synopsis:
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.
Review:
**Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy in return for my honest review**
After reading the first few pages of Uprooted I was hooked and I knew I wouldn't be putting the book down until I was finished. I fell completely in love with the story and characters.
The main character, Agnieszka, believes she is just a normal girl and would never be taken by the Dragon when he comes for the next girl. However, she is taken by surprise and ends up living with the Dragon and discovering her true powers.
Agnieszka grows a lot throughout the book. She starts off believing that she has no worth and is nothing special. However, after being chosen by the Dragon she learns how special she is and becomes a strong and determined character.
The Dragon was a really interesting character. He wasn't nearly as scary and deadly as I was expecting but I ended up loving him. Everyone believed him to be evil due to him taking young girls in return for protection. In reality, he helps them learn and grow into independent women and they return with a huge dowry. He was rather mentally abusive towards Agnieszka which I wasn't a fan of. However, it seemed he was doing it to not grow attached to her and didn't want to let his feelings for her known.
I became really attached to all the various characters and was constantly worried for them. I didn't want anything to happen to any of them. They made mistakes, learnt from them and grew stronger as a result.
There is some romance in the book and while I think that it was not necessary, I ended up loving it. I was rooting for the Dragon and Agnieszka throughout the entire book and I loved the scenes of the two of them together. I do think the romance bloomed a little quickly, especially with how harsh he was towards her at the start of the book. But, in the end, I was really happy with how their relationship bloomed.
I really loved the legends and the looming threat of The Woods throughout the book. I would have loved to learn even more about the world and the other magically elements tied to it.
Some of the words in the book were a little hard to pronounce such as the spells and main characters name. I wish there had been some sort of pronunciation guide in the book, like quite a few books have nowadays.
Naomi Novik is a fantastic writer who created a wonderfully magical world. She creates flawed characters that only help make them more believable and relatable. I couldn't put this book down from start to finish and although Uprooted ties-up all loose ends, I would love a sequel following the Dragon and Agnieszka.
Uprooted is one of my favourites reads so far in 2018 and I'm excited to read more books set in this same fantastical, magical world.
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