Reviews tagging 'Death'

Enraizados by Naomi Novik

156 reviews

cgwynne's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wonderful world building and prose. I felt very connected to the characters and the land. If I wasn’t working, probably could’ve finished in a couple sittings because it was so gripping. Was mainly fantasy with a romantic subplot that I honestly felt was unnecessary in the grand scheme of things (probably biased because I would’ve preferred it not to happen given the age difference). There was a plot hole that I was surprised to not be addressed, but overall very very good. Will certainly be reading more of Naomi’s work. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

dcdc's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

asahome's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.25

A woman befriends the woman who will be taken by the wizard, only he takes her instead. She's mad at him for taking her and also mad at him for not taking the other girl.

I like how they handled the
conflict resolution
at the end. It was a very realistic approach to what happens in my opinion
after war if you want their to be peace and not just a pause in the physical conflict
.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

erinmichele_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

katiecoconut21's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Uprooted by Naomi Novik is a re-telling of a Polish fairytale. Anyone who says it's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast is lying to you; the only similarities are very shaky at best.

I enjoyed it perhaps moreso as a retelling than some other books, and my only critiques are nit-picky, but ultimately, ended up taking away some of the magic of the story for me.

The lack of magic-system development particularly bothered me. For some reason, Agnieszka
is better at Baba Jaga's magic than the magic practiced by the Dragon, Sarkan
. That's exactly it though...for some reason. Emphasis is not really placed on why this is the case, and I feel like it is largely due to a magic-system that wasn't fully thought through. In most cases, it just felt like a reason for why Agnieszka is different.

Going on that vein, the
budding romance between Agnieszka and Sarkan
felt out-of-the-blue for me. Just because there's forced proximity doesn't mean love will follow.fairytale. I honestly felt more chemistry between Agnieszka and Kasia than I did otherwise (though Kasia was easily my favorite character).

The pacing was a bit off. The ending felt rushed for me, especially because Agnieszka's time
at court
felt so slow, and we weren't even introduced to
the Wood-Queen
until the book was almost over, making me feel like I was going to have to read a sequel, despite explicitly seeking out a standalone novel.

Having said all that, Uprooted is still a pretty enjoyable novel overall, especially for those who enjoy re-tellings from less famous fairytales...but only if you can ignore that glaring issues with world-building.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ohno_joreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kefredriksen's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I adore this book so much. I really liked the mature fairy tale vibes it gives. I found the characters to be well developed, interesting, and lovable, though, I would classify this as a plot-driven story mainly. The writing style is stellar. It uniquely balances the line between easy-to-read and what I consider more 'classic' fantasy prose. I got super sucked in. Loved the world building, loved the dynamics between the characters, and loved the ending!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

callitz's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sehenry20's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

camiandkitread's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It reminded me of an adult version of Hannah Whitten’s “For the Wolf,” but I did find that book more enjoyable. 

It’s clear Nokik is a talented writer, her descriptions are lovely and evocative. However, I was uncomfortable with the attempted sexual assault near the beginning of the book and couldn’t really move past that since it was unnecessary to the plot. 

Her characters were well written but were boring and took their sweet time to do anything. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings