As longtime readers of my reviews will know, I am a big fan of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. Novik’s blending of historical fiction with the fantasy concept of dragons serving in militaries is such a captivating tale. So when Uprooted came out in 2015, I was excited to read Novik’s foray into more traditional fantasy.

Then, of course, I never got around to it. Until now!

Agnieszka lives in a small village near an evil, corrupting Wood. Every ten years, the wizard who protects this group of villages from the encroaching Wood picks a single village girl to serve him for a decade. This wizard, the Dragon, is a fair yet foreboding lord. When Agnieszka is unexpectedly chosen over her more appealing best friend, this triggers a series of magical events that upend the lives of Agnieszka and many, many more. Uprooted draws from the atmosphere of fairy tales, particularly central and eastern European folklore, to pit our protagonist against twisted nature itself.

I’ll be upfront: I loved the first half of this book far more than the second half. From the time Agnieszka is chosen by the Dragon to roughly her arrival at the capital city, I was thoroughly engrossed in this narrative. The second half of the book branched out (pun intended) into a more epic narrative, and to be honest I just kind of lost interest in it all. So I’m going to deal with each half separately and then render a final opinion.

The first half of this book is so lovely. When Agnieszka arrives at the Dragon’s tower, she initially struggles with his attitude towards her, his moods, and her own inability to cope. What I love about this relationship is that Agnieszka constantly refuses to work within the confines the Dragon sets out for her. She pursues numerous little acts of rebellion. Then, when danger arises in another village while the Dragon is dealing with something else, she doesn’t hesitate: she takes matters into her own hands, proving herself heroic.

Agnieszka’s relationship with magic is important too. The way that she feels magic intuitively, versus how the Dragon and other wizards seem to believe it is a highly structured, very formulaic practice, strikes me as a very feminist theme. The wizards seem like a conservative lot in general, and their dismissiveness towards Agnieszka and Jaga and those who would use magic more liberally, based more on feeling than formula, supports this reading. (One theory I developed, which proved not to be borne out, was that Agnieszka becomes Old Jaga—the comment about Jaga saying at her own funeral “I’m unstuck in time” made me think Novik was foreshadowing Agnieszka’s fate to become the very witch whose journals inspired her to find herself.)

In this way, watching Agnieszka grow into herself was just so pleasurable. I curled up under a blanket and thoroughly enjoyed how Novik subverts the idea that women are captured in towers and need to be rescued by princes. Well, the prince in this story is a boorish mama’s boy. Similarly, the Dragon is not a great mentor figure. Watching him transform gradually from a remote, one-dimensional idea in Agnieszka’s eyes to a living, breathing human with a backstory of his own is so great. Novik has studied the symphony of a fairy tale so thoroughly she can reproduce it yet subtly adjust the notes to achieve new and superior harmonies.

The second half of Uprooted, alas, shifts the tone of the book from fairy tale to epic fantasy. I want to be clear that I’m not saying the second half is bad. If you enjoyed every page of this book, that’s cool. But I noticed my attention wandering during the last half in a way that it didn’t near the beginning, and I attribute this to how we went from Agnieszka’s very personal struggles to her and the Dragon fighting a pitched battle against Prince Marek and his evil witch mom. The climax, the last-ditch effort to kill the Wood and save everyone, felt like a confusing fever dream that was difficult for me to follow.

In the end, I enjoyed this book overall, but there’s a gap between what I was hoping it would be and what it ended up being. When that happens, it’s neither the author’s nor the reader’s fault. This is a beautiful standalone fantasy novel that once again showcases Novik’s storytelling skill, and I would recommend it.

Originally posted at Kara.Reviews.

A beautifully written Eastern European fantasy, steeped in fairy tale. 

To get an elephant out of the room, the relationship politics between

Agnieszka and Sarkan

are somewhat uncomfortable

with the popular aesthetics of an ancient semi-mortal in a young man's clothes wooing a high-school aged girl, as well as an emotionally abusive and otherwise coercive beginning to their acquaintance

. 

As these things go, I think it's handled fairly well, but it's not something I would necessarily expect readers to forgive. It's especially frustrating as Novik's second take on a similar aesthetic pulls a similar trick. In Spinning Silver, there is much ado about the injustice and horror of the lot of Novik's women, but while they end up in more or less the positions they were threatened with it is played off as something of a happy and romantic ending. When the characters are dissatisfied with the status quo, why should the readers appreciate its repackaging?  I feel like Agnieszka has more agency and less dire options than Spinning Silver's cast, and the overall feeling is much less uncomfortable, but together the books form enough of a pattern to make me a bit more uncomfortable on rereading than I was before I read Spinning Silver.

That significant caveat aside, the prose is fluid, the pacing is tight, the depictions of magic and of the horrors of The Wood are enthralling, and Agnieszka's point of view makes for excellent company throughout the story. Additional characters are vivid and the novel's turns all feel just surprising enough to excite without feeling sudden or unearned. One of the best reads I've had in a while. I couldn't put it down or stop thinking about it when it ended. I wish I could recommend it unreservedly.

Firstly I wanna say that the epilogue is *chefs kiss* honestly my favorite part of the book. 

 

This is the second book I have read by this author and I’ve realized she has a knack of writing the kinds of characters that I love. Lots of strong women with distinct and varied personalities, dreams, and motives. 

 

The friendship between the main protagonist and her best friend was particularly well done. It’s always great to see 2 young women lift each other up and love each other without jealousy and competition ruling their dynamic. 

 

I also appreciated the commentary about the deep insecurities, regrets and resentments we carry around with us. There were several scenes where our heroine casts a particular spell that lays bare a person’s innermost truths. I thought they were very perceptive and relatable. 

 

The theme of peace also resonated with me. 

 

So why 3 stars? For me, the pacing was off. Certain parts dragged and others were rushed rushed rushed. But that could just be a personal preference as this is a well beloved book. 

 

My Rating System: 

1. DNF* 

2. I didn’t like it, but I finished it. Don’t recommend. 

3. I liked aspects of it, would recommend to some. 

4. Great book, would recommend to most. 

5. My favorites** 

 

* I don’t rate all DNFs 

 

** subject to bias and not necessarily something I would recommend to others

Dear Uprooted,
Let me start this letter by saying I am glad that I pushed through and kept going,. You were a fantastical story of magic, an adult fairy tale. But you were long winded and overly detailed. I started by listening to you, and it somehow took me 5 hours (and several days) to listen to 160 pages of you. I am not sure if it is the accent the book is read in, or the speed of the reader's voice, but you were a struggle for me to enjoy listening to. So, I picked up the physical book, and your pace was better. But there was much of the story and details that were drawn out and longer then necessary. You felt much longer then a 400 page book. I did love getting to watch Agnieszka learn her craft and discover her brand of magic, and grow into the witch she became, but there was not a lot of character development either, which is something that made you tough for me. You also are have your own issues within the characters; the Dragon is deeply flawed and often abusive and hurtful to Agnieszka. The "rules" of magic and the nature of the Woods did not seem to follow any rules of magic as I am familiar with either. The wizards seem to have unending wells of magic, and don't require much of a cost from it's casters. Ultimately, you fall short of the goal of suspension of disbelief and escapism that I enjoy in a fairy tale.