I really liked this book even though I found the MC a bit frustrating in the beginning, she really charmed me by the end. Some of the battle details were a bit long winded for me, but overall I liked the characters, the magic, and the mystery of The Wood.

The first 4 chapters were a little hard for me to get into, but I was hooked after that. There were several plot twists and I didn't see any of them coming! The romance wasn't a subplot to the political/magical intrigue so keep that in mind if you're a fan of romantasy.

Wow, reading this was a rollercoaster but you know what, I did like it overall.

There are some things that I don’t like about this book so let’s get those out of the way. First, the Dragon. He is a big selling-point for the book, yet he ends up being very uninteresting.

Taking 17 year old girls to your tower for 10 years is already super disturbing but the explanation for this did not satisfy me at all and did not make it any less strange. Then there is also the super weird thing with forcing Nieszka to wear those dresses and also being very hostile for no reason, why are you, as a 153 year old man, beefing with a 17 year old girl? While we are on the subject, why are you having ‘relations’ with a 17 year old girl in the middle of a battle?! This really pulled me out of the story unfortunately. I don’t like the dragon and the ‘romance’ did not do this story any good, it would have been fine (or better?) without it. I’m glad that is was not explored any further.

Also, some concepts were introduced but never explored further. For example,

Nieszka faints and she is then told not to do any magic for a week but it doesn’t affect the story much. Nieszka is assaulted by Marek but it is just never mentioned again, was that just done to mark Marek as a bad guy? Why could Nieszka not get a wizard name? The bestiary book felt a little disconnected too.

Overall, a lot of things were left to your own imagination.

The characters are not super deep but there were still some characters that I liked. I really liked Kasia, she was very comforting. I also liked the main character, yes she was a ‘special snowflake’ or a Mary Sue or whatever, but since none of the characters were really fleshed out it wasn’t super distracting. Also, I liked how she ended up being able to support herself, that she fought for what she wanted and that she was a little stubborn. 

I also liked the ‘journey’ aspect of the book. The first time they

entered the Wood I really started to enjoy the story. It reminded me of Tolkien’s Mirkwood. I liked the castle scenes a little less but the Wood scenes were enjoyable to read, especially the finale.

I also really liked the whimsical fairytale/folklore feel of the story, though we did not get a lot of world-building it still felt mystical. The magic system of flowing and dancing with the words and songs was also fun to me!

I ended up rating this a 3.75 out of 5. I feel like it did not reach it’s full potential and it had some flaws but I had fun reading this and that is what matters. The ending was satisfying enough (

in my interpretation Nieszka does not settle for Sarkan

) and it reads smoothly.

My third book by Novik! To be blunt, while I did enjoy this one, I prefer Spinning Silver. There were a couple things that felt off to me and stopped me from enjoying it as much as I thought I was going to. Part of it was the pacing towards the second half of the book. I thought it felt a little rushed, especially after Agnieszka

and Kasia escaped back to the tower with the children

, and that the ending was a little weird/abrupt, too.

The characters were fine - for me they fell a bit flat and weren’t particularly loveable or relatable. I also couldn’t get behind the romance - since there were so few scenes and so little development, it felt as though they would have made more sense as unlikely friends (and that it wouldn’t have affected the story all that much). I’m all for lowkey, second-to-the-plot romances - in fact, I usually prefer them - this one just didn’t work for me.

I should stress that while it wasn’t my favourite, and though I’ve gone into more depth about the things I disliked than the things I liked, there were lots of things I enjoyed about this book, including: 
- The overall writing/story/plot, which was on par with Novik’s usual standards - well written, thought-provoking, and creative. 
- The magic system was interesting, and I really liked the descriptions of it.
- Agnieszka’s friendship with Kasia. It’s always nice to read about a friendship that’s so obviously full of love and trust.

Overall, I’m glad I read this book, and recommend just giving it a try if you’re on the fence about it.

From the moment I started Uprooted, I was hooked. The story immediately draws you in with an engaging plot that, while treading some familiar ground, kept me entertained throughout. There’s a lot of action in the novel, making it hard to put down.

What I didn’t expect was how much darker and more tragic the story would become. The Wood, which plays a central role, is both terrifying and mysterious. The eerie atmosphere surrounding it adds a sense of urgency to Agnieszka’s quest, and the lore behind the Wood, its villain, and the trauma it brings to the people around it truly captivated me. The deeper I got into the story, the more invested I became in uncovering its secrets.

One of the highlights of the book is the bond between Agnieszka and her best friend, Kasia. I loved their friendship and wished there were more moments showcasing their connection. It would have been great to see more memorable conversations and interactions between them, as their bond had so much potential.

The romance, however, left me with mixed feelings. The dynamic between Agnieszka and Sarkan felt harsh from the start—especially on Sarkan’s end, as he often belittled and downplayed Agnieszka, making it hard to buy into their connection. I also felt that the romance was rushed, and while there was emotional growth between them, it didn’t fully convince me. Sarkan’s personality, especially in the beginning, was another issue. He came off as cold, harsh, and often unlikable. Although he softens (but still harsh) by the end, his early treatment of Agnieszka was difficult to overlook. The backstory provided to explain his behavior didn’t quite make him sympathetic to me.

I also found the sex scene to be unnecessary. The slow build-up of their attraction was compelling enough, and the story didn’t need to rely on that added layer for validation. The emotional growth between the characters would have been more than enough to carry their relationship forward without it.

Another drawback for me was the pacing. While the story starts strong, there were sections that felt dragged out and flat, disrupting the otherwise engaging narrative. These slower parts made it harder to stay fully immersed, and a more streamlined approach would have kept the story tighter and more engaging throughout.

Despite these flaws, Uprooted is still a captivating fantasy that blends action, dark fairy-tale elements, and emotional depth. The world-building, particularly the lore of The Wood, is exceptional, and the focus on friendship adds a heartfelt layer to the story. While the romance and pacing didn’t fully work for me, the book’s unique atmosphere and compelling themes make it worth reading.

A beautifully crafted story and well narrated audiobook. 

Uprooted comes alive on the page, the magic seeming to come alive on my fingers where they touch the page, alive. Novik's ability to translate the ephemeral into tangible - Agnieszka's magic likened to gleaning the forest for berries, and Sarkan's to academia  - is unparalleled. I almost believed I could cast a spell myself after looking up from the pages.

So, too, do Novik's characters come alive, leaping with life. It's hard to not love Agnieszka's scrappy defiance, Sarkan's dry wit, Kasia's unwavering devotion. 

This book begins by recounting a tale of the Dragon taking a girl from the valley into his tower every ten years, but Uprooted is not so simple. The story starts with the Dragon, but then winds itself through the valley, the whole of Polnya, into the Wood; then folds back on itself, layering life and violence and beauty and corruption into an intricate web. Just when you think the story is getting good, just when you think there's going to be the climax, there's still dozens to hundreds of pages left, leaving you thinking, What could possibly happen next? And then you peel back layer after layer, finally settling down onto the mossy forest floor, looking at the sun dappling through the leaves, boughs heavy with fruit.

There's a reason this book isn't a 5.0 for me, though: the love interest. I'll spoiler tag it, but it's really not that much of a spoiler:

Agnieszka and Sarkan.

The story goes that

the Dragon kidnaps a girl from the valley and locks her up in his tower

. How am I supposed to jive with that? That's not even mentioning that fact that he is 8 times her age. When they meet, she is seventeen goddamn years old, and he is at least 150. How do I know that? It's brought up more than once.

When they finally sleep together, he even protests, saying that he's way too old.

Honestly, that makes it even worse, like he's absolved of all blame just because he mentions the one-hundred-year age gap, but goes along with it anyway. Even though I love them both as characters, and by the end I was aching to see them together, it doesn't sit right with me to read the really old guy falling in love with the mature-for-her-age child. (Besides,

Kasia

was the obvious choice for

Agnieszka

, anyway. Why are we so afraid of putting gay people in our fantasy?)

That said, this is a truly beautiful book, and I enjoyed it very much.