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helliepad's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It has everything I wanted to read for the past few months– fairytale elements, evil cop-killing crop-poisoning forest, real dirty grungy heroines, homoerotic bestfriendship between two women that isn't fraught due to another guy, mothers both young and old, wizards in towers, wizards who fuck, wizards who don't fuck but do fuck around, wizards who found out, princes who are stupidly arrogant and dead , princes who are noble and dead , multiple nuanced queens, magic rivers that end nowhere, baba yaga's footnotes, rotten fruit you can't help but eat, extra large praying mantises , the first forays into video calling technology, the indescribable power of people never leaving their homes despite danger and the threat to life, and rehabilitation after great environmental disasters.
10/10 would recommend and read other of Naomi Novik's works honestly
10/10 would recommend and read other of Naomi Novik's works honestly
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
Minor: Abandonment
lydiazwag's review against another edition
Main plot was dull and unengaging. Romance was also dull as well as really toxic and gross. 17 year old mentee who has basically been kidnapped by hundreds of years old emotionally abusive, cold wizard mentor who basically kidnapped her. And you're telling me they're falling in love?? No, ew! Also, he's boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
sonderwolfreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book does a good job of subverting classic Western fairytale tropes, while bringing older and lesser-known fairytale elements to a new audience. It has a good balance of plot elements, and doesn't let its sub-plots shove their way into the spotlight when the main plot is what needs to move forward. Its protagonists are smart but can't see the big picture until near the end, and its antagonists see the whole chess board but lose their grip on the little things that keep a game going. It's a compelling opposition, and it makes the reader consider the value of both large and small scale aspects of life and mortality. Some characters and plot elements that felt unresolved even when the text explicitly specified what happened to them, but otherwise this is a very good book well worth reading.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
There is very little sexual content, most of it is fade to black and the sexual harassmentsofipitch's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.75
This was a really charming fairytale-like story. I felt the way the prose swept you along was really fantastic, lots of pretty metaphors. I found the plot mostly enjoyable, the ending with the wood queen was probably the weakest element to me, just the kind of overdone ending I've seen before. Also a lot of the other important magic scenes where very character driven so I was disappointed that one wasn't. I really enjoyed Agnieszka's relationship with Kasia and Sarkan. Kudos to the audiobook for having the narrator be actually eastern European with a true accent, I've listened to some bad accents in books but here it felt it added to the immersion
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Violence
astrangewind's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.75
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.
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:
That said, this is a truly beautiful book, and I enjoyed it very much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Vomit, and Classism
erikagibson126's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
savvy999's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
A thrilling fantasy with a romance tangled within it. Fast paced, politically savvy and well crafted, it’s a great read. Some moments of plot awkwardness but everything came together in the end. hated marek and his whole perverted oneupsmanship sorry he deserved the simple terror of what happened to him
Really excellent implementation of the magic system!
Really excellent implementation of the magic system!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bsquiggle's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment
hebifry's review against another edition
This was atrocious. I read a review on here that said this book is like a warm sweater. If your sweater is filled with misogyny, SA, and tons and tons of grossly described stains then, yes it's a sweater. But not one I ever want to try wearing again. I actually felt ill reading this book. Loved the premise and the writing was good but the actual plot and characters made me sick. There is so much abuse in this book it's intolerable. The worst for me was the SA then the immediate victim blaming from our supposed love interest. No way. DNFed in the third chapter.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
sydapel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
If you love an enchanting, yet sinister fantasy atmosphere, this book is for you. Especially if you want a story based in folklore and aren't adverse to a bit (a lot) of on page violent murder. Really adored the way the main character tirelessly fights tooth and nail not only for herself, but for what's right, even when those in power around her are concerned with something else entirely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury