Book Review: Uprooted
Uprooted
by Naomi Novak
Blurb: “Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”
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.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
Cover Review: Like Spinning Silver, Naomi Novak's other book I've read, this cover has a beautiful woodblock print look. It's really pretty and timeless and gives it a more mature look.
Plot: The plot was rather complex on many levels, and since I started it in July and finished it in November (since I had to return it to the library in the middle), I don't remember a lot of it. The first half is about the main character learning magic and such, and the second half with defeating an evil forest. It was a lot darker than Spinning Silver, and more confusing.
Characters: When I cannot pronounce or spell the main character's name, it's a problem. Honestly, she was a bit of a flat character. She's, of course, a special girl with special magic who saves everyone.
As for the Dragon, he isn't actually a dragon, which is sad. I wanted a real dragon. He was an ancient being who, would you believe it, falls in love with the girl several thousand years younger than him. He was always belittling the MC as well and didn't treat her well at all. There were also a lot of other characters with Russian names that were hard to keep track of.
World: The world I believe is the same as in Spinning Silver, but a different area. It was pretty cool, with a creepy haunted forest and giant palace. I also liked that the world had history and covered a large area.
Other: I had hoped that this would also be a fairytale retelling, and in a way, it was. It was based around the tales of Baba Yaga, which I think is cool, because you don't see a lot of her in fiction. There was no chick-legged houses, but there was plenty of other bizarre stuff.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars (which is a little disappointing)
Have you read this book? Is there a book you hoped you would like better but didn't?
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