Reviews with content warning for War - Uprooted

This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Naomi Novik, and I have to say she is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I admire her unique writing style and ability to weave complex, yet gripping stories that keep the reader engaged and curious until the end. It’s a rare quality, and she showcased beautifully in uprooted.

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bearism's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

biggest flaw in the book was that the author made the ONLY black character have a background of being enslaved.

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samanthas_book_nook's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Uprooted is a standalone, single POV, high fantasy novel with a romance subplot loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. I love Naomi Novik’s writing style and her ability to create unique, high fantasy worlds within a single novel. I really loved Novik’s Spinning Silver- also high fantasy and standalone- so I had high expectations for Uprooted. For the first 150 pages, I was totally captivated by the Wood, the magic, and the banter between Agnieszka and the Dragon. Novik is really good at not just building fantasy worlds but answering all the questions I have and tying up all the loose ends, something I can’t say about all fantasy authors. But this all came crumbling down with the first sexual scene (kissing and graphic touching, p. 158-159).

Sexual Content

I didn’t even think to check this book for sexual content because Spinning Silver barely had any. I kept reading thinking that was the end of it until the full blown sex scene on pages 353-355. Not to mention, she’s 17 and he’s approximately 150 years old. This didn’t bother me at first because I can excuse an age gap in a fantasy world. He doesn’t age normally so I assumed it’s not weird in this world, but that assumption was shattered when he, the Dragon, says “I’m a century and more older than you-” and protests Agnieszka’s advances (p. 353). That tells me it is in fact taboo, even in Novik’s fantasy world, ew. After I finished that specific chapter, I closed the book in frustration and almost dnf.

There is a sexual assault scene on pages 43-44 that I would not consider graphic.

Romance

Personally, I don’t like sexual content (kisses only, please). It completely ruins the fairytale vibe for me, but putting that aside, it just didn’t make any sense. There was no slow burn- barely any build up. The romance between Agnieszka and the Dragon was flat and didn’t feel believable. It felt like Novik only put it in there to fit the Beauty and The Beast trope and I found myself having to insert my own imaginings of emotions and dialogue to make it believable. Again, it was so different from Spinning Silver where the romance was subtle, yet beautifully done, and made me want to cry tears of joy in the end. I expected more! So. Much. More.

Plot and World

I did enjoy the magic system in this book and I loved the clash between the Dragon’s magic and Agnieszka’s- one methodical and one driven by pure instinct. Being methodical and logical myself, I could feel the Dragon’s frustration as he tried to teach her. And I could easily imagine how the two of them working together would create something truly, well, magical.

I got bored around page 250 and didn’t get back into it until about 50 pages from the end, but I really appreciated that I wasn’t able to guess the plot.

Character Development

Character development was really lacking.

[ Spoiler: The only time I noticed any real growth in characters was when the Dragon apologized to Kasia and said he would never take another girl.]

Speaking of Kasia, her character was so flat. We only really got a glimpse of her during the Summoning, yet she had a pretty large role in the story. She just felt like a pawn, only useful for the plot, not a meaningful character at all, but maybe that’s because she became more wood than human?

I really enjoyed the Dragon as a character and wished we could have learned more about him! Agnieszka, however, was just meh. I honestly don’t really have any thoughts about her.

Final Thoughts

Putting aside my high expectations for a moment, I really did enjoy the plot and the magic in this novel. I loved learning about the mysterious Wood and its connection to the people in the valley. However, this was ruined by the flat and awkward romance and completely unnecessary, and out of place, sex scene. I was also bored in the middle and as another reviewer suggested, this would have been better if it stayed in the tower and the valley.

Overall, not a terrible book, but it left me frustrated and disappointed.

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asahome's review against another edition

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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

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ohno_joreads's review against another edition

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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

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callitz's review against another edition

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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

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sehenry20's review against another edition

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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

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stephslibraryy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Despite being a slow start in the first 100-ish pages, I ended up loving this book.

The writing and imagery within this story was so magical and enchanting, and I fell in love with the way Novik describes magic and the magical elements of the Wood.

While I do wish we got slightly more romance between the two main characters (felt a bit rushed by the end), both characters had great character development throughout the story.

I also appreciated how the blurb didn’t give any of the plot away - this provided a more surprising and compelling read, and the twists were more enjoyable.

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