Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Uprooted

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

61 reviews

kitterring's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I found the plot to move in leaps and starts, not unmanageable but noticeable. There were times I felt important parts of conversations weren’t had, and I would’ve loved some breathing room to understand the depth of the relationships better, especially the one between Agniezka and the dragon. With Kasia it was established they had years before the book to be childhood friends, but I would have liked to see the development more.

I thought that the ending and the allegory was sweet and hopeful. Considering how dark things got to lead to that point, it felt like a gentle ending that was earned. It made sense and I was satisfied knowing how things got to where they did. I liked how many of the relationships were hard to interpret. There were a lot of conflicting interests and I enjoyed not knowing. The shallow nature of the court proceedings opposed to the people just trying to get by. Overall enjoyed this a lot.

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fraise's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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orchidlilly's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Overall, subpar. The magic and world building are far more interesting than any of the characters could ever dream of being, which is a shame because we don't get to see much of it. The premise was interesting, the plot was an actual plot, but it could have been fleshed out so much better if it only had a bit more time. The ending was a semi-refreshing subversion of the expected romance ending, but it felt a bit rushed. The romance part itself was, in my opinion, wholly unnecessary and a bit unpleasant. The main romantic interest is an immortal while our mc is... 17-ish. Not to mention the attempted rape scene.

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rae_diant's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Overall very fun. Don't expect well rounded characters or character development. Classic fairytale vibe. Was very frustrated with our main character it often felt like she was a Mary Sue but for the most part it worked. The plot was very strong and the ending was super inviting. Highly recommend as a fun read. I really think I'll enjoy it even more on a second read now that I know what to expect.

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sof_led's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? N/A

4.75

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epsyphus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I intentionally read this book after her other book Spinning Silver because I thought I would like this one a bit more, but I actually think I like Spinning Silver more. I still loved this book though-- the imagery was great, the characters were interesting, and it had a very fairytale-like feel which I adore.

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rokinjaguar's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Hmm, okay. VERY good book. It's incredibly descriptive and vivid. I could see it all in my mind. I kept reacting externally to things that would happen, shuddering at horrifying moments, jumping when the Dragon would pop up out of nowhere, feeling real dread and fear, heart glowing at sweet moments, saying "get rekt" under my breath when Agnieszka roasts someone, etc. I really burned through this book.
There are a lot of amazing female characters, like Kasia and a powerful and wise witch later in the story. I also really love Agnieszka, she was a lot of fun to read about. Loved how intuitive, emotional, and in tune with nature she was. Like seriously, she really spoke to my heart. I'm sure she won't connect with everyone like she did me, but the starved emotional/creative part of my soul adored her. The male characters were good, too, I really enjoyed the Dragon, but the female characters are where the writing really shines imo. Side note,

Malek and the Falcon can choke and die, and I mean that in a my-compliments-to-the-author way

.
I think the book would have been better if the author had taken out the

attempted-rape scene with the shitty prince and the sex scene

The kissing scene

could stay or go, it adds and subtracts to the story pretty equally. But I feel like the

attempted-rape scene

wasn’t handled quite sensitively enough. Didn’t bother me, but it was borderline, and I have a little thread of upsetness in me that

the Dragon never really comforted or reassured her or was angry for her over that – it's an incredibly traumatizing thing to experience

. The Dragon's character arc was coherent and satisfying, I really liked it, but it was a bit unsatisfying that

he and Agnieszka never really talked about their feelings

. I get what the author was going for, but it just annoyed me that

so many things were left unsaid, like constantly

. But I did really like the part where

Agnieszka recognized he was scared to put down roots and was running away, now that he’d 1) lost his cold stone tower, 2) drank Spindle-water, and 3) held her hand. And I’m glad he came back, that was nice

. That was the part where everything really paid off, to me.
I really loved the Dragon and Agnieszka’s partner dynamic

(separate from their romantic dynamic)

. They’re so different, they’re exactly what the other lacks, and Agnieszka learns to understand and accept him, and the Dragon learns to respect her as an equal and accept her way of looking at things as valid. Their growing relationship and mutual respect was really great, but

the romance just fell flat. It was too little and too much at the same time. It was little enough that it felt irrelevant, but too much that the moments where the romantic element came together felt unearned, emotionless, and poorly-done.

I feel a bit mixed about the ending. It felt a little abstract to me, and the whole book is abstract, and like I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but I feel like my brain didn’t quite wrap around it well enough to feel fully satisfied. Maybe with another read in the future hindsight will help me know which parts are important to pay attention to, to understand the ending.

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flyintothestorm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I love Agnieszka. I love Sarkan. I hate the way their relationship is handled.

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fatherprozac's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I kept rooting for this book and it kind of kept letting me down, sadly. I fell in love with the magic system, the visualizations of spell casting, the descriptions of reading the Summoning, and the dark horror of the Wood. Unfortunately, Sarkan's never ending verbal abuse toward Nieshka, her being 17 to his 150, the weird sympathetic framing of a rapist, and the inclusion of only one explicitly black character just to have her be the daughter of a slave really soured me on the whole thing.

I'll just rant here. The fact that Sarkan chooses specifically girls (never explained why boys aren't chosen if everyone with the gift must be trained) and expects them to cook all his meals for him for ten years was already irredeemable in my eyes. His constant berating of Nieshka literally left her EXPECTING abuse multiple times throughout the book which left me feeling sick at its romanticization. Truly, Sarkan's only traits were that he liked cleanliness and that he was mean. Their hideous age gap (of literally a child and a very old man) being framed as his excuse to momentarily hesitate from sex with her? yikes. Why did she need to be 17? I would have much preferred reading about an adult woman and her ages old immortal boyfriend. Lastly, the rape scene was handled unbelievably poorly and just made Sarkan even more monstrous to me.

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thedevouringbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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