Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Uprooted

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

63 reviews

fatherprozac's review against another edition

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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snowkestrel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Interesting worldbuilding, I like the writing style.
Intriquing magic system rooted in real historical myths and superstition.
If only it wasn't YA.

The main character is an average Young Adult protagonist, in pretty much every way. Clumsy yet likeable, doesn't succeed in things by going the normal way so goes her own way, which just so happens to also be much better...

Protagonist has stockholm syndrome. That doesn't make for a nice romantic plot. Not that I like to read romance at all in the first place (why do books not have warnings on the cover?).

The wood was a really interesting concept, a looming threat which I found really immersive. The conclusion to its story, however, was a bit.. meek? It felt a bit hurried, and like there ought to have been more depth to it than there was (or did I just not see it?). It felt almost like a different book tacked on at the end to offer some sort of conclusion. A conclusion not hinted at in any way for the rest of the book.

Disappointed the dragon wasn't a real dragon. I mean, that was pretty much the reason I picked up the book in the first place. False marketing.

Definitively would have benefited from being a trilogy or something rather than a single book.

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shieldbearer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.0

A very strong read, although I preferred Spinning Silver. My primary complaint is the romance between Sarkan and Agneskia - I simply could not see the romantic chemistr. It felt forced to me, and I think the narrative would have been better served without it.

I also can't say I liked the reveal about the origin of the Wood Queen and the reason the wood is attacking. I think the Staryk were handled with more nuance in Spinning Silver.

However, I would still strongly recommend this novel.

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naomi_k'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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writer_a_fox's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

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suneaters'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
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved this story! Super interesting world, super interesting main character. I love Agnieszka's relationship with her friend Kasia and the wizard.

I was disappointed that Agnieszka and the Dragon (A.K.A. Sarkan) ended up together. He's an abusive prick and by having sex with Agnieszka, I guess we can add pedophile to the list of his character flaws alongside rape apologist, perpetrator of verbal abuse, and physically abusive. I saw this awful romance coming, but I was hoping I was wrong and that there wouldn't be any romance or if there was, it would be between Agnieszka and Kasia. I hope Novik feels bad about writing a 17 year old girl with a 100+ year old man who kidnapped and abused her. The writing and worldbuilding is fantastic, so I couldn't drop the rating too far especially since I was able to just ignore this relationship. Truly felt sad for many of the characters, but was so, so relived when Kasia lived. I felt for the prince, desperate to have his mom back and unable to see the reality that she was gone. Then Kasia raising the royal children...sad, but a hopeful ending.

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falchionm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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themoonlightarchive's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

In Uprooted by Naomi Novik, a dark fairy tale with Polish roots, the most powerful wizard in the nation chooses one girl to serve him every ten years. In return, the Dragon protects the villages from the rotting corruption of the Wood that spreads its roots further and further every year. Agnieszka has always known that her best friend, Kasia, would be chosen, just as everyone else in their village has always known it. But when the Dragon comes, it isn’t Kasia that he takes away to his tower.

What I loved:

• The magic system in this book has to be one of my favourites that I’ve read.

• The main character, Agnieszka, was full of determination, never hesitated to help those in need, and held an emotional connection to her magic that I truly loved. She was stubborn as hell and I adored that about her. Every scene where she used magic held me captivated in a way I haven’t experienced in quite a while.

• The side characters were well-rounded and fleshed out. The love interest was mysterious, brooding, sulky and powerful. Exactly what I’m most weak for. I also adored Kasia, the main character’s best friend. She was just as determined as Agnieszka, as well as strong and caring and funny and beautiful.

• The writing, while a bit wordy at times, was full of beautiful imagery that drew you into the world the author created and put down roots. The vibe of the entire novel was immaculate, to be honest. It was dark and tense and perfect.

What I wish were different:

• I wish the book had been a bit longer because the pacing of the third act of the book felt rushed. There was definitely a lot of information crammed in there towards the end and it made it a little difficult to keep up at times.

• There were many characters that I wanted more closure with, including Agnieszka, Kasia and the Dragon. I don’t normally enjoy side stories but for this book, I would have gobbled those stories right up if they existed. I want to know how the prince turns out with Kasia’s influence. I want to know how Kasia’s life turns out. I want to see Agnieszka and the Dragon a few years down the road.

• My biggest complaint was the lack of maps. I didn’t understand the location of most places and didn’t understand the layout of the Tower. It would have helped with visualizing quite a bit.

Despite my complaints about this book, I truly adored and thoroughly enjoyed it. With a lush magic system, well-written characters and breathtaking imagery, Uprooted is most definitely getting added to my favourites list.

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andromeda_1998's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Uprooted is one of those books that I have loved for years. It’s one of my favorite books off all time and it has been a couple of years since I last read it. I wanted to refresh my memory and see if I still loved the book that has meant so much for me over the years. Now is the question, did I still love it and why is this book one of my comfort reads?

Characters
Uprooted focuses on Agnieszka, a girl from a far of village, who grew up near an ancient dangerous wood. She is clumsy , brave and wild without it being a cliché. I love her very much as a main character even though she can be naive and well, a bit on the slow side of things. She’s sweet and we see her grow from an naive, stupid clumsy girl to a strong, accepting clumsy woman.

Sarkan or “The dragon” is the second main character and he is, in many ways, the opposite of Agnieszka. He is proud, stark and well, he can be a bit of an ass but he has a sweet side to him. Yes, he is a bit of an cliché character but he is one of those characters that you will love anyway.

The story
The story is full of tropes that I love and I have to admit I’m a sucker for magical cursed forests. So a book has to be written very badly for me not to like it if it has a magical forest but the reason why I like that trope so much is uprooted. This book was the first one with the trope I read and since then all the books with the trope give me nostalgic feelings about this book.
It also has an enemy to lovers trope and well I love it.

Writing
Naomi Novik is one of my favorite writers for a reason. She writes in a very magical and beautiful way. If I see that she has written something new, I will buy it.

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