Book Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Will I ever get tired of books about magic? Probably not.
Unfortunately I finished reading this one just 2 days too late to be able to include it in the April wrap-up. 🙃
Uprooted by Naomi Novik is an adult fantasy novel wrapped in Polish culture with references to Slavic Folklore. It follows a 17 year old girl named Agnieszka who lives in a small village bordered by “the Wood” - a malevolent and corrupted force that torments the people of the valley. A wizard known to them only as “the Dragon” protects them from the evil of the Wood, but demands one young woman to serve him every 10 years as payment. Agnieszka and her dearest friend, Kasia, were both born on a tribute year. However, Agnieszka does not fear being chosen. Instead, she fears for Kasia, who has been groomed since childhood for this purpose. She is beautiful and graceful, and everyone knows she is the one who will be taken. But when the choosing approaches and the Dragon comes to take his next girl, it is not Kasia he chooses.
The reason I picked up this book is because I read another one of Novik’s books, Spinning Silver, a few months ago and absolutely ADORED it. (If you’re reading this review and you haven’t read that book yet, I highly recommend you go buy it right now.)
I fell in love with her writing style in Spinning Silver, and I was pleased to find that Uprooted has the same feel to it. I find her writing to be very beautiful, and also unique within the fantasy genre. She’s not the kind of author who will go into a crazy amount of detail describing the way a person looks, how they’re dressed, the contents and layout of a room, etc., almost leaving more up to the imagination rather than explicitly describing everything herself. There isn’t much world building either - readers kind of just have to accept that this is how the world is, with no explanation necessesary. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I find that it allows the author to focus more on her characters’ - and by extension, her readers’ - emotions, rather than being caught up in the minute details of the story. Suspension of disbelief is a skill, one that not everyone has, and Novik’s stories are definitely meant for audiences who are able to do so.
Uprooted is a wonderful little story about friendship, love, and forgiveness. It has a minor enemies to lovers subplot (we all know I’m a sucker for those), and of course, lots and lots of ✨magic.✨
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Up next on the TBR: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black 👑
I loved Uprooted, too! 🔮🐉