Uprooted - Naomi Novik

[goodreads]

Title: Uprooted
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 437
Date read: January, 2016

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.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows - everyone knows - that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn't, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.


Unfortunately I was strangely unimpressed by this book. I'd approached it with very high expectations, and it just couldn't deliver.

I think my main issue with it was that I thought it was too long - or rather, tried too hard to put in too many details. It was nice and tightly written, but by the time they travel towards the Capitol, I was ready for it to be done. The bloodshed that followed seemed unnecessary and actually somewhat out of character for the rest of the book. And the ending managed to seem both contrived and fitting at the same time.

That said, I loved Agnieszka and her way of discovering / growing into her magic, and came to really like both the Dragon and Kasia. Had the entirety of the book been like the first half, I would likely have loved it and rated it much higher.