The Life & Times of a Book Addict: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Publication: May 19, 2015

Publisher: Del Rey / Random House

Source: Purchased/Own

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

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.

Agnieszka is brave and smarter than she gives herself credit for. She doesn’t feel like she is special, that she is somebody. But once she is taken by the Dragon and she discovers that she can do magic, her whole world is forever changed and turned upside-down. She is quick thinking, but at times very impulsive. She is ruled by her emotions. And in turn her magic seems to be that way as well. She senses the right things to say and use when doing her magic.

The Dragon is very straightforward, arrogant and methodical in his workings. He prefers to have things organized. To a system and order for everything. The Dragon can be very straightforward, which makes him appear harsh and sometimes overly cruel. But he apparently doesn’t find any fault in that as long as he believes himself to be honest.

Even though they struggle at first and the Dragon is hard on her...him and Agnieszka end up working very well together. I think they both learned from each other. She learned how to start spells and to perfect them and he learned that sometimes you can’t find the answers in a book...you have to feel the magic and let it flow through you.

“Magic was singing in me, through me; I felt the murmur of his power singing back that same song.”

I pretty much adored this book. I was looking for something to read in the same vein as ACOTAR. A Goodreads friend recommended Uprooted to me and I am so glad she did. At first I wasn’t sure, but once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. The only thing I was disappointed in was the romance factor. Normally I can take it or leave it when it comes to romance in a story...depending on the story. I was expecting the romance to be more prominent than it was. However It was very miniscule. It didn’t ruin the story for me in any way. I just would’ve preferred more romance. Aside from that, I have to say that Naomi Novik has such a way with words. Her writing is so vivid...so detailed. It was like I could see entire scenes unfolding before me as I read. If she wrote another book, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

RATING: 4½ out of 5.

BUY THE BOOK: