But these parts feel a little rushed or summarized, and definitely a little unsatisfying, as the story hurls toward its end. Its detailed and clearly-conceived depiction of magic plies vividly at the imagination.īy the end the second half of book, the scope of the novel has expanded considerably, into the internal politcs of the kingdom and the backstory the tower and so forth. Page by page, Novik’s high fantasy world starts to come alive.
It’s not until the book starts to flesh out its fantasy world - the dangerous encroaching Woods that afflicts people with a dark, shadowy “corruption”, the ongoing war with a neighboring country that borders the same Woods, the relationship between the villages and their elusive guardian - that it starts to get interesting. When Agnizeska ends up clumsily entangled in the arms of her powerful, handsome (but much older), brooding new mentor within the first 30 pages, it’s pretty obvious where that part of the plot is heading (and it starts to feel very YA-ish). It also suffers from some standard YA pitfalls - overly-hormonal characters, too-tidy resolutions, and very clear divisions of good vs evil with little room for moral ambiguity in-between. Book ReviewĪccording to the author, Uprooted was not written as a YA novel, but it was marketed as such - understandable, considering its young protagnoist, fast moving plots, promient romantic storyline, colorful but somewhat simplistic characters. She starts off doing mundane household chores at the tower, but soon discovers her own gift for magic.
Both needed and feared, the Dragon fends off the creatures from the corrupted Woods nearby and offers other magical assistance to the villages around him as needed, but also demands a young lady as tribute every ten years.Īgnizeska is born into one of these tribute years, and, as one expects in these types of books, is chosen to be whisked off to the Dragon’s white tower and cut off from her family for the next decade. Plot SummaryĪgnizeska is a girl growing up in a small village that exists under the protection of a wizard, known as the Dragon. But I was in the mood for something different and easy, so I picked it up at the airport before a flight. I’d heard about the many, many fans of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted a while back, but hadn’t planned on getting it since it belongs firmly in the fantasy genre - not really the typical literary fiction stuff I usually go for. By Jennifer Marie Lin on Jan 21st, 2018 (Last Updated Sep 20th, 2018)
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