Uprooted gets a standing ovation and 4.5 stars! Bra-vo!
Written in a style reminiscent of old-school Robin McKinley and Diana Wynne Jones, Uprooted is a standout fantasy and fairytale retelling. Agnieszka (Ahn-YESH-ka) has always been prepared for the day when she and the other girls in her village will be inspected, and one taken away, by the ageless wizard and lord known as "the Dragon." However, she and everyone else in the village always expected Kasia, the most exceptional girl amongst them, to be selected as a tribute. When the Dragon selects Agnieszka instead, she must submit to ten years of servitude and confinement.
It sounds like a straightforward Beauty and the Beast interpretation, no? However, after the initial hook, the story diverges drastically from your run-of-the-mill romance. What drives the story forward is the threat of an insidious and elusive dark magic. Manifesting itself as a thick, impenetrable forest, the sentient evil is slowly and inexorably spreading across the kingdom. Agnieszka is swept up in the resistance against this evil, her unique talents forcing the Dragon and herself into an uneasy alliance.
The whole self-aware, malevolent forest thing is quite similar to Rosamund Hodge's evil woods in Crimson Bound, a high-profile novel released just months before Uprooted, but in my opinion, Novik wins the comparison hands down. Although I read Crimson Bound first, I didn't understand what Hodge was trying to accomplish until I took up Novik's novel. The forest was deliciously creepy and an inventive villain.
As for the characters, I found Agnieszka to be a fantastic heroine, resourceful and intuitive. She was well written, being both a distinct person and consistent in her behaviors, while also growing throughout the story. The cantankerous and wounded Dragon was equally compelling. These two characters and their combative relationship steered the novel, but the assisting and peripheral characters were an accomplishment as well. However, I must complain, as others have, that the Dragon was not given nearly enough page time to satisfy me. There had better be a sequel.
Overall, Uprooted was a fantastic read and is a novel to get excited over. If you enjoy fairytale retellings, or YA fantasy, this book is not to be missed.
Okay. Okay. I'm convinced. Much have been said about this book's awesomeness. I will, for the time being, set aside my distaste for fantasy and try this one on for size.
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm reading a highly recommended steampunk right now, and I loathe steampunk, so I get a little bit of what you're feeling. Sometimes great writing is wedged in with a dismaying genre.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I read this last year after I was told that The Dragon was a lot like The Darkling from the Grisha Trilogy. And, since I loved The Darkling, I went into this with preconceived notions about how epic the male MC would be and was disappointed when he was, more or less, kind of an ass. >.>
ReplyDeleteI agree, though, the premise of the malevolent forest was unique and Anges (that's what I ended up calling her in my head, cause I'd always trip up over her name, even reading silently, lol) was an awesome, yet flawed, heroine. Glad to see you liked it!
Brittany @ http://www.spacebetweenthespines.com/