I just love me a good fairy tale. And I'm happy to report Uprooted totally fits the bill.
Agnieszka adores her beloved village, though it borders the Wood with its corruption and evil. The wizard known as the Dragon protects her village, but it comes at the price of a young woman handed over every ten years to serve. Growing up, Agnieszka lived in fear of the day the Dragon will pick her best friend Kasia. But when this year's choosing arrives, it seems she feared the wrong thing all along.
Ah, that sounds exactly like the sort of story I could sink my teeth into. It's dark and atmospheric, with brave maidens, a brooding wizard, a worthy villain, and magic everywhere. The only thing it doesn't have is dragons. (Just to be clear, the Dragon refers to the wizard, not an actual dragon, sadly.) It swept me away almost from the very first page.
I will say that this book isn't evenly compelling throughout. Most of it was riveting, but there were chapters where I had trouble getting through them, mostly when Agnieszka arrives at a new location and starts bumbling around. I like my female characters to be strong and clever, and while Agnieszka does get there, she sure spends a lot of time being confused and dense at the start. But it's a pretty minor complaint since those were only small parts of the book.
I absolutely loved Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver, and so I had gone into Uprooted with high expectations. While I didn't love this one quite as much, it delivered aplenty, with a magical tale full of adventure, courage, overcoming great odds, and a little dash of romance as well.
After hitting two for two, Naomi Novik has turned into a must-read author for me. I can't wait to dive into more of her books.
Readaroo Rating: 4 stars
0 comments:
Post a Comment