Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Author: Naomi Novik
Published: 2015
Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis From Goodreads:

“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.

My Take:

Uprooted is a gripping tale that you will find hard to put down. You will wonder how Agnieszka will get out of the messes she finds herself in and wring your hands at the many twists and turns Novik takes you on. It is fast-paced with no opportunity for rest as the pages fly by. I understand why this novel won awards but it isn’t for the faint of heart. There are many graphic and gory battle scenes throughout as well as several detailed sex scenes. Often the sex scenes come out of nowhere. While it is easy to skip them without missing anything at all that improves or furthers the story, it is definitely NOT for YA audiences. The author seems to use commas creatively, often in confusing ways, and her cadence/sentence structure seems off in places. The story is basically an Eastern European fairy tale so some of the unusual language choices are understandable but it pulled me out of the story at times as my internal editor kicked in! At times the Dragon seemed to read Agnieszka’s mind but there was never any mention of this ability or her thinking this was strange. Also, there is no sequel planned. The story has somewhat of a conclusion but seems to call for a continuation. I’d like to know what happens!