Del Rey Uprooted

I wish I had discovered this author earlier, writes so well

I was eagerly waiting to start this based on some rave reviews and mentions of some prestigious awards that the book has won. I just recently finished reading The Mirror Visitor and was blown away by that gem, so after one unique fantasy I was dreaming to get into some more magic and romance and adventure and thought that this one would be a perfect book to dive into after the previous one.Unfortunately, I was very disappointed.The premise itself ( village at the edge of the woods, magical powers, a dark wizard etc.) is all well and good, and I like that sort of fantasy environment.Now the writing itself though, I was doing a 'facepalm' after 'facepalm', and yes, yet again, another 'facepalm'. Nothing flows, first-person prose made me cringe so many times.First-person perspective is hard to get right in the first place and the last book which I found to have believable and comprehensive First-Person view was The Hunger Games book trilogy. However in this one, I honestly thought that I was reading a teenager's attempt at writing fan fiction, instead of a professionally published and edited literary piece composed by a fully grown professional writer.Sentence structure was choppy and in some places I had to concentrate just to try to understand how the writer was imagining a certain scene since the sentences were not well written, or at least not written in a way that portrays a scene logically. Therefore, it would have been wiser for the writer to opt for third-person perspective.Character wise, I was disappointed to discover that the main character did indeed embody a cliched female protagonist of a YA novel. I was honestly expecting more.The 'I'm a 17 year old special girl with magical powers' thing has been overdone to oblivion and frankly I should have known better, but again, was feeling hopeful and optimistic about this one based on all the Awards and marketing.So maybe, the main protagonist would have appeared more real if she was in her mid 20's instead? In her interests, and the depth of her personality she wasn't developed enough for my liking.Though I found that I liked the male protagonist, The Dragon and found him interesting enough.Supporting characters could have been further developed as well.The romance angle - I have seen this type of romantic story play out ten times better in half a dozen other books with better character development and world building. A mediocre effort in my opinion. A dark romance is refreshing and intriguing, only if done right and well written.So in conclusion, it felt more to me like the marketing department did a far better job at selling the book then the writer at actually composing it. The cover is beautiful so it'll still look nice on my shelf.No offense to the writer at all, but I have really read much better fantasy/romance/magic stories.

It's nice to read a fantasy story where the stakes feel a little smaller scale than the fate of the universe! A stand a lone fantasy novel with a small main cast. Not one of those typically fantasy bibles with 1000 pages where you have to memorise who lineages of names. Felt very enjoyable to read as I wasn't looking into things too deeply, just taking things for their ace value. Have seen a few reviewers try to criticise this one based off of modern day standards in real life. I think it's hard to apply such things to fantasy novels, especially when they are clearly based off of old folklore and fairy tales.Lot's of elements taken from folklore and fairy tales, and I love stories with magical forests! This one in particular has a great spooky feel.An enjoyably read over all.

There's something about a beautiful front cover that makes me wary of the book inside. I can't help but worry that it is somehow making up for a lack of beauty within. Not so for Uprooted: this stunning cover only adds to this highly original, gripping fantasy tale.Uprooted wastes no time getting to the point. Everyone in Agnieszka's village knows about the Wood and the dangers it presents, and they have long since accepted that the cold, aloof wizard known as the Dragon will take one of their girls every 10 years in payment for keeping it at bay. Agnieszka and everyone else in her village is certain that, when the Choosing comes again, the Dragon will take her best friend Kasia. Agnieszka is a quiet, insignificant girl and no one ever considered that the Dragon would take her instead - until he does.Life with the Dragon is not easy for clumsy Agnieszka, who seems to displease him no matter what she does. But things go from bad to worse when she accidentally discovers that she has some kind of talent for magic - much to the Dragon's displeasure. Yet this does not become a story of a quiet girl suddenly becoming a confident, feisty heroine as is often the case with Y.A. Uprooted successfully manages to avoid the clichés, steering clear of most (but not all) of the things you'll be expecting to happen.The Dragon, we soon come to realise, is rude, cold and irrational, and it's clear he's forgotten how to relate to people: “He wasn’t a person, he was a lord and a wizard, a strange creature on another plane entirely, as far removed as storms and pestilence.” Yet despite all this, he's an entertaining character. While to begin with he's something of a bully ("He roared at me furiously for ten minutes after he finally managed to put out the sulky and determined fire, calling me a witless mutton-headed spawn of pig farmers-"), he does have an interesting character arc, all the more so because while he mellows, he doesn't completely change. He's also full of helpful advice: “If you don't want a man dead, don't bludgeon him over the head repeatedly.” Harsh and to the point, the Dragon is not your traditional male protagonist.Yet Agnieszka's time in the tower is not to be dull, for the Wood of course continues its quest to invade the whole land, causing constant problems for Agnieszka's friends and family. Among those most affected is Agnieszka's best friend Kasia. Raised to believe that she would would be taken by the Dragon because she is so beautiful and graceful, the profound implications this must have had on her life are dealt with well. While there's no resentment from Agnieszka that Kasia is everything she's not, it is clear that Kasia herself resented the fact that her childhood was different from her friends, her family certain as they were that they would lose her to the Dragon. The fact that Kasia is allowed to become such a complex character shows the depth of the Novik's writing, for Kasia could so easily have been written off as a secondary character whose problems were as nothing compared to Agnieszka's. It's also a display of Agnieszka's love for her best friend that she feels and acknowledges Kasia's pain, despite everything that is going on with the Wood and the Dragon, making her a genuine and likeable protagonist. Their friendship adds to the beauty of this book, as so rarely does a YA heroine get a best friend who is so involved in the plot, and whose friendship grows with the story.There are other intriguing characters too, like the womanising, selfishly driven Prince Marek whose ambitions are ultimately the downfall of his kingdom; and Solya, the wizard known as the Falcon who, much like Marek, can't see past his own selfish goals far enough to see the potential consequences. Yet there is no single character throughout the book who is painted as entirely hero or entirely villain: heroes make mistakes, while secondary villains make occasional good decisions. Much like in real life, these are well rounded characters who sometimes make bad choices - some more than others.Yet if this is a character driven story (and it is, for these lifelike characters move the plot along brilliantly), it's fascinating that the villain of the story isn't a character at all - at least, not in the strictest sense. The Wood is an intriguing idea, and it's not hard to imagine it being the subject of a horror film, luring people in and corrupting them as it does. But by having a villain that is not essentially a character, the story manages to avoid another cliché by having no need for the "How do we defeat the villain?" storyline. By being something other than a person, the Wood becomes all the more terrifying: this is not a fallible human with an Achilles heel; the danger here is not a person but a power. Instead it becomes an endless battle against something that doesn't seem to have any weakness.As might be expected, there is romance here - this is Y.A. after all! But it's by no means the driving force of the book and it doesn't push the plot forward in any way. Instead it serves as an interesting means of character development, something of additional interest rather than an essential plot point. Neither is it of the dreamy romance variety; this is not a book for a new fictional love interest.However, for all its clever ideas and fast-paced first half, the second half of the book feels less intriguing. Here the setting and the sub-plot change so drastically it could have easily been a sequel. New characters are introduced, none of them nearly as interesting or memorable as those met in the first half, and the book would have coped quite well without the presence of many of them. For example, there is a subplot where Agnieska, now in the capital city, befriends a girl there who shows her around the city. Yet the girl turns out to be cruel, one of many people in the city unnerved by Agnieszka's presence and her claim to be a wizard. This, however, has no real bearing on the story except to further prove what we already knew - that Agnieszka does not fit in here, she is not welcome, and she will find no help here with the Wood. Other characters like this are introduced, only to disappear shortly after, leaving the question - what was the point of introducing them in the first place? However, the story does pick up again towards the end, making that middle chunk just a small black mark in an otherwise excellent book.VerdictThis is an imaginative, character-driven fantasy fairy-tale that deserves to be picked up by anyone who enjoys high fantasy. It avoids the usual stereotypes of Y.A., allowing it to be enjoyed by all ages, and making it far less predictable.Rating: 4 of 5 stars

“There was a song in this forest, too, but it was a savage song, whispering of madness and tearing and rage.”I have a lot of mixed feelings about this books so I’m going to split this review into the things I liked and the things I did not like.ProsThe Wood. I loved how terrifying and wild the wood is and the fact that it has a conscious presence really adds to the creep factor. The descriptions of it were so detailed and intricate and the wood is now one of my favourite villains.Agnieszka and Kasia’s friendship. I love strong female friendships and this one was great. I loved how much they cared for each other and the lengths they would go to protect each other.Ending. The ending definitely brought my overall rating up as I was completely engrossed in learning the story behind the woodConsThe Dragon. I felt he was just so rude I just could not warm up to him at all. I hated the way he treated Agnieszka the whole way through the book.The Romance. The romance in this book just completely bored me. I did not see the point in it at all as it added nothing to the story. In my mind there was no chemistry between the Dragon and Agnieszka and I’m really glad that it’s not a focal point of the story.Political intrigue. As a massive fan of the A Song of Ice and Fire series I usually enjoy political intrigue in books but for some reason I hated it in this. While I understand that this was an important part of the story I was not in anyway interested in it.Overall I enjoyed parts of this and disliked others which is why I gave it 3 stars.

This is such an amazing book - and I am frankly puzzled by the handful of sharply negative reviews I have seen.It is uncommon for me to look fondly to first-person novels, but I've found myself once more fully enjoying a book after a very long time. I finished it in one sitting because I couldn't bear putting it down for the night.I loved the narrative timing, the style, the idea behind the novel. I loved the ending and how this novel is a well-written mixture between fantastic and fantasy.Truly, a lovely surprise. I've bought another book from the same author - at least as enjoyable as the first one, I've already finished it - and then two more from her main series.