Audio Book Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

 

Uprooted by Naomi Novik, read by Julia Emelin
Fantasy/Romance
Summary: “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.”
435 pages

My Rating: A-

Naomi Novik is an author who seems to dig deep into the world of the story she creates, and shows it to us without overloading us at all. It leads to a dense story where you immediately understand the world, and what might happen in it without question. Uprooted is such a distinct world that the story just comes out in small slices until suddenly the action happens, and nothing comes out of left field so much as ties pieces together that you weren't connecting until she did. And that's a poor explanation of this story. But it's a gorgeous world, and I'm so very glad I listened to it, because I have a feeling I'd have gotten caught on certain passages otherwise.

I really wish there was more to this world. Yes, she finished the story about the Wood, but I'm fascinated by Agnieszka's magic as compared to the usual mages of this world. Obviously, she is not the only one, but it does seem to be the less-known magic. I'd love to see a story about a magical school just for her type of magic, and more digging into how it works, and into her heroine's story. Heck, I would love to learn about that witch and what she got up to. Or to find out she wasn't dead after all, and the conversation between them. She was as fascinating as Agnieszka, really.

I highly recommend this to people who love rich, dense fantasy worlds, but I think if you're not a strong fantasy fan, this one might not be for you. Looking at the reviews on Goodreads, that seems to be the divide. This is for people who want a fantasy novel based on old tales, and not for a fan of modern romance fantasy, because it will only disappoint you in that regard. Yes, there is a touch of romance, but it is not the story she is telling, and it was never meant to be.

To see my rating system, go here.

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