Week 41 Review: Uprooted

From Goodreads:
Naomi Novik, author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale.

"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 first review of Uprooted

My second review of Uprooted

My Review:
Yeah, I just loved reading this book! I love this world, and I love these characters and their story so much! I loved watching Agnieszka learn about magic, and how she affects the world around her, it's just such a great story!

And another great part of the story, is how her magic frustrates the Dragon, because it's messy and the opposite of precise, it's different each time. But he is a good teacher, and once they know what it's like, he does adjust his teaching methods.

I think I mentioned this in a previous review, but this book does have parts, and I loved how the knowledge, and the tension, and the stakes, grew and grew with each one. It gave us time to get to know thew world, and it was just really well written!

That whole thing with the tree people, and why the Queen was doing what she did, it was really heartbreaking, and to know that this is happened to the current people because of the past, when the current people haven't done anything, just kinda sucks, But it does work out in the end, which is really great! 

I love this book, I would love for this to be a series, to spend more time in this world, with these characters, but it is great as a stand alone! 

Author: Naomi Novik
First Read: February 24th, 2018
Second Read: March 18th, 2018

Read: October 9th, 2021
Source: Own
Reason Why: Rereading, and it's a SAC 2021 Book!
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: May 19th 2015

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars