Uprooted

I loved the bits of Polish I recognized in the story, from names to expressions.

Where can I even begin with the magic and immersion of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted?

Saying an unlikely heroine with an affinity for the forest meets an aloof, powerful wizard thus starting her quest to uncover the potential of her own magic barely scratches the surface of the enchanting world Novik creates. The allure and power of the dark forest that runs tangled roots beneath the story’s unspooling narrative is an unmissable experience.

And Novik’s uniquely beautiful language is perfectly matched by the magic of the fairy tale world itself and the weaving of the spells therein! 

I loved the protagonist, Agniezka, and all the Slavic-sounding spells in this magical world.

What I found most compelling was how Niezka would encounter characters with varying different ideologies, and even though she was a country girl from a small, outskirts village, she never questioned her own firm beliefs. 

Yet she always met more dogmatic characters halfway, showing a compassionate desire to understand where they were coming from, even when she didn’t agree with them. And her love story with “The Dragon” was thrilling! Naomi Novik’s rich fantasy world felt layered enough to be a whole series.

The twists and… show more.

Uprooted has it all: the cultural Easter eggs, the adventure and fantasy, and of course, the touch of enemies-to-lovers romance that, to me, completes any story set in its own world. The main character was a gem, as was her counterpart, the Dragon. Both of them were spunky in their own way, grating against each other as they held their ground in a relationship neither of them expected to develop the way it did. 

I also tend to learn quite a bit from my fantasy books as much as my academic books when it comes to my own magic, and… show more.

This one hits a lot of buttons for me—folkloric fantasy, putting magic in the hands of ordinary folk, the not-special/disregarded girl who discovers her own kind of magic, the crotchety old teacher who has to meet Agnieska where she is, rather than forcing her to fit his mould. Add to that the otherworldly, non-human threat of the Woods and the deeply creepy terrors that emerge from it, and I’m a happy camper. This story departs from the rigid rules of a hard magic system for something more flexible and mystical, a better match for its fairytale roots than the hard-magic… show more.

This book (!)...is one where the language and imagery are so surprising and unusual, that alone draws the reader in like a light-dazzled moth. It is a fantasy novel based on a Polish fairy tale. A mysterious wizard claims an innocent village girl every ten years in trade for his protection against the evil Wood. It’s a beautifully crafted story with compelling characters and a satisfying end. It is well worth every minute!

Speaking of dark. Normally I like it better when the forest is an ally. Or at least neutral. Menacing forests, to me, are a hangover of colonisation, of unfamiliarity with stolen lands. But this forest has a secret. And these characters are just wonderful, they dragged me into the story without a care for my reservations, and the writing is lush and the pacing is brilliant. Seriously, Naomi Novik is a master. Holds up amazingly well after several re-reads.