Uprooted

By Naomi Novik

Full disclosure: I loved this book with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. It is one of the most beautiful, rich, and layered stories I have read in a long time and yes that sounds like how you'd described a chocolate cake but this may be the chocolate cake of books. Seriously. Now with that out of the way let's get to the review. 

******************************Spoilers Below*******************************

Plot: Agnieszka (I know say that five times fast but bear with me) lives in a small town near the edge of a dangerous forest. Every ten years, the Lord of the land or the Dragon, picks a girl from one of the towns in the valley and takes them to live in his tower from which they return educated and sophisticated only to see their families one last time to before deciding to pack up and leave. Agnieszka was born in a Choosing year but everyone always knew the Dragon was going to choose her friend, Kaisa, pretty, smart, and all-around perfect Kaisa.But on the day of the Choosing, it's not Kaisa that is chosen but Agnieszka, clumsy, awkward, and perpetually messy Agnieszka. 

After being chosen, the Dragon takes her from her family, from Kaisa, and starts to teach her magic. He also tells her of the dangers of the forest which corrupts all those who enter and is taking more and more ground every year. The Dragon has been keeping the darkness of the Wood at bay for nearly a hundred years but he's losing. Agnieszka knows some of the dangers of the forest as she has seen the creatures that emerge from it to steal away villagers away but still risks everything when the next person to be taken is Kaisa. This sets off a chain of events including a grief stricken Prince forcing Agnieszka and the Dragon to search for his mother, the queen, who was taken to the forest decades before, a journey to the capital to protect Kaisa that ends in fire and death, a battle at the tower against the very same prince and queen they had saved, and at last, discovering the dark, sad secret of the wood. 

Basically, it's fantastic. Just read it, seriously. The story starts slow as we get to know Agnieszka and the Dragon and see their relationship grow as Agnieszka figures out her magic but it picks up quickly with the Wood attacking her village and Kaisa being taken.

Agnieszka: This book has one of those stories where no matter where you are: in the forest, the tower, the capital, you want to be there and a of that is thanks to Agnieszka. There are so many books I've been reading lately where the main character splits off from the love interest, friends, or just another character that I found to be more interesting than the main character and I would find myself losing interest in the story. With Agnieszka, I never felt like that. Even when she goes to the capital and separates from the Dragon, a character who easily could have overshadowed her, I didn't care because no matter what Agnieszka was just interesting, funny, and kick-ass. She does a lot to drive the plot: choosing to go and save her village, rescuing Kaisa, using the Summoning, going with the Prince to the Wood, traveling to the capital, testifying in Kaisa's favor, going to the Dragon's room (*wink*), and returning to the Wood. All that was Agnieszka. The plot doesn't just happen to her which is soo refreshing.

The Romance: Fantastic. The relationship between Agnieszka and the Dragon had a slow burn throughout the book from Agnieszka's arrival at the tower, to her lessons, to them fighting side by side in battle. It's a believable relationship that would keep me turning the pages even without the engrossing plot.  

The Writing: Jealous. That's what I felt, as someone who is trying write a book, that's what Novik's writing did to me. I wafted between marveling at her word choice, her prose, her dialogue to smacking my head and asking why I couldn't think of something like that. I saw this book in the bookstore and thought the cover was beautiful and dreamlike and when I turned to skim the front page I was met with this line: Our Dragon doesn't eat the girl he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. Done. I was sold. A copy was in my hand and on the counter being rung up before I knew what happened. 

No surprise but this book was a 5/5 for me.