Uprooted

Hey guys!

It´s Monday and that means 2 things. First it´s the beginning of the week and there is a lot of time until is the weekend again. Second, and most important, it´s time for our weekly appointment.

Today I will be talking about Uprooted by Naomi Novik. A book that has been under my radar for quite some time and finally I bought for my birthday. I reserved it until the summer, tough. The edition that I bought was a very comfortable, small and floppy one; perfect to read outside, so I read it on vacation, while I was lying on the beach.

I told you I´ve been meaning to read this book for a while, and it´s true but I have also been postponing it because I didn’t want to be disappointed by it. Thank God, I wasn’t. but there are some mixed reviews that lead me to think that this is not a book for everyone. I think is better if I tell you all my thoughts so you can decide whether you will like to read it or not.

In this book, we follow Agnieska a young girl who lies in a valley. She has always known that The Dragon will come to take a girl that was born in the year of the Dragon boned between October and November. The Dragon takes a girl every 10 years. The thing is that Agnieska knows that she won’t be the one that The Dragon will take, she is not special, but she is and she is the one that´s taken.

As usual this will be a spoiler free review and in case I feel the need to make a spoiler it will be warned in the usual way.

Uprooted is one of the best fantasy novels I have read in quite a while. The truth is that this year has been amazing so far, at least regarding my Fantasy reading. At the end of the year is going to be quite a task to pick my favourites. But going back to the book, I will say that in my edition the blurbs are by Cassandra Clare and Patrick Rothfuss two of my all-time favourites authors, therefore this book has to be good yes or yes.

The style in which the book is written is not particularly beautiful but it´s perfect for the story. The book is narrated in the first person by Agnieska and because of the way that is written you can go into de mind of the main character and love her even more.

Agnieska is such a wonderful character to read from. I like her cause she is not the perfect girl we are used to see in literature; instead she has fails and is clumsy and a disaster. Also, she does not care the risk that involves fighting for what she believes in.

The other protagonist in this story is The Dragon. He is a sorcerer and even when he tries to be rude, he is just a teddy bear. Seriously guys, this is one of the best characters that I have read in a very long time: his personality is very well portrayed and he does not change it. Of course, he has an arc in the story [SPOILER] when we first met him, we think that he is the villain, and that he must be hated. Instead he is just trying to protect both the girls and the villages for the real evil that is the Wood. It´s so nice to see how much he cares for Agnieska, but that comes with time, is not the very annoying instalove. And the romance is not the main point of the plot. [END OF THE SPOILER] but he remains true to himself

The best thing about this book its probably the use that the author makes of the Wood. It´s a character by itself. I don’t think I can properly explain this so you will need to read the book to understand me.

The plot is just perfect in every single way. The rhythm is addicting. There is something happening for the entirety of the novel eve when you think that the author cannot overcome herself that the plot is coming to a death end, she has a plot twist that will blow your mind. For you to make an idea of how addicting is this book I will say that in the Spanish edition this book has 688 pages and I read it in 2 days.

Uprooted is book that I have deeply loved and that is going straight to my favourites right next to The Name of the Wind and Red Rising. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars and I really recommend for you guys to read it.

Have you read it already? Leave a comment with all your thoughts. If you haven’t read it yet, are you planning to?

See you all next Monday.