A fresh take on magic

Uprooted

By Naomi Novik

Hardcover: 448 pages

Publisher: Del Rey; First Edition edition (May 19, 2015)

ISBN-10: 0804179034

ISBN-13: 978-0804179034

Approximate Lexile: 550

Publisher’s Blurb:

“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.

This book was difficult for me. I had trouble wanting to interact with other human beings, cook dinner for my family, put my child to bed…you get the idea.

The Wood dominates the life of everyone in Polya, not just Agnieszka’s part of it. It threatens neighboring Rosya, as well. It doesn’t help that Polya and Rosya are also at war with each other. Why don’t the people of Agnieszka’s province move? Because they are tied to the land. It is home, and they love it. Besides…the Dragon has helped them keep the Wood back. And all he wants in exchange is a 17-year-old girl every ten years. 

Much to clumsy Agniezka’s surprise, he chooses her. As she finds out, it’s because she is a witch. But her way of doing magic is very different from the formal, precisely recited spells of the local wizard community. Her spells are more instinctive and more bound to nature. This sets her up as a key figure in the battle against the Wood.

The Dragon’s impatience with Agniezka is understandable—she, quite frankly, messes everything up, until she learns to trust her magical instincts (and he learns to let her). Agniezka’s best friend, Kasia, also undergoes a transformation—from the beautiful, talented young woman whom everyone knows the Dragon will choose, into a warrior. I was pleased that she was able to move from being appreciated only for her beauty.

The title, Uprooted, has multiple levels of significance as we progress through the story. The plot had me on an emotional roller-coaster—every time you think things might just be resolved, Novik yanks the rug out from under you.

The conclusion, however, was a little bit out of left field, but satisfying in its own way.

Possible Objectionable Material: Lots and lots of violence. An attempted (but humorously foiled) rape. A bedroom scene that, while unnecessarily descriptive, stops just shy of being graphic. 

Who Would Like This Book: Lovers of fantasy and magic. It hearkens back to eastern European folk tales. Those who like conflict between good and evil. Those who like a little bit of romance. It is being marketed as “women’s fiction,” but, apart from the aforementioned bedroom scene, it would be suitable for the YA audience, given the lower Lexile level and that the protagonist is a fairly typical 17-year-old girl.

I read an E-book ARC provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you!