Naomi Novik

A tale inspired by the "Beauty and the Beast" story follows the experiences of Agnieszka, who becomes the latest girl chosen to serve an immortal wizard who protects their village from the malevolent forces of a nearby forest.

Uprooted

Taryn

But they wanted someone to blame more than they wanted someone to explain.

I knew myself for the first time in a week, standing on earth instead of polished marble. 

When the shadow of the Wood stole over us, we knew better than to make it any darker. 

It was worse than being alone to feel that none of them were my friend.

He had all of Sarkan’s obsessive hunger for explanation, with none of his willingness to bend. If Ballo couldn’t find it in a book, that meant it couldn’t be so, and if he found it in three books, that meant it was the unvarnished truth. 

I’d never known it before, but a crowd so large had a steady running noise to it like a river, a murmuring that rose and ebbed without turning into separate voices. 

The Wood was silent as no forest ever was

Ohhh how I love it when a group of people is resting from their travels and just all doing their own thing like drinking some water etc, and suddenly someone has disappeared 😭😨!!!! Scary

Did we just learn The Dragon’s real name?? 🫢🫢🫢

“Sarkan, what have you done?” the Falcon said. 

Sitting like a mouse under an owl’s tree. 

Loved this! You really think it’s her own thoughts, but it’s the thing of the Wood making her think those things. So well done! 

They looked at me and saw someone out of a story, who might ride by and be stared at, but didn’t belong in their lives at all.

“It comes, I suppose, of spending too much time indoors, and forgetting that living things don’t always stay where you put them.”

I tried to be glad for her. I was mostly sorry for myself. 

I love the Dragon 😂. Also, I love that it is kind of giving Howl’s Moving Castle vibes. 

"Why would he want to insult you?" I timidly asked. “Didn't he come to- to ask you for some magic?" 

“No, he came to enjoy the view of the Wood," the Dragon said. “Of course he came for magic…” 

‘broad with the weight of a man who nearly lived in armor’ 

‘I pushed the door open and looked in, nervously, because that was better than going past it without knowing what was inside’ 

NEBULA AWARD WINNER • HUGO AWARD FINALIST • “If you want a fantasy with strong characters and brilliantly original variations on ancient stories, try Uprooted!”—Rick Riordan “Breathtaking . . . a tale that is both elegantly grand and earthily humble, familiar as a Grimm fairy tale yet fresh, original, and totally irresistible.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • BuzzFeed • Tordotcom • BookPage • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly 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. Praise for Uprooted “Uprooted has leapt forward to claim the title of Best Book I’ve Read Yet This Year. . . . Moving, heartbreaking, and thoroughly satisfying, Uprooted is the fantasy novel I feel I’ve been waiting a lifetime for. Clear your schedule before picking it up, because you won’t want to put it down.”—NPR

A Novel

Lauren

Unfortunately, the all-caps are truly necessary. 

Kierce

Action-PACKED. 

Unfortunately, the all-caps are truly necessary. 

Novik is a great storyteller. 

Loved this book! I'm such a sucker for the character archetype that "the Dragon" represents, kind of harsh and menacing but ultimately on the side of good. I really enjoyed the dynamic between him and Agnieszka, the protagonist, where she's initially his prisoner but a sexual tension develops as she learns magic and the two learn to cast it in harmony with each other. The main storyline, involving court intrigue and the struggle against the advancing Wood, was good too (and I appreciated that this was NOT a "feudalism was great, actually" fantasy book) but it was really that scintillating relationship that kept me engaged.

Jessica Smith

I'm having a hard time reviewing this book. I honestly don't know what to rate it. At first I gave it four stars, because I do think it's inspirational, original and entertaining. BUT...After some thinking...the second half is bothering me too much for it to be a four star. So. Three it is. 

I loved the first part. The idea of a magical wood being the enemy in the story? Love that. It takes people, steals them whenever it sees an opportunity, and puts them inside trees. 

But how it continued on in the second half with that idea...That's where they lost me. 

Suddenly new things were introduced that 'explained' how the wood became the wood it is today. But, those explainations were too sudden, too quick, too vague.

And after that, it was too easy to win from this previously 'invincible enemy'. 

I would have preferred it if we didn't get an explanation at all, if the wood was just the wood. 

- 'The Summoning' being used for everything. I'm sorry, but it lost it's power to me because of that. Every time I saw those words on the paper my mind went 'Not again!!!'. 

- Also the first person pov started to bother me. 'I this...I that...'. I, myself xD, needed something more. Something different. It almost felt like a journal? I wanted more dialogue, more information and insights from other characters. 

- I didn't like the romance. Why was it soooo sudden, out of nowhere? We need some build up please. There was zero reason for them to like each other at that point? 

- Kasia could have been such an interesting side character. But now, she kind of was 'just there'. I sometimes forgot she was there. More dialoge or another pov could have helped in this case, I think.

I'm having a hard time reviewing this book. I honestly don't know what to rate it. At first I gave it four stars, because I do think it's inspirational, original and entertaining. BUT...After some thinking...the second half is bothering me too much for it to be a four star. So. Three it is. 

I loved the first part. The idea of a magical wood being the enemy in the story? Love that. It takes people, steals them whenever it sees an opportunity, and puts them inside trees. 

But how it continued on in the second half with that idea...That's where they lost me. 

Suddenly new things were introduced that 'explained' how the wood became the wood it is today. But, those explainations were too sudden, too quick, too vague.

And after that, it was too easy to win from this previously 'invincible enemy'. 

I would have preferred it if we didn't get an explanation at all, if the wood was just the wood. 

I also started to get some irritations. 

- 'The Summoning' being used for everything. I'm sorry, but it lost it's power to me because of that. Every time I saw those words on the paper my mind went 'Not again!!!'. 

- Also the first person pov started to bother me. 'I this...I that...'. I, myself xD, needed something more. Something different. It almost felt like a journal? I wanted more dialogue, more information and insights from other characters. 

- I didn't like the romance. Why was it soooo sudden, out of nowhere? We need some build up please. There was zero reason for them to like each other at that point? 

- Kasia could have been such an interesting side character. But now, she kind of was 'just there'. I sometimes forgot she was there. More dialoge or another pov could have helped in this case, I think.

Linara K.S

This is, without a doubt, a five star read. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Everything felt new and refreshing. Naomi Novik's storytelling is like non I've ever read before; it is detailed, lyrical, and yet all the while fast-paced. The character's are introduced by their actions and not their own voice, something the author does a lot throughout the book. The Show Don't Tell aspect is evidently put to great use!

The Woods, despite it being a setting, felt vibrant with life and dimensions, and the magic though quite flimsy, unlike the usual rigid magic systems, was interesting to learn about. Though I have a hundred-and-one questions about how this or that came to be, and why she or he was able to do this with their magic, I still thoroughly enjoyed being dragged along unknowing. 

Oh and the romance! Not that there's more than 10 pages of it, it truly is masterfully woven into the story. Progressively and unfiltered, it somewhat appeared in a realistic way, and I LOVED that! It wasn't overdone like in so many other fantasy novels, the two characters felt real, their own person, never dependant on the other or overbearing. 

ANYHOW I could ramble on and on but that won't do you any good. If you like dark woods, towers, magic then this book is for you! However I'll warn you that the pacing is a bit slow at the beginning.

(4.5) THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!! I loved the adventure and action. It was written so well. I loved the characters and how they interacted. I loved how the romance wasn't smothering. Couldn't put it down. Although, I was confused sometimes on what was happening.

Hanna Rybchynska

I just loved this story! Amazing plot and characters. 
If you like magic, dark forest and a lot of adventure, highly recommend this book!

Awkward 🌶️ scenes that don't really make sense with how the story was going it was really hard to get through 

Madison Altares

"Nosso Dragão não come as meninas que captura, não importam as histórias que contem fora do vale. Nós às vezes as ouvimos por conta dos viajantes que passam por aqui. Eles falam como se estivéssemos sacrificando um ser humano e ele fosse um dragão de verdade. Claro que não é assim: ele pode ser um mago imortal, mas continua sendo um homem, e nossos pais se uniriam e o matariam se a cada dez anos ele quisesse usar uma de nós como comida. Ele nos protege contra a Floresta, e somos gratos; mas não tanto assim." Contos de fadas revisitados Naomi Novik introduz um mundo novo e ousado, com raízes fincadas no folclore eslavo, tão cativante e encantador quanto uma fábula dos irmãos Grimm. Agnieszka ama seu lar no vale, sua vila tranquila, as florestas e o rio cintilante. Mas a Floresta corrompida fica à espreita na fronteira, cheia de um poder maligno desconhecido. Seu povo depende de um mago frio e ambicioso conhecido apenas como Dragão para apaziguar a ira da Floresta e impedi-la de avançar sobre o vilarejo. Mas ele exige um preço em troca da proteção: a cada dez anos, uma jovem é entregue para servi-lo; um destino quase tão indesejado quanto cair nas garras da Floresta. A próxima escolha está se aproximando rapidamente, e Agnieszka está com medo. Ela sabe — todo mundo sabe — que o Dragão vai levar Kasia: a bela, graciosa e corajosa Kasia, sua melhor amiga no mundo. E não há como salvá-la. Mas Agnieszka teme as coisas erradas. Porque, quando o Dragão chegar, não é Kasia que ele vai escolher. Vencedor do Nebula Award de 2016.

Enraizados

Ana Luiza

3,5 ⭐️ Que livro lindo! Não se fazem mais fantasias como essa, que não tem um número infinito de continuações e as metáforas fazem sentindo. Esse livro é bonito demais, é tudo tão rico que o romance fica em décimo plano, apesar de muito bonitinho.
Os personagens são maravilhosos e a história é daquelas que coloca um sorriso no rosto. Poderia ser 5 estrelas se as cenas de batalha fossem melhor escritas, eu demorava pra entender o que estava de fato acontecendo (algumas coisas ainda não fizeram muito sentido). Mas o que eu mais gostei é o significado de raiz nesse livro, da nossa conexão com a natureza. É de chorar e de arrepiar o jeito como isso foi mostrado. Gostei muito da leitura, me lembrou as fantasias da Holly Black, que seguem essa coisa mais natural. Amo esses livros que me fazem lembrar porque a fantasia YA é o meu gênero preferido.

Agnieszka mencintai lembah tempatnya tinggal, desanya yang tenang, hutan dan sungai yang berkilau. Tapi Rimba berdiri rimbun di perbatasan, dipenuhi kekuatan jahat yang membayangi hidup penduduk desa.
 
Mereka mengandalkan penyihir yang dijuluki Naga untuk menahan kekuatan Rimba. Tapi ada harga yang harus dibayar. Setiap sepuluh tahun ia akan memilih satu gadis, yang tidak hanya muda tapi juga berbakat, untuk melayaninya. Tak ada yang tahu apa saja yang dialami gadis itu karena gadis yang kembali akan buru-buru pergi dari desa. Yah, mungkin rasanya seburuk ditelan Rimba.
 
Agnieszka dan penduduk desa yakin tahun ini Naga akan mengambil gadis bernama Kasia. Untungnya––atau sayangnya––Naga tidak memilih Kasia dan malah mengambil Agnieszka. Tapi aneh, Naga pun tampak tak senang dengan pilihan itu. Seolah ia terpaksa melakukannya. Memangnya apa yang dimiliki––atau tidak dimiliki–– gnieszka sehingga Naga memilihnya?

Tercerabut (Uprooted)

Agnieszka tinggal di sebuah desa dekat lembah yang berbatasan dengan Rimba. Namun pada faktanya, Rimba sering memakan banyak korban jiwa. Mulai dari menelan penduduk dan membuat mereka gila hingga mengirim monster untuk menghancurkan desa. Atas hal tersebut, desa dilindungi oleh penyihir yang dikenal sebagai Sang Naga. Sebagai imbalannya, setiap 10 tahun sekali Sang Naga membawa seorang gadis untuk melayaninya di menara.

Pada hari pemilihan, tanpa diduga Agnieszka dibawa ke menara dan bukan Kasia—gadis tercantik di desa yang selama ini "belajar dan berlatih" untuk menjadi pelayan Sang Naga.


REVIEW:
Not gonna lie, I'm in love with the concept; genre fantasi yang berakar pada cerita rakyat dipadu dengan mitologi Eropa Timur. Rimba sebagai peran antagonis adalah ide baru yang unik sehingga membuat cerita ini terasa seperti dongeng. Fantasi vibesnya mirip dengan Ghibli's World. Mungkin karena rimba dan menara kali, ya? Belum lagi banyak spell-nya juga.

Awalnya saya punya alasan yang kuat untuk membaca; saya penasaran dengan jati diri Sang Naga dan character development Agnieszka. Namun, mungkin saya yang terlalu berekspetasi tinggi dan kurang aware karena tidak membaca trigger warnings terlebih dahulu, tapi entah mengapa hubungan mereka berdua cukup mengganggu. The main romance is between a 17 yo girl and an immortal 100+ yo man.

Imho, romansanya nggak masuk akal. Sang Naga memberi kesan abusive dan misoginis, tapi mirisnya Agnieszka malah berakhir menyukai Sang Naga. Selain perkembangan hubungan antar keduanya, character development-nya cukup bagus tetapi saya pribadi lebih menyukai perkembangan karakter second female lead, yaitu Kasia. 

Saya amat menyayangkan ikatan persahabatan Agnieszka-Kasia yang terbilang masih kurang pendalaman dan terkesan tidak efektif. Selain mereka yang saling peduli dan saling menolong satu sama lain, menurut saya hubungan persahabatan mereka sisanya terasa hambar karena mayoritas cerita berfokus pada hubungan Sang Naga-Agniezka.

Lalu, untuk cerita yang identik dengan penyihir, penulis tidak menjabarkan kegunaan dan spesifikasi mantra-mantra sehingga malah membuat pembaca kebingungan. Saya benar-benar membiarkan karakter di dalam cerita berbuat sesuka hati dan membuat saya sebagai seorang pembaca tidak memahami apa yang sebenarnya mereka lakukan dengan mantra-mantra itu.

And also, I love the word building but not the plot. Permulaannya slow-pace, tapi seiring berganti halaman tiba-tiba semua berjalan begitu cepat. Rasanya terlalu banyak cerita yang dipaksakan masuk ke dalam tanpa eksekusi matang, sehingga novel ini terkesan padat tapi masih terbilang rancu. I think the reason why this book works well is the concept, and that the stakes remain extremely high throughout the entire story.

Kembali lagi ke preferensi masing-masing, menurut saya untuk kalian yang suka fantasi dengan karakter kuat dan variasi orisinal cemerlang dari cerita kuno, Uprooted worth to read, sih.

Katie Guo

I like the concept and execution but the romance was really unnecessary. Actually really icky… the main character is like 17 and the dude is like… 400 years old?? Yuck. And it doesn’t do anything for the plot and story

Jaden Nelson

This is a very hard book to rate and I would say it could be a 4.5, but my opinion will probably change many times over the next few days. Looking back on this book, I cannot actually pic out anything I did not like or thought was bad- thus its rating. I loved amazing detail that Novik gives throughout pretty much every scene of the book, but one the only thing holding this book back for me was that at parts, it got a little confusing in the language and sometimes the overwhelming detail almost disconnected me from action that may have been occurring. I may read this book in 2 years and love it 5 times more, but for now, I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes magic fantasy and is willing to dedicate their time to this chunker of a book.

Kelsey Munson

I enjoyed the first half of the book. Really chilling fairytale, loved the atmosphere and the prose. 
The pacing in the second half threw me and that is where my attention started to wander.
The first half felt more intimate with the main character learning to embrace magic and her ability to fight the Wood (the 'bad guy'). The second half branched out into a bigger story which brought in more characters that I honestly just found zero interest in because most of them were wildly irritating. 

The antagonist of this story was an absolute menace though (it's a bunch of magic murder trees).

3.5/5 Solid fantasy

This book is absolutely phenomenal. I wanted for nothing in the world building, magic, characters, or plot. This is a modern fantasy classic. I need to devour all of Novik’s works expeditiously to reinstate the speechlessness which so great a book has instilled in me.

Emily McMeans

WINNER OF THE NEBULA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL - Naomi Novik, author of the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale. HUGO AWARD FINALIST - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR - BuzzFeed - Tordotcom - BookPage - Library Journal - Publishers Weekly "Uprooted is confidently wrought and sympathetically cast. I might even call it bewitching."--Gregory Maguire, bestselling author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon "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. Praise for Uprooted "Uprooted has leapt forward to claim the title of Best Book I've Read Yet This Year. . . . Moving, heartbreaking, and thoroughly satisfying, Uprooted is the fantasy novel I feel I've been waiting a lifetime for. Clear your schedule before picking it up, because you won't want to put it down."--NPR

Lara Engle

Oh, I just love Naomi Novik's vibe of fairy tale fantasy turned modern, but still once upon a time. This story follows a young woman named Agnieska (ag-NYESH-ka) as she is taken from her home and thrust into circumstances she could never have imagined. Uprooted tells her tale with action, intrigue, myth, magic, tragedy, twists, and a dash of romance. Once I started reading, I didn't want to stop, but I also didn't want it to end. The drama barreled forward and came to a satisfying conclusion (though I still want more).

I loved the magic and lore, I just wanted more romance from it when I picked it up. Magic reminds me (somewhat) of for the wolf. Always down for plant based magic

Savannah Lowe

Beautiful story telling and I absolutely loved the Wood but I felt the love story was too forced and unnecessary.

Jordan

Bilge Ince

A strong start is intrigued me but the repetition of stories and the slowness killed my interest. I felt like It’s going around the same stories with different characters. A little bit Beauty and the Beast, a little bit game of thrones and a standard young adult fiction romance this is the formulate of this story, in my opinion.

~Anna~

Uprooted tried to tow the line between the whimsy of pure, unadulterated magic and freedom that a classic fairy tale can bring and a more gritty, hardened world of humans fighting against power that they can't understand, of myth itself-and I don't think it captured enough of either to become a favorite of mine. The elements clashed, and that bothered me most was when there was a secondary character death-from the main antagonistic force- and the magic item the protagonist acquired to kill it failed... which made it feel like the past few chapters at court were totally useless. Almost 3/4 of the book felt very weighed down by these interweaving motives that all seemed to fall apart, with no real feeling of growth. Meandering is probably the best way of putting it. 

I think the best things that kept me going were the mystery of the cognizance of the antagonist- how intelligent was it (did it have needs, thoughts, and feelings that could coerce it) and how the main character's magic differs from the rest; not only that, the imagery that is used with Agnieszka is truly beautiful and feels like old-world wonder over the magic of unknowable miracles. I never got an answer about why her magic was like this, which is fine, but I think it suffered by not really delving into this more. Was it connected to the mythical wild woman, or the Woods? It was the most interesting thing about her, and even the description of the branches pulling at her clothes because of her magic was an interesting touch- which later they just subject to the Woods wanting her (which is never what happens to other magicians... which circles back to What Gives?) 

At the end, it finally feels like I've entered a whole new world, a genuine veil that hides the impossible-what this book could have had more of. The little bits of wonder and majesty that pop up in this book were bright enough to make me see the real effort the author made with this, which is why I've kept my score so high. But I'll just say this: It reminded me of a less successful Seraphina. The stories themselves aren't alike, but a feeling of kinship seems to connect the two books together. Maybe if you found this one lacking, you might enjoy Seraphina more. I'll definitely be rereading my copy soon to compare.

I love and live for books that read like fairytales. This just feels like a longer version of a story I would have read in a collection of fairytales, aka PURE MAGIC. It’s beautifully written, and I love the magic system. 

Ami Is Dreaming Again

YA with a very inappropriate, uncomfortable, and iffy romance. Not my cup of tea.

Maite Alarcon Leon

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, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood's powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost 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 no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl. And when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him.From the author of the Temeraire series comes this hugely imaginative, engrossing and vivid fantasy novel, inspired by folk and fairy tales. It is perfect reading for fans of Robin Hobb and Trudi Canavan.

Courtney

This book tore me up so much in an “all the feels” way! I wanted and hoped for so many things to go a certain way, and everything did not go as I had imagined that it would! Evocative of classic dark fairy tales and folklore, this fairy tale retelling is perfect on so many levels! Please feel free to read on for a no spoiler review and allow me to regale you with my rambles and rants about it!

This book has a lot of mixed reviews, and I can see why. It was incredibly difficult for me to invest myself in towards the beginning, but I patiently stuck with it and was rewarded handsomely! The story and descriptions are very intelligently and maturely written. I found myself becoming so overwhelmed with all of the packed paragraphs, that I had to take breaks from this book. It was almost too smart for me, and I fancy myself a fairly smart person!

The retelling aspect reminded me of a mix between Beauty and the Beast, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Happening (the movie starring Mark Wahlberg) in that order. It did start off slow, and I felt like it got a little pretentious how often it was stated that the main character couldn’t blink an eye without getting mud all over the hem of her dress. She was consistently untidy throughout the beginning and it was noted so often, that I felt like the beginning could have been compacted more to allow the plot to unfold quicker.

Eventually the introductory chapters faded away into the amazing and complicated plot with a very unique antagonist! I was terrified during the Wood scenes. Such a cursed, dark, and hopeless place. The Wood scenes brought out a dark side of my imagination that I had no idea existed! I loved that this book did that, but of course I don’t usually tend to lean toward “scary” books as it is. However, this book was surprisingly hair raising, but in a stimulating way (if that makes sense). No really, I can’t convey enough how intensely nightmarish this book was at parts.

I wish that the main character didn’t have such a hard name to pronounce without help. The author provides a phonetic pronunciation of it at the very end of the book (ag-NYESH-kah) which disappointed me (or really just made me feel like a huge idiot for not checking), because I was okay with just butchering it throughout the whole book. Agnieszka (or ag-nee-sneezy-kah if you’re me), despite her name, had a lot of great character development and I don’t want to give too much away, but Agnieszka is the winner of the “courageous little cinnamon bun” award!

I loved the sisterly friendship that Agnieszka shared with Kasia (there are easier names to pronounce in this book, I promise). Kasia was a wonderfully strong supporting character and her role in this book was so substantial to the plot of the story because of reasons. A lot of what Agnieszka did was because of her love for Kasia, and not once did Agnieszka push Kasia aside in favor of this brooding handsome stranger Dragon fellow. “Best friend cinnamon bun” award goes to Kasia! She is definitely a friend that all of us should aspire to have, to challenge us, support us, and help us through the darkest parts of the cursed Wood.

Speaking of brooding handsome stranger, the Dragon was not that strong of a character for me, which some may love, and some may dislike. I both liked and disliked his relationship with Agnieszka. I feel like I never got enough of a feel for his character/personality to really formulate a conclusive opinion on the Dragon. There is some back story about him here and there, but it’s more in passing than a focal point to gain some depth on his character. I feel like I forced myself to find the Dragon more attractive than he actually was. I think that one can appreciate that he wasn’t all over Agnieszka, but he just seemed more stand offish to me rather than letting the heroine do her thing. “Brooding little cinnamon bun” award goes to the Dragon for being fed up with everyone’s incompetence! 

I really never expected the ending of this book. The last quarter of the book, I want to just give up and let the Wood win. Defeating the Wood seemed so futile! When you read this book, there just seems no way in hades that this thing can be beaten! The Wood was so relentless and strategically evil! Do they eventually beat the villainous and hateful Wood? Maybe. You’re absolutely going to have to read this to find out.

Final verdict: 4.5 stars. The beginning was slow, but I devoured the rest of this book almost as quick as the Wood devoured towns that it got its branches on! Highly recommended to fans of dark fantasy, intricate writing, strong female characters, and fairy tale retellings!

Hope Gamble

Absolutely loved this book! Great stand-alone with wonderful world building & character development.

Ed Kay

After recently re-reading the Earthsea trilogy and writing a review condemning those fantasy novels that have no rules to when and how magic can be used, I was initially very frustrated with this book. Spells are cast willy-nilly (to repair clothes, or make a delicious feast, to transport from a village to the tower) but then not utilised in times of need. At least the author recognised this, at one point having Agnieszka notice that "perhaps the spell wouldn't work at such a distance". But it was still annoying. Plus "the Dragon" - the 'love interest' of the book - is just an irredeemable misery. At no point did his character soften, or apologise, or behave anything other than churlishly. I'm all for misanthropes but there seemed to be nothing to him at all that would draw Agnieszka to fall in love with him, except for their rather erotic magic-weaving, which I can assume was great for her but left me cold.

Having said all that, I found myself getting drawn into the book almost against my will. The malevolent Wood that "corrupts" anyone who gets drawn into it, and the horrific beasts and praying mantises that come out of it, I found quite disturbing. Add in some interesting magical concepts and eventually more engaging wizardly characters and I found I cared about what would happen in the end, despite the flaws.

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