Uprooted

' 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. 'Occasionally right when you read the first few pages of a book you know intuitively that you will love it. That is how this began for me. I KNEW right from the first paragraphs that I was going to crawl into this world and not come out until the story was complete and maybe not even then.I got lost in the world created between the covers of this story. It’s a new kind of fairytale where the hero isn’t perfect, handsome and sweet. Our hero the Dragon is a cranky Wizard who is all logic, solitude, prickles and thorns.' But there was something unnatural in his face: a crow’s-nest of lines by his eyes, as though years couldn’t touch him, but use did. It wasn’t an ugly face, even so, but coldness made it unpleasant: everything about him said, I am not one of you, and don’t want to be, either. 'Our heroine Agnieszka is the complete opposite of him. She is utterly clumsy, always a mess, stumbles into trouble completely by chance and saves herself the same way with intuition and feeling.' “You’ll have to marry a tailor, my little Agnieszka,” my father would say, laughing, when he came home from the forest at night and I went running to meet him, grubby-faced, with at least one hole about me, and no kerchief. He swung me up anyway and kissed me; my mother only sighed a little: what parent could really be sorry, to have a few faults in a Dragon-born girl? 'She is an absolute contradiction to his life and he hates that he picked her to come with him to the tower. But no one was more surprised than Agnieszka on the picking day because she had known her whole life that her best friend Kasia was the special one and would be chosen. She was unprepared for her new life in every way.The main villain isn’t your normal everyday bad guy either. It is hard to describe the villain accurately as it is more of a presence in the wood. The forest is a living breathing character in this story and it has evil in it, evil that is forever pushing the boundaries of the forest outward. If you aren’t careful you might travel to close to it and be snatched up yourself…once the forest has you it will never let you go. The corruption can go down into your very soul and those that have walked out of the forest are not the same people as those who walked in. *cue spooky sounds*- "There was a song in this forest, too, but it was a savage song, whispering of madness and tearing and rage."Uprooted has a very soft Beauty and the Beast feel to it, but do not be confused this is not a retelling of that story. This is a new fairytale full of wonderful imagery, magic, mystery and a touch of creepiness to it. No character is flat, every single important character in the story is intricate and complicated with feelings and motivations that are unfurled slowly throughout the story. This is a true journey through the world and each discovery is more interesting than the last.While there were so many things I absolutely adored in this story one of the main ones was Agnieszka learning how to use her magic and in turn how she was able to blend her magic with the dragons. Some of the most beautiful imagery in the book came out of them learning to work their completely different types of magic together to weave sometime even more beautiful, intricate and stronger than they could alone.' …our workings caught on one another, magic gushing into them. The rosebush began growing again, roots crawling off the table and vines climbing out the window. The bees became a humming swarm amid the flowers, each of them with oddly glittering eyes, wandering away. If I had caught one in my hands and looked closely, I would have seen in those eyes the reflection of all the roses it had touched. But I had no room in my head for bees, or roses, or spying; no room for anything but magic, the raw torrent of it and his hand my only rock. 'I don’t want to give too much of the story away because the journey is so worth it and should not be spoiled. Agnieszka’s devotion to her family, friends and valley made her one of my favorite heroines. She saw people for the imperfections that they have and loved them fiercely anyway. The relationship between Agnieszka and her best friend Kasia was absolute what a female friendship in a story should be. I loved them together and I am so greatful that the author didn’t make everything between them as friend picture perfect but it was real. Kasia’s fate in the story was unusual and fit perfectly into this fairytale.There are more characters and plots a foot but you must read it to find out about Prince Marek, who reminded me slightly of a more ¿likable? Gaston and I spent most of the book deciding if I absolutely hated him, just sorta hated him or possibly liked him. I did at least understand his motivations, no matter how misguided and selfish they seemed at times. Along with a King, a Queen, a Falcon (really another Wizard) and some other magical people to boot. So many fantastic characters I can’t even begin to touch on them all.This is everything I look for in a new Fantasy and while the entire story wraps up quite nicely I was sad when I looked and saw that this currently is a standalone novel. I would really enjoy spending more time here if the author is so inclined. Note: Even though the heroine is 17 don’t let that fool you this is not really a YA story (there is a non fade to black sex scene) and all the death and creepiness/horror factor I would say not really for anyone under the age of 16.Naomi Novik is now on my radar and I’m sure I’ll check out some of her other works.

From the first, the story is enchanting. It begins when a sorcerer is expected to take to his mysterious Tower the beautiful and elegant Kasia but instead selects the wayward, untidy girl with none of Kasia's charms but evidently touched by magic. Rumors of his treatment of these girls, one of whom he takes every 10 years, suggest coarse brutality but the truth about his dependency is perhaps even less salutary.His solitary work is combatting the Wood, a malevolent forest in the region that imprisons, kills, or corrupts villagers caught in its snares. It is steadily growing in power and even infiltrates the city.Will Agnieszka with her imprecise, simple spells aid in his objective to overcome this evil or function as his nemesis? The outcome is impressive.The action winds like a river through the Wood, with waterfalls and unseen currents to serve as a metaphor for this meandering tale in which episodes appear to be concluded only to break through the logjam to forge new directions. These flows carve out greater depths of horror that, in turn, spur the sorcerers and their allies to devise ever more desperate schemes to prevent total catastrophe.

You have protagonists you can love plus they grow and change. The battle scenes are a little drawn out, but that might appeal to others. Oh, and the ending will NOT be entirely what you expect. This is an excellent page turner.

I like the original story, and how quickly we realize the dark, tall, handsome "dragon" really isn't all that suave.A small frustration being that there's not that much of the relationship in this book, but granted, there's a lot else going on that requires attention. It's realistic in that sense. They care more about addressing the larger issues at hand than their maybe romantic interests.It wasn't a fantastic story, but I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed the first half of the book the rest...not reallly. For some reason after a certain point the characters stop having common sense which was rather annoying :(

The storyline, world building and the characters were wonderfully and beautifully built! It made me think and made me laugh! I love it!

A primeira coisa que tenho a dizer é que não gosto de histórias de dragões. Aí, desatenta, eu estava achando que essa história era sobre um rsrsrs mas não é bem isso. Comprei esse livro só para ler, já que todo mundo falou muito dele no ano passado. Sou uma leitora de séries, e este foi um dos fatores que me desanimou, pois trata-se de uma história fechada. Então comecei a ler. E no começo estava meio entediada. Mas, passadas umas 80 páginas, tudo mudou. Trata-se de um livro adulto, que não se apoia em clichês ou plot simplista. Virei a última página arrasada porque havia acabado de ler, e feliz por ter comprado este livro lindo em capa dura. Sem dúvida entrou para a lista de preferidos. Os personagens são incríveis. O sistema de magia é impressionante... É totalmente criativo e inovador. Recomendo demais este livro para quem curte fantasia e quer um livro adulto, com uma certa dose de romance e uma protagonista inspiradora.

I liked the setting: the story took place mostly in the valley at the edge of the Woods; it reminded me of camping trips for some reason. The main characters were very likeable (not daft or childish at all). And the plot had magic, adventure and a sweet romance involved, all of which I enjoyed. I suppose the story did seem to stall at times, but I didn't mind too much as long as the romance was good--and, in my opinion, it was.

It is good to discover a very gifted writer, that creates a believable fantasy world.Lots of misteries: why does the Dragon (a sorcerer) chooses a girl each ten years to live wih him in the tower. And, why these girls, after this time, just come back to say goodbye and never more come back ?Would Agnieszka and the Dragon be able to beat the corruption ?What is the Wood ? Where does it strength comes from ?Lots of questions and all answered in the end :-) A book to read and reread to reinterpret some passages ...