Uprooted: A Novel

I loved this book. It had all my favorite things but I'll try to highlight the things I really loved. Firstly: the narration. Lyrically beautiful. That kind of narration gets me every time. Secondly: the magic. I loved the descriptions of Agnieszka's magic. It felt homey and natural and right and I loved every second of it. Thirdly: the real relationship of the book, the genuine, loving friendship of Agnieszka and Kasia. There is just not enough of women building up other women in literature and the media. There was a beautiful moment when they could see into the nasty parts of each others' souls, where they felt the full weight of petty jealousies and guilt and hatred, and then they reached past it with love and latched onto each other all the more firmly. YES. A thousand times yes. This is what I want out of female characters in novels, not these sad, scrabbling creatures who turn against each other for blind ambition or, worst of all, in the pursuit of a man. Yes, there was a man, and yes, I got all sucked into that as well, but for me the true love at the center of this book was the undying, unyielding love of woman for woman in the purest, most unrelenting form of friendship possible. This book sang to my soul and I just want to hug it and say thank you.

Read for book club.

Disclaimer, I do not usually read the fantasy genre, it's not something that appeals to me. When I have read books in this genre, I generally feel that the make-believe is contrived. It doesn't feel natural, and it's not something that grabs me. I guess I'm too realistic/practical.

I realize that fantasy, science fiction, etc. is just a backdrop for a good story and characters. These stories are generally about good vs. evil, with good winning out in the end. This book is no different, with the evil woods vs. the good magicians. The only things is, this book had neither good story or characters.

I was so annoyed by Agnieszka who, after years of being sure that her beautiful, graceful, special friend would be picked by the Dragon, is picked. Her transition to house slave is forgettable. Within 3 months, she's doing magic and saves her village from a wood infection with not a moment of introspection about what is going on in her life. She ignores every direction she's given by the Dragon, even when it's in her (and others) best interests to do so.

And, then there's the magic. Every scrape and near death experience is thwarted with magic - spells conjured up from nothing. How very convenient. It got very tiresome. I was playing a game of how many times she says, "I almost couldn't think to move." or "I was so surprised/tired/scared I couldn't think" or "I almost couldn't -----" - at every crisis. Jeez, what a bore.

There's lots more of negatives that I could say about this book, but it would involve spoilers, and it's not worth the time.

I give this book 2 stars because I finished it. But, I didn't think it was a very good book, and I would not recommend it.

This was a fun read for me as I love magic and fantasy novels. I’ll never look at trees the same.

If you like fairy tale stories then you may enjoy Uprooted.  I was engaged more at the beginning of the story, it pulled me in right away, but after I learned more about the characters my interest waned.  It wasn't that they were not fully formed characters, but more that in understanding their motivations they somehow became uninteresting.  I did like the descriptions of "the wood", its general vibe reminded me of the "Evil" in Evil Dead.  You somehow knew what it was without pointing to a specific attribute. It's well-written and well-ended.

The first half was so great that I thought I wouldn't be able to put it down, but the second half felt like it kept going and going. It might have benefited from being broken down into a two-book series. Still it was very enjoyable.