ignite the books discussion

This month's book is Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It's currently available through Amazon and Kobo, potentially on Overdrive, and hopefully in bookstores and libraries!

This post is for the all purpose discussion of Uprooted. You can post thoughts as you go, or save it all up for one big review. You are not required to like the book - feel free to say you loved it, hated it, everything in between. Be as general or weirdly specific as you like.

Obviously, this post will have spoilers, so if you prefer to go into books blind, don't read past this post until you're done! Otherwise, venture forth and nerd out.

I will update this post with the winner of the giveaway once I have gotten in touch!

just bought it! excited to participate finally :P

Just put a hold on it at the library, here's hoping it comes in soon!

I've read the first page and I'm intrigued already. Really excited to see how this book progresses.

I just started and I'm already really loving it. The pacing is a little weird? As in, things happen VERY ABRUPTLY so if you're like me and sometimes accidentally skip a line or sentence when reading, it can get kind of confusing--but I think it works really well.

On that note, as a warning there is an attempted sexual assault in the first 1/4 of the book--nothing graphic but just thought i'd post as a head's up.

Yo I feel like Kassia/main character have a ton of slash fanfic of them lmao

Rebecca wrote: "Yo I feel like Kassia/main character have a ton of slash fanfic of them lmao"

if they dont they definitely should

I'm starting to fall in love with this book. The main character is very sympathetic (in my opinion). :)

I'm starting to fall in love with this book. The main character is very sympathetic (in my opinion). :)

i just finished this book and i loved it intensely. all the characters were amazing and her descriptions were perfect, especially when she brought the creep factor. The romance was pretty much exactly what I was looking for too-- I'll do a longer post towards the end of the month but yeah for now I REALLY LOVED IT

also hannah you need to read this, it's the most hannah book i've ever read.

Had a whole long post typed out, then the browser on my ancient iPad crashed and I lost everything. DESPAIR!

Anyway:

I really enjoyed this book! I was pretty sure it would be good, given the quality of Novik's writing in the Temeraire series, so I picked up the e-book without reading any description and thus avoided any potential spoilers.

Which was awesome, because instead of being exasperated at the trope of "protagonist is surprised to find they are the chosen one", I actually bought into Agnieszka's story - helped by her feelings about Kasia, too. I agree with Rebecca & Leah - definite femslash potential there. I am 100% here for "gal pals".

Novik's descriptions of the Dragon, the Wood, and the corrupted Queen were all perfect examples of her skill; I could see them clearly and believed in them utterly. The siege at the tower reminded me of the way she writes battles in Temeraire - clearly readable, but thrilling too.

I felt like this was a coming of age story, more than a specifically YA novel. People experience liminal moments at lots of different ages, and Novik's analogy of finding your path, working magic your way, and making choices that feel right to you are part of life-defining moments that we all go through.

My only quibble, and it is minor, is that the story felt a little rushed. Maybe that's just because I would've enjoyed more, and was sad when it finished, but I'd have liked to read more of Nieshka's developing relationship with the Dragon (I loved that when he couldn't teach her by the book, he worked around the issue & learned new things himself), and the scenes in the palace/capitol would've made for interesting political stories (a la Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series).

And the ending, the cleansing of the Wood etc, has so much potential for fic! Good thing Novik's a huge supporter of fanworks. ;)

Last comment: the Jaga thread made me squeal with joy because I'm a huge fan of Baba Yaga, the witchiest witch ever.

Ready to for a trip tomorrow. This is the first book I will have read by this particular author, but I've heard great things from friends about her Temeraire series, so I'm looking forward to it!

Finally got this book and I'm super excited to start soon! :D

I'm a little bit more than halfway through the book, and I am seriously adoring it. Each character is very intricately layered and complex, and Agnieszka's voice is absolutely charming. I especially love the relationship between her and the Dragon.

I really liked this one :-) I loved Agnieszka's character. She has so much spunk, and it's nice to read about someone who doesn't really care about their appearance. I did cringe a little when she wiped up vomit with her dress, but go her for not caring about it. The banter between her and the Dragon had me giggling out loud. Oh, those two.

The only thing I didn't really like was that towards the end it seemed rushed. It seemed to me that her powers weren't fully explained....And I would have loved to learn more about her cleaning up the Wood.

Maybe the pacing would have been better if the story was split up into separate books somehow?

I loved little things that it touched on. Like what her new name should have been. When the bell rung for her, I was so hoping they would call her 'the Bell'...sigh.

Also, I adored Kasia. At first I thought she would be a little spoiled and snobbish, but as I read on, I started to love her. Like, how she was a fighter even before she got swallowed by that tree. When she showed up in men's clothes with her hair piled under a hat trying to help the villagers, I had to do a mental double take. There was clearly more to her than met the eye. Her relationship with Agnieszka was really sweet also. The part where they had to go through each other's jealousy and fear almost had me emotional.

Yeah, I liked this one.

MAN Leah was so right, this book was completely my jam? I loved it so so so much haha. Grumpy female protag, manbaby love interest, beautiful lady friendships, it was great.

I have seen a couple of comments about the pacing here, and I definitely agree with y'all - there was something a little off about it? Like maybe it could have gone another round through the draft machine to tighten things up a bit or something. like it didn't throw off my enjoyment of the book, it just left me feeling like we could have had a liiiittle bit more.

The friendship between the two main ladies was so important to me. Not just because it existed, but because Novik took a really realistic approach to what it's like being a teenage girl! and having other teenager girls friend! like yeah sometimes you love your biffle to pieces, and are also massively jealous of her in some way. She didn't hide from the occasional agonies of female friendship, and she didn't make them world ending either. And like, that trope of having to face each other's faults is so often used when it comes to straight romance, it was really great to see it used for these two and their friendship.

I also loved the magic and the handholding and the idea of two different people using magic in different ways and still being massively powerful? Like the Dragon is a by the book kind of dude and Agnieszka is a 'magic by feel' kind of girl, and instead of being all ONLY ONE CAN WIN, it turns out they're most powerful by weaving them together. THAT WAS SUPER COOL.

I think the main thing that set my teeth on edge - and this is probably exacerbated because rape seems to have been coming up a lot in my reading lately?? - was the shitty prince's attempted rape near the beginning of the book. Like. Okay we get it he's a shitty prince, but we didn't need him nearly raping her to know that? Like it was such a jarring experience for me to read that happening and then to have it sort of brushed off later like 'oh well that happened i guess he really is shitty'. If you're going to go there, sure, but commit. Deal with the fallout rather than just sort of tossing it in there as a character trait for one of the villains.

BUT YEAH overall i completely adored this book, it is up there with my faves tbh. I also love that in the end she becomes this wandering magical badass and that she's happy with that life? And when the Dragon shows up to do his very important taxes, that is the cherry on top. But she would have been fine if he hadn't decided he couldn't live without her :'D Their whole relationship was fun, especially with his attempts at looming in the beginning. What a mess of a man.

Ouff I feel so bad because I'm about halfway through and still not done (I blame exams). BUT I'm so, so happy that female friendship is a thing AND ACTUALLY STAYED A THING. I was so ready for the book to turn into some sort of girl in a man's world centric type of thing (which to a certain extent it did) but because the protagonist (I'm sorry I can't spell her name of the top of my head) kept her friendship with Kasia it was really refreshing, for me at least. Also I'm liking so far how they're addressing the Dragon and how he isn't really the monster the village made him out to be- he's just a really grumpy puppy. Which brings me to the romance that's playing out between them. Starting the book I was like "ugh I cannot ship these two. This man does not respect her; they don't work at all." But as the story progresses and the Dragon learns (another thing: all powerful wizard is learning from his apprentice!) that there's more than one way to do magic and that's when he started to respect and admire her. And now I'm so on board for whatever happens in their relationship because it's so enchanting. Also yeah, there are a few really abrupt pacing-I don't want to say "issues" but- issues. But it's easy to get back into the rhythm of it so not a huge deal. I guess I'll write more when I actually finish the book.

Uprooted FINALLY arrived for me at the library! Can't wait to chow down and read through this thread.

Diana wrote: "Uprooted FINALLY arrived for me at the library! Can't wait to chow down and read through this thread."

yesssssss get it

i'm so into this book

I really loved this book! I'm a little tired of the ancient-powerful-dude-sorcerer/much-younger-newly-powerful-girl-sorcerer relationship, but I liked both Nieshka and Sarkan so much that I wasn't too bothered. The worldbuilding was glorious, and I especially liked how it felt very much like a fairy tale, with a few threads that were familiar to me, but was still very original and unique.

And now I am off to read Leah's Uprooted/Grisha crossover and seek out ALL the Kasia/Nieshka fic. :D

Diana wrote: "I really loved this book! I'm a little tired of the ancient-powerful-dude-sorcerer/much-younger-newly-powerful-girl-sorcerer relationship, but I liked both Nieshka and Sarkan so much that I wasn't ..."

I think for me what off-set this was that he was such a baby? like sure he's ancient, but he's short and can't loom intimidatingly and fussy about his clothes etc. And once she got more settled she wouldn't take any of his shit either, so the dynamic was much less All Knowing Dude and Wide Eyed Girl

8D YAY EVERYONE READ MY FIC also i've only seen one kasia/nieshka fic it's a crime

I actually really appreciated the pacing? At least, in terms of the overall novel. You could tell where it could have been chunked up into a really long-winded trilogy, and i was excited that it was kept standalone instead of trying to stretch a plot to span longer than it needed to. From sentence to sentence, though, there was a lot of blink-and-you'll-miss it transitions that threw me for a loop.

i'm with fei on the attempted rape scene with the prince. i think i understood it as her trying to deconstruct that trope, but it just wasn't executed well and came off mainly as gross and unnecessary.

also i just love having characters like sarkan. i'm all here for grumpy, finnicky men. and i think too what off-set it is that he learned from her? i loved how there were different approaches to the magic system and how he was very stubborn and reluctant to admit his wasn't the best/only one.

also the ending was great. IM HERE FOR TAX PURPOSES in my best clothes which is clearly a Statement BUT DONT READ INTO IT

Hannah, you're right that Sarkan is a big ol' baby. I do prefer manbaby grumps who are also ancient and powerful to, like, smooth-talking handsome self-assured snakes who are ancient and powerful (with one or two notable exceptions of course).

Nieshka's refusal to take his shit helped too. I really liked that she had her own ways of using her power and sometimes his way was helpful or useful and sometimes it didn't work, and she went with how she intuited hers should work instead of capitulating to his ideas.

(the Luthe's Summoning scene was GREAT for that melding of ideas/styles/powers and also super hot)

"also the ending was great. IM HERE FOR TAX PURPOSES in my best clothes which is clearly a Statement BUT DONT READ INTO IT" W O R D

OK so, I finally read Uprooted and OMS, I love it. I love the characters, the setting, the Wood, the end...

Just yeah, I loved this book. xD

im so happy with the amount of love for this book it's great

the only problem is now i want to read 20 just like it and i cant find anything :(

@leah, IKR?!? I wish GR had a function where you could submit one book and it spit out others like it instead of the mass recs it does.

Have you read the fairyland books by Valente? They're similar, if more YA than Uprooted.

Have you read the fairyland books by Valente? They're similar, if more YA than Uprooted.

A couple of other books that I think have a similar vibe are Robin McKinley titles: Chalice and Spindle's End.

I know I'm super late with this but I only just managed to get my hands on Uprooted and, wow, it was incredible. Thanks so much for recommending it!

Finally got my hands on this last week and finished it over the weekend. I liked it a lot! I do agree that there was some pacing issues throughout the novel, but the strength of the world building, magic system, and all of the fantastic characters made up for it. Excellent choice!

no one is ever late!! it seems like this is definitely one of the books that people have come back to late, actually, i don't think any of the other books have been belatedly visited in quite the same way.

and yeah i will definitely put up with pacing for character sake and the characters in this were just. they were great. i just remembered how much i enjoyed this book haha what a good