YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

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.

Starting July 7th 2015

Emily and I

I'll try to join!

Awesome :) Welcome, Tati!

I'm up to Chapter 4. I don't have anything very insightful to say, but thought I'd get us started anyway with my basic thoughts.
I thought the introductory chapter was handled well; it gave you the information you needed without being tedious. I also liked how it was written- it had a fairy-tale-like feel to me.
I'm not in love with the main character so far. Although I enjoyed her relationship with Kasia, Agnieszka seems like a bit of a spineless wimp. Maybe that's being overly harsh, as she has been thrown into a difficult situation for which she was in no way prepared. But she sinks into despair and hopelessness quite quickly and submits fairly completely to the Dragon without doing everything she could have to improve her living situation in the tower, IMO. Feyre from A Court of Thorns and Roses and Nyx from Cruel Beauty both had far more spunk and resolve, which I liked about them. Hopefully Agnieszka will grow as a character and find some reserves of strength. I also found it annoying how long it took her to catch on about what was actually happening with the magic. What do you think of her?
Wow, the Dragon is a jerk! (In fact, he should probably be referred to by a stronger word, but I won't use one here ;) He is certainly the most unpleasant and cold, I would even say cruel, Beast character of the three I've read lately.

Up to Chapter 9.

I enjoy all the world building, although some explanations of locations make my head spin. I suspect this would be warded off with a map, but as of now I am confused. The fairy tale tone is wonderful. I like the tone and the language of the characters.

As for Agnieszka (that name is crazy!), I kinda like her cluelessness. She's bad at a lot, that's true. I find her feelings to be rather realistic portrayals. She's a rather weak character as of now, but I feel that leaves a lot of room for her to grow. (view spoiler)[I find that her confidence at her magic abilities is a bit ridiculous. She seems to think that she can accomplish anything even though the Dragon told her that she shouldn't attempt them. He is hundreds of years older than her, maybe she should try listening to him. It's worked out so far for her, but I feel like it shouldn't have. I almost want things to go wrong for her so she can get a bit of understanding into her head. (hide spoiler)]

The Dragon is so interesting. He's snarky and fierce with an impatience in him that makes him easy to anger. I really like this about him. I agree that he is the most cruel out of the three characters in these books and I really like it.

(view spoiler)[I am loving the lack of romance so far. It's so minimal and barely noticeable at all. (hide spoiler)]

Up to Chapter 7 (sorry I'm behind, hopefully I'll catch up)
REALLY enjoying the book now that I've gotten more into the meat of the story. I'm liking Agnieszka (yes, it is a crazy name! The author definitely didn't go easy on us there ;) but it's the Polish version of Agnes) much much better now, ever since (view spoiler)[she went to try and save her town. (hide spoiler)] She's now acting, instead of just having things happen to her. And I'm enjoying how her relationship with the Dragon is developing. He's so frustrated all the time- I wonder why he is that way. Hopefully we'll find out. (view spoiler)[I agree that it's nice that there isn't any instalove between the characters. Romance might develop, but for now we're getting to focus on the story, which is good. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Her lack of interest in learning magic before that because she couldn't see how it could be useful baffled me! Obviously, not when it was draining her energy so much- that would suck- but once she started to get the hang of it. This didn't upset me; after all, I read books to read about characters who are different from me and how they handle situations. But if I were locked in a tower with nothing else to do and someone wanted to teach me MAGIC, I'd jump on it. (I mean, I partially read fantasy because I wish I could do magic- doesn't everyone wish that to some degree?) But then I'm a nerd and have always loved school and learning ;) (hide spoiler)]
I agree that a map would be helpful!

Up to chapter 14
I'm finding the name of the book to be very clever. Agnieszka and the other girls before her (view spoiler)[and now Kasia (hide spoiler)] have been uprooted from their lives. (view spoiler)[Agnieszka almost uproots the heart tree with her earthquake spell. (hide spoiler)] They need to "uproot" the Wood.
The horror and fear that would come from living near the wood really struck me- every day having to worry about the corruption, about you and your loved ones being snatched by Walkers, about the forest growing. I definitely think I would move. But some people go to great lengths to save and stay in the places they consider home. Would you stay?
I'm very curious about why the Dragon took the girls before Agnieszka. From the notes the previous one left for Agnieszka, it seems she and the Dragon were almost no better than strangers even after 10 years. So he wasn't really using her from companionship, it doesn't appear, and he could get his own food with magic, I presume. How the Dragon voluntarily lives that isolated and cut off from people is difficult to understand.
(view spoiler)[That makeout scene was intense! Really affected me. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[I didn't totally agree with you that her confidence was ridiculous until the last chapter. (And now she's going to help her attempted rapist. Really?) But thinking she can rescue the Queen is quite a stretch. If you think she should have listened to the Dragon earlier, do you think she should have given up on Kasia? (hide spoiler)]

I totally agree with the title. For a while I was wondering what was up with it, but then it hit me suddenly. The Wood would be terrifying in real life. Some scenes dealing with the Wood even having me react with disgust at the image it conjures up. I probably wouldn't stay myself, but if I didn't have the money or means to move, I suppose the choice wouldn't be up to me.

I absolutely have no idea why the Dragon takes people. (view spoiler)[When Agnieszka asked him why he did it, his answer didn't please me. It didn't make sense to me that he just did it because a hired servant didn't work as well. Does he not understand the damage he was doing to people? Was his answer just a place holder until we get a different answer? (hide spoiler)] The other girls did tell him stories and things to entertain him, like it said in the note. So they must have had some sort of acquaintanceship between them, but nothing too important. I am still unsure about why all those girls leave the valley for the city instead of returning home.
(view spoiler)[The kissing scene was amazing! I can't wait until we hopefully get more! (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[I'm glad you see where I'm coming from. Maybe it stems from her dimwitted and therefore ignorant nature, but Agnieszka has no right going off using her powers as though she is a seasoned witch. I like that she saved Kasia, but I just wish she would take the Dragon's warnings more seriously. She always seems to brush him off until it suits her. (hide spoiler)]
The thing I like the most, even if it bothers me at times, is that while the characters seem to grow they also remain true to their nature and personalities. They never switch to a different person all of a sudden.

spoilers for Chapters 15-20 beyond this point
(view spoiler)[I dislike that Agnieska doesn't accept the Falcon's offer to help her. She doesn't know anything about the court and how it works, but she stubbornly remains to decline anyone's help. It really bothers me. I started ranting about it at some point. I don't mind that she passed the test to become an official witch since it seems that her magic works better in a folk sort of way, whereas most other people can use it according to the common and practiced way. Maybe I just needed a break from reading, so when I go back into it, I hope to be over her stupidity and try to sympathize with her situation. (hide spoiler)]

I'll be getting this tomorrow or the next day so I'll be joining this soon.

Cool, Adriana :) look forward to discussing with you

Thanks Emily (: ~ I look forward to discussing Uprooted with you too.

Yay! Can't wait for you to discuss. =D

Up to chapter 20
I agree with you, Ivy, that I like that the author lets the characters develop without unrealistically becoming other people. That's a line that plenty of authors don't always get quite right.
I like the was magic is described in this book. Almost like it's another sense, but not as straightforward or logical as that. But since it's magic, the description not being straightforward or logical works for me (as long as it's consistent within the world building). What I just said might not make any sense, but I'm not sure how to explain it better, not being a writer myself.
(view spoiler)[That was quite the fight scene in the woods. I liked that Agnieszka was affected by the fighting, confusion, blood, death, etc around her and wasn't automatically some fabulous battle mage without any prior experience. She succeeded at their main objectives, but not without mistakes and heavy casualties. I wish the losses of those men had affected Agnieszka, and even the Dragon, more, but their plan after is to just throw more men at the Wood. I guess that's war, however; sometimes there is no better way. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[I was hoping that Agnieszka would get to go to the court. I didn't think through the fact that she'd possibly need to go without the Dragon though. I was looking forward to finding out what her name was going to be. I'm disappointed, but maybe her not having one is more true to her nature. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[Man, Agnieszka is bad at politics, isn't she. I understand why she doesn't trust the Falcon, he's a bit of a snake in the grass, but I also understand your frustration, Ivy. If I were her, I would have accepted his help and just kept an eye on him. But she seems too unexposed to basic politics and the nature of humans once we get into larger groups to even understand a basic tenet like "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." (To be so sheltered and lived in such a small place as to not understand currying favor and never have experienced a "mean girl" like Lady Alicja before- wow, that would be something else.) At the very least, I would have actively sought out others who might be willing to help me, whether I accepted the Falcon's help or not, and it quite bothers me that she doesn't do that. (hide spoiler)]

The magic is enthralling. It's so different to what I've read before and I really enjoy it. I feel that it fits the setting rather well.

(view spoiler)[I agree with you about her naming ceremony. I was sad that she didn't get a name like all the others, but I suspect that it might come at some point in the future. And if not, I guess no harm done. I also can't wait for the Dragon to be reintroduced into the story. It hasn't been that long, but I find myself missing him and his sharp tone. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[I didn't mention before, but I really enjoy the inclusion of other characters to the story. I find that in a lot of YA books, other characters (females especially) will only be around as a challenge for the MC to overcome. Kasia and Alosha have proven thus far to be away from these tropes. The Falcon and the prince haven't made themselves into love interests. I like this straying away from general YA. It helps build characters on their own without reliance on a romantic basis. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[As I have started to read again, with all of your words in mind, I find that I was over reacting to Agnieszka's ignorance. I may have just been in a mood. It's not really her fault that she doesn't understand and that the only person willing to help her is someone that's rather shady. I just wish she would not only think about her selfish needs all the time, but I guess that's just a character flaw she has. She can't just be what I want her to be. She is from a small place where everyone works together no matter the personal feelings they have about the other, like she mentioned. I find that she is pretty justified. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[I'm missing the Dragon too. The separation was necessary for plot, character development, and maybe the progression of their feelings, but his snarkiness is such a good balance to Agnieszka's naivety. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ I totally understand getting overly worked up by characters doing stupid or frustrating things! What's bugging me right now- again and possibly inoridinately- is that she's acting like she's completely forgotten that Marek tried to rape her. But I'm trying to put it aside and not let it detract too much, cause I'm enjoying other aspects quite a bit. (hide spoiler)]

3.75 rounded up to 4 stars
As we said before, this book had a very fairytale-like feel to it. For the most part, I really liked this. However, there were a few things I wasn't as crazy about that I think also stemmed from the fairytale quality, but they're fairly minor. Most significant was (view spoiler)[the lack of ending- I really wanted a lot more than basically a "they lived happily ever after"! (hide spoiler)] I also wish there was some more emotion explored, a bit less luck, and not as much telling as opposed to showing. But all of these quibbles are also probably because the author fit a whole lot of plot into one book.
(Some of) what I did like:
- The characters. Agnieszka can be a very frustrating character- but ultimately I really liked her, even if she didn't always act as I would. The Dragon was fabulous in his snarkiness, and they balanced each other out wonderfully.
- The Wood as the terrifying antagonist and the plot that results. Very entertaining.
- (view spoiler)[The intensity of the makeout and love scene (hide spoiler)]

I've finished and I'll probably be writing up a review soon enough. I think I'm going to give it 4/4.5 stars, but I haven't settled on the exact number yet.

I really loved all the language and how it matched with the world. It wasn't modern in tone, which matches well with the setting. There was so much plot to go through, it's crazy that it all fit into one book! I started to think of how this would be as a show.

(view spoiler)[Can I just say that that love scene was just yesss! It's what I was missing from Cruel Beauty and I really loved the inclusion of it here. (hide spoiler)] I do agree with you, Emily, that I wish there was more exploration of emotion and fleshing out of characters, but what we got was all so amazing. I feel a story with Alosha as the MC would be pretty wonderful as well, she's an intriguing character.

Also, all the explaining about why the people didn't want to leave and why the girls wanted to after they stayed with the Dragon was every necessary. I feel that most questions that I had were answered in time and in a satisfactory way.

Glad you liked it, Ivy! (BTW- always keep in mind with me that I'm a very hard rater.)
I would love to see the atmosphere and imagery of this as a show- that would be really cool.
Alosha was quite intriguing- I'd be fascinated by a story about her when she was younger. And a sequel about (view spoiler)[Kasia's adventures as a knight (hide spoiler)] might be fun too.
I'm very glad everything we had been discussing got explained. I would have been very dissatisfied if it hadn't.
(view spoiler)[Yes, the love scene was FABULOUS. A lot of sexy romance authors don't do as well. (hide spoiler)] It would have made both Cruel Beauty and A Court of Thorns and Roses better. Now that we've read all three, what were your favorite things about each/ what did you think each did best? Mine would be: Cruel Beauty- the atmosphere of the castle and Nyx and Ignifex's love/hate relationship. Uprooted- the above, the villain of the Wood, descriptions and imagery, fairytale quality, the "beastliness" of the Dragon at the beginning, and secondary characters. ACOTAR- Feyre was my favorite MC, and the last third was just excellent and well done, I thought. You rated ACOTAR the highest, why? My rating was only 3.5 stars because the first 2/3rds moved very slow to me and I wanted more secondary characters- I also just wasn't totally convinced by their love.

Oooh~ That would be so good!

I think that my overall enjoyment of aCoTaR had to do with it being the first book like it that I've read. Something about the world building really drew me in and I have a weakness for fae. If I had read Uprooted first, I believe that I would have proclaimed many of the same feelings. I still might even give Uprooted a 5 star rating, though. I change my mind fairly often when it comes to assigning a star value and I also forget my own ratings and system when it comes to reviews because it's difficult for me to separate enjoyment from analyzing. I probably just wrote the review too soon after I had finished it and gushed. I've been working on that, haha

My favorite to least, if I had to give them an order, would be: Uprooted, A Court of Thorns and Roses, then Cruel Beauty. I feel that Uprooted deserves the top spot even if my ratings don't reflect this (or maybe it will, as I said, I'm indecisive) because of re-readability. The story is one I could see myself rereading multiple times and it helps that it's a stand alone. Even so, I really enjoyed all of them, especially when I look at them as individual books and don't compare them.

I have to agree with you that Cruel Beauty did the love/hate relationship best. The mythology aspect was something so unique to me and I found it really interesting. The feelings that Nyx had also came through the writing well to me, even if she changed her mind a lot. I can obviously relate to that.

Uprooted had that fairy tale feel down hard. It also packed so much story into such a small frame and it worked out. I love the interactions between Agnieszka and the Dragon so much. I think out of all the books, this one had my favorite set of characters. I also liked the back story to the villain in this and how original the evil seemed. The magic worked out perfectly and flowed very naturally. This gave me the best feelings out of all of them due to the way it was written, it seemed very magical in nature and you could feel the deep rooted nature that it held.

A Court of Thorns and Roses had a really good build up, at least to me. All the slow parts seemed really necessary to me since it allowed for the passage of time and character interactions. I honestly thought that Cruel Beauty handled this incorrectly as things seemed repetitive and boring, but I get the reasoning. I enjoyed Feyre's character more than I thought I would and I like how she developed to be more true to herself than the person she was forced into being. The trials were heart pounding and I liked (view spoiler)[how she almost failed and would have without intervention (hide spoiler)]. I felt this was missing in Uprooted because things always seemed to work out in the end no matter what. I have to agree, though, more characters would have been great. I find that to be a problem that plagues YA books. I want more characters that are just there because they also exist. They are not just there to be a problem or love interest to the MC. Maybe it stems from playing too many RPGs, but it's what I want.

Balancing out the enjoyment and analyzing factors when rating books is very difficult. And it's not uncommon for me to change my mind about ratings after the fact either.
My ordering of the three would be the same. I had issues with the fact that Cruel Beauty's world building didn't make a ton of sense, but otherwise I enjoyed it. And I greatly enjoyed the other two, despite my criticisms.
I don't always mind a slow build-up, and if I'd felt the connection between the two MCs in A Court of Thorns and Roses more or if there had been more characters to cause more drama, I wouldn't have had a problem with it. (Although there was Lucien, whom I liked. And I'm looking forward to learning more about Rhys in the next book.)
I agree that secondary characters in YA are often either stereotypes or there for a certain plot function. It's always awesome when they break that mold and are actually explored as characters, which as you pointed out, Uprooted did well.

Isaboe and I are starting this today, feel free to join

I'm at 69% and (view spoiler)[ Could she please go back to the tower? This thing at court is beginning to drag... And why did the queen suddenly come back to herself? I'm also beginning to doubt that we'll see her ten years at the tower.

I want her to go back to the tower mostly because I want to see if they'll have any romantic relationship. And because I love the Dragon's snark. (hide spoiler)]

72%, gosh, this tension is killing me!

75% (view spoiler)[ Bad news all over the place... She is drained of magic, Marek wants her to marry him (without asking her what she wants), the Crown Prince is dead... (hide spoiler)]

81% (view spoiler)[ Gosh, I'm on the edge of my seat here! And how I missed Sarkan! (hide spoiler)]

it's okay, I'll still be around

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Reading from the 26th of October 2015

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Reading from the 4th of January 2016

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Just started
(view spoiler)[Okayy I really need to know what the dragon does to the girls!? (hide spoiler)]

Started. I love the cover.

End of chapter 1 ------ (view spoiler)[ I knew Kasia was not going to be picked but at one time I thought both would be picked.

So he teaches the girls magic??? Interesting. Excited to see where it goes from here (hide spoiler)]

End of chapter 4 (view spoiler)[ I'm finding this to be boring and I can't get into it. Going to put it down for a but and come back tonight or tomorrow. (hide spoiler)]

About 20% in
(view spoiler)[Finally, some action. I don't see why the Dragon is mad at Agnieszka for saving his life. (hide spoiler)]

36%
(view spoiler)[This is getting boring. Why does every little thing have to be described in such excruciating detail? (hide spoiler)]

Up to the end of Chapter 16 (view spoiler)[ so a little more is happening. Getting a little better.

I like how the title is pretty much explained. Sometimes in books the titles have no real meaning to the story but not in this case.

It was interesting to see Kasia up there with them now.

I'm still wondering why the dragon takes the girls. Like others have said his reason really did not seem like a reason. There has to be more.

Agnieszka Saving Kasia was great but she needs to start thinking before acting like she can save people with her magic.

Interesting to see what plays out between Agnieszka and the dragon now. (hide spoiler)]

Feyde wrote: "36%
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ my same thoughts. (hide spoiler)]

Lindsey wrote: "Up to the end of Chapter 16 so a little more is happening. Getting a little better.

I like how the title is pretty much explained. Sometimes in books the titles have no real meaning to the story..."

You asked what happens what plays out between Agnieszka and the dragon now? This is what happens. Eughh(view spoiler)[
'“You intolerable lunatic,” he snarled at me, and then he caught my face between his hands and kissed me.' I'm not sure I ship them, though there aren't really any other characters to pair off. (hide spoiler)]

This is so boringgggg I'm still stuck at like 40%

Done (view spoiler)[ so yeah. This was not for me. I could myself bored and unable to enjoy the book.

The writing seemed to be repeative at times and parts could have been cut short.

I wanted more from it. (hide spoiler)]

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Date Changed. Restarting March 6th 2016. Happy Reading ☺

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Date Changed. Restarting April 23rd 2016. Happy Reading ☺

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I'm in!

I know this isn't due for another two weeks but I somehow got my copy in the mail today and I couldn't resist!

5%
(view spoiler)[
wait, what. who is the dragon and why is he taking these girls? what makes them change so they never want to stay? Also, I totally knew our MC would be the one that would be taken.
(hide spoiler)]

20%
(view spoiler)[
I can't really see where this is all going but I like how the dragon and the MC's relationship seem to be coming along. He's so grumpy though
(hide spoiler)]

30%
(view spoiler)[
so she can do healing magic? what happened with the rose thing?
(hide spoiler)]

35%
(view spoiler)[
girl what are you doiiiiiiiiiiing get back into that tower!
(hide spoiler)]

50%
(view spoiler)[
THEY KISSED!? Why is everyone kind of going along like this wasn't a thing? This was totally a thing.
(hide spoiler)]

56%
(view spoiler)[
why are they going into this stupid forest for the queen? I have a feeling this is not a good idea but at the same time I feel like MC is going to kick butt.
(hide spoiler)]

100%
(view spoiler)[
Well, I finished all of it on my way home on the subway and I can't say I'm exactly pleased. I was hooked on Dragon and MC's romance and the Wood story and I only ended up confused by story and let down by the romance? I'm not sure how I feel about this book and it's ending to be quite honest. I don't think I really understand what happened
(hide spoiler)]

Victoria wrote: "100%

Well, I finished all of it on my way home on the subway and I can't say I'm exactly pleased. I was hooked on Dragon and MC's romance and the Wood story and I only ended up confused by story a..."

(view spoiler)[I was disappointed in the romance too. But other than that, I enjoyed it. (hide spoiler)]

Sorry guys, I won't be able to join this one after all but I hope you guys have a good read!

Hey guys, sorry about this but I'm not sure when I'll be getting to this book or even if I will. This is just a generic message for all of my buddy reads this month, but I really don't have as much time to read as I thought :/ I'll try my best, and I'll let you know when I'm up to them, but I doubt I'll be getting to the ones closer to the end of the month at all :/