ONTD Book Club 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.

I already started reading a while ago. I have about an hour left of the book to go. I am interested in what others will think!

YASSSSS!!! I just finished this book a couple of weeks ago and I loved it. I cannot wait to read people's thoughts on it.

I'm going to look to you two to get discussions moving then! I haven't read it yet, and don't think I'll get to before the month is out.

I will be finishing a book today so I'm just in time to start this one. It's not a book I would pick out on my own but it does sound like a nice book!

There's 1 person ahead of me in the library queue. I hope I'll get it sometime this month.

I have a Kindle sample of this book. I'll read that first and then get the whole thing after so I can take part in the discussion.

This book was a really easy read but I felt like there was way too much going on. There were several parts where I felt the book could have easily ended or should have gone somewhere else. I kept feeling confused, like I must have missed something that explained what was happening and why, but it kept feeling that way at every major turn. What's happening now and why? Also, the romance felt forced in there and really out of place and just wrong.

Sorry to be such a Debby Downer!

I'm SUCH a fan of Naomi Novik, I love her Temeraire series and she's such a cool person in general. I'm so glad she's getting such hype and attention with this book :')

I'm trying to find the cheapest copy of this book that I can, since I love the cover we have in Aus

One thing I really liked about this book was the way magic was described. Naomi Novik writes magic in a really intuitive and emotional way and manages to make you feel what it would be like to be able to cast a spell. I felt like I believed the magic, it made sense, even though it's not explained in a mathematical way like sometimes happens in novels with magic systems. I have nothing against magic systems, but they often feel very mechanical and not, well... magical. Uprooted's magic keeps all the mystery that befits a fairy tale story.

I'm not finished with this book (I actually started it a long time ago before y'all picked it for this month's book) This book is right up my alley; I love books about magic and its a quick and dirty read. My one critque of this book is that its crammed to the rafters with shit happening. Like I don't know what is a subplot and what is the proper plot in this book.

*FIRST HALF OF BOOK SPOILERS*


I'm about a third of the way through and will probably finish in the next week. I'm really enjoying this book and feel like it's just starting to "pick up" too now that Agnieszka is not moping around in the kitchen and tower. I love that Agnieszka is finding her own way with the magic and how it totally pisses the Dragon off with his perfectionism. I loved the whole plot where she saves her village by not knowing what the hell she's doing and just throwing potions at everything! I love Agnieszka and Kasia's friendship. There are so many questions that I can't wait to see answered! The author is doing a great job at dangling these little threads of like "oooooh what's THAT all about?"

Now one part I'm dreading is this ROMANCE I keep seeing mentioned. At this point in the book, there are NO soft feelings between Agnieszka and the Dragon (Ummmmm...I *assume* this is the romance people are referencing, by the way - unless there's some random dude who has yet to make an appearance!). I just don't see it happening between these two and I'm curious how the author is going to make this work. He has been completely irredeemable up to this point. I can't even see the "misunderstood heart-of-gold-underneath-it-all" angle playing out. I'm hopeful though as people seemed to really like this book and so I figure the author must pull it off somehow. There has been no inkling of these two being suited to each other either - I only saw a few mild spoilers about it or I would never guess it at all. I look forward to updating with my thoughts on ALL THAT after I finish!

This book really reminded me of Howl's Moving Castle in a good way. I really liked the writing and the description of magic (I'll have to check out her other stuff now) and the fact that it was a STAND ALONE. I kind of would have enjoyed the final plot being a little more spread out, but I really enjoyed it. I think this type of casual dip into fantasy is my favorite, there's less investment and more time spent on the actual characters.

Hugo wrote: "One thing I really liked about this book was the way magic was described. Naomi Novik writes magic in a really intuitive and emotional way and manages to make you feel what it would be like to be a..."

I totally agree. The magic was very natural and mysterious, I felt like I could see the spells when Agniezka was describing them, it was really cool. Sometimes authors get too stuck in making up rules about magic and forget about what makes magic cool

Mia wrote: "This book really reminded me of Howl's Moving Castle in a good way. I really liked the writing and the description of magic (I'll have to check out her other stuff now) and the fact that it was a S..."

It's really interesting that you mentioned HMC because I just read that and dug it a lot--except for the romance. That wasn't something I was as sold on, so we'll see if Uprooted can do a better job of it.

ETA: And omg, yes, a stand alone. It shouldn't be such a phenomenon, but it really is.

The romance is very similar to the one in Howl's, but maybe a little more fleshed out? I am biased since I enjoyed both. I do think it doesn't detract from the book either way though, which is nice. Really happy there was a solid female friendship in this one too. That's about as rare as a standalone sometimes when it comes to fantasy.

I really wanted to like this book, but for some reason, I wasn't into it. It started off interesting since I had no idea where it would take me, but as I kept reading, I found myself not interested in the characters or plot. I do have to say that the imagery was very good, and I was terrified at some parts. I was not expecting such a dark book! However, I would not recommend this since I couldn't wait for it to end.

I just read the sample for Uprooted and, wow, it feels so much like HMC to me, which isn't bad at all, but may not be such a fresh experience for me because it's the last book I read. I can say that based on the little I got around to yesterday that I'm already really excited for the worldbuilding.

ETA: I've taken the liberty to changing our Group Book from CRA to Uprooted. Once we select books for October, I'm more than happy to queue those up as well.

I really like some parts of the books but I also find it pretty boring sometimes...still reading it and I want to finish it, but if I'm honest I would have put it down if I would not be reading it for the book club . It's a shame cause the parts I like are really really good, but somehow the book doesn't captivate me :(

The romance in the book really grossed me out :( I finally finished the book. Some parts where really good, others not so much. It was an ok read for me and I think the author had some really good ideas but there was too much going on. I do think there is great potential in the story.

Marlies wrote: "The romance in the book really grossed me out :( I finally finished the book. Some parts where really good, others not so much. It was an ok read for me and I think the author had some really good ..."

What bothered you about the romance? I'm still reading because I've had other stuff going on this month, so I haven't gotten to anything romantic yet.

Idris wrote: "Marlies wrote: "The romance in the book really grossed me out :( I finally finished the book. Some parts where really good, others not so much. It was an ok read for me and I think the author had s..."

I don't want to spoil things for you, and it's only a tiny part of the story, but it's just so forced between to characters who don't have chemistry in that way at all imo.

Marlies wrote: "Idris wrote: "Marlies wrote: "The romance in the book really grossed me out :( I finally finished the book. Some parts where really good, others not so much. It was an ok read for me and I think th..."

I agree, everything in this book felt forced to me. I found it hard to connect or care for any of the characters. I'm not sure if it was the writing style or lack of depth with the secondary characters that I didn't like, but I'm so glad to be done with this book.

The author never really evolved the romance between Nieshka and the Dragon in a believable way. Like hey, we did magic together and it was a rush so I totally forgive you being the WORLD'S BIGGEST ASSHOLE up to this point - let's make out!!! I couldn't get behind it (although I did think the make out session and eventual hook-up was kind of hot). I did like the other relationships in the book, such as Kasia and Nieshka's friendship, and even the frenemies relationship Nieshka had with the wizard from the capital (Solya).

I totally see what you all meant about the multiple plots being all over the place. I felt like this could have been fleshed out into a trilogy - it seemed that so much was crammed into the latter part of the book. I think trilogies can get tiresome but this was one story that I think could have well adapted to one. I really wanted more background on what the magic was all about, WHY was Nieshka magical and others aren't? How does this talent develop? Also, Alosha was SUCH a badass - I loved her character and really wanted to know more about her.

I did enjoy the book overall, and I loved certain characters and plots, but I did find myself ready for it to be over. There was just SO much plot crammed in there. However, I was so fascinated by the Wood and the trees. Nieshka was most interesting to me when she was "healing" the trees at the end. I was kind of disappointed when the Dragon showed up at the very end so they could continue their totally dysfunctional romance. I like her much better on her own.

Julie wrote: "!! I couldn't get behind it (although I did think the make out session and eventual hook-up was kind of hot). "

Funny story (I think), my friend was reading a "dirty"book while at the airport. I was sitting next to her and I said to her "I only read innocent things :P", I turn the page....make out galore! The timing was amazing, especially cause I didn't see it coming.

So I got on the library queue for this book as soon as the vote was over... and I just got it last week. Anyway, I've finally finished.

I really liked the basic plot- the struggle against the wood, the resolution of all that. The history with the Wood-queen and the tree people. I enjoyed the magic and seeing Agnieszka figure out how it worked for her.

I agree with other people here that I hated the forced romance between Agnieszka and the Dragon. He was awful to her and the transition to her having feelings for him didn't really make sense.

Overall, I'd rate this 3.5/5 stars.

Ahria wrote: "So I got on the library queue for this book as soon as the vote was over... and I just got it last week. Anyway, I've finally finished.

I really liked the basic plot- the struggle against the wood..." Is the book so popular that it took so long to get it? I've never heard of the book outside of this group. I guess I'm out of the loop.

I was 13th in the queue, so I guess so? I'd have never heard of this book outside the group either though. I also live in a very populated area.

The book is pretty popular in the YA fiction world, yeah. Take a look at the authors who gave blurbs on the back cover. Some of them are heavy hitters in YA and Fantasy. Their signal boost alone made it a must-read for a lot of people.

Totally late to the party but I just finished it. Can't say I am a fan. I also found the romance forced and I couldn't relate to any of the characters except, quite ironically, the Wood.

Nicole wrote: "Totally late to the party but I just finished it. Can't say I am a fan. I also found the romance forced and I couldn't relate to any of the characters except, quite ironically, the Wood."

Haha, yeah. What a let down.