Title: Uprooted
Author: Naomi Novik
Published: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Del Ray
Pages: 438 pages
Uprooted by Naomi Novik was one of my longest reads this year; even longer than J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which, by the way, has 870 pages.
Up to now, I am still very confused with what I just read so I need you to bear with me.
Gregory Maguire, author of the Wicked, said that Uprooted is “Bewitching.” I say, it’s “Confusing.” Maybe “Bewildering” or “Perplexing.” You might say, “OMG! How dare she say those words? The book was sooooo good!” Well, my friend, I am very glad the book worked for you. Sadly, it wasn’t for me. Here are the reasons why:
- The main character’s name, Agnie-who-tf-knows-how-to-spell-her-name-much-more-pronounce-it, was just too much to remember. If only she had more substance in her characterization, I would have tried to remember her name.
- I understand that the book is Fiction, but there was a severe lack of feminism. Woah. Wait. Feminism? Why do you need feminism? This is just a book.
When a woman is about to be raped because men think they can do anything they want — because they think she is just a piece of meat, because he is a man and he is entitled to have any woman he wants — that’s when you need feminism.
The sad part was, the main character was reprimanded for “teasing” the rapist; for “looking good for him.”
NO, NO, NO!
1) The main character did not dress up for him.
2) You can look good for yourself, and yourself only.
3) If you decide to dress up, that doesn’t mean anybody who thinks you look good can touch you.
- The plot was too dense. There was so much going on and so little time to process.
- There was magic, gore, and so much blood. What was missing then? Well, my attention. This book took me 14 days to finish. Granted I was busy, but when you are interested in something you always make time because you want to, not because you have to. I had to make time.
- The plot change in the end threw me off. As a nurse, flexibility in your daily routine is very important. It is very easy for me to adapt my schedule when I am working on the floor because I love what I do. It was difficult for me to adapt with the change in the end of the book because it barely caught my attention in the beginning.
I usually try to say something nice about the book after I “bash” it and this is that part.
Wait for it. Wait for it.
Ok. I have nothing.
Just kidding! I do have quite a few good things to say about the book.
- The author tried to do a proper world building in the book. Her world building helped me see the gory bloodshed which caused my pulse to quicken. It made me clearly visualize decapitations, bloody battles, and ghastly creatures of the dark (one of them reminded me of Groot’s features from The Guardians of the Galaxy).
- The sex scene. Why is this a good thing again? Ok, we are all adults here (if not, kids, avert your eyes). The main character and The Dragon had a lust filled sex scene that lasted for a good page or two that left little to the imagination. Though they never had any chemistry in the book, they somehow managed to do it before war broke loose. “Welp. I never liked you, but there’s a war so we better get to it!”
There you have it, ladies and gents!
I should put a little disclaimer somewhere that states to not let my book reviews influence your experience.
Anyway, I hope you have a better experience with this book than me.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Books In My Vein 