Review #1 - Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Uprooted because it was a Nebula award winner, and I trust the Nebulas. I didn’t know anything about it, only that it was inspired by Polish stories, and Baba Jaga was mentioned. Not knowing what to expect going in left me to be pleasantly surprised by the book, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Often in the book, Novik describes the flow of the Spindle, the river that winds through the valley and into the Wood. Novik’s prose is like this river; it flows easily, and with a strength that takes you easily along. Which is needed, as this is a book that doesn’t lose pace, going from action scene to action scene right until the ending.

What I loved about this book was the magic. Novik writes with confidence, but doesn’t feel the need to explain or describe the mechanics of what is happening. We trust her, as we trust the fairy tales we grew up with. She blurs the lines between metaphor and literal description so that we don’t see the magic, but we understand it. This is a skill; understanding enough without lecturing to a reader is a fine line to walk along.

There were a few hiccups along the way, things that jarred me out of the flow. A few times the characters (often male) would be all raw edges and bad behaviour, making me frown when they weren’t called out. Though, this was clearly a man’s world, so perhaps Novik made deliberate choices to excuse them. Even Agnieszka’s moving between bewilderment and unwavering certainty was at times a little disjointed. Her story of personal growth and discovery was strong, though felt a little muddy, and a few times I felt she slipped away into description without heart. However, these brief moments weren’t enough to make this a negative experience.

What did stand out with this book was the horror of the Wood. Novik is very good at creating an atmosphere of dread, and for the most is able to hold the thread steady – a high pitched whine that penetrates the story, leaving you feeling deeply unsettled and not entirely sure what you’ve imagined. True, underlying horror is something that lives at the heart of all the good traditional tales, and is often missing from young adult fiction. Books are a good way to be scared, without being hurt or corrupted. More authors should be willing to unsettle and even frighten their readers. Kudos to Novik for taking that step further into darkness.

Over all, I would recommend this to anyone who likes a strong, female led adventure, the mysterious logics of European fairy tales, and just a hint of horror.

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