Love Is Turning Towards Danger Instead of Away from It -- Naomi Novik's Uprooted

I actually finished reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik quite a while ago. I've spent a lot of time mulling over my review, trying to figure out what I want to say and how to say it.

I can tell you that the reviews I've read are all positive, and they're right. This is a very good book, and well worth reading. It has everything that you could want from a novel in that it's tightly-plotted, full of compelling characters, and the world-building is both creative and coherent. You'd be surprised how rarely that's true. Written in first person from the heroine's perspective, Agnieszka has a strong, clear voice that makes itself known from the very first sentence.

( Uprooted - Naomi Novik )

Everyone has struggled with a feeling of belonging. I know I have. That's part of what makes Uprooted so compelling. It doesn't gloss over the dark undertones of blind loyalty, whether it's to a person or to a homeland. As a heroine Agniezska loves her home in the valley, or perhaps she is merely so attached to it that she's become insensible to its faults. For better or worse, the pull of the valley never lets up, and she never struggles against it. It's toxic or it's beautiful, but it can't be resisted.

Crossposted to hazelgold.net.