This book was scrumptious, and I devoured it. I stayed up so late reading it I legit almost fell asleep at work the next day. So there’s this dragon who lives near an evil wood, and once every ten years, he chooses a girl from a local village to take into his castle. In return for protecting the people from the corruption of the Wood, they allow him to choose freely from their daughters. But this dragon doesn’t have claws or wings; he has magic. He’s […]
“I don’t want more sense!” I said loudly, beating against the silence of the room. “Not if sense means I’ll stop loving anyone. What is there besides people that’s worth holding on to?”
I really loved this book. It’s got magic and scary trees and romance and friendship and mad cow disease, pretty much all the things. It’s really very, very good. You can read my full review here.
A short, lazy review that you shouldn’t read because you should be reading UPROOTED instead.
Uprooted was so good and I bought it immediately after returning my copy from the library. Everything about this book worked like gangbusters for me: the arc of the protagonist, the slow revelations behind the enigmatic “Dragon” character, the FEMALE FRIENDSHIP (squee!), the adventure, the homage to Slavic fairy tales and horror, the magic — everything! Here’s the teaser from Goodreads because I’m lazy: “Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on […]
Let the Wentworthing Begin
I have been wanting to check out Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series for a few years now. It checks my dragons and alternate history boxes of interest. While reading, I shared my enthusiasm for the first book of the series on Facebook. Malin shared that she hadn’t been as enchanted because the book focuses more on the military maneuverings than on the dragons. This is a legitimate complaint, but not one I had. I had immediately pictured our hero, Captain Lawrence, a naval captain reluctantly turned […]
Don’t go into the Wood. No, seriously, stay FAR away.
Disclaimer! I got this as an ARC through NetGalley in return for a fair and unbiased review.The book is available now. While this remarkable novel by Naomi Novik isn’t actually a retelling of some traditional fairy tale, it feels like it should be. The book moves slowly, thoroughly establishing the sleepy little environment Agniezka and Kasia live in, with the terrors of the slowly encroaching Wood so close by. Once someone disappears in the Wood, they will hopefully stay lost. Should they return, they are […]
A Feminist Fairy Tale
I recently saw a review of this novel on NPR’s web site which compared it to Beauty and the Beast. Frankly, I don’t see it, but that’s okay because it’s so much better than a retelling of any known fairy tale. Novik combines elements of Slavic fairy tales, magic, and even some Tolkienesque flourishes (she admits to being a fan and it comes through in the work) to create a complex story about powerful women and friendship, the merits and difficulties of collaboration, and finding […]