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Uprooted
RECOMMENDED: Uprooted by Naomi Novik is $2.99! A lot of people have recommended this book and Novik’s writing, but some readers did mention on Goodreads that the book is a bit slow at times. It’s been on my TBR list for ages, so maybe I’ll finally break down and get a copy to read. Are you an Uprooted fan?
“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.
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A Lady in the Smoke
A Lady in the Smoke by Karen Odden is 99c! This is billed as Victorian mystery and I believe it’s Odden’s debut novel. Readers say it has an awesome blend of everything: mystery, drama, romance. However, some felt the relationships between characters eclipsed the mystery. It has a 3.9-star average on Goodreads.
Karen Odden’s enthralling debut historical mystery transports readers to Victorian England, where a terrifying railway disaster plunges a headstrong young noblewoman into a conspiracy that reaches to the highest corridors of power.
Following a humiliating fourth Season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is on her way back to her ancestral country estate when her train careens off the rails and bursts into flames. Though she is injured, she manages to drag herself and her unconscious mother out of the wreckage, and amid the chaos that ensues, a brilliant young railway surgeon saves her mother’s life. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection with Paul Wilcox—though society would never deem a medical man eligible for the daughter of an earl.
After Paul reveals that the train wreck was no accident, and the inspector who tried to prevent it dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth undertakes a dangerous investigation of her own that leads back to her family’s buried secrets. The more she learns, the more she must risk. Not only are her dowry and her reputation at stake; Paul’s very life hangs in the balance when he is arrested for manslaughter. As the trial draws near, and Parliament prepares for a vote that will change the course of the nation, Elizabeth uncovers a conspiracy that has been years in the making. But time is running out for her to see justice done.
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The Bollywood Bride
The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev is $2.99! This is a recommended contemporary romance and Dev is an auto-buy author around here. Redheadedgirl and Carrie did a joint review of the book and gave it a B+:
CarrieS: My super short review is, As a novel, this book is great, but as a romance novel, it’s not as good because the hero is not terribly convincing as a character. It’s interesting that we don’t get his point of view directly. That would have helped, because his character swings back and forth a lot between angel and jerk.
RHG: Yeah, it’s…. it’s kind of old school in that way? We get very little of the hero’s POV and it’s all about her. And yet decidedly neo-classic in that the trauma the heroine goes through has actual lasting consequences that aren’t fixed by magic wang.
Ria Parkar is Bollywood’s favorite Ice Princess–beautiful, poised, and scandal-proof–until one impulsive act threatens to expose her destructive past. Traveling home to Chicago for her cousin’s wedding offers a chance to diffuse the coming media storm and find solace in family, food, and outsized celebrations that are like one of her vibrant movies come to life. But it also means confronting Vikram Jathar.
Ria and Vikram spent childhood summers together, a world away from Ria’s exclusive boarding school in Mumbai. Their friendship grew seamlessly into love–until Ria made a shattering decision. As far as Vikram is concerned, Ria sold her soul for stardom and it’s taken him years to rebuild his life. But beneath his pent-up anger, their bond remains unchanged. And now, among those who know her best, Ria may find the courage to face the secrets she’s been guarding for everyone else’s benefit–and a chance to stop acting and start living.
Rich with details of modern Indian-American life, here is a warm, sexy, and witty story of love, family, and the difficult choices that arise in the name of both.
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Royal Games
Royal Date by Sariah Wilson is 99c! This is the first book in The Royals of Monterra series and I’m detecting a whiff of a fake relationship, maybe. I believe the books in this series have no sexual content, but readers say the books are cute, fluffy, and work as a great palate cleanser. And, if you want to read about more royals, the entire series is available for less than $5.
This Cinderella didn’t plan on a prince…
Kat MacTaggart is a girl who has a plan for everything—including her holiday ski trip to Monterra with her best friend. Everything is going according to plan until she finds herself careening out of control down a mountainside and being rescued by a guy who looks like Superman’s hotter Italian cousin.
HRH Prince Nico is intrigued by the woman he saved on the slopes and her refusal to date him. He offers Kat a deal—let him show her his country and he’ll pay her to write articles that will help Monterra’s tourism industry. Kat agrees, but given her past and lingering distrust of men, she has one condition—absolutely no kissing.
Thanks to the claims of a jealous British noblewoman and the schemes of a meddling paparazzo, Kat’s rule doesn’t seem to be a problem at first. But the more Kat gets to know Nico and the people around him, the harder it is to remember her keep-your-distance plan. Should she stick to it or risk everything for a chance at happily ever after?
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I was about halfway through the audiobook of Uprooted when it expired on overdrive and haven’t finished it, but up until then I was really enjoying it. Kind of reminded me of early Robin McKinley books. I do not recommend the audiobook, though, as the narrator has a VERY thick accent and was difficult for me to understand on my phone.
The first set of the Ashley Gardner’s Captain Lacey Regency mysteries is on sale for .99. Looks like it’s the first four books?
@Katie Lynn: I really enjoyed Uprooted, and agree that it’s McKinley-esque. I wondered if it was inspired by the Aerin/Luthe storyline in The Hero and the Crown (both in terms of plot and vibe).
I liked Uprooted, especially the part where the heroine feels like a fish out of water at Court. Naomi Novak writes very well, I read her books with pleasure… but no excitement. And sometimes, that’s what I need.
I’m a fan, too, of UPROOTED, starting with the “we’re grateful, but not that grateful” line. Definitely slow going at first, but worth it.
Uprooted is great, although it’s got a YA/fairytale vibe that isn’t generally my thing. If you’re into that at all, definitely check it out.
Speaking of which, “what if Cinderella didn’t want her prince” is a great tag line, that alas doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the plot of that book.
Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson is currently $1.99. Heroine is the personal assistant to a hockey player who is forced into retirement due to injury. There’s a plot line about the hero becoming dependent on his pain pills, and he doesn’t treat the heroine well for the first part of the book, so YMMV. I enjoyed it overall.
Love, love, love Uprooted. I enjoyed all the cliche-twisting it did. I would definitely give it to a young(ish) female reader on my Christmas list!
I loved Uprooted for a lot of reasons but the top three definitely were as follows:
1. the relationship between Agnieszka and Kasia, which is complicated and full of both resentment and love;
2. how much of a grump the Dragon is, and how that grumpiness goes from being intimidating to infinitely endearing; and
3. that when Agnieszka learns magic (spoiler?), she learns most not from the Dragon but from a book written by a sorceress whose work is often dismissed as inaccurate, ineffective, and frivolous by the male magical establishment.
I really enjoyed Uprooted and I’m not a huge fairy tale reader. My favorite part is the Slavic world. Except for the occasional Russian tale (too often involving alleged descendants of tsars), not so many books take place in Eastern Europe. WANT MORE SLAVS!
I loved UPROOTED too, but I know a few readers who didn’t love the romance because it’s quite traditional (centuries old grump + spirited young woman) compared to Agnieszka and Kasia’s relationship, which some of my friends read as queer and were disappointed the book didn’t go with that. I liked the focus on their relationship as close friendship too, since female friendship is also not all that common in fantasy sadly, and I’m a sucker for magic-learning stuff and grumpy heroes so I actually really liked Agnieszka and the Dragon. Still, I can see why people were hoping either for an F/F romance even (especially?) with the blurb.
I wanted to read Uprooted, and then someone made the magical McKinley comparison and I’m going TAKE MY MONEY
I really enjoyed Uprooted. It’s more of a YA/fantasy than romance – there is a romance, but it’s very understated and you only get Agnieszka’s pov.
I didn’t care for “Uprooted” I wanted to because I like the Temeraire series. I found it slow and kind of frustrating.
I think maybe I was just the wrong reader as everyone I know loved it. I’m not usually a fantasy reader unless it’s crossed with something else – romance, mystery, comedy, etc.
“Readers say it has an awesome blend of everything: mystery, drama, romance. However, some felt the relationships between characters eclipsed the mystery.” … And that’s a plus for me! 😀 I prefer mysteries with a strong focus on relationships.
I picked up two of these. The Victorian sounded too intriguing to pass up and royal/commoner romances are a particular weakness of mine, I’ve discovered!
I very much love Uprooted, it’s filled with magic, and the audiobook is fantastic! I might have to buy this and add the Audible to my purchase. Thanks for the heads up!
Isn’t that sale title Royal Date rather than Royal Games?
Bless y’all for this sales post. I bought Uprooted last night and ended up in the Bad Decisions Book Club until 3 AM until I forced myself to go the fuck to sleep once I reached the 75% mark on my Kindle. I had a final this morning, goddammit.
(P.S. It went fine, and I managed to finish the last quarter of the book before I took it!)
@GraceElizabeth As much as I did actually like the relationship between the Dragon and Agnieszka (I am, unfortunately, a sucker for grumpy romantic leads when they’re written with a deft hand), I was really pulling for Kasia and Agnieszka to get together, too. Their bond felt more complex and more powerful, tinged with resentment in spite of, even because of, intense love. I would have really liked to see more exploration of that theme, and I think their romance would have been both more painful and more cathartic once those issues were addressed. Still, I don’t have any particular complaints about the canon pairing–I just think Kasia and Agnieszka’s story would have been stronger.
Some of the reviews compare Uprooted to Howl’s Moving Castle, a book I love.
It is Royal Date. Royal Games is the third book in that series.
Fixed! I was originally going to feature Royal Games but saw that the first book was also on sale (and cheaper!).
@Carol S (and anyone else looking for more Slavic/Eastern European content) – you might give Katherine Arden’s The Bear and The Nightingale a try. It’s the first in a Russian fairy-tale based trilogy, and Naomi Novik gave it a good blurb.
I loved A Lady in the Smoke! I thought the Victorian era constraints on the heroine were realistic, plus it had a great courtroom scene at the climax.
I loved A Lady in the Smoke! The doctor hero was wonderful, I thought the Victorian era constraints on the heroine were realistic, plus it had a great courtroom scene at the climax.
What Nuha said.
I loved Uprooted, except when it was terrifying me. The horror elements are really horrible. On the plus side are: the Slavic background, the feminist exploration of relationships and fairytale tropes, the magic Agnieszka finally practices, Kasia’s story, and the whole of the ending. Great book.
I enjoyed Uprooted, but I have to agree that the audiobook narrator was hard to take. Usually, when a narrator has an accent, you get used to it as you get into the book. Not in this case. It was annoying from start to finish. And I’m used to it; I grew up in a neighborhood filled with immigrants from various Slavic countries.
@Jill Q: Glad I’m not alone. My love for Temeraire burns brightly (especially for the audiobooks narrated by the amazing Simon Vance). I was so excited about Uprooted because I’d heard great things about it, and waited seemingly forever for it to go on sale. Then, when I was finally able to start it, I DNF’d it pretty quickly. Maybe my expectations were too high. Or maybe the timing was just wrong time and I need to give it another shot later.
Another from the Uprooted fan club, it’s one of my favourite books read this year. I mostly listened to it via audible, which I thought was fantastic narration. However, I’m Australian and had no trouble with the British narrator, it sounds like a few of the above US listeners found a non-American narrator tough going for this Polish inspired fairy tale. Some of you guys recommending this for a YA audience: a warning that there is a fairly sexy sex scene, comparison can be made with the sex from Maas’s A Court Of Thorns and Roses series.
Huge love for the dragon! I love an asshole male character that you know is going to learn something from a great female protagonist.
I loved Uprooted so much I bought the audio book after reading my library copy. I didn’t have a problem with the accent, but I didn’t enjoy her interpretation of the book. She read it like she didn’t know where the story (or even the sentence!) was going, and that didn’t work for the character of the novel. It wasn’t unbearable, but it did detract from the story. (Book: 5 stars, audiobook: 4 stars.)
@Rebecca I would have dearly loved a British narrator, or even a more clear-spoken Slavic or Russian narrator. The woman who read it had a very thick accent (it’s been a few years, so I cannot recall all my issues with her, or where she came from) and mispronounced normal words. Perhaps you got a different recording due to being in a different market, or maybe they re-recorded it? It’s probably like the Jim Dale/Stephen Frye Harry Potter narration.
Am I allowed to come in here and be completely thrilled that SBTB has mentioned one of my books? It’s not a review, BUT I AM OFFICIALLY ON THE BLOG! 😀