Uprooted by Naomi Novik was recommended to me as something to read to help with the end-of-book depression that I experienced at the end of The Starless Sea. Suffice it to say that it had been coming up more and more frequently in my suggested reading – whether it was Goodreads, What Should I Read Next?, or any of the other go-to sources of suggested reading material. Of course, Naomi Novik was not completely unknown to me. I had picked up Spinning Silver as my Book of the Month Club pick when that came out. I had not, however, read it. I told this to the bookseller who suggested Uprooted and she responded with, “This one is better.”
Having still not read Spinning Silver, I can’t do a proper comparison myself. And my first instict upon picking it up was that it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. But that’s the only negative thought I had of the book. It’s well plotted. It takes you into a world that is both homely and dangerous at the same time. There’s some political intrigue. While it was not quite what I had in mind upon finishing The Starless Sea, it was exactly what I needed in that moment – and that is a far more important criteria.
I knew it was a fairytale retelling of sorts before picking it up – and it still took me almost the entire book to figure out that we were spinning off of Baba Yaga. (Probably because it is spelled “Jaga” for the entire book, and “Baba” is only added a majority of the way through. I also admit that my knowledge of the Baba Yaga stories is very thin, and I mostly know Baba Yaga from Gregory Maguire’s Egg and Spoon.)
Regardless, the story spun out in ways that I was not quite expecting at all, which at this point I really love when a story can surprise me. I would definitely recommend Uprooted if you’re looking for something fantastical. I would actually recommended it even if you’re not.