If you haven’t read Uprooted by Naomi Novik, you’re basically missing out on the book that redefined modern "fairytale" fantasy. It’s not just another story about a girl and a wizard in a tower. Honestly, it’s much weirder than that.
The book dropped back in 2015 and immediately started sweeping awards like the Nebula and Locus. Why? Because it’s earthy. It’s messy. It smells like damp leaves and sharp, dangerous magic that doesn't follow a neat little set of rules. People always compare it to Howl's Moving Castle or Beauty and the Beast, but that’s only half the truth.
What’s Actually Happening in the Valley?
The setup sounds familiar at first. You’ve got a village called Dvernik in the kingdom of Polnya. Every ten years, a local wizard—nicknamed "The Dragon"—takes a seventeen-year-old girl away to his tower. He doesn't eat them. He doesn't even marry them. He just... keeps them. After ten years, they come back, but they’re changed. They leave the valley. They move on.
Everyone expects the Dragon to pick Kasia. She’s the beautiful one, the brave one, the girl who spent her whole life preparing for this weird fate.
But then there’s Agnieszka.
Agnieszka is a disaster. She’s clumsy, her clothes are always torn, and she’s got dirt under her fingernails. Naturally, the Dragon picks her.
It’s not a romantic "chosen one" moment. It’s a "why me?" moment. Sarkan (that’s the Dragon’s real name) is a cranky, high-strung scholar who basically treats her like an annoying apprentice. He’s looking for someone with a specific kind of magic, and it turns out Agnieszka has it in spades—though her magic is wild and intuitive, while his is precise and mathematical.
The Wood: A Villain That Actually Scares You
The real star of Uprooted by Naomi Novik isn't the Dragon. It’s the Wood.
🔗 Read more: The Agatha Christie Picture Most People Get Wrong
This isn't just a spooky forest where wolves live. The Wood is a sentient, malevolent entity that wants to eat the world. It’s got "Walkers" and "Manticores" and a corruption that gets under your skin. Literally. If you get taken by the Wood, you don't just die; you turn into something else. You become a hollow shell that tries to lure your family into the trees.
Novik’s depiction of the Wood is genuinely horrifying because it feels inevitable. It’s an ecological nightmare that feeds on human spite and old, rotting history. When Agnieszka tries to rescue Kasia from the trees, it’s one of the most visceral scenes in modern fantasy.
The Polish Roots Most People Miss
A lot of readers love the "vibe" of the book, but Novik specifically pulled from her own Polish heritage to build this world.
The names—Agnieszka, Kasia, Dvernik—aren't just "fantasy-sounding" words. They’re deeply rooted in Slavic linguistics. Even the magic feels different because it’s based on folk songs and oral traditions rather than "spellbooks" and "mana points."
📖 Related: Why the It Ends With Us Original Poster Caused Such a Stir
- Baba Yaga Vibes: The character of Jaga (the legendary witch) is woven into the history of the tower.
- Linguistic Spells: The words Agnieszka uses to cast are often derived from Polish or Ukrainian roots. For example, "kalikual" sounds like the Slavic words for "cripple" (kaleka).
- The Food: From the black bread to the kasha, the setting feels lived-in and authentic to Eastern European village life.
Is There a Movie?
This is the part that frustrates fans. Shortly after the book came out, Warner Bros. won a massive bidding war for the film rights. Ellen DeGeneres was even attached to produce it.
That was years ago.
Since then, things have been quiet. We’re in 2026 now, and while there are always rumors of a script circulating, a live-action adaptation is still in "development hell." Some fans argue that’s a good thing. How do you use CGI to capture magic that’s described as a "golden place of vague and loving memory"? It’s hard to film a metaphor.
Why You Should Still Care
Uprooted stands out because it treats its female characters with incredible respect. The core of the book isn't actually the romance between Agnieszka and the Dragon (though that slow-burn is definitely there). It’s the friendship between Agnieszka and Kasia.
They save each other. Over and over.
It’s a story about roots—where you come from, what you’re willing to leave behind, and how you find your own power when the "experts" tell you you’re doing it wrong.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Read
If you’re picking up the book for the first time, don't expect a typical YA romance. It gets dark. It gets bloody. And the ending? It’s not the neat, tidy "happily ever after" you might expect. It’s something much more grounded and satisfying.
- Pay attention to the spells: Notice how Sarkan’s magic and Agnieszka’s magic clash and then harmonize. It’s a metaphor for their relationship.
- Look up the folklore: A quick search for "Polish wood demons" or "Baba Yaga" will give you a lot of context for why certain monsters behave the way they do.
- Listen to the audiobook: Julia Whelan does a fantastic job with the pronunciations and the tone of the narrative.
Next, you should definitely check out Naomi Novik's other standalone, Spinning Silver. It’s a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin set in a similar folk-inspired world, and it’s just as sharp as Uprooted. Reading both gives you a perfect masterclass in how to handle modern myth-making.