[Reading Experience] My Favorite Top-Tier Fantasy | Uprooted

It is difficult to talk about a book that I love so much it has struck a chord deep within me.
When I get too caught up in reading something, I find I cannot write about it from a detached perspective, as I have done with my previous book reviews.

I love female protagonists who are strong-willed and live their lives with agency.
I love male characters who are grumpy, yet somehow endearing and awkward.
I love high fantasy that vividly evokes a magical world.

This book, 'Uprooted,' is packed to the brim with their romance and adventure.

I found this book in the foreign literature section of a bookstore and fell in love with it instantly. Even without looking at the synopsis, the cover alone told me it was a love story between these two, and I knew their personalities were exactly to my taste, just as I described above.

I will quote the synopsis.

This book is wonderful. The protagonist, Agnieszka, isstrong-willed, hates to lose, never gives up in the face of adversity, and takes on challenges boldly. Watching women like this in any era somehow gives me courage.

The wizard called the Dragon (who has a different real name) is predictably grumpy, stubborn, and foul-mouthed, but deep down he is kind, and he gradually becomes attracted to Agnieszka's talent and charm.

Accompanying this is the dense description of the forest. At the root of the story is a battle against the corrupted 'Wood,' and the descriptions are so persistent that you can feel the suffocating scent of greenery and the humidity clinging to your skin, as if you were actually inside the forest.

Also interesting is the movement of the Dragon's heart. Since it is drawn entirely from Agnieszka's perspective, much is left to the reader's imagination, but he is gradually thrown off balance by Agnieszka, whom he thought of as a 'little girl,' and before he knows it, she is constantly on his mind. Because of the massive age gap, he tries desperately to restrain himself, but because Agnieszka approaches him so proactively, his resolve eventually crumbles... that much was clear from the reader's (or rather, my) perspective.

Isn't it interesting when a grumpy person tries desperately to restrain themselves, using all sorts of logical defenses, only to be swept away anyway? Is it just me?

The way the Dragon becomes attracted to Agnieszka is depicted indirectly. For example, throughout the work, it is expressed that'his hands are always very hot', but when Agnieszka's life is in danger, those hands are described as'cold'. The author described the Dragon's hands as hot many times just to write this contrast.

It was also fun to read between the lines of things not explicitly stated like this.

※Spoiler alert

What I found most interesting was that in the end, the Dragon chooses to part ways with Agnieszka, butAgnieszka felt neither sadness nor anger at that.

It clicked for me.

Agnieszka knows he is already hers. Therefore, she is not'believing he will return', but rather she'knows'.

And, as expected, he returned. She welcomed him back as if it were only natural. In other words, that is what it means.

Watching that, I grinned. Stories really should have a happy ending.

Yes, this book was very interesting. To use an older expression, it made my heart flutter.
Books you can get lost in are rare.I love this book.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the author Naomi Novik, the translator Kaori Nawa, and Seishinsha for publishing it.

Thank you for reading until the end! If you liked it, I'm waiting for your likes/follows/comments. May good things happen to you!