I had to knock down a star because of how long it took me to read this book. Uprooted is definitely a book that you want to read slowly. It's written in a way where you're suppose to take your time, savour every word and page, and really fall into the world. In many ways, it brought me back to reading The Hobbit. There's something very "old fantasy" about how it's written. And I actually really fell in love with the writing style and the descriptions. At the same time, they're quite detailed and heavy at times. That, plus the edition I had with the smaller font, made me want to pick it up less, and when I did, I only read 20 pages at a time. I think I might enjoy it a lot more on a reread though.

The plot kept me on my toes the entire time. The world is so enchanting and dark and creepy. And the history is so rich and deep. I was surprised by all the twists and turns. And so shocked at how bloody this book actually gets.

The story itself is beautiful. It has a very fairytale-like feel, especially at the end. The last 120 pages actually flew by for me. I was really engrossed in what was happening and the pace definitely picked up from the first half of the book. I loved the message we get at the end. Like I said, it's a very satisfying end to tale, where the reader is warned of what might happen if you let anger and rage get the best of you.

Kasia and Agnieszka's friendship is so pure and beautiful. I loved seeing how close they are to each other and how much they love and care for one another. Agnieszka's relationship with her mother was also just wonderful.

Sarkan and Agnieszka...I can get behind the ship. I was a bit concerned at the end there, though a part of me was also down with the main character not ending up with the one man she has a thing with in a book, but I like how everything was wrapped up. It's a bittersweet ending, but with lots of hope for a better future.

This book was so much fun to read!! One of my most anticipated reads for this fall, I was so happy to finally get my copy from the library. After rereading Eliza and Her Monsters this year and enjoying it so much more the second time, I was a bit surprised that Francesca Zappia’s next book would have a paranormal theme to it and wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it but wow was I pleasantly surprised.

I loved the pacing for this book. I can totally see this as a Halloween movie playing out in my head. It’s creepy and spooky and while I kind of regretted reading it at night sometimes lol, it was actually really fun overall. The book is quite sad at times though and really touches on how people view other people who are not as wealthy or well-off as they are. Seeing what Zora goes through when the whole town is against her hurt so much. It was unfair and awful and I hated Buster so much. Kind of wish Ludwig has possessed him also cause he deserved to die. Her loneliness was something I related to a lot. It was just so sad when it hit her that no one trusts her or believes in her, and that no matter what she does to change people’s perspectives and no matter how hard she tries to save her town, the people are still against her. It’s just so sad. Zora really need a huge hug. When she finally breaks down and cries when she usually holds in her emotions, I was like wow it’s me.

Also, seeing a character who openly says she’s asexual was incredible. It was so casually put in, and while Zora does struggle with people thinking she has a thing for Bach, I did like how she touches on how she only likes him aesthetically.

Artemis really grew on me as a character. I sort of went from thinking she was okay, to being annoyed because of how spoiled and privileged she is, to really loving her in the end.

The rest of Zora’s friends really came together at the end there and I loved seeing them work together! Also Grim is such a softie. I absolutely love him and how he’s always reading thick fantasy books and how much he cares for Sadie and Zora.

The end did feel a bit confusing and rushed. It all wrapped up in the last 30 or so pages. The letter from Bach and Grim’s last words had me a little confused. Is Piper Mountain Hildegarde’s entrance? Is that where Zora’s mom disappeared to? Will we get a sequel? Cause I kind of do want more. I loved the town a lot, despite all the terrible people who deserve to die, but I’d love to see more of it and of Zora’s life after.

Also, Tad got the ending he deserved. Zora being all like “he sucked but didn’t deserve this” like no he did, he sucked, and I’m happy lol

So sad, but so good. The last few chapters were kind of difficult to read. I do wish there was a trigger warning for rape, cause there is a chapter at the end there that I wasn't expecting at all and wish I had known about beforehand.

I love the way the book is written. The chapters are short, so it's easy to fly through them. There are over 170 chapters, so the book can feel daunting, but because they're all relatively short, you get through it pretty quickly. I liked how the story goes back and forth from the siege of Saint-Malo where we see all the main character POVs in one setting, to the past where we go from chapter to chapter, learning more and more about each character. I will admit, I was anxious to get to the siege chapters because I wanted to know what would happen next, but at the same time it was interesting to see how the characters all come together at the end.

Marie-Laure is such a beautiful character. I loved her innocence, but also her curiosity about the world. I love how brave she is and how she makes everyone she meets so happy. Her relationships with her father and great-uncle and Madame Manec were really well done. I felt so much for her, especially at the end there. The story leaves off with things bittersweet. Not perfect, but not completely hopeless either.

Werner was a complex character. His third for knowledge and building and fixing things was adorable, but then he becomes single-minded and ignores what is going on in the world. I loved Jutta's character and honestly wish we got more of her perspective during the war. We do get to see her after and see how much she pushes away her memories so she doesn't have to remember. It's so sad to see what war does to people, especially people who had no major role and were just caught in the crosshairs. The end for Werner was interesting, but I think it was well done. I like to think the jewel was destroyed in the end.

Van whatever his name is deserved the end he got. It's interesting to see where Volkheimer is after the war though and I'm glad we got a glimpse of Frederick too.

Overall, a really great book, one that will definitely stay with me for a while.

4.5/5 stars

I really want to write a review for this book but I can’t and it makes me sad cause I have so much to say

This book has been on my tbr since it came out. It took forever for me to get my hands on a copy since my library sucks and didn't have a physical or an ebook version. I will say that I hyped up this book a lot in my head, and ended up not loving it as much as I was expecting.

I did really love the asexual rep and seeing Tash struggling with explaining how she feels to her friends and figuring out how she fits into the world in general. There were a lot of relatable aspects and her wondering if she was maybe broken or something was wrong with her was so sad.

But there were a few things that did annoy me. I had to remind myself that Tash and her friends are teenagers. But despite knowing that they're young and still learning and making mistakes and bad decisions (not that adults don't also do these things), I did find Tash to be annoying and self-obsessed sometimes. The fame did go to her head, and she treated the people around her awfully. The thing that bothered me a lot was her relationship with Jack. It seemed a bit toxic at times, and Jack's reactions were explained as "just the way she is." Tash was terrible to Jack and Paul, but they also weren't great towards her. Jack accusing Tash of confusing Paul was a huge turn off for me, especially since Tash is still trying to figure things out. But at the same time the way Tash reacted to Paul's confession was also not great. I guess they're all pretty messy and it was frustrating to see that, considering how close they all are to each other.

The whole childhood friends to "lovers" thing left me not knowing how to feel. I could see that things were maybe headed that way, but the second Paul confessed to Tash, I knew that things would end up terribly between Tash and Thom. It almost felt like the whole Paul-has-always-had-feelings-for-Tash plot line was added as a result of what would happen with Thom, so Tash would have someone to end up with? And Tash seemed very confused about her feelings for Paul the entire book. She thought of him as a brother and very close friend, and yeah they're super touchy, but I liked that aspect of their friendship and liked how the book was normalizing platonic affection. At the same time, I do have a soft spot for friends to lovers, only because the idea of being in a relationship with someone who you're already comfortable with and knows you, sounds a lot more appealing than some random person. And the ending there with Paul and Tash deciding to try things out and see how things go was actually really sweet. I loved the line from Paul where he says that he would rather hug her than be with all the other girls he's been with. That was just really sweet, and honestly left me feeling not too upset with how things ended up. It also is a hopeful ending for anyone who is asexual, knowing that they might find someone out there who is willing to compromise and take their feelings into consideration.

The whole plot line with Claudie felt off? Like I didn't understand why Claudie was acting the way she was. I get the pressure she felt and how high her parents' expectations were, but it felt weird that her parents did nothing while seeing her go off and get drunk and sabotaging herself. They were just like "meh, she'll get over it" and we didn't really get a conclusion with all of that. It was more like Claudie acted out, finally told Tash she feels a lot of pressure, and then went back to how she was before the summer. It was just weird.

Overall, I did enjoy some parts of this, but it wasn't as incredible as I was hoping it would be. Still really glad I picked it up though.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a character who’s so obviously aromantic. I wish there were more books like this, where the character actually discusses how she feels. The scene between Clover and Adam was really well done and made Adam much more endearing to me.

This book does the found-family trope so well. I’ve read books where there is a supposed found-family trope and I just never cared for the characters and what happened to them, but in this book, I really came to love all the characters and root for them as a team.

Violet has to probably be my favourite. I started off hating her, but then slowly grew to like her and then was like ahhhh no I love her so much. In many ways she reminded me of myself, which might explain why I hated her so much in the beginning lol. Clover and Violet are so similar to me in many ways. They push aside their emotions to focus on their goals; they’re practical and realistic; and they can be a bit cold hearted which is honestly so me. I really loved Violet and Andy’s relationship. It’s such a strong friendship, we need more of that in books pleaseee

The only thing that makes me not want to pick up the next book is the plot. I don’t really care much for aliens, and while I was curious to know why the aliens couldn’t see these kids, when things were revealed, I was kind of meh about it. Like yes it makes sense, but it didn’t wow me. I think I prefer my dystopians grounded in our world because I find it creepier? But when you bring in aliens and other universes, it opens you up to anything. You can make the whole thing up, and while it might work, it just doesn’t feel as satisfying. I don’t know if that makes sense...

The end is actually written in a way where if you’re not that curious about what happens next you can just not pick up the next book and assume everything is fine. I think I might do that lol

This book was everything.

I went into this with barely any idea what it was about and left with my mouth hanging open. This is such a beautiful, impactful story and I'm so glad I decided to read this on a whim.

The writing was a joy to read. And reading from Jo's perspective was even better. She's such a witty, stubborn, no-nonsense, out-spoken kind of girl. And I absolutely loved it. She is strong, yet has her flaws and weaknesses, but she speaks her mind and fights for what she wants. She doesn't let anything bring her down for long, and always gets back up. The banter between her and all the characters was a joy to read. I loved loved LOVED her dynamic with Nathan. And Robby too. There are just a lot of great friendships in this book, but I really enjoyed the subtle hints of romance that developed between Jo and Nathan. It didn't feel forced, their banter wasn't awkward, and I liked how firm Jo is in her beliefs and how she didn't just fall head over heels and forget everything that is important to her.

Besides that, there are so many lines in this book that had me gaping with my mouth open. They were just really well written, and left such a statement. They're quotable. And impactful. And leave you thinking. Every little anecdote and saying felt applicable.

My favourite has to be this one:

"Millinery gave me a way to be seen; Miss Sweetie gave me a voice to be heard. But maybe what I needed most of all was simply the freedom to walk out from the shadows of my hat. Somehow, Old Gin and I have managed to fit ourselves into a society that, like a newspaper, rarely comes in colours other than black and white. There will always be those who keep their distance. But there will also be those who don't mind riding their safeties in my lane. I spent my whole life worried that the sound of my voice might give me away, but I was wrong about that. If I hadn't used my voice, I wouldn't be here today."

JUST THAT. GAVE ME GOOSEBUMPS. I AM SO PROUD OF JO.

The final scene at the horse race almost made me cry btw

Also, I was not ready for all the plot twists and reveals. And I'm honestly really glad we didn't get a whole make up scene with Mrs. Payne. Even though Jo understands better where Mrs. Payne was coming from, the ending felt realistic and right.

Also, I learned so much about the South during this time period. I know very little about American history, and I had no idea that the South shipped in Chinese people to replace the field slaves during Reconstruction??! I don't ever remember hearing that. Every time I read more diverse historical fiction, I realize how great of a genre it is and how I should read more. Its a great way to learn about history that you wouldn't otherwise learn in school.

4.5/5 stars!

I'm rating this higher than Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom cause it just left me in awe. I've never been a huge fan of short stories, but every single one of these were beautifully written. They gave me chills. And I loved the twists we got on the original fairy tales. The stories are dark and haunting, and a bit disturbing, but they fit the atmosphere of this world so well.

My favourites have to be The Witch of Duva (which I think I'll have nightmares about for a while) and When Water Sang Fire. I was not expecting the twist at the end of The Witch of Duva. IT WAS DISTURBING AND HORRIBLE. But like really well done. When Water Sang Fire was beautifully sad and heartbreaking and poor Ulla honestly.

The Solider Prince was creeeeepy. I did not like it, but I also did. Like I said, I had shivers while reading some of these stories. The end of this one had me going nononononono

4.5/5

I honestly don't know what I was expecting with this book. I had heard there was some kind of travelling circus or orchestra or something? And it took place after an apocalypse. I was expecting something lighthearted. Probably because I thought this book was about a circus lol, but it completely surprised me in so many good ways.

This book is such a beautiful commentary on our world and our lives. The way it's done is mesmerizing. I loved following each character's story, seeing where they started off and how they ended up where they are now. It's sad and heartbreaking. It's really creepy and disturbing at times. And it's dark. But there's hope at the end there.

This book follows quite a few characters, but each POV was unique, the voices and thoughts distinct. I loved seeing what was going on in each character's head, watching them reminisce their past and the decisions they made. Everything flowed so well. The changes in POVs and times wasn't jarring. You could flip from one chapter to the next, going from pre-apocalypse, to 10 years post-apocalypse, to present, and it just flowed into one beautiful story. The inclusion of the comic book was also done so well. It would have been cool if the book contained some illustrations of it though.

The ending with the prophet, while sudden, was a little anticlimactic, but I did like how it was done overall. I do wish something worse had happened to him though. He just freaked me out and gave me the creeps.

Am I worried about the world ending and things dissolving into what happens in this book? Yes. It's been a while since I've considered end-of-the-world scenarios, but I am sitting here writing this review realizing how much I depend on things like electricity and running water and easy access to food and the internet. And having that all taken away, it sounds horrifying. I don't want to think about it. But this book makes you think. And I loved that. It makes you reconsider your life choices and look towards the future. It makes you think twice about your reliance on the convenient aspects of your life. It's just so thought-provoking. I was not expecting that at all, but having heard so many good things about this book, I am now not surprised.

Highly, highly recommend.