Uprooted by Naomi Novik

★★★★

"What an unequaled gift for disaster you have."

This enchanting tale tells the story of Agnieska -  a young girl taken from her quiet village to serve the Dragon for ten years time.  No one knows what happens to the girls he takes, but they come back changed.  Agnieska was never suppose to taken and finds her self in a world of magic and mystery as she attempts to figure out what the Dragon wants from her.  And the she has to save her family - and the entire village - from the evil Wood that is slowly destroying them.

The book draw me in from first couple pages - the first couple of sentences actually.  I loved the writing style and the perfect mix of fairy-tale and humor.  My favorite thing about the book was the relationship between Agnieska and the Dragon as they learn to work together and (surprise!) fall in love.  It was essentially an more adult and developed version of Beauty and the Beast.  Both of the characters were so charming and together they created this unexpected, but wonderful chemistry.  The book was also extremely funny.

I would have loved for the book to continue to focus mainly on Agnieska and the Dragon's relationship.  The author did an amazing job, but I felt like there was so much more to explore.  I also would have enjoyed learning about the other girls that the Dragon took.  But, alas Agnieska had to develop her magical powers and go save the world from the evil trees and corrupted royal family (or something like that...).  That's where the book sort of lost me and I lost interest for awhile in the middle.  But, overall I thought it was a wonderfully written story and I'm always a sucker for fairytales.  I also thought the ending was pretty much as close to perfect as you can get!