Fairy tales can be rough. We expect a plucky hero, whether a young man or woman, to stand up to the dragon, defeat the forces of darkness, and then go home a hero, but try reading some of those old Grimm Tales and you’ll see those things are creepy as funk.
That’s what makes Naomi Novik’s Uprooted such a treat. The fairy tale is seen and shattered through the eyes of the narrator protagonist. SPOILERS behind the cut.