 Hello friends! How are we doing? It is time for the final episode of Wrapped Up Retro in December. That is not correct. Don't worry, we'll be having one episode every month in the first half next year. I think we've had mixed luck with the books that we've had so far so I'm intrigued to see what our final book is going to be. I don't know, I don't know no predictions. I don't know what it's going to be. Yeah, shall we just choose a book? Shall we just choose a book? Shall we just choose a book? Shall we just choose a book? I haven't really been drawn to this one that was just sitting on top but I don't know if that's too easy. This one? Oh don't fall. It's gonna fall. Okay well we're just living with it. Maybe this? Oh my god guys this is hard. No I'm gonna go for this. I'm gonna go for this. I'm gonna go for whatever this is. Pinky's just so horrible. Okay all right let's see. Can you see what it is? Okay interesting. Interesting. So this is uprooted by Naomi Novik. I haven't actually read anything from Naomi Novik ever. I think this is gonna be a good wintery one. Enchanted forest, villages. Okay this is gonna be a good wintery pick but I've earned this for a long time and I think people, I think on Goodreads this is marked as a series but everyone tells me it's not a series this in Spinning Silver and that Spinning Silver's better and you should just, I don't understand how it works. I don't get it because I originally thought they were a series that's why I got uprooted first but everyone says oh it's not a series. You can just read Spinning Silver so I don't know what's going on but I'm excited to read this. This is one that a lot of people recommended me based on my taste in thrillers so I'm excited. I'm excited to see what I think of this and I think it will be a good wintery read. So let's get into it. Let's start uprooted and see what we think. Third to six weeks later. Okay hi. This is somewhere I've never been before. I honestly don't know how much I've spoken about this on the channel. Like I know I've spoken a lot about it to my Patreon and I think I've mentioned it once or twice on the channel but Tom and I have moved across the country. I'll tell you another country. We're in Wales. We've moved to Wales for about two months for Tom's job and I've come with him because I just reached. So I've accompanied him and yeah we're going to be living in this flat for the next two months. We got here a couple days ago and we love it. It's very nice. It's a lovely little flat. We've got a little kitchen back here. It's a little sitting area, a TV, a bedroom upstairs. You'll see it throughout. I don't want to do like a tour because we've lived in it for two days but you'll see it throughout the vlog. It's coming. We're going to be here for two months. So we got here Friday afternoon. We spent Saturday and Sunday kind of just unpacking, living our lives, you know, getting situated. And it's Monday. So I have tried to read. I think I started this on Friday. I've read it which you just saw me unwrap. If I speak I am in big trouble. In big trouble. And I've been trying to read it over the weekend. I have not wanted to. I'm so bored guys. I'm on page 117. I did want to get like in these vlogs I like to just check and do like every third of the book. I don't know what it is about my personality. I really like to check and do like an equal point. So like every 140. I Google what is a third of the book? You know, I work it out. Not Google. I calculate. And then I check with you like all that time but I can't even make it there. I need to just talk to you because I'm so bored. I have not wanted to read this. There's my YouTube watch later. It's overflowing. I've got like 200 videos on there. There's so much I want to watch. I'd much rather watch a video than read this. I thought I would love this. I thought I would love this. Basically this book is about a girl who lives in this little village and there's this dragon. He's called the dragon, but he's a wizard. He's a man, I think, who every 10 years takes a young woman from the village to go live in his house. She has to go live there, right? And she's chosen. She's not supposed to be chosen. She doesn't think she's gonna be chosen, but she's chosen. And he's like teaching her magic. Maybe she's good at magic. I don't this book doesn't need to exist. I don't understand why it exists. Here's the thing. So often I reach fantasy that I love, right? Where people like, the criticism people give of it when they don't like those books, nothing happens. Nothing happens, right? People say that about Aaron Morgensen. I love Aaron Morgensen's books, the style I see in the night circles. People like nothing happens in those books. Valid. But I love the writing. The writing, this is doing absolutely nothing for me. I've never read anything by Naomi Naomi Noeva before. But so many people recommended this and Spinning Silver to me when I loved the Bear and the Nightingale. People think they're quite similar, you know, like kind of with a village, perhaps Russian influence, grim fairy tales, magic, whatever. This is not on Catherine Arden's level. The Bear and the Nightingale when it meets uprooted. You know, you really jumped out the window when you compared yourself to me. Girl, we don't even look alike. Smell alike. We don't know none of the same people. We don't go to none of the same places. We don't even do brunch together. I've taken to calling, I've just dropped the book. I've taken to calling her Catherine motherfucking Arden, as you guys know, because it's Catherine motherfucking Arden. But I'm so bored. If I, if this wasn't like a one book vlog, like these wrapped up retro vlogs are, I would DNF this. I would DNF it. I can't believe I have believed for so long that this was going to be like a five-star for me. I was going to love it. Absolutely not. Why does this book exist? Nothing's happening. Nothing's happening and the writing isn't great. Girlie, the main girlie's annoying me. The dragon's annoying me. Everyone's annoying me. I don't like any of you people. Why does this exist? That's my question. Anyways, I am going to try and continue this. I want to get like two thirds of the way through today. I want to check in with you again this evening. So I'm going to get through as much as I can. I'm actually just about to go and try and prep some Minestrone soup the rest of the week for lunches because I love Minestrone soup. It's really like cozy. So I'm going to go and try and prep that and I will continue listening to your book. I'll force myself and I would much rather watch YouTube. Well, actually I've, I've just been watching Kayla's latest video. So I might finish that. That's a little treat. And then I'll read more of this, but I'm really not enjoying it, guys. I'm really not enjoying it. But we must read it because I need to get this vlog to you. And that's the whole point of Wrapped Up Retro, right? These books really exist on my TBR for so long. They've languished on my TBR for so long. And the point of these vlogs is to see, was I missing out on something or was I not missing out? And I don't think I was missing out. But who knows? I'm only 100 whatever pages in, but it already just feels so long and so meandering. I'm not enjoying it. I'm going to go and make Minestrone soup. So come with me. I think I've got this last little bit less. I have so many thoughts. I don't know where to begin. I don't know what to say to you. Like I don't know, where do we start with this? Also, I realized I haven't clarified that this was supposed to be the last book of Wrapped Up Retro in December. But then I got ill in December. So this got pushed to being January's book. I feel that in the intro. I hope you haven't managed to cut most of the intro. I'm like, this is the last book of December. But in case I didn't, it didn't make sense. That's what happened. I'm still really not liking it. Zero character development. Wooden cardboard cutouts. Yep, yep. Wooden cardboard cutouts of characters. I have no attachment to any of them. Our main girlie, I couldn't even tell you her name. She is like the chosen one. This might be mild spoilers. Mild spoilers. The stuff I'm referring to is more what happened in the first 100 pages, still that I have more thoughts on where the book has carried on and it's made me think about that earlier stuff. So not really, but like, if you really care, everything is easy for her. Everything is easy for her. She, the dragon, who is the dragon? Why name a character the dragon if he's not going to be a dragon? That should be our first question. The dragon is like the most powerful wizard of all the ages. And like in the week, it's like, oh yeah, I can cast spells as well as him. Yeah, get out of here. Get out. It's so annoying. Everything comes easy. There's never any struggle. There's never any tension of like, is she going to get through this? Because I know she will. It's the kind of book that is like, it really thinks it's it. It really thinks it's it. More stuff is happening now, but it's just so like, and do you know what I mean? And like stuff is happening, but I could not care less. Like it's got the plot beats. It's got here's the character arc, but there's no flesh to it. There's no heart to it. I'm just reading. I'm reading like the first draft and it's too long. It's also it's way too long. It's way too long for nothing to be happening. Nothing to be happening. I'm really not enjoying it. I can't believe I was going to love this. I thought I was going to absolutely love this. You know, it sounds crazy. And indeed it was. Please, if you have read this and spinning silver, should I still give spinning silver a chance because I know so many people love that? Or should I just not? Because this is so boring. And it's blurred by like Robin Hobb and Ursula Le Guin. Like what is going on? What is going on? The magic system sucks. The writing's boring. I'm so sorry. Guys, my reading has not got off to a good start this year. This is only going to be the third book I finish this year also. And it is the 20, what, 23rd of January? I've stopped reading apparently. I've stopped reading. I've just stopped reading. Okay, I'm going to finish it. Will we convene with my final thoughts? But dear God, what a sad little life, Jane. Like this is, it's really bad for me out here. I'll see you in a bit. Okay, I finished it. But at what cost? I didn't need to finish it. I did nothing to my life. In fact, it's subtracted from my life. Finishing this book. I am so confused. Thank God it's off my tee beyond I finished it. That is the pro of wrapped up retro. But oh my God, guys, what the hell? They put me through purgatory. They put me through hell on this earth. There is like 50 pages of battle scenes that are just so tedious to get through. Like, I don't care. Maybe it's one of its because I don't care, right? But also I think it just wasn't written well. Like there was no, it was just plodding onwards and all this happens and this blows up and then this person stabbed and then this and the characters I didn't care about that no one cares about no one cares about not just me. I hate this. I'm giving it two stars. I'm giving it two stars. The reason it's not one star is because I kind of reserve my one stars now for things that I think are like, is it a one? No. Am I about to give this a one star? I think can I give this a one star? Do you know what? Yeah, I'm giving this a one star. Am I giving it, no, come on, let's be, did I have any enjoyment from it? No, I'm gonna give it a one star. Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup. I just want us to still take a moment beyond this. Is it a one? I don't want to accept it. I'm gonna give this a one star. That is my level of enjoyment, right? I do not necessarily think maybe it's a two in terms of like quality, but in terms of enjoyment, I did not enjoy a single part of this. I just want us all to take a moment to realize the fact I've read three books this year. I read Emily Wilds, which I gave three stars. I read Godkiller, which was for my book club, my Patreon book club, which I've given two stars. I've given this a one star. Not only are we decreasing, I mean, we can't get any lower. I can't get any worse. But that means my average rating for you so far is two stars. Two stars. Two stars. I've been set up to fail. What is going on? Why am I hating everything? I really did not enjoy this at all. At all. I thought it was incredibly boring. Her sidekick friend is so much more interesting than she is, and should have been the main character. And the fact that I've cut out a part in the last check-in, I was like, this isn't a romance. There's no romance here. I was like comparing it to the dynamic in The Burning Lighting Girl, if you know that with the Winter King and the dragon. You know, I think that's why people make the comparison. I was like, this ain't a romance. Is there this ain't a romance in the room with us anymore? Mild spoilers again. I can't contain it. He is nothing but rude to this girl. He is just always telling her what idiot she is, what, you know, how stupid she is, how slovenly she is. And this thing, I love a good grump sunshine romance. As you guys know, that's my favorite kind of trope. This ain't grump. This is just mean and not getting along. You know in grump sunshine is that there's chemistry. There's moments of like, you know, joviality and getting along compliments behind the grumpy facade. That ain't that. It's nowhere to be seen. I don't think he's necessarily a bad guy, but there's nothing there. There's no, stop trying to, same thing happened in God killer. Stop trying to make romances happen when romances don't need to happen in fantasy. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. What a terrible start to my reading year guys. Then the video I'm doing next, I am hoping, the whole premise of the video I'm doing next is to get me some better ratings. I'm really hoping it will, but I'm feeling nervous and it won't. Oh my God guys. One star. Anyways, that is the end of another episode of Wrap Top Bright Show. This is episode four. We will do 10 episodes in total throughout the year, so I can't work out what month it will lead up to, but you can do the math. July will be our last episode maybe. I don't know. So we'll keep going. We'll keep unwrapping the oldest books on my TBR. If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to like and comment. It helps boost it in the algorithm. If you enjoyed this book, please tell me why, because I don't get it. I'm having problems with my reading guys. So please also help me out. I'm gonna actually do a community post tomorrow, the day after this video goes live, asking for your guys' help. So keep your eyes out for that because I need it, but I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye!