Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

66 reviews

goizi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and War

Minor: Death of parent

brie333's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have a ton of thoughts so just rapid fire bullet-points:

- the book was a bit too long, but somehow the ending was too short. I wish we could’ve gotten a more fleshed out ending. I came to love these characters and it was hard walking away when they were so unsettled. I also feel like some of the lore or the whys behind actions was not discussed enough, but we have whole flashbacks or memories on the clothing everyone wore. Sometimes it felt like the author focused undue attention on building the setting/visuals. 

- that being said I loved the set up to the overall story, the world building, and Miryems storyline in particular. Novik is brilliant at details and really bring everything to life for you. Her descriptions felt familiar and well explored. I just wish this wasn’t always at the expense of explanations of how things came to be. 

- I purposely picked this book because it was a standalone but I’m now wishing for a sequel to flesh out the ending and explain some of the castoff plot lines. 

- I can handle multi-povs but with nothing more than a page break, sometimes I would be deep in a paragraph before getting clarity on who was speaking. I think maybe the intention was to keep time moving and explain everything while keeping the reader a little on the outside of the story. But for me, it was a little dizzying. I understand that there was language choices and symbols that differentiated the povs but while each person had a distinct voice I will admit to being a little lost at some points of the story. 


- Overall, a great story, one of the best I’ve read this year. Well crafted and complex. One I would read again but the pacing and abrupt ending to all but one plotlline took away a star. I don’t want to leave the impression that this is not a book to pickup. It absolutely is and I highly recommend it. Novik can write and write well. I just found myself wanting to walk in her cold winter woods a little longer and with a little more knowledge of how we got there. 

- this has nothing to do with the author but I was told this was a fantasy with romance and I completely disagree. It’s a fantasy retelling that speaks on love, found family, and how far someone/anyone is willing to go when more is demanded of you. From any side. What little romance there is, and I do mean little, it’s serviceable to the story but not important enough to merit a claim

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

rockyroadbutch's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Death of parent, Violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty

naomi_k's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Physical abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing, Classism, Animal death, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

rai's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This was a very different twist of similar Russian folk lore so reading it right after the Winter of the Witch was a little surreal. There were a few too many first person perspectives in the end, for a personal preference at least. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Classism, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

flyintothestorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Un mundo helado, para mí, tiene todo el sabor de un cuento de hadas bastante oscuro y me ha parecido maravilloso (aún no he leído Un cuento oscuro, pero sé que existe). 
Pensaba que las tres historias iban a estar más separadas y que se iban a juntar solo en ciertos puntos, pero se van juntando y separando, lo que hace que sea muy orgánico. 
Y pese a los cambios en los puntos de vista, la narración hace que sea bastante fácil saber a quién se está siguiendo en cada momento, aun sin especificarlo (creo que una vez dudé un poco, pero ya).
En resumen, merece mucho la pena.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Genocide

Minor: Animal death and Bullying

sapphicsoilscientist's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

pejms's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage and Animal cruelty

adalieslittlelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Naomi Novik’s writing has a timeless quality that transports the reader into whatever world she has written about. Spinning Silver follows the intertwining stories of three girls living in a kingdom plagued by the cold influence of the Staryk king (think Winter Fae). It is a story of bargaining, of resolve, of protecting loved ones, and of the unforeseen consequences of actions. 

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While so many stories focus on the battle between good and evil, in Spinning Silver, Novik instead chooses to center the tale on the struggle between justice and injustice. Very few characters can be described as purely good, just as very few characters can be described as purely evil. This focus made for an incredibly thought-provoking read.

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The story flows from character to character, allowing for a level of depth that could not be achieved if telling the novel from a single point of view. Because of this strategy, it felt like a million stories packed into one incredibly intricate tale. Novik also manages to adjust the voice of her writing for each character’s perspective, again adding depth and allowing for greater character development. She is truly a master of her craft. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death

booknerdbetty's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Murder, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, and Kidnapping