Scan barcode
cardella20's review against another edition
5.0
Spellbinding
What an absolutely lovely book! I was enchanted and spellbound through every page and the weaving of story lines was masterfully done. I can’t wait for the next book by Naomi!!
What an absolutely lovely book! I was enchanted and spellbound through every page and the weaving of story lines was masterfully done. I can’t wait for the next book by Naomi!!
rebeccazh's review against another edition
finished this in one afternoon. i really enjoyed this! it's quite different from the first book (what i remember of it anyway) but this book was very atmospheric and captured the feeling of a fairytale well.
i didn't really like the number of characters narrating. i'm really not a fan of ensemble casts. this book starts out with a single first person narrator and it then branches out into five(?) first-person perspectives. further confusing things is the fact that the narrators of each new scene aren't labelled so i had to guess. i really liked one of later additions to the cast though. the tsar's chapters were very entertaining. also, nearly all the female characters were women or girls who had little power or choice over their lives and they had fathers, husbands or lords who made choices for them, who then began to work together.
i liked the motif of giving/receiving (for free or for a price) and i wish we could've seen how love works in the staryk kingdom (which i found very interesting because it's a society based totally on transactions and i wish it was explored in more detail). also, i wish the whole book was focused on miryem because her chapters were the most compelling. i skimmed a lot of the other subplots.
there was also a motif about coldness of heart / being calculating vs. being overly indulgent / soft-hearted. being able to shut off one's heart is associated with personal power, such as being able to stand up for oneself and protect one's best interests, and being soft-hearted was portrayed as a weakness as it allowed others to take advantage of oneself (i thought at first that miryem's arc would be about balancing these two opposing viewpoints but it wasn't), and i kind of wish that had been explored as well.
overall, i really like novik's fairytale series and hope she does more stuff like this
i didn't really like the number of characters narrating. i'm really not a fan of ensemble casts. this book starts out with a single first person narrator and it then branches out into five(?) first-person perspectives. further confusing things is the fact that the narrators of each new scene aren't labelled so i had to guess. i really liked one of later additions to the cast though. the tsar's chapters were very entertaining. also, nearly all the female characters were women or girls who had little power or choice over their lives and they had fathers, husbands or lords who made choices for them, who then began to work together.
i liked the motif of giving/receiving (for free or for a price) and i wish we could've seen how love works in the staryk kingdom (which i found very interesting because it's a society based totally on transactions and i wish it was explored in more detail). also, i wish the whole book was focused on miryem because her chapters were the most compelling. i skimmed a lot of the other subplots.
there was also a motif about coldness of heart / being calculating vs. being overly indulgent / soft-hearted. being able to shut off one's heart is associated with personal power, such as being able to stand up for oneself and protect one's best interests, and being soft-hearted was portrayed as a weakness as it allowed others to take advantage of oneself (i thought at first that miryem's arc would be about balancing these two opposing viewpoints but it wasn't), and i kind of wish that had been explored as well.
overall, i really like novik's fairytale series and hope she does more stuff like this
maddelleine's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A book that definitely needs more adapting for becoming an audiobook.
<b>The Good</b>
It's a great spin of the classic fairytales where helpless girls are saved by knights in shining armours. Here we have 3 ladies who need to figure out life for themselves and save not only themselves, but their dear ones as well. It's supposed to be a retelling of <i>Rumpelstiltskin</i>, but apart from the basic idea of turning something into another thing (here silver to gold), <i>Spinning Silver</i> develops into its own thing, full of new lore, new settings and new magic.
Three separate lifelines become intertwined and a beautiful thing is that there's nothing and no one entirely good or entirely bad. It's refreshing to see a fairytale where characters are not defined by good/bad, but by the constant choices they make, this way anyone having a shot at redemption.
<b>The Bad</b>
Having different POVs adds depth to a story, but it can be confusing if not done right. I'm sure the format wasn't helpful either (I listened to the audiobook), but it was long into a new story before I figured out that the character-storyteller had changed. When the third character was introduced, I was even more confused as the facts didn't seem to fit either of the two girls who had been talking before. For <i>Spinning Silver</i>, it would've been of great help if the chapters had the name of the storyteller as well, to avoid confusions and long periods in which the reader tries to figure out who's talking instead of focusing on the story itself.
<b>The Ugly</b>
Specifically for the audiobook version, the narration was weak. There was barely any change in voices to differentiate between the characters, the girls all had the same voice and sometimes one character's voice seemed to blend into another's. It might be also a reason for which, halfway in, I was already tired and just wanted the story to finish faster.
<b>The Good</b>
It's a great spin of the classic fairytales where helpless girls are saved by knights in shining armours. Here we have 3 ladies who need to figure out life for themselves and save not only themselves, but their dear ones as well. It's supposed to be a retelling of <i>Rumpelstiltskin</i>, but apart from the basic idea of turning something into another thing (here silver to gold), <i>Spinning Silver</i> develops into its own thing, full of new lore, new settings and new magic.
Three separate lifelines become intertwined and a beautiful thing is that there's nothing and no one entirely good or entirely bad. It's refreshing to see a fairytale where characters are not defined by good/bad, but by the constant choices they make, this way anyone having a shot at redemption.
<b>The Bad</b>
Having different POVs adds depth to a story, but it can be confusing if not done right. I'm sure the format wasn't helpful either (I listened to the audiobook), but it was long into a new story before I figured out that the character-storyteller had changed. When the third character was introduced, I was even more confused as the facts didn't seem to fit either of the two girls who had been talking before. For <i>Spinning Silver</i>, it would've been of great help if the chapters had the name of the storyteller as well, to avoid confusions and long periods in which the reader tries to figure out who's talking instead of focusing on the story itself.
<b>The Ugly</b>
Specifically for the audiobook version, the narration was weak. There was barely any change in voices to differentiate between the characters, the girls all had the same voice and sometimes one character's voice seemed to blend into another's. It might be also a reason for which, halfway in, I was already tired and just wanted the story to finish faster.
milliei's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed the story, the characters and the writing!
abaugher's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! Audio-read this one immediately after Uprooted. Amazing! Little hints of various tales, but the story is so much deeper.
ninkoni's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
shannonbeehall's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
sgrifgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
vespurr's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars rounded up. This book started off really great and then lagged a bit near the middle. Once it picked back up, though, it really got going and it finished strong. Overall I really enjoyed it.
My biggest complaint would probably be that the story was told from many different character's pov, all in first person, but without headers. So it was hard to tell all the time who was supposed to be narrating. It got a little confusing. However, I loved getting the story from so many different characters and watching the story unravel to bring all those characters' paths together.
My biggest complaint would probably be that the story was told from many different character's pov, all in first person, but without headers. So it was hard to tell all the time who was supposed to be narrating. It got a little confusing. However, I loved getting the story from so many different characters and watching the story unravel to bring all those characters' paths together.