Scan barcode
lunep's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Minor: Rape
mmefish's review against another edition
It’s just so damn slow. I like the prose, I like the characters, the atmosphere is right: cold and mysterious… But it’s way too slow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child death and Animal cruelty
Minor: Rape
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, and Sexism
Minor: Child death, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, and Pedophilia
Passing mentions of infant death, death by childbirth, child marriage, and execution by hanging. Themes around agency, obligations, and possessiveness -- specifically of daughters/wives/women overall -- in family relationships and marriage. Sexual assault/harassment is mentioned and discussed but mostly not present; several scenes involve pressure upon mutually unconsenting parties to consummate a relationship and unwanted sexual advances.taliesinrex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Outfitted with both playful storybook logic and grounded character motivations against fantastical imagery that effectively fleshes out its Slavic fairytale-inspired setting, Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver is an artfully constructed reimagining of the Rumplestiltskin fable that just completely blew me away. Novik does an amazing job introducing us to the three central female characters and weaving an enthralling narrative intertwining each of them as we get a clearer picture of each of their motivations and personalities. I found myself deeply caring for each of them, as well as the characters entrenched in each of their lives - Wanda and her brothers, Irina and her nursemaid, Miryem and her family, and even the Staryk king and the tsar Mirnatius.
Though I'm not totally used to reading - and fully enjoying, I should add - books heavy on first-person narration, especially ones that switch between narrators, in the case of Spinning Silver I think it really worked in its favor. Novik's prose reveals the deep sentimentalities of each narrating character with such sincerity that I found myself pretty misty-eyed at several points within each main character's journey and even the stories of supporting characters (Wanda and her siblings' relationship with Miryem's parents hit me especially hard). I think the culmination of the swapping narrators is during the climactic confrontation at Miryem's cousin's wedding, a scene that one would expect to see through Miryem or Irina's perspective, or even perhaps Wanda's that we view through the eyes of Wanda's frightened young brother, Stepon, who feels like an outsider to the whole story that has been unfolding just outside his view. This doesn't seem like something that should work to tie this scene together, but in all its frantic action, seeing it in the perspective of a young boy perplexed by the strange, otherworldly events taking place unites all the moving pieces perfectly.
All in all, I've gone on for long enough and just wanted to conclude by saying I found everything I was looking for and more from a retelling of a fairytale in Spinning Silver. It's incredibly clever and well-constructed, and I'd recommend it to basically any fan of fantasy. As an aside, I also wanted to addthat Miryem and the Staryk king may be the only m/f enemies-to-lovers relationship that, at its beginning, saw one party being really incredibly cruel to the other that I have ever truly felt invested in...the development of their dynamic felt natural within the folkloric arc of Miryem's story while also coming from a place of genuine respect, and that just made me very happy.
Though I'm not totally used to reading - and fully enjoying, I should add - books heavy on first-person narration, especially ones that switch between narrators, in the case of Spinning Silver I think it really worked in its favor. Novik's prose reveals the deep sentimentalities of each narrating character with such sincerity that I found myself pretty misty-eyed at several points within each main character's journey and even the stories of supporting characters (Wanda and her siblings' relationship with Miryem's parents hit me especially hard). I think the culmination of the swapping narrators is during the climactic confrontation at Miryem's cousin's wedding, a scene that one would expect to see through Miryem or Irina's perspective, or even perhaps Wanda's that we view through the eyes of Wanda's frightened young brother, Stepon, who feels like an outsider to the whole story that has been unfolding just outside his view. This doesn't seem like something that should work to tie this scene together, but in all its frantic action, seeing it in the perspective of a young boy perplexed by the strange, otherworldly events taking place unites all the moving pieces perfectly.
All in all, I've gone on for long enough and just wanted to conclude by saying I found everything I was looking for and more from a retelling of a fairytale in Spinning Silver. It's incredibly clever and well-constructed, and I'd recommend it to basically any fan of fantasy. As an aside, I also wanted to add
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Antisemitism and Death of parent
Minor: Rape
nightofdesirableobjects's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Novik writes exceptionally beautiful prose. I have read her Temeraire series, A Deadly Education, and Uprooted, and really enjoyed all of them, but it is in her fairy-tale inspired works that her immense skill with words shines. I am also impressed with how she changes the "voice" of each of her stories to fit the genre. Temeraire was all sweeping adventure, Deadly Education we were in the head of a snarky teenager, and in Uprooted and Spinning Silver the writing is lyrical, smooth and evocative, reading just like a fairy-tale. Novik cleverly changes the tone each time so that it feels like each work could have been written by a new author.
To get back to this particular book: it is a long, chunky work, and very slow burn. If you want people running off to save the world on page 2, this may not be for you. If you want interesting characters, a carefully built world where you are given only the bare bit of exposition you need at the time, some interesting commentary on humanity, and a gradual build-up until finally all the disparate characters meet, then look no further. The "big bad" in this one was not as interesting as that in Uprooted, but I was still hooked until the end.
Other reviewers have noted that the changing of narration between characters is confusing; personally I did not find it a problem. Each character was well developed and given their own style of speaking, so I could usually tell within a line or two who the chapter was going to follow. I do somewhat agree with some reviewers who said that we could have done without all this switching, and stayed with Miryem and Irina for the whole thing... but on the other hand hearing from others gave more depth to the world and nuance to the story, and I enjoyed being in Mirnatius' petulant little head.
Content warning for anti-semitism, not because the book is anti-semitic, but because the main character is Jewish and her experiences are described.
My one nit with Novik's fairy-tale stories is that they always end with some main characters falling in love and getting married. I may be weird but I love a miserable ending. Old-school fairy-tales were pretty grim (see what I did there?), so maybe Novik is going all modern with her happy endings. Not a dealbreaker for me, just a buzz-kill.
To get back to this particular book: it is a long, chunky work, and very slow burn. If you want people running off to save the world on page 2, this may not be for you. If you want interesting characters, a carefully built world where you are given only the bare bit of exposition you need at the time, some interesting commentary on humanity, and a gradual build-up until finally all the disparate characters meet, then look no further. The "big bad" in this one was not as interesting as that in Uprooted, but I was still hooked until the end.
Other reviewers have noted that the changing of narration between characters is confusing; personally I did not find it a problem. Each character was well developed and given their own style of speaking, so I could usually tell within a line or two who the chapter was going to follow. I do somewhat agree with some reviewers who said that we could have done without all this switching, and stayed with Miryem and Irina for the whole thing... but on the other hand hearing from others gave more depth to the world and nuance to the story, and I enjoyed being in Mirnatius' petulant little head.
Content warning for anti-semitism, not because the book is anti-semitic, but because the main character is Jewish and her experiences are described.
My one nit with Novik's fairy-tale stories is that they always end with some main characters falling in love and getting married. I may be weird but I love a miserable ending. Old-school fairy-tales were pretty grim (see what I did there?), so maybe Novik is going all modern with her happy endings. Not a dealbreaker for me, just a buzz-kill.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Rape
jennifer_bush_73's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️=it was fine.
This was a good story, and, overall, I liked it. It was more fairytale than fantasy. But the poor grammar and mechanics were a distraction from story. The story got bogged down in too much detail. A good editor could have made the story more readable by cutting the redundant details and correcting the grammar errors.
This was a good story, and, overall, I liked it. It was more fairytale than fantasy. But the poor grammar and mechanics were a distraction from story. The story got bogged down in too much detail. A good editor could have made the story more readable by cutting the redundant details and correcting the grammar errors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Rape, Domestic abuse, Genocide, and Murder
Fantasybooksandtea997's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Torture
Minor: Rape
amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Too slow for me with not enough justification for the romances. I liked the Jewish representation and subversion of the Rumplestiltskin tale. I wish we had spent more time learning about the Staryk rather than having multiple perspectives and a second plot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape
cassie_ellie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Alcoholism
Minor: Rape
spinesinaline's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-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
4.0
Well that was very good.
I had nothing to go on when starting this book but I assumed it’d be some kind of fairytale retelling. While it is a retelling of sorts, the main fairytale it draws from is Rumpelstiltskin, it felt wholly inventive and new. There are elements of Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Red Riding Hood too but they feel more like familiar hints of old fairytales in the face of Novik’s creative world.
The story is presented through alternating 3rd-person POVs. Initially the main character is Miryem, the Jewish daughter of a moneylender who constantly deals with the antisemitism, thinly veiled or outright, from her village. I really enjoyed having a Jewish character in the centre of a fairytale and the descriptions of family life and celebrations, though her and her family face a lot of attacks and threats because of their faith. As the story progresses, we also get the perspectives of Wanda, a farmer’s daughter living in poverty, and Irina, the daughter of a duke dealing with the threat of the tsar.
It feels like a girl-power book without being explicit about it and I loved getting to see these girls find ways to take control of their situations – whether that’s with their knowledge of family, negotiations, or the courts. Each girl has her own strengths and while they aren’t always knowingly working together, as their stories converge later on, each of their contributions are needed in battling their common foes. I found it a little odd that in the second half of the book we got even more perspectives from side characters as it felt awkward and sudden, but it did make sense in a narrative way that we’d still want to follow those storylines. I would’ve preferred to have ended with the 3 MCs’ perspectives though, because our last looks at some of them were presented through a side character’s eyes and it felt very detached.
This is a YA so perhaps it’s to be expected that there will be romance but I felt iffy about it, especially as the relationships are formed out of very manipulative and emotionally (and at times physically) abusive situations. It’s not a major part of the book but a big warning for toxic relationships here. I would recommend looking up content warnings if you’re hesitant before reading this book as there’s quite a lot of violence.
I had nothing to go on when starting this book but I assumed it’d be some kind of fairytale retelling. While it is a retelling of sorts, the main fairytale it draws from is Rumpelstiltskin, it felt wholly inventive and new. There are elements of Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Red Riding Hood too but they feel more like familiar hints of old fairytales in the face of Novik’s creative world.
The story is presented through alternating 3rd-person POVs. Initially the main character is Miryem, the Jewish daughter of a moneylender who constantly deals with the antisemitism, thinly veiled or outright, from her village. I really enjoyed having a Jewish character in the centre of a fairytale and the descriptions of family life and celebrations, though her and her family face a lot of attacks and threats because of their faith. As the story progresses, we also get the perspectives of Wanda, a farmer’s daughter living in poverty, and Irina, the daughter of a duke dealing with the threat of the tsar.
It feels like a girl-power book without being explicit about it and I loved getting to see these girls find ways to take control of their situations – whether that’s with their knowledge of family, negotiations, or the courts. Each girl has her own strengths and while they aren’t always knowingly working together, as their stories converge later on, each of their contributions are needed in battling their common foes. I found it a little odd that in the second half of the book we got even more perspectives from side characters as it felt awkward and sudden, but it did make sense in a narrative way that we’d still want to follow those storylines. I would’ve preferred to have ended with the 3 MCs’ perspectives though, because our last looks at some of them were presented through a side character’s eyes and it felt very detached.
This is a YA so perhaps it’s to be expected that there will be romance but I felt iffy about it, especially as the relationships are formed out of very manipulative and emotionally (and at times physically) abusive situations. It’s not a major part of the book but a big warning for toxic relationships here. I would recommend looking up content warnings if you’re hesitant before reading this book as there’s quite a lot of violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Vomit