Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

40 reviews

readandfindout's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Religious bigotry, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Body horror, Violence, Sexism, Grief, Confinement, Racism, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Animal death and Miscarriage

cheyenne_rose's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

This is the kind of fairy tale retelling I live for, I loved everything about this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism and Child death

Minor: Body horror and Death of parent

bluejayreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I did not have very high hopes for this book. I picked it up because I like fairy tale-inspired fantasy and this looked like an interesting mash-up between the Snow Queen and Rumpelstiltskin. But it also is an 18-hour audiobook and I have a fairly short attention span, so a book has to be really good to make me willing to spend 18 hours with it. 

Spinning Silver absolutely delivered. I loved this story. 

To start with, the back cover makes it sound like Miryem is the only main character and her two "unlikely allies" are supporting characters in her story. That is incorrect. Miryem has her own story, true, but Wanda and Irina (the lord's daughter) have their own stories too, intertwined but completely distinct. (I think Irina and Miryem meet once, maybe twice, and I don't recall Irina and Wanda ever meeting.) Not only did Naomi Novik give me a fantastic fairy tale, she gave me three fantastic fairy tales spun together in one book. 

Each of the three heroines are their own distinct person to root for. Miryem is the granddaughter of a very successful moneylender and the daughter of a very unsuccessful one - her father is a wonderfully kind and compassionate man, but he's too kind to collect from the people who owe him so his family lives in poverty and disgrace. Miryem stomps down her compassion to collect the debts, and becomes so good at moneylending that she brags she can "turn silver into gold" and attracts the attention of the Staryk king. And not only is she Jewish, her being Jewish is what saves the day towards the end. 

Irina is a lord's daughter, but she is too plain to be married off to anyone of consequence - until her father develops a plan to use Staryk magic to marry her to the tsar. The tsar is not what he seems and brings another dangerous player into the story. Irina is up to the task of surviving this new threat, though, and is not only strong and brave but also concerned for the safety and interests of her people. All of the characters are compelling in their own right, but Irina is by far the most kind-hearted. 

Wanda is a peasant farmer's daughter who ends up working for Miryem's family to pay off her father's debt. Her mother is dead and her father is drunk and severely abusive, and all she wants is to have enough money to get away from him. Her story is less about magic and fae than the other two protagonists' and much more human, but just as compelling - and in some ways more relatable, because fae kings and eternal winter aren't a common situation but abusive families sure are. 

The setting and the plot are so intertwined that you can't really talk about one without the other. It has a clear Eastern European feel (Naomi says on her website that the book is based on Polish folklore) and a definite 17th-century-peasant-village vibe without romantacizing the harshness of that life. Miryem and Irina are, through their own separate circumstances and methods, working to prevent the Staryk from creating perpetual winter. Wanda is assisting where she can, quiet but strong and brave. (This description makes her sound less interesting than the other two but I promise she is not.) And above all, all three women are just trying to survive. 

There is so much more in this book than what I can put into a review (again, 18-hour audiobook, nearly 500 pages in print). But it's all so worth it. I recall at least two times I thought the plot must be wrapping up soon and then got hit with another new twist, new bit of information, new change in the dynamic that made the magic continue. I can't even mention why the tsar is not what he seems without giving away a major spoiler. This book is dense and lyrical, fantastic and relatable, a story of supernatural forces considering humans beneath their notice and humans standing up and taking back their power. The folktale roots come through clearly, and it has a very strong folktale/fairy tale feel even in the writing style. I thoroughly, unreservedly ignored it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Kidnapping, Child death, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Violence and Antisemitism

Forced marriage, poverty, possession/mind control

raquelbb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

a_new_elisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

I'm docking half a point just because we never find out his name.
No, it's actually because the logic and writing style are not entirely 5 stars, but that name thing is slightly irritating. 

That last sentence is still cute though.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child death

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.

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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

adoras's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

toadlett's review against another edition

hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What a great book to finish just before New Year. Novik is great at weaving fairytale themes distinct with her polish cultural heritage into big adventures with lots to say and fantastic, deeply human characters. This isn't a twist on the story of rumplestiltskin so much as an expansion, and becomes a huge story about the cost of things, debts and how we honour them, and smart women stepping in to fix the mistakes of incompetent men. it was so fantastic to see a Jewish protagonist whose faith and culture informs so much of the story, though I'd love to hear the opinion of a jewish person on this. Also I did foster a hope for much of the book that it'd be gayer, and it felt a little mean to have the only unequivocally queer character in the book be hopelessly pining for a man he'd never have a chance with, but the book as it actually is, rather than as I might daydream about, is fantastic and had me hooked throughout. though I've added in content warnings as these are themes in the book, they never feel gratuitous, and in all the action and characters of the book are defined by the loving relationships and growth they build for eachother, rather than their traumas.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Violence, Grief, and Gore

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Rape

kathytwitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another satisfying adult fairy tale style story from Naomi Novik, I think I liked this one better than Uprooted. 

This twist on Rumplestiltskin also has a Slavic slant, accented by a narrator with a Russian-type accent. Told in several voices, this story brings three young women together in a way that allows them to each triumph over their separate trials. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual content, and Torture

One main character faces strong anti-Semitism, and her family fears to antagonize the townsfolk in any way, lest they be killed. One main character faces severe poverty and physical abuse by an alcoholic father, while her brothers suffer child abuse when they cannot hide. Starvation is a real threat to this family. One main character faces a very different trial, an arranged marriage to a powerful man who is possessed by a violent demon that is intent upon killing her, slowly and painfully. The poverty-striken family buried many babies under a tree, only to bury their mother there as well. There's abuse from the father of this heroine, and torture by his demon of another heroine's unwanted husband. Our third heroine is also subjected to an unwanted marriage to the powerful, hostile elven king. Both unhappily married women spend much of the book trying (successfully) to avoid the consummation of their marriages. When, at the end, events change both of the unwanted husbands, we are left to speculate about their happily ever after. While there are no bedroom scenes, there's plenty of talk about how to avoid what happens on one's wedding night.