Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

147 reviews

bmbriar's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

This is an immaculately written book. It feels just like a classic fairytale, in both the narrative prose and the dialogue, yet it is very clearly an adult book. The characters are beautifully drawn, once again feeling like fairytale characters while also having depth and nuance that is often missing from fairytales. 

Romance is not a large component of the book at all, but I was still fearful that it would spoil the reading experience for me, since the trope is far from a favourite of mine, but it was executed so well that I was really rooting for Miriyem and the Staryk King by the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism

diasg's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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: Child abuse, Antisemitism, and Violence

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

ink_and_wings's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Body horror, and Death of parent

Moderate: Confinement, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty

antiffa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

bebobel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring 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: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism and Physical abuse

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I had much higher hopes since the Schoolomance books are some of my faves. This was glacially paced, I was frequently confused by the switching POVs since they all had similar voice. Some really interesting concepts but was not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Antisemitism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape

andreapap15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I will never shut up about this book. I don't give 5* to anything except absolute faves

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism and Vomit

ru_bunny's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

justabridge'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

4.0

So so good. Stunning language, spectacular characters, and the best folklore feel to this book. I loved how the Staryk were written - it’s so hard to keep fae on the right balance of untouchable but emotionally accessible, and it was done so well here. I only wish that the Staryk king and Mirnatius had been given a bit more room here. Given their respective ends, it didn’t feel like quite enough was put into expanding their characters and their relationships with Miryem and Irina. I kept expecting there to be a turning point that never really came, which was a shame because it took away some of the believability of the ending and some of the agency of a pair of the best female characters I’ve read in a really long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism

blewballoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I had a hard time with the first half of the book. It reads very much like a fairy tale, and I found it hard to connect with the characters despite the multiple points of view, because it felt like there was more focus on plot than character. Towards the end though, it became a lot more compelling and I really enjoyed watching all the plot threads weave together into the ending. It's a very a well crafted story, I just wish I could have felt more connection with the characters sooner. While the story is dark, it never crossed the line for me to where I'd be too uncomfortable, but please check the content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Blood

Moderate: War, Antisemitism, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Miscarriage, and Rape