A review by katmystery
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

A brilliant, beautiful, and inventive tale and told in a powerful folkloric voice. It felt just like reading a Russian fairytale. Every twist and trope turned on its head was a refreshing surprise. The characters felt so real and original. Miryem, especially, was such a strong character- one of the strongest female leads I've read in a fantasy book in a long time. The women were all brilliantly written, brave and flawed and caring and cold when they needed to be. They make mistakes and learn from them. They don't apologize for asking for what they're owed. And the book has incredible Jewish rep, something I haven't seen before in high fantasy. This is an absolute must-read for fans of fairytale retellings.

Note: though it has multiple first-person POVs, it is never announced who is narrating each section, so you have to look out for context clues. This made the audiobook a bit tricky to follow at times.