A review by sustainably_lucia
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.0

I don’t understand why people love this book. I started it back in December and put it down after about 20% because I was confused about the world and didn’t care about the characters (zero emotional engagement). I picked it back up because one of my book clubs was reading it and it felt more doable with a group. 
Uprooted was SO much better for me. This was dry and unengaging. I felt like an outsider the whole time. It switches between POVs without warning and they aren’t labeled which is super confusing especially since they are all in the first person. Some simple world-building would have been helpful rather than assuming the reader is familiar with the fairy/folktales it is based on or can infer a lot of things through context. I switched to the audio version about halfway through and listened to it at about 2x speed which helped me get through some of the more boring bits. There is a good story underneath but it did not draw me in. The ending was satisfying but not worth the effort it took to read the whole thing.
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