Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver has been exploding in the book scene over the past months since its release, it seems everyone has been reading it and falling in love with the characters within this Russian inspired fairy tale retelling of Rumplestiltskin.

I am a huge fan of fairy tale retellings and so I had high hopes for this book and spotting it on my libraries new releases bookshelf I immediately picked it up. I hoped that it would be perfect for this autumn time of year as we head into the Halloween season and having just DNF'd a thriller I was desperate to find something to sink my teeth into.

This book is set in historic Russia and much of it is based around old Russian folktales along with the theme of turning silver into gold as in Rumplestiltskin. For those who have read and enjoyed Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale, this will be absolutely up your street as it has a very similar vibe to the setting and many of the same folk tales are mentioned such as Baba Yaga and the theme of Winter King's. We follow 3 different young female protagonists in this book. The first is the daughter of a Jewish moneylender who finding her father is better at lending money than reclaiming debts he is due takes over his business in order to save her family from poverty. As a result of her success, she attracts the attention of the Staryk king who challenges her to turn his silver into gold. The second is a poor girl from the same village who lives with her two brothers under the tyranny of her violent father and who goes to work for the moneylender as a way of paying off his debt and the way in which these first two stories intertwine are one of the highlights of the book. Their building friendship and the lessons they share make really good reading. The third and final character we follow is the daughter of a duke who aims to make her a marriage with the Tsar but she has little to recommend her as Tsarina and little does she know the darkness that her future husband hides within and the danger she will be placed in through the marriage.

This was an up and down reading experience for me with this book. There were chapters where I would be sucked into the story and would really be enjoying the characterisations that Novik outlayed and I would be really enjoying the story but then I'd come across chapters where I was getting a little bit bored. Things would become a little bit too wandered and steeped in the myths and I'd lose the will to keep reading and hence would be tempted to skip just a little to get back to the good bits. I think for me I found the bits where our heroines came together were really powerful and their growth as women was brilliant to read as was the building relationships between all the different families. Where it was character centered I was all in. I could have read all day but then when we became more steeped in the mystical and magical side of things I didn't love it. I found it all a bit too mixed up and confusing.

For me I have to give this one a 3 out of 5 star rating because it didn't grip me enough. About 200 pages in I did stop and think maybe it wasn't for me, then I flew through 8 chapters and thought I was back on track only to find that it dipped again and the last few chapters left me feeling a little unfulfilled. Because of my bumpy ride I can only give the 3 stars.

As the pandemic hit, exhausted and strung out on adrenaline, I completely lost my ability to concentrate on books. And yet, Spinning Silver reached me with its deeply evocative setting, weaving together multiple American and Russian faerie tales with a modern sensibility to how to write strong female characters. This is also possibly the first high fantasy novel I've ever read to include Jewish characters.

I loved Miryem, Irina and Wanda, each strong in their own way, each determined to make her own way to bettering her life and that of her family. I liked the Staryk, with their icy alienness, yet truly a sympathetic villain. I liked the foil between the fire demon and the Staryk. Overall, it hit the sweet spot of combining a haunting setting, strong characters and a compelling plot.

I had previously read Uprooted, and adored it, so I was eager to get my hands on this book as soon as it came out. I was very excited to see it as a Book of the Month choice for July, and quickly made it my pick!

I received the book while I was at Anthrocon, so I didn't get a chance to sit down with it until the day after it officially released. I proceeded to read straight through the entire book because it was SO. GOOD. Novik writes absolutely ENTHRALLING fairy tales. And in Spinning Silver, she has written fae as beautiful, alien, capricious, and as absolutely bound by rules as they should be. Doing a thing three times, even by normal means, gives one the power to ACTUALLY do the thing; in Miryem's case, turning the Staryk's silver into gold (by creative buying and selling) means she gains the power to LITERALLY turn silver into gold. Which then gets her into the trouble the rest of the book is built on.

One of my favorite lines was very near the end of the book, about the Staryk palace:

“The Staryk didn't know anything of keeping records: I suppose it was only to be expected from people who didn't take on debts and were used to entire chambers wandering off and having to be called back like cats.”

My only real quibble with the book is that it shifts viewpoints between at least five characters, and doesn't start their sections with names or anything, so it takes a few sentences to figure out who's talking. It never takes too long, but it did occasionally make me go “Wait, who is this....ah, okay.”

The plotlines weave in and out of each other's way for most of the book before all colliding into each other at the end and showing how everything connects. I was definitely confused on occasion, but it was that enchanting Alice-in-Wonderland kind of confusion more than actual puzzlement. The book is, by turns, a mix of Rumpelstiltskin, Tam-Lin, Winter King vs Summer King, Snow Queen, and a little Hansel and Gretel. I love seeing elements of so many fairy tales woven together and yet still remaining recognizable.

And the ending! Oh, the ending was absolutely, marvelously perfect.

I loved this book, just as much as I loved Uprooted. I can't wait to see what fairy tales Novik spins next!

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

Reread for comfort, because sometimes you need a charming little magical love story. I deeply enjoy the love interests, purely as a concept of ‘butthole is under a lot of stress and has never tried being a people before but is fully capable once someone smacks some sense into him'. It's not necessarily a good trope in the real world, but in fantasy world, reformed butthole is bumbling and delightful once they get over themselves and start learning how to be a people.

Spinning Silver is much more than the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It incorporates fantasy, myth, and dark retellings making it a lush layered novel with flushes out characters and worlds.
The story starts with Miryem, daughter and granddaughter to a moneylender. Her family is poor since her father repeatedly fails at collecting dues. When her mother becomes ill and Miryem has grown sick herself from constant poverty she goes out to collect the funds owed. She soon finds she is good at the job and over time turns more silver into gold. But this causes the notice of the Staryk, a terrible being who brings the winter and wants gold above all else.
The story includes a woman hired to pay her (physical) abuse father's debt and take care of her siblings. There is also the story of a noble girl, considered plain and useless to her father but who must fight for her life and those she loves after she is married to a cruel tsar cursed with a fire demon in his body.
The world building is seemingly simple. The introduction to the world builds on the people's stories and fears till the magic is more then just under the surface but true and an increment part of these women's everyday lives.
Novik has a talent for presenting multiple character point of views with complex sub-plots weaving everything into a single brimming tale. I didn't find it hard to follow the different perspectives. Each character had a distinct voice but the book also uses a corresponding symbol for each character at page breaks or beginning chapters. I loved the strong empowering female theme throughout. Another thing to note is Miryem and her family are Jewish. The novel touches on the importance of her Jewish identity as well as with small town prejudices, and anti-Semitism making it more relevant to today's world.
Spinning Silver has a way of taking historical and present topics of discussions, mixing in myths and fairytales, and making everything relatable. Overall, Naomi Novik can transport you to a time and place you can believe without a doubt is real and that is real magic.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. Spinning Silver by Noami Novik will be published by Dey Rey on Tuesday July 10th 2018.

There's something nostalgic about Novik's writing. Both “Spinning Silver” and her previous book “Uprooted” feel like German fairy tales written a hundred years ago. They have a sense of danger you wouldn't see in a Disney fairy tale, while incorporating the fear and reality of an old-time tale. Spinning Silver jumps between first-person stories following a money changer and her growth into the role. The story takes a turn when a mystical character asks her, a regular person, to change silver into gold after hearing of her skills out of context. What follows is a tale through distant worlds that still feels familiar.

I'm not a fan of retellings of fairy tales. I do believe that there are some good examples (for instance,[b: The Bear and the Nightingale 25489134 The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1) Katherine Arden https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470731420s/25489134.jpg 45268929])? but mostly I don't enjoy reading the same story over and over again. I'm excited to tell you, that that was not the case with [b: Spinning Silver 36896898 Spinning Silver Naomi Novik https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513872748s/36896898.jpg 58657620]. To be honest, I haven't even thought, that it is actually a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. This book is so much more complex than just a story about guessing the name. The novel definitely has a general fairytalish atmosphere (even if it is more of a grim kind), but it's here nonetheless. Somehow I'm not in a mood to write an extensive review, so I would like to be short. Is this book worth the time, that I've spent reading it? Definitely! However, I still like [b: Uprooted 22544764 Uprooted Naomi Novik https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480121122s/22544764.jpg 41876730] more because of humour.

This was a good solid 4-star read. I found that it dragged a little in the middle, but I was pleased enough by the ending to come away with a good impression of it.

Miryem is a moneylender's daughter who can turn silver into gold. Well, at least, she knows how to barter her silver well enough to get a gold coin back for each one. Unfortunately, her father the moneylender is too gentle and kind to collect his debts, so to prevent her family from going cold and hungry, she has to harden her heart and go out to run his business for him. Because of an ill-timed boast to herself about it in the forest, Miryem attracts the attention of the king of the Staryeks, a race of winter fae people who have been casually terrorising mortals for generations. Together with Wanda, the daughter of one of Miryem's debtors, and Irina, the daughter of a duke, Miryem has to find a way out of a supernatural conflict that threatens the lives of their people.

The characters of this book, love them or hate them, are really quite spectacular to behold (and not always pleasantly so). The female characters are generally strong, but I found them a little muted compared to the male ones, probably because they're more stable. Miryem is kind and can be generous, but generally she's calculative with her money. Wanda is unfortunately lacking in education, but she's physically strong and does what needs to be done to protect her brothers. Irina is... whew. Despite being a duke's daughter, she's downtrodden but grows increasingly... almost ruthless and manipulative as the book goes by. After all, she is the only one who can actually outmaneuver both Mirnatius and Chernobog. Honestly, at the end of the book when Irina was making these decisions to let Chernobog into the Staryek kingdom just to save her people, I was the most afraid of her than I was of the actual flame demon from Hell.

The male characters here are out of control! Wanda's father, usually known as “Da” when we see the story from her perspective, is a pathetic bullshit excuse of a human being that you would find yourself thinking violent thoughts about (and honestly, I found myself wishing his death had been even more violent than it was). But the two biggest characters here are Tsar Mirnatius and the nameless Staryek king. I spent the first half of this book thinking that these are some crazy toxic male characters, and indeed there's no denying that they are toxic. But by the end of the book, after learning more about them, you may find yourself re-assessing that. In any case, I like that they both had to be saved, quite physically, by Irina and Miryem respectively. I feel like the happy ending may not be to everyone's tastes, but I think the part of me that likes fairytales and happy endings very much enjoyed the way it played out, which is why I liked the book so much.

The narrative structure was OK, but may not be to everyone's fancy. It's told from a first person POV, but it switches fairly frequently between characters. We get at least 2 characters' POVs every chapter. There also isn't a clear indication of whose perspective we're reading from, which is probably a deliberate decision, but that also means you need to pay more attention to the context of what you're reading to figure out whose voice you're reading now. I thought that the POVs would be fixed between the 3 main female characters, but I was surprised later on with the POVs of some other side characters (namely Stepon, Mirnatius, Magreta - especially Mirnatius. I wouldn't have expected to see the POV from one of the "villains" of this book).

If you live in a country that experiences winter, this is a great book to whip out and read during that season. It's a book that takes place in and almost celebrates winter to some extent, with a dark fairytale vibe and a fairytale ending.

I loved this book so much and was simply devastated when it was over. It's incredibly refreshing to read about Jews, especially in a semi-historical-though-in-this-case-also-fantastical setting, who are not ashamed of their identities. None of the Jews in this book were trying to assimilate, or become something else simply because they were marginalized by the society around them.

The riffs on fairy tales combined with the themes of self, family, love, and empathy were so moving. I could not put this book down.

I was extremely excited to grab an ARC of this at Denver Comic Con. Uprooted is one of the best modern fairy tales I have ever read, and while Spinning Silver is a completely different setting and set of characters, it upholds the fantastical tone and complexity of cast that have become Novik's hallmark.

The multiple POV's must have made this challenging, but each perspective gives us valuable insight into both the person and the time period. I want to slap period authors who don't write women with any agency because “that's just how it was.” The women in this book understand the limits society puts on them, and they work within or around those limits to make choices-Especially Miryem, who has to fight against people's attitudes towards women and Jews. Also, a European fantasy book that recognizes Jewish people and anti-Semitism openly? It's just great.

Like Uprooted, many of the male characters seek to take choices and control away from the female ones. Also, like Uprooted, they are unprepared for what they start. I'd argue that the antagonists here are more complex, often more sympathetic, but they are also held accountable for their actions, even if the reader comes to understand how they became monsters. Irina and Mirnatius' mirror narrative is particularly compelling and a lesson in how to keep from making more monsters.

I could gush about this book all day. It's clever, original, beautiful and everything I needed to read right now. You should read both this and a Uprooted, but they are only thematically a series and can be read in either order.

There's something nostalgic about Novik's writing. Both “Spinning Silver” and her previous book “Uprooted” feel like German fairy tales written a hundred years ago. They have a sense of danger you wouldn't see in a Disney fairy tale, while incorporating the fear and reality of an old-time tale. Spinning Silver jumps between first-person stories following a money changer and her growth into the role. The story takes a turn when a mystical character asks her, a regular person, to change silver into gold after hearing of her skills out of context. What follows is a tale through distant worlds that still feels familiar.

Well. I was yawningly bored until the very last chapter which made me stay up past my bedtime and reminded me this is a fairytale. Without the hype, I think it is an ok book, not fantastic. But, without the hype I wouldn't have picked it up in the first place, having not particularly enjoyed [b:Uprooted 22544764 Uprooted Naomi Novik https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1550135418s/22544764.jpg 41876730] either.OTOH, having studied medieval fairy lore and trope, medieval Judaism, and medieval history, this book ticks all the right boxes.

I wish Novik would've stuck with only the 3 POVs of Miryem, Wanda, and Irina. Just to solidify the focus on the female protagonists. Alas, many more POVs were added and it grew into a bit of a mess for me with loss of focus on the mentioned characters' journey.

First half is 4 stars for me.
Second half felt both rushed and drawn out at the same time... I am a little sad by that fact. I wanted so badly to love this.

4,5 sterretjesPrachtig, origineel sprookje, dat me volledig transporteerde naar een winters landschap waar de hopen sneeuw al het geluid absorbeerde.Ongelooflijk gedetailleerd in zijn setting met schitterende “diepe” personages.Toch ietwat complex door de enorme rijkheid van de wereld en het aantal personages.Uiteindelijk vond ik deze iets minder dan [b:Uprooted 25068467 Uprooted Naomi Novik https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1502746657s/25068467.jpg 41876730], misschien net door de veelheid aan personages en perspectieven die het soms wat verwarrend maakten, maar al bij al toch een fantastisch staaltje schrijf- en vertelkunst.

It was lovely to read this story. Yes, some parts of it were convoluted and abstruse but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. I loved the characters, they all felt real and well-fleshed out. Although I didn't always agree with their choices, I understood them.

I loved reading a book with three female characters who were strong in different ways, who had been beaten down by life but refused to just accept what the world thought was their due. I loved all three characters but I must admit to liking Wanda the most. The power of her 'NO' is something of beauty. Also, I loved the idea that if you proclaimed something to be true and when challenged did it 3 times, then you would possess that power. And then also, it was interesting how none of the characters including the tsar, was truly free. I ended up appreciating his character a lot. He who had been sold to this horrible thing from birth in order to appease his mother's aims of advancement. And then yet still, we had to pause to consider, what may she also have been fleeing in her life to make the bargain that she did? I liked this book because after reading it I was left considering the power of bargaining and all the ways big and small that we betray other people and ourselves in order to gain an easier, simple life. But also, the ways in which sometimes, we can put our own needs aside and simply fight for what's right even when it imperils us greatly. I loved the book and by the end hated none of the characters. Not even the Staryk King. They were all flawed characters who were trying to eke out a little enjoyment from an otherwise bleak existence. .

While I primarily read romance, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the book without any of the little romance it contained. In fact, I was a bit troubled by one of the romantic pairings as I didn't believe that relationship was based on mutual respect and regard. I understand the Staryk King because he and his people did to the Lithvians what Irina was willing to do to them and I still loved her anyway. However, I am ambivalent about his relationship with Miryem. I felt that he was unfeeling and condescending in the beginning with little respect for her personal autonomy. While their relationship may have changed during their 6 months together, the readers didn't get to see much of it. Also, there were no proper reparations nor apologies made for all the harm the Staryk had done. But I guess I wasn't mad that Irina made no apologies for possible harming the winter people. So I guess, I don't really know. I have complex feelings about their relationship and I would have liked the book more easily if their relationship wasn't a part of it. Still, that was one tiny aspect of an otherwise great book. And ultimately I feel like that lack of black and white is why I liked the book. For better or worse, I can't stop thinking about it.

I think Novik should stick to either one or two point of views. Most of this book was a wild ride, and not in a good way. Toward the end I skipped all of Stepon's, whoever Irina's nurse lady is, and Wanda's point of view. I maybe gave half of a thought for Irina's POV. I liked Miryem and the Staryk Lord's story the most — definitely should've just been those two.