Spinning Silver: A Review

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novak

My Rating: 5 stars!

Cover Rating: 7/10 it’s a very solid and pretty cover. I think the only thing about it that throws me off is how the winter king looks a little like there’s been white out put over him and he looks kinda blank as a result.

Publisher: Del Rey

Publish Date: July 10th, 2018

Number of Pages: 465

Received: my lovely boyfriend bought it for me as a part of a blind date with a book.

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “One of the year’s strongest fantasy novels” (NPR), an imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale from the bestselling author of Uprooted.

NEBULA AND HUGO AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • Time • Tordotcom • Popsugar • Vox • Vulture • Paste • Bustle • Library Journal

With the Nebula Award–winning Uprooted, Naomi Novik opened a brilliant new chapter in an already acclaimed career, delving into the magic of fairy tales to craft a love story that was both timeless and utterly of the now. Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into this glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. She will face an impossible challenge and, along with two unlikely allies, uncover a secret that threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike.

Opening Sentence: “The real story isn’t half as pretty as the one you’ve heard.”

Musings:

Spinning Silver is a dense fantasy full of detail and different perspectives. It felt like as your reading the book evolves from one book into another much like Miryem’s gift of turning silver into gold. Though my one little critique would be that this book should have had little character names put in the front of each perspective change. It took me tell well towards the end to finally get ahold of each name and perspective and it’s lucky that the writing was so good because it did take me out of the book a bit every-time to figure out who I’m reading about.

The beginning is the tale of Miryem the moneylender, cunning and with all the amount of self-respect it takes to assure that her dues always get paid back to her. I had so much fun and interest just with that part of the story, but with the arrival of the Staryk riding white through the forest, the fear and awe of magic arrives in this novel.

The king of the Staryk comes into Miryem’s life and forces her to perform a duty for him. Make his silver turn to gold on three different occasions and he would make her his queen. Miryem has no interest in being a Staryk queen, but she doesn’t want herself or anyone she loves to die so she goes through with it.

The second main point of view in this novel is that of Wanda. Wanda is a village girl who deals with having an abusive father who wants to sell her off to be married for money he can use to buy his alcohol. Miryem goes to collect a debt at her house one day and because they cannot pay it she has Wanda come work for her everyday till the debt could be paid.

The third main point of view is Irina’s she’s the daughter of a duke who plans to make her the Tsarina with the silver jewelry made from Staryk silver that Miryem makes to sell them. I can’t say how much I love Irina. She’s so strong and cunning. She has this understanding of politics that is amazing and at first she seems unassuming, but no she has so much wit about her.

‘Spinning Silver’ is such a dense fantasy. Every section has its time till the very end. There’s always a main story woven with smaller situations and it’s woven tightly to make a beautiful quilt of words. I loved the world building. Especially the Staryk’s castle and world. The frigid cold and high magic. It had me in awe the entire time reading. There’s this one part that had my eyes glued to the book for how magical it was. Sadly, it’s pretty late into the book so I won’t be detailing it here.

Overall:

This book is about the care we have for our loved ones and how far we will go to save them. It’s full of magic, loyalty, and fights against great foes. One will become bigger then they ever dreamed in order to attempt to defeat a great evil. That is something I think is beautiful. If you haven’t already, read ‘Spinning Silver’. This review barely scratches the surface of all there is to explore in this book. It’s a book worthy of loving.

About the Author

Naomi Novik is the acclaimed New York Times-bestselling author of the Nebula Award-winning novel Uprooted, Spinning Silver, and the nine-volume Temeraire series, as well as a founder of the Archive of Our Own. Her upcoming book A Deadly Education is the first of the Scholomance trilogy, and will be available September 2020.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below! 

Check out my INSTAGRAM and TWITTER! 

Check out THE SISTERS OF TWILIGHT WEBSITE.

If you would like to support me directly here’s a link to BUY ME A KOFI! 

My friend started Live Streaming so check them out HERE!! 

Places to donate to Trans communities:

Trans Equality 

The Trevor Project

Transgender Law Center 

Some BLM resources:

Link to bail funds to donate to!

Link to petitions to sign! 

Link to a video to watch if you can’t donate!

Advertisement