I had been looking forward to Spinning Silver ever since I finished Uprooted earlier this year. I had really been taken by Novik’s writing style, and the way she took ideas from traditional Russian folk tales and developed them into something so much bigger and detailed, with such wonderfully developed characters and flowing plots.

Spinning Silver didn’t let me down, I enjoyed it a lot – but, perhaps, not quite as much as Uprooted, and I think this is because of the split narratives. Where Uprooted had a single narrator, Spinning Silver follows the stories of Miryem, the Jewish moneylender’s daughter, Wanda, the farm girl who is abused by her father, and Irina, the plain girl whose father wants her to marry the Tsar. The story begins and ends with Miryem, and Wanda and Irina’s narratives appear as they are introduced to the story through Miryem’s actions. Then, later in the book, additional narratives are added – the Tsar, Wanda’s baby brother, and Irina’s maid all gain their own voices to move the story along. The reason for the different narratives is self-evident – the story is much less linear than that of Uprooted, with different strands in different areas weaving together to form the overall story. However, the constant switching of perspective was a little jarring for me, and it wasn’t always immediately clear who the new narrator was.

Inspired by Rumplestiltskin, Miryem finds herself in danger from the king of the Staryk, a race of ice fairies who raid the towns and villages every winter searching for gold. After taking over her father’s business, Miryem makes it more successful than it has ever been, and her grandfather jokes that she is able to turn silver into gold. The Staryk king overhears this, and appears with a bag of silver to be changed to gold, and Miryem has to use all her cunning to do so by getting her cousin’s fiancé to melt the silver and shape it into jewellery, which they can sell for a profit in gold. This Staryk silver is mesmerising, and the jewellery is bought by the Duke, and passed to his daughter Irina, in the hopes she can snare the Tsar whilst wearing it.

In much the same way I enjoyed the way Agnieszka was allowed to be dirty and unkempt in Uprooted, I took great pleasure in Miryem and Irina’s cold logic and problem-solving skills. Whilst they had affection for their families, broadly they were calculating and clever, weighing their options and working out solutions based on risk and reward. This trope of the clever girl triumphing over all is a common subset of fairy tale, but in a more fleshed-out novel it meant that they became delightfully cerebral characters, with a morality defined by their own understanding of the world and measured against the way the world had treated them and theirs. Wanda was an exception, for all she began as fairly self-interested, her narrative was earnest and sweet, and showed growing care and compassion for those around her, whilst she found the inner strength to develop.

Spinning Silver was inspired by Rumplestiltskin, with the weaving of silver into gold and bargains made because of it. There is also some discussion about the importance of names, although this is a comparatively small piece. The story almost reads like three fairy tales woven together, each with its leading lady, and I would be interested to know if any other stories did influence Irina and Wanda’s storylines. Miryem’s narrative first appeared as a short story in a collection of fairy tale retellings called The Starlit Wood, published by Saga Press in the USA in October 2016. I wonder if, perhaps, that’s why Miryem’s story feels the most complete of the three. Wanda’s ending is very much intertwined with Miryem’s, so I did not feel there was more to be said there, but I would have liked a further small epilogue for Irina’s story, just to give the last bit of resolution on her marriage and ending. The threads were in place to suggest the way it was going to go, but I would have liked to have seen them tied off nicely.

All in all, however, these were minor niggles and I did really enjoy this book. I am beginning to think I need to check out the Temeraire series, but there is something special about reading a particularly good stand-alone book, and knowing the resolution is all there within the pages in front of you. Especially when the book is as well-crafted as this.

Briefly:

Another expertly-told fairy tale, with robust characters and settings handled with the lightest touch but never falling short of imagination.
I enjoyed seeing the main female characters as something other than unfailingly soft, kind-hearted or gentle. They were intelligent, sharp and coldly logical and it was extremely refreshing.
I found the changes of perspective a little jarring at times, and would have liked more resolution on one or two plot points, but these are comparatively minor niggles.
I think this series would be perfect to give to teen girls, as each is a standalone, but each shows women triumphing and allows them to be more than beautiful and gentle and kind. It keeps the tropes of the fairy tales, and in some cases the savagery, but considers the type of woman who would be able to triumph within the boundaries of the story.
Something I found particularly interesting was the portrayal of antisemitism in the book. I thought it was very well-handled, but it was a strangely grounding experience to read about real-world religions and prejudices in a fantasy book. It was a very effective contrast, and I enjoyed all the little details, even as the cruel treatment made me sad.
Rating: 4/5 – I loved this, but I felt it wasn’t quite as perfect as Uprooted, because there were just a few more things I wanted resolved. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, though, and my issues were extremely minor in the long run. I’d happily read this over and over.

Miryen comes from a family of moneylenders. However her father is not a very good moneylender. He lends money but fails to collect payments. With the family in poverty Miryen decides she can do better and does. Impressed, her grandfather lends her a pouch of silver which she quickly returns into a pouch of gold. It seems as though that reputation might bring her trouble.

Enter the Staryk king who wants his silver turned into gold. The Staryk prey on Miryen's world apparent on whims at times. There is a very real threat to Miryen and her family if she fails to do the King's bidding. In the course of this story there is a gradually increasing cast of characters narrating from their perspective. I did find this a little confusing to start with and then realised that a small graphic at the head of a section indicated who was narrating for a while.

This has a feel of an Eastern European "fairy" story and not the nice child friendly sort! There is darkness here both in the human realm and in that of the Staryk. These realms coincide particularly when the Staryk want something. They are ruthless in getting want they want and are little interested in the humans views.

In part a book about cold and the story felt cold to me. The Staryk world is a cold one and depends on that. The ideas used in this were good as was the overall story idea. However I never became really immersed in it - fantasy should allow that. I guess I never really warmed to the cold. Equally the characters - often with interesting stories - rarely came alive to me. Possibly Wanda - who had to work for Miryen to pay off her father's debt - was as interesting as anyone else. There was nothing actually bad about this, it simply didn't get to me in a positive way.

Sadly I was unable to finish this title, I found the plot threads convoluted and slightly confusing and when I still wasn't getting into it almost 130 pages in, I decided that it was time to give up which was a shame as I would have loved to read a Rumplestiltskin retelling, but this wasn't the one for me.

Quality Rating Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Do you need a book to help your Katherine Arden cravings while you're waiting for the Winter of the Witch? (As much as I hate to compare books to directly, in this case it's just too perfect.) Do you want to stay inside when it's way too hot outside and read about the winter weather that's just as dramatic as this heat wave? Well, I've got the book for you, and you'll end up not being able to put it down even though the heat kind of breaks the imersion, but hey.

There's something about fairytale-style prose that is just enchanting. Haha, yeah, maybe not the more original choice of words, but that classical modesty about fantastical objects and happenings just gets me. Somehow, the lack of surprise at magic makes it seem all the more wonderous; it's almost commonplace. It's especially striking in a book like this, where we seem a historical setting just non-specific enough to feel timeless. It echoes through history, it's everywhere. However, it might be said that the objectivity this kind of narration brings can sometimes create anticlimaxes; the 'final stand' felt a bit... well, flat. Because the prose is almost nonchalant about it. It didn't ruin the book, but the climax felt like it was designed for a little more drama than the writing style allowed.

I assume there are three loose retellings running through this novel, with three protagonists spearheading each. I make a guess there because they're so well weaved together, and their paths cross so subtly that I can't tell. It feels like each story is being given its due in running its course - bringing it to a new audience, let's say - but they're elevated into something more by being combined with each other. Sometimes these kinds of multiple retellings can feel like a short story collection that's had its chapters mixed up, but Spinning Silver takes the themes and characters from each and places them neatly into a little world, letting them run their destinies into one another - presumably smiling at the chaos that ensues.

I'd like to think that a great deal of the books I come into contact with will have good female characters these days - or at least the ones I choose to read - but Spinning Silver caught me off guard. Because they weren't just good, they were proper characters. Let me clarify: to be good, they have to have a purpose, not be there as a decorative or to make a snappy comment every few pages; think of it like a literary Bechdel test. But to have proper characters, they have to have motivations, relationships, complicated personalities and developed backstories - which is hard for any character regardless of gender, it just happens to be seen more in male than female characters. Spinning Silver is led by three strong, varied women that all make (quite disasterous) mistakes, but won't take shit by the end. And what I especially loved was that we got to see them grow into those roles. Maybe one was born a bit of a rebel, one kindhearted, one inquisitive, but they learn to be more than their original persona, which I appreciate. They also learn through different experiences, and learn to be different things: I don't want to break it down to 'the cunning one', 'the brave one' and 'the bold one' because that would be simplifying their characters, but the point is that they aren't all the same by the end. To juggle that along with the other characters and storylines and have it pay off and be involved with the story is damn hard, but Novik does it and she does it well.

I really enjoyed Spinning Silver - it was a lot more classical than I expected it to be, but I say that with pleasant surprise. It's makes me happy that there are fantasy books that are coming out that keep the old European fairytale style alive. As mentioned, if you liked The Bear and the Nightingale, this'll be right up your street. I'm excited to go back to Uprooted by Novik (that's I've had for like three years, oh dear), and I look forward to more in this vein in the future.

It is a new take on the classic fairytale Rumpelstiltskin. An extensive story made complex and interlacing weaved to be enjoyed by many generations to come.
This has been my best read so far this year. And I mean it's on the top of my list. Two thirds of the book is almost a very descriptive narrative, and I'm not used to reading a book like it, but it worked perfectly fine. There are also several PoV's and each one made me crave to read the next, I love how she'd done it. She kept every chapter interesting and important. No character was dull. The worlds were made (both by the author and the characters) so beautifully you'd want to see both worlds.
I love how it showed finding strength in so many different ways and how finding oneself along the way mattered in character building both in the story and how it applies in real life. I know we encounter this in so many stories, but the way she presented it, the way she told it will make the young ones listen.
How empowering it is to see strong female characters help and support each other, how someone who is deemed by the community small, unwanted and unnecessary be made great with the right company. How someone who doesnt know of love, if shown what love and compassion is be strong and fight to never loose it once more.
Society may have not fully changed on how it dictates a persons worth with looks and riches and difference in beliefs over character and attitude but hopefully books like this teaches the young ones the difference. No matter how beautiful and rich you are, if your attitude sucks then you'll be just as rotten.

So no matter if there were very few conversation and mostly narrative in the 2/3 of the story like I've mention in the beginning I still give it a 5/5.. and I encourage you to read it. It wont disappoint.
So I was given this digital ARC by Pan Macmillan through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.. And even though I read this eARC already, I'm pretty sure I'll search for the physical book and reread it over and over..

I had imagined Spinning Silver to be a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, but it was way more than that. For starters, the ‘retelling’ is only a subset of this lush and expansive story that is told through 6 perspectives, with 3 of them being the main – Miryem, Irina and Wanda – and the other 3 being secondary – Wanda’s youngest brother, Irina’s nanny and Irina’s husband, the tsar. (I would have loved a POV of the Staryk King, too, but I think most of the driving force in his part of the story is his mysteriousness) The tale derives from more than Rumpelstiltskin; there are hints of Hades-Persephone, Baba Yaga, and other folklore, plus some tropes common to fantasies that are stripped of their problematic origins and given new context in this story. Shortly, the plot goes like this – Miryem, who becomes a successful moneylender, boasted of as being able to turn silver into gold catches the notice of the Staryk king (who is like winter personified) and is challenged three tasks to become his Queen. But during her machinations, her story intersects with that of Irina, a duke’s daughter with Staryk ancestry, and who starts as a pawn but ultimately is the Queen on the board. Wanda is Miryem’s servant and is mostly carried along by the story but she also shows initiative at times.

What I loved best about this book is while there are 3 storylines playing out, it keeps them looped with each other at regular intervals, but also not so much as to have everything happen coincidentally. There are instances where you can only explain things away by shrugging and saying, “it’s magic”, but for the most part the plot is a slowly weaving tapestry that grows into a beautiful story that encompasses a varied cast of characters. There is Miryem, and the way her childhood makes her seem cold-hearted, but you can see her tenderness shine through when it came to Wanda and her family. Wanda and her siblings, poor and abused, but always wary of never taking more than they are due and still optimistic. Irina, who turns every unfortunate situation in her favor, sometimes by luck and her bloodline, but mostly by her cunning and political intelligence. Then come the ‘husbands’ – the Staryk king is cold and dismissive of Miryem, but also sees the value in her magic and eventually humbled by it, while the tsar who is burdened by a demon and has only learned to despise people around him finding someone to love him – both of them were terrible characters in the beginning but somehow Novik won me over and let me believe that they deserved the ending that they get.

As for diversity, the novel always goes to make sure to present Miryem’s Jewish heritage – even under capture, she is particular about keeping Sabbath and bargains her way into doing it, there is a Jewish quarter and mention of them having a secret tunnel built to escape Crusades, the pervasive antisemitism that they face. There are mentions of queer characters (who is forced to marry unfortunately), or races other than white (the tsar is of Tatar heritage). Also, I’m pretty sure the tsar was aroace-coded, even if it is never explicitly mentioned that he is. Other than that, I had thought there might be something between Miryem and Wanda but that may have been wishful thinking and me seeing tropes.

Miryem, our protagonist (I think she is the main character) ,celebrates her culture in the book, even if sometimes she felt alienated by her family for her choices (I do love her grandfather for supporting and encouraging her, though). And while she is the typical ‘girl who steps into a man’s shoes’ trope, she doesn’t denounce her femininity for it. The women of the book, while lacking in power as much as the men, still carry forth the story on sheer pluck, cunning and smarts. Wanda risking her father’s wrath for her brothers, for her own autonomy, and later on finding family in Miryem’s was such a good plot development. Irina, for her part, humanizes even a demon-possessed tsar, and makes hard choices and takes blood on her own hands for the protection of a kingdom and a crown she never even yearned for. Another wonderful thing is that the reason the heroines of the book do anything is for love, but it is not romantic love – sure, there are hints of romance, but they are almost an afterthought – and instead it was for love of family, or their people.

Novik’s writing skills were already evident in Uprooted, and this one is even better. I was awed by how immersed I was in the story – even though it is over 450 pages, there was never a time when I was like ‘this is taking too long’. The plot unfolded in its own way and while the logic of the magic wasn’t always clear, it still kept you going till the ending. For that part, I should mention that I still didn’t properly get the whole silver-gold winter-summer thing, but I was still convinced enough to be satisfied by how it was wrapped up. The atmosphere was partly foreboding, but also had hints of humor or tenderness – there was a scene that calls upon the ‘there is only one bed’ trope but turns it sideways and then still delivers a punch on the next page, and that to me was a great example of how the author has subtly blended myriad emotions into a single scene.

Overall, this book was a treat for those who love to see their favorite fairytales, but without the problematic lenses under which they were written, and who yearn for some fresh takes on folklore.

I have tried so hard to download this file. The Kindle version never appeared on my device, so I downloaded the PDF file - except it's not a PDF file, it's an ACSM file/link. Despite downloading various apps onto my computer and my phone I still couldn't get the file to open. I contacted NetGalley and after an initial reply, never heard anything again. Unless I leave a 'review' my ratio is affected. I can see why NetGalley have this new policy (to stop people downloading but never reviewing books) but it seems a bit unfair when I can't even open the file. Frustrated squared, basically.

I have become one of those people I've always despised - who leave a one star review on Amazon because they never received the book! Argh!

I loved this. Reading it made me happy and by the end I was positively squealing. I enjoyed Uprooted and I loved this one, so I might actually have to read everything Naomi Novik has ever written.

This is a very loose retelling of Rumpelstilzchen which incorporates parts of other fairy tales as well - so I was always going to love it. I am such a huge fan of books written in this fairy-talesque manner and if they than are set in snowy, frozen parts of the world I am in reading heaven. The book's atmosphere of winter and rural communities and fairy tale was just executed brilliantly and the hints of other stories made me very happy. The prose is stunning and fluid, the world imagined is vivid and wonderful, and the main three characters were absolutely brilliant.

Unlike Uprooted, this book is told from multiple perspectives, which I mostly adored. I thought the women at the center of this book were wonderfully drawn and I adored them all for different reasons but mostly for their refusal to be something they are not. Especially prickly Miryem and clever Irina had my hearts. I loved how resourceful the two were with the opportunities they had. I do think that sometimes the other perspectives could have been used more sparingly. There was one scene in particular towards the end of the book where I thought the voice chosen was unfortunate.

First sentence: "The real story isn't half as pretty as the one you've heard."

I loved Uprooted by Naomi Novik so was unbelievably excited to get an advance copy of her latest fairytale reimagining, Spinning Silver. It definitely lived up to all expectations I had for this book.

Novik manages to weave several distinct perspectives together into one magical narrative. Once again, she has taken a fairytale that we are familiar with (Rumpelstiltskin), and filled it with a new, rich background, vibrant and engaging characters and an amazing world.

Spinning Silver is the latest offering from the author of Temeraire and the Nebula winning Uprooted, based on a story which started life as a novelette in Navah Wolfe and Dominik Parisien's The Starlit Wood anthology. Shamefully, I haven't read that anthology yet, so I can't compare this to its previous incarnation, and I certainly didn't notice any obvious seams; this reads like it was always meant to be a novel. Like Uprooted, Spinning Silver takes a fairytale recognisable to Western Europeans (in this case, Rumplestiltskin), but develops a richer mythology based on Eastern European traditions and places it in a more complex world than most fairytales have. Though Spinning Silver is not set in the same world as Uprooted, there's some commonality between the two settings, particularly the role of the forest as a threatening presence in the protagonists' lives, andfriendships and support networks between women are foregrounded in both stories.

The protagonist of Spinning Silver is Miryem, daughter of a moneylender whose family are the only Jews in a small, poor town. Miryem's father has made a name for himself by being generous and rarely collecting what is owed, and the community is happy to take advantage of this, sinking the family into poverty, with visits to Miryam's mother's family in the nearby city providing her only moments of comfort. Finally, when mother gets sick, Miryem decides to take matters into her own hands, politely but firmly taking up the family business to the horror of her parents and the approval of her grandfather. Her foray into moneylending quickly turns into development of a greater business sense, and soon Miryem is taking pride in her ability to turn silver into gold. This draws the attention of the Staryk, the dangerous and capricious spirits living in the forest in winter, who are known to kill humans that hunt their animals or travel on their roads. Miryem is pushed into an unwinnable bargain with the Lord of the Staryk and soon finds herself caught up in the politics of both fairy and human courts, with the fate of both lands at stake.

Miryem starts off as the only narrator in Spinning Silver but her voice is soon joined by that of two other young women. First is Wanda, the eldest daughter of a widowed, alcoholic farmer who is compelled by Miryem to work for her family in order to pay off her father's debt. This is initially portrayed as a heartless thing for Miryam to ask, but we immediately discover from Wanda's perspective that it is a chance at gaining freedom from her father's house and his desire to marry her off, and the bonds forged between the two families (Wanda has two younger brothers) end up helping both of them to survive in highly adverse circumstances. The third major perspective is that of Irina, the daughter of the local human lord, who has found herself overlooked in her own household since her own mother died and her stepmother started running the household but ends up catching the attention of the Tsar himself thanks indirectly to Miryem's schemes. These three perspectives are supplemented by occasional first person narration from secondary characters including Irina's nurse and Wanda's younger brother (who, unfortunately, narrates in Stereotypical Autistic Voice). The way these characters' stories interweave is masterful, with multiple subplots touching and eventually intertwining as Miryem, Wanda and Irina try to find their way out of the constraints of the men and monsters who control their lives.

The common thread in Spinning Silver is that of bargaining and debt, and of the cultural expectations surrounding it. Novik takes this value system very seriously throughout the novel, and there's no sudden but inevitable subversion where "it turns out the only real value is love" or anything like that. Yes, friendship and kindness play an important role, but they are part of the framework of deals and promises which work alongside capitalist wealth creation and alien systems of exchange that encompass knowledge, status, safety and rights. In Spinning Silver, nothing comes for free, because any gift you give still causes the other person to give up something of themselves in return, even if it is just gratitude or a feeling of being in your debt. While I was deeply impressed with how effectively this system is entrenched into the narrative, the implications do get very uncomfortable, particularly when taking into account the various marriages in the book and the power dynamics within them.

(Some spoilers in the next paragraph, discussing a content warning for normalisation of abusive relationship dynamics)

In Spinning Silver, there's effectively no romance: both Miryem and Irina find themselves in marriages through no choice of their own, and towards the end of the book Irina pushes her cousin into very quick forced marriage and this is portrayed as a positive development for the character, who was expecting to be snubbed and passed over now her rival has become Tsarina instead. Only Wanda is able to repudiate male power by avoiding marriage, and even then the issue is confused: is the problem that her father was trying to sell her off, or is it that he keeps undervaluing her when he attempts it? Miryem and Irina's only option is to even up the power dynamic in their existing marriages: both do manage this, but its hard to escape the fact that these situations are still likely to read to modern audiences as dangerous and abusive. Spinning Silver doesn't celebrate these outcomes, and I think the text intends us to question the assumption that the ending really represents a "happily ever after" -- indeed, Miryem warns us right at the start that "the real story isn't half as pretty as the one you've heard". However, it also makes no apology for portraying a very different value system to most of its audience, and I suspect the implications of this, coupled with the situations it explores, may be a barrier to enjoyment for some. At the end of the day, nobody should feel compelled to read a book that portrays abuse as a normal part of the culture, even if the characters embedded in that culture don't recognise the harm.

(Spoilers end)

In the end, the values dissonance in Spinning Silver may be a feature or a bug depending on the individual reader. I personally felt this aspect contributed to the technical successes of the book, but detracted from the pure enjoyment factor, and there are certainly other fairytale retellings (like T. Kingfisher) which are just as complex and thought provoking without going all in on a difficult morality system. With that said, Spinning Silver is still a highly accomplished story with a lot to recommend it. If you're after a challenging, thought-provoking story with first-rate worldbuilding, this is certainly a book to consider, even if I suspect it won't be for everyone.

As beautifully written as UPROOTED, Naomi Novik weaves another intricate, feminist retelling of a classic fairy tale, rich with Eastern European folklore and some stunning world-building.

Miryem, confronted time and time again with her family's on-the-brink starvation and impoverished life, takes over her father's money lending business with immediate success. She and her family are scorned by the village in which they live and do business, but Miryem carries on turning a profit. Her skill attracts the attention of a Staryk lord - a dangerous fae creature from a world of winter - and she accidentally enters into a bargain with him that will change her life, as well as the lives of everyone in their small corner of the world.

The book dips between multiple perspectives, focused around the three main women of the story - Miryem, Wanda and Irina - and which slowly come together to reach the climax of the plot. These shifting perspectives were at times confusing, and as beautiful as the individual drawings were for each character's narrative, I still had trouble remembering who was the needle and thread and who was the basket.

I love Novik's characterisations - she creates characters who are unique and individual without being loudly different. All of her characters contain a quiet sense of self which helps with the shifting narratives and also lends them all a sense of realism. Having said that, I did think that the Staryk king was interchangeable with the Dragon from UPROOTED, so Novik obviously has a type she likes to write for her male anti-heroes!

SPINNING SILVER is a gorgeously written book dealing with an array of complex issues - antisemitism, domestic abuse, gender roles, politics, to name a few. A compelling read, I'm not going to enjoy the long wait for her next book!

Due to a damaged file, I have been unable to read this Spinning Silver. I am posting this 'review' in order to remove the book from my shelf and to stop it negatively affecting my feedback rating.

I have given it 3 stars as I feel it is the closet to neutral.

A re-telling of the classic fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin, Spinning Silver is the new book from Naomi Novik, and what a book it is. (Spoilers ahead).

The story of three incredible women, Spinning Silver gives us characters you will grow to love and care for and just want to be okay throughout this book. How she writes Miryem, our lead character in this book is fantastic yes, but how she build the characters of Wanda and Irina - yes, this is what I want and I want a lot more of it - I’ve not read any other books from Novik, but that’s changing if it’s anything like this book.

It’s a great plot anyway, hence it’s staying power, however taking this story and making it better is just what Novik does in this book. A strong plot that sees three stories being told and all of them coming together at the end perfectly, I really enjoyed how Miryem’s and Irina’s stories combined to create the story, showing their contrasting lives but also how similar these two characters are when it comes to determining their future.

It’s just really good and my favourite book of the year so far.

(I received an ARC from Netgalley for honest review).

Highlights

Three heroines 

Opposites demonology

Shap edges become soft edges

Overall

The story is a multi-perspective story following mainly three females plus their families as they battle for their future and independence with only their intelligence and courage against magical forces.

I really enjoyed it and I'm quite relieved about that. My first Naomi Novik book was Uprooted last year and if was one of my favourite book of the year. Then I tried her middle-grade series of Temeraire and I was not a fan. Didn't like the writing at all. So going into Spinning Silver I was hoping it would be more like Uprooted but I still carried with me then nerves of it being more like Temeraire. It was like Uprooted.



The Story: 

As mentioned, the story centred around three main female characters and their sudden changes in their life. Two gets married off, while one character finds herself on the run. apart from the characters trying to save their own futures and the future of others, the storyline is very focused on borrowing money. Miryem and her family are moneylenders and so is her grandfather. She is very focused on settling debts and makes it fair for all. Her entire family is Jewish and there are several occasions where the religion directs the storyline. This is the second book I've read where Jewism is the main religion (and not set in WW2) and I don't know much about it so it's very interesting. 

As the story progresses a different/parallel world is introduced. 

In the first 100 or so pages, I did not feel the fear Miryem feels towards the Staryk which I feel is a shame. I would love to be more on the level of the protagonist but I don't think there was enough text for me to get to that level. I did, however, feel very intrigued and it peaked my interest. Just wanted to know more. 

As it moved along though, I completely forgot to take notes cause I was into it so much

The entire story is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin though I havent read it so I don't know who much there actually is in here. 

World building

This world is small but rich. They start off in a small poor village in which two of the characters are from. there are stories told of other winter beasts. It's, in general, a very cold world (temperature wise) and I'm very glad I read this during summer cause I was getting cold. 

The world builds as other towns are introduced and the winter world is introduced. I very much enjoyed the method of how they move from the sunlit world to the winter world. Such a great idea.

I feel the amount of world-building in here was sufficient though I would have liked to know more about where Chernobog comes from and what the southlands are. 

Magic system

The magic system here is not fully explored, but enough information is given to understand only a few has magic, and some can give magical abilities to other for a price.

I did not see or get the feel of there being a limit in their magic of any kind. Their magic felt endless but an inexperienced user gets tired and drained when using too much. 

Magic is very much a show of power of the beholder. 

The Characters:  

Miryem, I would say is the main main character as we start of following her and end following her, and her story is the main story. I really liked her. She is smart and business minded and manages to change silver into gold by pure business. She is strongminded and doesn't have many feeling that gets in the way of her decisions. I really liked her!

Wanda is the poorest of the characters and comes from a house with domestic abuse. She is the oldest and takes care of her two younger brothers. In the beginning, she is not very attached to them. Throughout the book, her relationship between her and her brothers changes completely. She takes charge of her family and get them through and out of their bad situation. She worke for Miryam to pay of the fathers debt, but eventually for her own gain. I loved the fact she refers to reading and doing maths as magic! So sweet and really put into perspective who little she knows and how bad her life has been. 

Irina is the Duke's unimportant daughter. She has some traces of magic in her blood and therefore (somehow) ends up in a "high place" situation which turns out not to be exactly what she expected. Her planning skills really kick in as she tries to figure a way out. She and Miryam join together to get out of their difficult situtions but also to help nations.

LGBT+

There is some LGBT+ in this book but nothing is spelt out, which is the way I like it and thimk is the way it should be. But romance is not a big part of the plot so it's not a big deal.

Romance

there is a little bit of romance in this story but it's not the main plot and you don't really see it. It totally took me by surprise and I loved it!

Writing:

I had an ACR copy and the writing might have changed a bit.

I didn't feel this was as strongly written as Uprooted, though its a while since I read Uprooted and could be mistaken.

There where minor stuff that annoyed me, but they were so small I can't even pin them down. I just know there was something that felt off in a few sentences. It's not a big deal, but it was there so I thought I would mention it. 

Summary

Lover It!!

My reasoning behind the 4 star instead of 5, is mainly due to this book not being that memorable if that even makes sense.

Highly recommend it!

Content warning: Domestic abuse (violent, not sexual), antisemitism.

This book is different from Uprooted in many ways, they both share a basis in a fairytale setting, but Spinning Silver is much more of a retelling, where Uprooted felt like an original Fairytale (at least to me). While this is very much inspired by Rumplestiltskin as opposed to being a strict retelling, there are some incredibly clever choices as to how to incorporate aspects of the original tale in a way that makes sense for this story. I think the most obvious example of this is the idea of turning things into Gold, instead of being a magical power (at least to begin with) this is the idea that Miryem, one of the protagonists, is an excellent investor, she turns silver into gold through making a profit. The way this is told within the story not only ties in with the original Rumplestiltskin story but also gives the female character in that story more power, Miryem proves herself to be a strong woman, this isn't just a magic that she happens to have, nor is it a lie told by her father to marry her off as in the original story. It is the little details like this that are truly enchanting and make this my favourite kind of retelling.

This book uses multiple POV to tell the story. At the start, I assumed this book would be dual POV as you only get the perspective of Miryem and Wanda, the character you are following being designated by a small image at the start of that section. However, as this story progresses more and more perspectives are brought in to round out the story and to follow the different strands of plot that begin to unravel. This could have been such a mess and could have felt a very unbalanced story but in actual fact, it works really well. There are some characters whose perspective just isn't important or relevant until later in the book and to have them there from the very beginning would have been pointless. I thought the voices of each character were distinct and that their motivations, their strengths and weaknesses were clear without being mind-numbingly obvious. The one character whose voice annoyed me somewhat was Wanda's younger brother, but I think that is a matter of personal preference, I don't particularly enjoy reading children's perspectives where they just seem to ask a million questions, though I'm sure that's quite realistic (I don't spend a lot of time with children).

The plot of this story is quite complex, though not unnecessarily so, I thought it was a good example of setting up multiple potential threats and then subverting the reader's expectations. I do think that the set up is a little slow, though that could have been my interpretation due to reading this book in smaller sections rather than in one go as I normally would. Similarly to Uprooted, the last one hundred pages or so are where this story really comes alive and everything starts to make sense. This makes for a hugely satisfying conclusion to a book, as you finally work out what all those clues left along the way were adding up to, but it does mean there are moments before the end where you feel a little stuck. I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few people found the beginning to much to get through, but I urge you to keep going until the end, in my opinion, it is worth it.

I thought it was very interesting that Novik chose to write a book with characters that practice the Jewish faith. I had never been aware of the antisemitism in the Rumplestiltskin fairytale before (privilege check) but this book brought that out into the open. I cannot speak to whether this is a good representation of this religion but the author does have Lithuanian Jewish ancestry so it is at least in part own voices. If you know of any own voices reviews of this book do please link them below I would be interested to read them. If I find any I will link them here.

I am so glad I read this book. Though it wasn't as easy a read as Uprooted it did put a smile on my face. I think this is a very clever retelling that draws together a lot of different ideas to a wonderful conclusion. I would urge anyone who is on the fence about reading this to grab themselves a copy upon release and get to reading!

My rating: 4/5 stars (more like 4.75 honestly).

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

I am all smug contentment on finishing SPINNING SILVER, the ending was utter completeness. This is a complex fantasy novel, definitely modelled in the background by a dark fairytale that would be familiar to any reader.

The book starts off with a female protagonist Miryem, such a young woman of determination, focus, self-belief and strength. What happens is that slowly, as the tale unfolds, two other female characters Wanda and Irina join the tale to be key storytellers. I absolutely loved the slow revealing of these other lead characters. All three females had experinced difficult childhoods in different ways which I believe led to their tenacious characters.

What is pretty hilarious is that nearly every single male character is a total tool. They are almost too numerous to be named but I have to speak of Mirnatius and the hideousness of his character, even though there is more to it than that. The King of the Staryk needs particular mention because although I should have hated him, I didn’t. He captivated me and drew me in. Frustratingly, despite the physical description, I couldn’t quite paint a picture of him. I loved reading about the Staryk, the kingdom, the people. I just couldn’t hate this King.

SPINNING SILVER was complicated in many ways, sometimes confusing but ultimately enlightening if I just waited to put the pieces together. The description of people, sights, sounds and the environment were seamlessly brought to life. The tale itself was easy to slip into from the first few pages and although I experienced a plodding sensation at two thirds of the way, it picked up again.

Naomi Novik has followed up from UPROOTED and given us a tale to rival and match but with a very different feel and context. I thoroughly enjoyed my reading journey and I can’t wait to discuss this with my friends.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.

Unable to download, the file seems to be damaged.

Leaving a rating is the only way to remove it from my current titles and it's affecting my feedback ratio which is frustrating!
I've already notified NetGalley that I'm unable to review this title but it's still appearing in my 'give feedback' section for unknown reasons.
I've reached out to NetGalley twice to resolve this and haven't received a solution.

There is just something about Novik's fairy tales. Something magical, atmospheric and utterly charming. I didn't like Spinning Silver quite as much as my beloved Uprooted - and I'll explain why a bit later - but it still kept me captivated from start to finish.

Spinning Silver is a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. I say "loose" because you will recognise certain elements from the original - turning things into gold, the importance of names, etc. - but this is really a completely different story with different characters and many new plot lines. There's also not just one Rumpelstiltskin character, as several characters embody different aspects of the traditional imp.

I love that it's a very pastoral fairy tale with forests and country magic. The setting of the book gives it a lot of its atmosphere, and it works very well. There are parts that follow the characters through quiet daily farming activities, but there is magic and fear thrumming just under the surface.

Miryem is the daughter of the town's moneylender, but she takes over her father's job when he repeatedly fails to collect their debts. Turns out she has a talent for it and she soon finds herself turning more and more silver into gold. Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of one of the Staryk - fearsome creatures who desire gold above all else.

I found it really interesting that Novik explored the idea of a Jewish moneylender as Rumpelstiltskin. The traditional story is one where Rumpelstiltskin aids a woman in spinning straw into gold and she refuses to hold up her side of the bargain. Interestingly, it is Rumpelstiltskin who is viewed as the greedy villain. Antisemitic interpretations of the story shed a completely new light on it. Though it was unlikely the intention of the original, as the folktale predates any record of antisemitismm by about 2000 years and predates the idea of the Jewish moneylender by even more, many believe that more modern Rumpelstiltskins were deliberately made to represent Jews.

Novik, who is herself of Lithuanian-Jewish descent, uses this to challenge the Jewish moneylender stereotype and explore the antisemitism surrounding it. It's clever, and I loved it.

In some ways, it is a smarter book than Uprooted, and yet I didn't like it quite as much because parts of this were definitely convoluted. What I've explained above is just a tiny portion of the plot. There are other supporting subplots involving a noblewoman marrying a tsar possessed by a fire demon, and a poor farm girl and her brother running away from a crime. Then there's the whole tale of the ice king and answering three questions every night.

I counted no less than six different perspectives - honestly, I may have missed someone - and you have to learn the symbol/image for each character, as that is the only way you'll know whose point-of-view the book has moved to.

Though I appreciate books with multiple layers and complex plots, I think shedding some parts of this would have only benefited it. Some chapters lean away from complex and interesting, and toward dense and confusing.

That being said, I still recommend it if you enjoyed Novik's Uprooted. It's a fascinating, exciting fairy tale with a whole lot of atmosphere and charm. And creepy secret worlds on the other side of mirrors(!). I hope Novik writes more of these books soon.

CW: Domestic abuse (physical; non-sexual); antisemitism.

One of the most anticipated books of the year has to be Spinning Silver. After loving Uprooted so much I really needed to read this. And I didn’t end up loving this as much but Spinning Silver is still a great piece of written fairytale retelling.

As you might have guessed from the title this is a loose retelling of Rumpelstilskin. Inspired more like it as we don’t get any real Rumpels. Just characters that do what they have to do. Miryem takes over her family’s business when it turns out her father doesn’t have what it takes to be a money lender. Instead of getting the money back with interest, they barely have anything and their loaners have all the wealth. Unlike her father Miryem has no qualms about getting their money back with interest. And she does it so well she catches the eye of a Staryk lord. Staryk who are winter creatures…

While the synopsis on goodreads says there are six point of views I feel that the story focuses mainly on three females. Miryem, Irena and Wanda. I found Miryem to be a great breath of fresh air to follow. Like said, she has no problems demanding any of the money back. It is their money and it is their right. She doesn’t feel sorry for any of the loaners but she is fair. And fierce. She is also Jewish and I loved getting pieces of that throughout the book. Wanda has had to keep her head low for a long time but when she is send to Miryem’s family to pay of her father’s debt she flourishes. I loved seeing when she becomes closer to her brothers. Irina on the other hand is a daughter to a duke who is seen as not so pretty. But she is not stupid and when it comes down to it knows how to plot and orchestrate things.

The plot of the book is slowly build up as I expected from this author. We slowly get building pieces, starting with Miryem and then slowly adding in the other point of views so that by the half way point we have gotten all the point of views and have gotten to know them all without being overwhelmed with having 3 main and 3 minor point of views. Naomi Novik knows how to build that up so well.

However just after the half way point I felt that the story started to drag a little, for like a good 50 pages. We got the minor point of views more and I could have honestly done without them. Or at least without Margreta’s (Irina’s wet nurse) and Stepon (Wanda’s younger brother). It isn’t so much that they didn’t add anything (though minimal) as that they slowed down the plot and the story even more. It did quickly pick up after that though once all the lines started to cross into one plot.

The biggest reason I am not a 100% in love with this book however is that I am just not in love with the characters. I liked them and they are super well developed. I am just not in love with them. I also would have liked if Wanda had had a bigger part to play in the whole plot. I felt she kind of got lost in the last quarter. Having said I would love to read more of the young tsar and his demon (though outside of this book and plot) because the snark has to be real there. I’m sorry, it is my weakness.

Lastly I do want to point out that there is domestic abuse in this story, on and off the page.

As a whole though, Spinning Silver is a beautiful crafted piece of Rumpelstilskin retelling that deserves your attention. A story about a cast of characters that come together to save their world and in the process become a family.

Miryem is the daughter of a moneylender, and they're hated in their small town... even though her father has loaned money to nearly everyone when they were in need, and even though he rarely even tries to collect, they sneer and treat them poorly whenever they're given the chance. When Miryem's mother falls ill and is close to death, Miryem takes it upon herself to go to each and every house that owes them to seek a few coins and set everyone up on payment plans. What her father cannot do, she can. And though it worries her parents to see her so cold, she saves their house. If the townspeople are going to hate them anyway, it may as well be with everyone's money where it should rightfully be.

Miryem does so well that she can hire the help of another girl in the village, Wanda, who suffers an abusive father and is glad to be out of his house. They move up and up in the world, able to do repairs to their little home, and then hire Wanda's younger brother to look after their new goats to disguise the fact they're taking them in to be able to feed them properly and escape the wrath of the father.

Soon Miryem is visiting her grandfather who is the best moneylender within reasonable travelling distance and Wanda is able to do simple collecting errands in her absence. Unfortunately the townspeople aren't the only ones who take notice at Miryem's ability to turn silver into gold, and she wins the attention of the Staryk, who are the magical race in this book. They bring the winter, they alone travel on the magical silver road (anyone else who wanders onto it are lost), and they seek gold more than anything. The Staryk King turns up to Miryem, stopping time and those around her and able to make them quickly forget any strange brush from their memories within moments, hands her a bag of silver and says he will be back to collect the gold or her life. 

Through being canny and understanding those around her, Miryem takes it to Isaac, the jewellery maker who melts the silver down and turns it into an enticing ring, then they take this to the local Duke who buys it immediately for a princely sum.

The problem with this is that the Staryk king rewards one successful deal with another, and then another, and he says for completing all of his tasks he will make her his Queen. Miryem and Isaac make next a necklace, and finally, a crown, and the Duke buys them all. they have a peculiar effect on the mortals around them who become bewitched by the Staryk silver, and the Duke uses all three to make his daughter, Irina, engaging enough for the tsar to want her hand in marriage. 

All of these women become POV characters, along with Irini's nurse, Magreta, and later, a few male characters such as the terrible tsar who was bargained long ago to take in the spirit of a demon who controls him once the sun goes down.

So many paragraphs already and so little of the plot shared... it's marvelous, truly wonderful. Inspired by the Polish fairytales of her childhood, Novik takes a collection of characters and makes you care deeply about each and every one of them. Somehow, also the tsar. And the Staryk King. And his subjects. And the animals in the winter. 

This is another book that I'll need to buy in the fanciest edition possible just to wrap in plastic and gaze at lovingly for the simple fact it'll give me joy. And buy multiple copies of to throw at people. It really is just that good.