Spinning Silver — Book Review with Content Warnings

Author: Naomi Novik

Genre: Literary fantasy, Mythic fantasy

Series: Standalone

Age Rating: Mature teens & adults; suitable for older teens, but the themes and pacing are more adult in tone and complexity.

Synopsis

Miryem is the resourceful daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders. When her father fails to collect his debts, Miryem takes on the responsibility, quickly spinning silver into gold. This does not go unnoticed by the king of the Staryk, the fae-like race that steals from and kills humans to enforce a lasting winter. Through an unlikely alliance with a village servant girl and a princess, Miryem embarks on a dangerous quest to free her family and land from the grips of winter.

Content Warnings

General Rating: Teen+ (PG-13 / TV-14 /14A)

• Spice Rating: None

• Violence Rating: Moderate—physical altercations and abuse, death, confinement, torture

• Profanity Rating: None

• Other Trigger Warnings: poverty/starvation, addiction, alcohol abuse, abusive parent-child relationships, child abuse, domestic violence, murder/manslaughter, miscarriage and infant death, death of a parent, animal cruelty, fire injury, anti-Semitism

Overall Rating: 4/5

A sweet Rumplestiltskin retelling set in fantastical medieval Eastern Europe. The author’s prose is a bit long-winded at times, but at other times, is absolutely breathtaking. The switches in narrative POV are done expertly; voice changes were obvious after one or two lines. Her writing style is a bit removed from the story, so the reader feels like they are observing from a distance, even though it is written in first person.

What I Liked

• Each of the protagonists’ voices: Novik does not externally identify each of her characters’ POVs, but the reader quickly picks up on the differences in voice and narration—Wanda’s simple strength, Stepon’s boundless energy and sound sensitivity, Magret’s sage wisdom and care for Irina, Irina’s cool logic and strategizing, Miryem’s shrewd calculations, even Mirnatius’s one off narration.

• Jewish and Eastern European mythology: Novik does not spend a lot of time describing the cultural differences and mythologies, but I was able to intuitively grasp anti-Semitism and religious undertones.

What I Didn’t Like

• Slow pacing: The middle was sloooow. It was a bit of a slog, but I got through it! The climax is resounding.

• POV switches: Initially, I didn’t like the switches in first-person POV without any external character markers. However, it was well done, and it didn’t take me long to identify each character’s voice once I was familiar with them.

Themes and Reflections

• The cost of survival: For Miryem, the emotional toll of survival is high. She bunkers down in the safety of her earned silver and gold, protecting herself and her family at all costs, even to the detriment of the villagers who have never cared for her. As she allies with Irina and Wanda, she gradually becomes aware of the need for allies over individuality in the quest for survival.

• Strong women fight for what is theirs to protect their loved ones: This is a decidedly feminist fantasy, a tale of women protecting their loved ones from monsters and men. Not all men are monsters, but all the monsters depicted are men. It is an allegory for every woman who has been abused by violence or neglect, who feels that she has to take matters into her own hands to protect what is hers.

“It didn’t matter that I cared, that I was sorry; what mattered was what I had done, what I would do.”

— Naomi Novik, Spinning Silver

Writing Style

• Layered, resonant prose

• Measured, steady, reflective pace

• Foreboding and enchanting atmosphere

• Unique, vibrant, and nuanced first-person POVs

• Rhythmic, sharp dialogue

• Imaginative and immersive worldbuilding

• Evocative and enjoyable narrative
  

Tropes

• Court intrigue

• Corruption of power

• Forbidden magic

• Portal to another world

• Found family
  

More Like This

• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

• Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Publisher Info

• Publisher: Del Rey

• Release Date: January 1, 2018

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