Review: Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Fantasy—Fairy Tale Retelling
☆☆☆☆☆

“But I had not known that I was strong enough to do any of those things until they were over and I had done them. I had to do the work first, not knowing.”

It would be unfair for me to rate this less than five stars. Right from the beginning I was enthralled. I was under this book’s spell until the end.

The characters were complex and human. The world was rich with atmosphere (it’s ideal for reading in winter) and culture (centered around Slavic regions). It never felt slow. In fact, I felt so much was happening in the first 25 percent that I couldn’t figure how it was going to continue for another 15 discs. The story was unpredictable.

I loved how the book explored themes. It added a depth to the story that will make it re-readable. I loved how all everything was intricately intertwined and how the magic was set up.

I recommend going in blind. Here are the main characters without giving anything away. I listened to the audio, so pardon me if I am butchering the spellings. Miriam is part of a Jewish family with loving parents. Her father is a moneylender but not good at it. Wanda is a poor girl in town with two brothers, Sergei and Stefan, and an abusive, alcoholic father. The POV switches between these two at the beginning. About a quarter of the way in, Irina is added as a POV character. She is the daughter of the local duke. These three girls are the main characters whose paths criss cross. Half-way or so through the book, we get some POVs from some secondary characters: Stefan and Magreta, Wanda’s nursemaid, and the czar, whose name I won’t attempt to spell.

My only complaint is that the POV would switch without warning. Sometimes it took me paragraphs or longer to figure out who was narrating.



It would have helped if the audio narrator had at least paused between switches. I’m told the print book isn’t any more helpful.