Reviews tagging 'Death'

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

51 reviews

justina_kl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is now one of my favourite books of all time, and most certainly one of the best folklore fantasy books out there. It has a semi-historical setting in a world where real mixes with fantastical. The changes in point-of-view give the reader insight into the thoughts of characters from different backgrounds and who have different goals. The story is women-driven, and the characters are sympathetic without being flawless/perfect which adds to their realism. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Antisemitism

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

carlithian's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Torture, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and War

erikagibson126's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

olivebook1's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death and Murder

irinalast's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An interesting and complicated world is created through several perspectives; setting is established through ‘show don’t tell.’ Great writing that establishes realistic character feelings and dialogue.  

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cgwynne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

kurumipanda's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, and Classism

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wonderbeastlett's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This deals with a lot of issues that are gritty and more complex. I did enjoy this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, and Murder

vigil's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

hmmm. okay. so, subjectively i enjoyed this book, but i love fairytale-esque novels and inhuman boyfriends so in some ways i was very easy to please. objectively, i have several issues.

this book is the definition of "well done, but didn't need to be done at all" let's start with irina

her plotline felt like an entirely different book that was weaved into the base story of miryem's plotline for padding, and while i didn't dislike it, not do i think it was poorly done, it felt highly unneeded. she mostly seemed to exist to introduce the antagonist of the novel chernobog, i don't think that was the required way, nor the best way to introduce him. he felt do distanced from miryem, and her storyline, that when they intersected, i couldn't invest in it too much beacause i felt very little personal stakes on her behalf. it should have been miryem encountering and dealing with chernobog primarily. not to mention i felt like irina's prescence sent the plot of the rails, she's clearly only there for the sake of introducing the villian, who also didn't really need to be here in my opinion. the staryk king was a good enough antagonist. but if we must go with chernobog i would've preferred a different implementation. something more grounded in the already established plot with miryem and wanda (who should have gotten the plot importance that irina had) or in all honesty, introduce the witch character that was spoken of and whose house the characters occupied. that was a massively missed opportunity in my opinion.

and the sheer amount of unneeded povs.

i've already discussed irina, but did we need her husband, nanny, and stepon's povs??? no, we did not. again, not poorly done, naomi novik's pen game will not be denied here, but we simply didn't need to do it. also, the middle dragged quite a bit. i feel like cutting some pov's and centering miryem and wanda's stories would've assisted that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse and Miscarriage