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sammiebauer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
this story has many povs and deals with many sides of the same conflict. this leads to a very fleshed out story that is driven by the heart and love of the three main characters, young women who are each navigating at different levels of class. speaking of class and money, those are huge themes in this novel, and i think the theme of class in particular is super well written. every character has their own personal life story and experience, and being able to read from so many different perspectives gave this story an all-encompassing feeling that draws you in completely. my critique of this story is that while the characters are all very well written and interesting, the problem lies in the way that the story ends with what is essentially wish-fulfillment. it caused me to take the story much less seriously than i had previously, unfortunately. however, i would still highly recommend this story if you enjoy fairy tales.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Sexual assault
moscat's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed. It has some real fun with fairytale tropes and logic, the start has some great fey-as-horror vibes, and Miryem and Wanda's points of view are great at building a picture of life in the village from different perspectives. It gets a bit bogged down in the middle, maybe too many POV characters, and some events that we maybe didn't need to be explicitly shown on screen. The ending picks up, there's maybe one climax/reversal too many but I think that's a function of trying to pay off everything that was set up in the middle. And it does pay them off. For anyone looking for snowy Winternight vibes I recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
macliffe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-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? No
4.75
I very much enjoyed the writing of this book, how it was so creative on both a macro and a micro scale. I always wanted to pick it up again. My only nitpicks were the constant switching of POVs, and how horrible most of the men were. But there was a lot more to those characters that you see by the end, so that ended up being better than I initially expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Sexual content and Violence
amkleintje's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Antisemitism
nafsaila's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
I've yet to not enjoy a Naomi Novik novel. The variety of characters and the depth shown from so many of them I think it was most drew me to this story. Miryem, the child of a moneylender, gains a reputations for turning silver to gold, and after the Staryk king hears of it, Miryem's fate is shifted. When beginning to read it I thought that would be the end of the story if Miryem was able to "produce" the promised gold, however the interweaving of other complex storylines really kept this one going. I listened to the audio version so occasionally I stumbled in understanding exactly which character I was following, but I didn't find that to be a deterrent for me. Would highly suggest for fans of fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Antisemitism
kateceratops's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Torture, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual assault
There isn't a lot of violence, but two or three scenes get very intense.keishbby's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
Minor: Child death and Sexual assault
jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-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
Loved the themes, the characters, and the story. A perfect winter read!
CW: mentions of SA, sexism, anti-semitism, violence, alcohol abuse, child abuse, death of parent, death of child, mentions of infidelity, hunger, poverty, animal cruelty, horse death
CW: mentions of SA, sexism, anti-semitism, violence, alcohol abuse, child abuse, death of parent, death of child, mentions of infidelity, hunger, poverty, animal cruelty, horse death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Sexism, Violence, Antisemitism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Sexual assault
tactiq's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: War
Minor: Sexual assault
mallorypen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
I LOVE me a fairytale, and a feminist fairytale retelling is my jam. Wanda, Miryem, and Irina are all badasses in their own stories, and I enjoyed the way they all came together in their narratives eventually.
I also like how evil was not black and white. The tsar was entirely misunderstood, and his petulance, arrogance and cruelty were all born of despair and a literal lifetime of abuse - while I don’t think I found him entirely sympathetic at the end, I did enjoy the way Irina’s cleverness (refusing any payment but protection for herself and her people) saved him in the end. And the Staryk king was actually a super good and noble dude … by the standards of his people, not mortals. His transition from thinking he was condemning himself to an awful marriage to courting his wife was delightful, and I loved that we never learned his name.
I also enjoyed that Miryem’s name from her Staryk people was Open-Handed, and that her sense of generosity and fairness were so solid she was able to build back a kingdom with not only her powers, but her brains.
I took off a star for two reasons: the story took awhile to get really interesting, and the transitions in perspective were a little hard to decipher. The characters didn’t all have unique-enough voices to really know who was narrating right away, and trying to figure out which storyline I was in took me out of the story.
I also like how evil was not black and white. The tsar was entirely misunderstood, and his petulance, arrogance and cruelty were all born of despair and a literal lifetime of abuse - while I don’t think I found him entirely sympathetic at the end, I did enjoy the way Irina’s cleverness (refusing any payment but protection for herself and her people) saved him in the end. And the Staryk king was actually a super good and noble dude … by the standards of his people, not mortals. His transition from thinking he was condemning himself to an awful marriage to courting his wife was delightful, and I loved that we never learned his name.
I also enjoyed that Miryem’s name from her Staryk people was Open-Handed, and that her sense of generosity and fairness were so solid she was able to build back a kingdom with not only her powers, but her brains.
I took off a star for two reasons: the story took awhile to get really interesting, and the transitions in perspective were a little hard to decipher. The characters didn’t all have unique-enough voices to really know who was narrating right away, and trying to figure out which storyline I was in took me out of the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent