Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

20 reviews

astrangewind's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Spinning Silver must be savored. It cannot be read in one sitting, as much as I would have liked to; some moments are so intense, so raw, that I had to set the book down to digest.

The characters come alive on the page: Miryem, the moneylender who pays her debts; Wanda, the strong helper who devotes herself to those she loves; Irina, the practical-minded leader who would do anything for her people. Even the more minor characters who we see a lot of later

- mainly Stepon and Magreta -

are so rich and diverse that I can't help but love them.

The villains, too - the Staryk king and even Mirnatius are likable by the end.

Each character is a victim of their circumstances and choices, and they evolve throughout the book in fascinating and sometimes unexpected ways, and I found myself genuinely rooting for them as though they were real. And they could be real.

Naomi Novik is a master of tone. Despite the number of characters who have first-person POV chapters, it is never unclear whose perspective it is. It's clever and subtle in an area where many authors falter. The writing itself, even, is the perfect level of descriptive; the world came alive around me.

The story of the fae and the moneylender lends itself well to problems of deals made, and fulfilling those deals in lateral ways, which I very much enjoy. I've heard from others (and I agree with it) that Spinning Silver has excellent reread value for this reason.

Naomi Novik's romance was a pleasure to read. It isn't overtly sexual, or even overtly romantic

; the romance is a function of the characters and their problems, not the other way around. It's far more natural than something like Twilight, for example

.

The plot evolves, twisting and turning throughout the book, ageing and maturing. It's never too much, never any surprise plot twists, but the payoff of things set up on every page.

I don't know what else to say about this book. It's absolutely phenomenal. A true joy to read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

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

erikagibson126's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

---

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

dcdc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Grief

Minor: Sexual violence

val_theburrowofstories's review

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

From the very first pages I felt like I was in a dream with the way this book is written, I really like how this author was describing the setting and presenting the characters, besides the narrator has such a nice voice and it changed it for each POV… it was a full experience and from the beginning this was a 4 ⭐ for me!

This is a young adult book with fantasy elements and magic! Which is perfect for me, but if you’re looking for romance this isn’t it (like AT ALL, and I’m okay with that but I know it’s a deal breaker for some people), also, the fantasy is very low in the beginning but after a few chapters is there.

I liked Miryem from the second we met her, I don’t care if she’s “cold” or “ambitious” for others, to me she was caring for her family, doing the job, she was organized, really wise, not afraid of anything and always with a plan, proud of her religion and loyal to the people she loves until the very end. I just love her.

I was rooting for Wanda all the time, I just wanted her to be okay in the end, be free from her father, find her way and have a good and happy life. She’s such a hardworking girl, smart and quick learner, but overall she has a lot of courage and is ready to protect her family from anyone (even if it’s a demon or a scary King!)

Then we have Irina who I also came to love by the end. She looked weak in the beginning but she quickly adapted to her new reality, she was protective of her people and so brave. I just love women plotting, taking action, involved in politics, always with a plan and one step ahead!

I loved these girls so much! I’m tired of reading about girls who just go and do whatever without thinking, no plans, making things worse and not caring about the others. But Miryem, Wanda and Irina? They have such different backgrounds and yet their main qualities were being hardworking, really smart, brave and protective over their love ones. Honestly? I feel like that’s just me, in each girl I saw myself reflected and maybe that’s part of why I loved them.

When you are reading this book, I understand why some people might find it boring, but to me it was as if I was enchanted by it, so focus on the story and the characters with this beautiful writing. Besides the audiobook helped and I knew when the POV changed from one girl to another (or sometimes another character), it was so addictive and interesting.

So yeah, I don’t think this book is for everyone but I still recommend you give it a try if the premise sounds interesting to you.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual content

Here is a list of the content warnings and how is it that they’re present in the book, if you don’t want spoilers just skip this part:

Death of parent / Grief: Wanda lost her mother when she was eleven years old.

Child death: Wanda’s mother had a lot of babies but I think they died soon after being born or were stillborn.

Domestic abuse / Child abuse / Alcoholism / Violence: Wanda’s father was a really bad man, beating his three children for years and spending most of his money on alcohol.

Sexual content: There is just talk around the topic or slight mention of it, not explicit at all.

Misogyny / Sexism: Because Wanda’s father would just give her in exchange for a pig or alcohol. And there’s some other instances.

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

---

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

starlit_pathways's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

bettysbookishworld's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Miscarriage and Grief

mzynda's review against another edition

adventurous medium-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This was such an intricate and beautiful fantasy. All the povs fit together so well and told a story that was masterfully done. There were some skimmable parts, too many povs, some pacing issues, and a need (in my opinion) for more side character character depth. However, in the end the world building and continuous story was so well done I couldn’t help but enjoy it. I liked how the MC was Jewish as I hadn’t seen that in fantasy and you can really see how it effects her life. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Dementia, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence