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secirko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death and Physical abuse
sinceraly's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Spinning Silver is an excellent adaption/retelling of Rumpelstiltskin that does a great job of setting itself apart from the original. The book is excellently written with some of the best prose I've read all year, and Novik is so incredibly skilled at describing things so well you really can picture them all in your head.
The only thing stopping me from rating the book 5 stars is the amount of perspectives the book gets written through, and the nonsense order of how they happen. At first it's as simple as Miryem/Wanda/Irina, but then you toss in perspectives from the tsar, from Irina's handmaiden, from Wanda's brother, and they all happen randomly, it feels like. Though I loved the switch in perspectives at first, eventually it led to the middle section of the book feeling disjointed and not as cohesive as it could have been. Maybe on a second read, I'd feel like it's worth it, but it was a big enough negative for me to keep the book from 5 stars.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
tamara_joy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Blood, and Classism
matcha_pages's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I had a good time listening to the audio book, but it was challenging recognizing when POVs changed. The narrator sublty changes her voice between the female characters so it's really easy to miss if you aren't fully paying attention.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Death and Rape
starlit_pathways's review against another edition
- 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
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
annastorm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Rape
ink_and_wings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Miscarriage, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty
shostakofish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
ru_bunny's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
madmadmaddymad's review against another edition
- 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
Wanda’s story moved me to tears at several points. I loved when she first learned from Miryem how to do the debt collecting, and she called adding numbers together “magic.” For Wanda, anything sufficiently remarkable is magic, and Miryem, even in the mortal world, was a sufficiently remarkable woman. The book had a really good juxtaposition of the ordinary with the fantastic, and Wanda, watching it all come to pass really made me feel like lots of things can be magic… I was crying during the entire last chapter, when Miryem called her “sister” and Sergey and Stepon “brothers”
Oh, and I LOVED the love story and how it genuinely snuck up on me. I am a simp for fae and monsters, and even though I got to the wedding and the three storerooms of silver-to-gold, the fight between the two evil husbands, and watching the demon carry the Staryk away, I thought, “Oh. Bummer.” Because I was a little bit rooting for them to fall in love.
AND THEN. Like I was having a dream…!
Miryem returns to free the Staryk!
And he *asks* to court her in the mortal way!
Oh! And Irina and Mirnatious! The way she saved him with the silver ring was so satisfying!!!!!!!! AND HE THOUGHT SHE WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IN THE WORLD!
Just such a wonderful, wonderful read. Definitely a top 10 of all time for me. 5 stars, and it deserves more, to be honest.
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, and Violence