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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- 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
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
panoply's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Antisemitism
bethann_coleates's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism
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
celey's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Body horror
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
tak_everlasting's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
beewitchtt'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
5.0
A robber who steals a knife and cuts himself cannot cry out against the woman who kept it sharp.
Spinning Silver, I think, has become my favorite book I have ever read. I originally picked this book up for the promise of a Rumpelstiltskin retelling and a romance- but instead I got a poignant story of three women saving the world despite their unsavory situations. It's a book about agency, about over-coming fear, and about finding the spaces that make you feel safe and holding them tightly.
Not to say this book does not have romance, but it is extremely slow-burn, and keeps you on your toes. It will dangle these relationships in front of you, and you the reader, who is so used to unearned love and yearning will ask for it to just happen already. But Naomi Novik has complete control of this story the entire way through and does what's best for the story. It is beautifully written, and has captured me for days.
I do not think that this book is for everyone, but I recommend everyone give it a try. If you give it a chance to enchant you- you will have no regrets.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Body horror and Gore
Minor: Animal death and Rape
readwithde's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
maeverose's review against another edition
3.0
Gratuitous violence. Mostly from Wendy and Stepon’s povs, where they had to bring up at every opportunity that their father abused them. It felt like the author was just throwing it in there to keep the book feeling dark and gritty but there was no real purpose to it. We already know from the first few chapters that their father is a despicable human being, it didn’t need to be mentioned repeatedly every single time it switched to one of their povs.
The multiple povs. I only cared about Miryem’s and Irina’s a little bit towards the second half of the book. However I wouldn’t say the others were unnecessary (well, Magreta’s maybe) or couldn’t be interesting to other readers. I felt that it was usually pretty clear who’s pov it was right away, but the book does switch povs multiple times in every chapter, so it could get annoying.
Bad autism rep? I wanted to talk about one of the perspectives in particular: Wanda’s younger brother Stepon. His narrative voice is especially different from the others and I can’t tell if it’s just supposed to be that he’s young, abused and had a very isolated upbringing, or if he’s autistic coded. He has sensory issues with noise too, which could be a trauma response from his abuse, I’m not sure, but it felt like an attempt at a very stereotypical representation of autism, and if it was I don’t like that. It’s a very narrow minded interpretation of autism, not to mention it was just so tedious to read.
It’s overwritten. It definitely could’ve (should’ve, imo) been at least 100 pages shorter. Maybe its just because I wasn’t enjoying it that much but it felt like a drag to get through. I was bored for a lot of it.
The writing. Her style just doesn’t work for me. I liked the winter descriptions, and the folktale style of it, but I found certain sentences to be worded awkwardly to where I’d have to read them multiple times to get what she meant. It was the same with Uprooted for me. Like she’s trying to make it sound pretty but it’s just awkward to read. Could just be me. I did find some sentences that were actually grammatically incorrect though…
Homophobic?? This one was easy to miss, but the only - very minor side character - that’s gay has a crush on his own cousin. I feel like I don’t need to explain how that’s problematic.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, and Classism
Graphic: Eye trauma Moderate: mentioned child rape