If you like: classic fairy tales, women who don't know when to quit, Gail Carson Levine, Ursula K. Le Guin, Katherine Arden.
Reading Spinning Silver is like sinking into a warm, nostalgic bath of every fairy tale I loved as a child, but instead of feeling worn and overused, Naomi Novik takes old tropes and themes and makes them feel brand new. Her writing is exceptional, entrapping.
There are five separate perspectives expertly woven throughout the story, and each of them bear weight and importance. I was initially worried about the jumping points of view, but Novik makes every transition fluid. I never had to backtrack, or break out of the magic of the story to figure out who I was following.
The three main protagonists are women, each with their own weaknesses and strengths, written in diverse ways. Watching them transition and grow throughout the story is one of my favorite parts. Each of them have to find their own voice, then learn how to properly use it. None of the girls are without their flaws, so mistakes are made, but what’s important is the choices they make after messing up.
My favorite out of the three is Miryem. She kicks the story off, starving, weak, watching her overly kind father send them further into destitution by not collecting from people who are indebted to him as a moneylender.
Miryem becomes cold, then colder yet when approached with a challenge from a Staryk:
“I thought of accepting it in silence, of keeping my head bowed and afraid…But I had learned to fear other things more: to be despised, to be whittled down one small piece of myself at a time, to be smirked at and taken advantage of. I put my chin up and said, as cold as I could be in answer, ‘And what will you give me in return?’”
Miryem, Irina and Wanda never give up. They are put through physical and mental torment, but always find the strength to forge ahead. Each of them play important roles in each other’s lives—they may disagree and cause each other grief, but they could not achieve the same things alone.
There are many terrible men in Spinning Silver. It makes some parts of the book difficult to read, to see vibrant women be hurt and abused. My biggest (and maybe, singular) qualm with the book is how it portrays the idea that even the most mentally abusive men can be changed: that sticking through the worst of their moods and treatment can help break the magic causing it in the first place.
That being said, I love Spinning Silver. I was unsure if Novik could meet my expectations after I fell in love-love with Uprooted, but I teared up a little bit after finishing the last page. I wasn’t ready for it to end. That’s not to say that the story is unfinished, but I was enraptured enough to want more more more. Hear that, Novik? Next one, please.
"Spinning Silver" by Naomi Novik; Random House Publishing Group; July 2018
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