A robber who steals a knife and cuts himself cannot cry out against the woman who kept it sharp
I really enjoyed reading Spinning Silver. It was different from Uprooted, but it had a lot of familiar things to it. What can I say, I love Naomi Novik’s writing.
Book Review: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Rating:
Title & Author: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Genre: Fantasy , Adventure
Release date: July 10 2018
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Del Ray
Synopsis
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders… but her father isn’t a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife’s dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed–and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold.
But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it’s worth–especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand.
I give Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik five out of five hearts because she writes in a very atmospheric and charming style. It has a lot of elements from Rumpelstiltskin in it and they are very recognisable, but they were a treasure trove to find.
Miryem is a strong young woman, daughter of the town’s moneylender. Their family is living in poverty because her father fails at his job and she decides to take over. She has a talent for it and soon she brings her family to riches. But this also attracts the attention of one of the Staryk, fearsome creatures desiring gold above all else.
Wanda is the daughter of one of the family’s who owes money to Miryem’s family and when they can’t pay, she starts working for the family to pay off the dept. Even though she is forced into this deal I do really enjoy her view on things because this force changes her position in life.
Naomi explored the idea of the moneylenders and the Staryk very well. I would have loved a little bit more information on the Staryk, but it was very well done. It sheds a new light on the story of Rumpelstiltskin as a villain and I really liked it.
The book had a lot of different perspectives and I wonder whether this was really necessary, but on the other hand, it made things really clear because somewhere only there for just a chapter to explain something that that character knew and others didn’t.
I really loved this book, it was refreshing and because this was a standalone I don’t have the frustrating wait for the next book in a great series. I hope Naomi Novik comes out soon with something new.
Let me know what you thought of this book!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!