*** (3 out of 5) · Books · Fantasy

Spinning Silver

PerfectlyTolerable

Spinning Silver

by Naomi Novik

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Amazon | Goodreads

Disclaimer: The above Amazon Link is an affiliate link. If you purchase anything through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik is one of my favorite books so I was beyond excited to get an ARC of Spinning Silver.  If you want to read all about me getting to meet Naomi and receiving a signed ARC then check out my review of Uprooted. Or you can check out my Denver Comic Con – Part 1 – Books post.

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Anyway, like I said, I was beyond hyped to get Spinning Silver.  Maybe I went in with too high of expectations? Maybe its just not the type of book I enjoy? But for whatever reason, I didn’t love Spinning Silver.  I didn’t even particularly like the first half of the book.  It was only 3 stars because I liked the end.

The beginning of the book was boring.  It was slow and fairly uneventful.  I didn’t even get super attached to any of the characters right away, which is unusual for me.  I can usually find someone I really like.  I struggled through a good portion of the book.  I was bored and kept almost falling asleep.

The only reason I pushed through and wanted to finish it is because I loved Uprooted so much! It also helped that a lot of people commented on my First Impression Friday – Spinning Silver post encouraging me to keep reading and letting me know it gets better.

It took me a while to get up the drive to actually finish the book, but I was glad I did.  I really liked the ending.  It was clever and smart and unexpected.  It was not enough to bring the rating above 3 stars but it was enough for me to enjoy the book and not regret reading it.

One last thing I want to mention is that the Point of View (POV) changes were a little weird.  There were 5 or 6 different POVs but you started out with just two and then more were added as the story progressed.  But they changed randomly in the middle of chapters without warning.  There was always a paragraph break but no other indicator.  Sometimes it would take me a little while to notice the change, and then I would have to go back and re-read the part with the right character in my mind.  It was weird and a little annoying at times.  I don’t mind POV changes in general, but I would have liked notice when there was changes.

Overall I thought Spinning Silver was just ok.  I think it was a mix of me being too excited and just not being my type of book.  I probably wouldn’t recommend it to most people unless you like dark fairy tales then maybe you would like this one?  I don’t want to dissuade anyone from reading it, but just know it starts out slow, but it does get better!

20 thoughts on “Spinning Silver”

  2. Mhmm your review is really interesting! I’ve been debating whether or not to order Spinning Silver or to wait until my library gets it. I love the sound of a dark fairy tale world vibe but slow moving books drain my soul and the POV changes thing you mentioned, well, not great . lol I’m going to have to think on this.

    But your review was great!!

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  3. I’m glad you did enjoy the ending – I thought the pace definitely picked up then and I am happy it was worth the read for you.

    I did struggle with connecting with some of those side characters as well. I appreciate the role they played but I just wanted to read more of the ones I liked.

    Did you get little drawings at the beginning of each chapter? Miriam would always be represented by coins, Wanda’s brother by a goat etc.. They were small and maybe they were not featured in your ARC – in which case the change of narrative must have been quite confusing. 😦

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    1. Oh, that would have made it so much better! My ARC didn’t have the little drawings at all, so there was absolutely no indicators. I might have to go flip through a copy at the bookstore to see what they look like! Thanks for letting me know!

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      1. Oh my word, it must have been utterly confusing. Well done for finishing! I think seeing the final print in a bookstore will be great. Plus I would use it as a totally legit reason now to visit a bookstore (I always buy stuff and do tell myself not to go there unless I have a very good reason lol)

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  4. Oh boy. I’m way hyped for this one too but maybe I should work on my expectations! Glad you liked the end at least. I do remember it took me a while to get into Uprooted so I’m going to keep my fingers crossed.

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    1. I usually try to go into things with low expectations so I can be happily surprised when they are better and not have any disappointment, but it is easier said then done! I hope you enjoy it! I know a lot of other people really liked it so maybe I am the odd one out!

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    1. I hope you like it still! Hopefully going in with lower expectations will help. And I guess some of the versions have indicators to show when the POV changes, so you might not have to worry about that!

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  8. You are the second telling how she was disappointed with the sequel Brittany! Too bad it did not really work for you ❤

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