The Book Wench

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. She will face an impossible challenge and, along with two unlikely allies, uncover a secret that threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike.

I read Novik’s Uprooted back in 2018 and absolutely fell in love with the world that she had created. It was one of those books that stuck with me for days afterward and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, even after my book club that I had read it for discussed it for hours on end. It was as magical as the lore it possessed and I was hooked. When I discovered Spinning Silver, I bought it instantly, knowing I was going to love it as much as Uprooted. Unfortunately, I would start the book multiple times over the years and a combination of factors such as work or school would prevent me from getting more than a chapter in. The book was going to be as deep and magical as Uprooted was, I knew, and I wanted to be able to dedicate as much of my brain to it as possible and, until recently, that wasn’t something I could do (I mostly blame ADHD for this). But, alas, I have finally finished the book and it was amazing. Just like I knew it would be.

The first thing Novik needs to be commended for is her beautiful writing. There is just something so rich and savory about the way she writes her descriptions. They are both beautiful and real, a rare combination. An author can write beautifully but it has an air of the fantastical to it whereas Novik makes the reader feel as though they are reading a truth that has been passed down by ancestors for millennia. There is just something about her writing that is so engaging and spiritual. It really feels like she writes with her whole heart.

Second, Novik’s characters are always just so simple yet complicated in the very best ways. Even the secondary characters feel fully fleshed out and important. In spinning Silver, readers follow the points of view of several different characters, each as varied as the next, and all complicated and beautiful but in such a simple, realistic way. My ONLY complaint about this book is that I often got confused for a paragraph or so, at the beginning, when the POV would change and wonder whose brain I was in next before context clues helped me out. But that was only at the beginning. By the middle of the book, every voice was different enough (literally so when I began to listen to the audiobook) that I could recognize a POV shift within the first sentence and know whose mind I was in.

Thirdly, Novik’s worlds are so spectacular. Here, in her lore and setting, her characters and writing really come alive because the world in which they flourish is just so beautifully rendered. I honestly could not get enough of Lithvas and the Staryk realms. They were just so easy to imagine because Novik breathed such life into them through her writing and descriptions. The people, the animals, the landmarks all seemed so real, and images of the world just flashed through my head as I read. I had no difficulty at all imagining the frigid chill or the scalding heat (depending on what part I was on, you see) that I read about because Novik made it all so real.

To say I loved this book would be an understatement. Even though it took me a little time to read, it is perhaps one of my favorite reads of the year and certainly one of my favorite standalone fantasies altogether, along with its sister book Uprooted. I would recommend either and both to fans of fantasy, standalone or series alike, because they are just so rich and beautiful and they stick with you for days after you finish.