We follow Miryem, a Jewish girl who becomes a successful moneylender, and gets propositioned by the Staryk King when it’s claimed she can turn silver into gold. In this book, we are based in Lithvas, an expy for Lithuania, and that threat is not the Wood but the Staryk, faeries made of ice who have the ability to make a winter even more deadly. Rather than a direct or even indirect sequel to Uprooted, Spinning Silver is a story that simply takes place in the same world, where the supernatural is once more an unacknowledged yet commonplace threat in everyone’s lives. I think it’s fair to say that Spinning Silver was my most anticipated book of the year, and it absolutely did not fail to deliver on my expectations. *I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review* I basically cried when I got an ARC acceptance through Netgalley. Why did I want to read? Uprooted is one of my favourite books, and this book has fae in it. 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 a king who has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold. It’s decent, but I think I’d recommend “The Bear and the Nightingale” if you want more Russian Fairytales.Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders. Somehow the setting feels more alive though, and it features a great antagonist. If you’ve already read Spinning Silver and liked it, she wrote a somewhat similar book called Uprooted, which is cool conceptually but has a weak second half and a few tropes I don’t like. Still, even if I hated fairytales it would be hard not to admire the craftsmanship that went into this book. Spinning Silver is as close to perfect at what it’s trying to do as I think is possible, but there are other flavors I like better. The consistency of the pacing was so impressive that I kept being surprised that I wasn’t feeling either bored or rushed (especially coming right on the heels of Broken Earth).

The characters are interesting and dynamic.

Technically speaking, this is probably one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Nothing about it is derivative though it’s brand new and familiar at the same time. It’s the kind of story I could imagine an old woman telling her village over the course of a winter’s night. The best I can do is say that Naomi Novik set out to make a brand new, novel length fairytale (think old-school, not Disney) and she absolutely nailed it.

It’s hard to describe the thing I liked most about Spinning Silver.

Naomi novik spinning silver review