Spinning Silver by Naomi Novak

Goodreads:

Pages: 480

Publication Date: July 10th, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tail Retelling

This is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, but with strong woman. Miryem is the daughter of money lenders, but her dad isn't a good one. She takes it upon herself to fill his debts and make money. Miryem gets one of the village girls (Wanda) to help her stuff around the house as Miryem makes her fortunes. She literally takes a punch of silver coins and changes it into cold as she collects her debts. Unfortunately, Miryem catches the eyes of the darkness of the wood and a king who's heard of her reputation.

I think Naomi Novak is really good at writing fairytales. She has built up a wonderful world, that is very atmospheric and I could picture every aspect of this world clearly in my head. I liked how Judaism was weaved into this world, in a way that felt natural. The magic elements worked well and felt natural in this world. The characters were strong and intriguing.

There are some aspects to Rumpelstiltskin that hold true in the book. The importance of names, money lending, but this is a full length story with woman as the leads and more complex plot lines. With the introduction of Judaism to the tale, it felt so natural and it made so much sense that I could see it being part of the tale. If it is or not, I haven't looked into it to be honest. I liked how we got a humanized version of a money lender and Judaism and Eastern European vibes.

I personally liked Uprooted more, as I felt like that one wasn't dense when it isn't need to be. Spinning Silver had six different perspectives that all sounded the same. Yes. Everyone's biggest pet peeve. I'm sure her whole idea was that we had to figure out who it was, but I felt like I was constantly taken out of the story trying to figure out who's viewpoint we were on. Their voices were all identical and it drove me crazy.

I like how they took parts that are essential to a fairy tale and made them feel fresh. One girls mother had passed away (Wanda), one girls mother loved her and was a bit over bearing (Miryem), the adoptive mother, etc. A series of loveless marriages for the girls, fathers who are either clueless (or abusive),

I did enjoy the forest, the other worlds on the other side of the mirror, breathing new life to a known fairytale and strong females. I hope Novak writes more fairy tell retellings, because I will definitely be interested in reading them.

Cheers,

Jen