Spinning Silver in Overdue Podcast

Jul 19, 2025 Liz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2025-reads

I really enjoyed this fairy tale story, and just had a few critiques. Our cast of characters was fantastic. The book had an incredible opening hook and grew in context and stakes as it progressed. I very much liked the changing narrators, and especially liked how at times their sections overlapped just slightly. There were some interesting themes of duty and getting what you were owed. I liked all the characters and enjoyed seeing them make choices for themselves.

I think my main three complaint I really enjoyed this fairy tale story, and just had a few critiques. Our cast of characters was fantastic. The book had an incredible opening hook and grew in context and stakes as it progressed. I very much liked the changing narrators, and especially liked how at times their sections overlapped just slightly. There were some interesting themes of duty and getting what you were owed. I liked all the characters and enjoyed seeing them make choices for themselves.

I think my main three complaints are as follows. One, Irina's sections had too much politics. I didn't find int interesting and it didn't really seem necessary for the plot since I wasn't interested. Two, I didn't really understand the ending of why (view spoiler) And third, the narrative voices for the characters ended up blending by the end of the book. It was such a strong choice to introduce the other characters, and initially their monologues felt very separate and identifiable. But as the book went on, they began to mellow together and I think Novik lost sight of what made each character unique. I also felt that at times the perspective changes were written very smartly, adding details and creating tension. But at other times it felt like just something to do to shake things up.

Overall I really enjoyed the setting and the world in this fairy tale, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a fairy tale that really takes root and blooms.

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