Make This for tv!

At first I thought it a bit ‘wordy’ but it is a true fairytale. Following the logic of the fairytale and giving us 3 strong female leads ready to change the world and give up everything they know.
At the end I shouted out loud that this must be put on some screen in some way. I woke up my boyfriend who got a long lecture on the value of non euro/usa-centered literature with strong female leads and a story where the story twists aren’t out of the blue but in par with the story’s own rules.
I love it and will force everyone I know to listen or read it!

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Excellent Russian Fairytale

This is as usual a great fairytale from Novik but the narrative changes POV often without saying the name of the person speaking or really indicating that anything has changed making it difficult to follow at times. I enjoyed it, but this might be easier to follow in print than audio.

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Fell short

I found it hard to stay engaged with the story. The characters, plot and style were all a bit flat. It was good to pass the time, but nothing to write home about.

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Beautiful story

I just loved the story. the main characters were strong but had real life in them.
The only problem that I had was that this is a multiple pov's book but the different pov's don't have titles. so You don't always know which character is speaking now and for the main three female characters the narrator doesn't have a different enough narration to distinguish between them. it doesn't however becomes clear.

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Brilliant but for the reading

Although the narrator really reads beautifully, I always felt something was missing. Possibly someone who could have conveyed the culture better through accent/voices would have served the story better. That said, it really is a wonderful story and read very well.

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Engaging fairytale with charming weaknesses

A beautiful dark fairytale that really makes you care about the characters, even the less important ones - they seem a bit more real and less stereotypical than you might expect in a medieval fantasy setting. A few reviews mention the sudden shifts between characters - it's true, the speaker reads the three main roles quite similarly, but I was only confused the first one or two times. You quickly get the hang of it. The context is usually so different, it becomes clear within a sentence. And later on, more characters are added with more distinct voices - a child, an old woman, a man.

I loved the frosty setting, all the references to Eastern European fairytales, and the stories of the three women - especially Miriam with her moneylender family, which gave the author a chance to quite subtly weave in the prosecution of Jews throughout the centuries.

I gave four start because some parts of the story felt a bit too easy for the protagonists - especially Irina turned very quickly from passive daughter of a cunning Duke to politically adept badass pretty unimpressed by nasty demons. On the other hand, I just listened to the whole thing within three days and wasn't bored for a minute, so definitely a recommendation!

On a side note, I listened to Uprooted first. It's nice to see how the author manages to create a similarly magical and interesting setting while keeping the stories different - in Uprooted, everything goes horribly wrong a lot where in Spinning Silver, plans sometimes work out a bit too well. On the other hand, Spinning Silver skips some of the odd teenage erotic romance of Uprooted. And somehow, the weaknesses of both books pass as charming.

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Unique and beautiful

A story that is told with simplicity and creativity. It was a very pleasant read.

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An old fashioned fairy tale. Very Russian

This was excellent, it kept me engaged throughout. I cared about all the main characters, although the mother annoyed me. She was so... "simpering" and weak. I loved that the girls rose to the fore and said "No!".

There was a real "Russianness" to this tale. The Winters were long and hard. The people were hard and pessimistic. Drinking is what men do, and struggle is what women do.

Katy Sobey did a fine job. She brought the characters to life. There was good distinction between them without it being forced. She did not distract from the story.

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Magical on so many DIFFERENT levels

First I have to say that *Katy Sobey* is amazing!! I had no issue distinguishing between the charecters, but I did sometimes forget that it was the same person reading! she gave them so much life, all of them: monsters, young ladies, farmer's daughters, men, old women... every one of them had a voice that felt like their own <3
And of course NN's storytelling along with the intrinsic values she conveys in the story and charecters are quit addictive, she is undoubtedly my new favourite writer!
(if you love a strong female lead this is for you)

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Novik Spins Silver to Gold - Phenomenal!

This is a story of a girl who spins silver to gold but really it is a masterpiece of ‘silver’ folk tales Novik skilfully spins together into a ‘golden’ story. It is masterfully done and the narrator has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. She manages male and female voices alike without sounding fake. I was a bit confused a couple of times when the main female character changed quickly but soon got used to who was who. Highly recommend!

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