Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis:

 

It’s been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods.

Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend. That driven by their obsession with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly.

The only thing is: they didn’t do it.

On the anniversary of Summer’s death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago—no matter how monstrous.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

PSA: this has gay girls in it!!! Y'all get on this!!!

It's interesting, whenever I pick up a fantasy book, I usually know from reviews beforehand if the novel has LGBT+ characters. But for some reason, with contemporary/mystery/thriller books, I have no idea until I see it explicitly on the page. This has happened to me with three different novels and I really think the universe has given me a sixth sense for finding gay girls in contemporaries.

Surprise gay girls aside, Broken Things was really not what I expected. I'm not a big contemporary reader and I really wasn't a fan of Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall, so I was a little nervous going into this. But I can sincerely say I loved this with my whole heart. It hit on a lot of things I've experienced in my own life and made me feel seen in a way almost no other contemporaries have.

Books with dead girls always tend to romanticize them, always painting them as beautiful, tragic, innocent but still sexual. And while Summer is all those things at first, as the novel progresses, the reader is given such a full picture of who she really was that by the end, she's human. But this book isn't about Summer, not really. This is a book for the living. This is a book about Mia and Brynn and all the people that orbited Summer before her death, and how their lives have been touched and changed by her. The mystery of who killed Summer is important to the book, but this novel is really about toxic friendships, feeling broken, and healing from trauma.

Despite the synopsis, this novel doesn't actually have any fantasy or magical realism elements. Everything is firmly grounded in reality, but it still reads as if magic exists. As if other worlds exist alongside reality. I loved how Oliver explored the power of imagination and creativity in this, to the point where whimsy felt woven into reality. Lovelorn didn't just feel like something dreamed up by these girls, but tangible. It reminded me a lot of how I played pretend as a kid and this novel brought back that magic for me.

I was iffy about Oliver's work before, but since finishing Broken Things, I'm definitely more interested in reading her other novels. Lauren Oliver's characters were flawed but very lovable, her prose was easy-to-read but engaging, and this story touched me like almost no contemporaries have. If you're a big YA fantasy reader, I think this contemporary story may appeal to you.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Synopsis:

 

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. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

I honestly can't believe this was written by the same author of Uprooted. Spinning Silver is literally the anti-thesis of Uprooted. Everything I hated about Uprooted - the weak characters, unnecessary romance, and poor pacing - are so vastly improved in Spinning Silver, it's like it was written by a different person.

God, where do I even begin? I LOVED this. The three main female characters - Miryem, Wanda, and Irina - are each so complex and dynamic, to the point where I enjoyed reading every single one of their POVs. Even if not all of their problems or goals are world-ending, they're so excellently executed that Novik makes you feel the weight and anxiety of every issue the same. In fantasy, authors tend to focus in on the BIG stakes, and I appreciated the attention paid to smaller-scale problems, without compromising the larger narrative or making characters feel irrelevant. Novik even made me love nearly every single side character, and when does that ever happen? I may fall in love with maybe one or two especially compelling side characters, but almost ALL OF THEM??? I'd have told you it couldn't be done, before reading this.

The thing that definitely took me by the most surprise is that there's no romance in this novel. There are possibilities of romance littered throughout the book, but it's always brushed away in order to stress the importance of the characters and their journeys. I wasn't expecting it at all, especially after reading Uprooted, and it was such a pleasant surprise. But because I loved all the characters so much, I almost wish the reader did see more romance? At least towards the end, when it made sense. I trust Novik now to strike a really good balance between an attention-demanding plot and a well-developed romance.

I didn't think the writing in Uprooted was anything special, but Novik really shows her skill in Spinning Silver. I almost never enjoy multi-POV books written in first person, because every character has the same voice. But Novik writes in at least six POVs over the course of the novel, and they all sound distinct and different. What??? HOW??? As a writer myself, I'm honestly amazed!!! Like damn, I wanna be able to write like that!!! I've never enjoyed first person POVs so much before.

Also can we also talk about how Novik NAILED the fairy tale vibes in this book?? Uprooted felt really contrived and somewhat generic, but Spinning Silver really excels in borrowing from the Rumpelstiltskin story, while still doing something really unique. The throwback elements are there, but surrounded by a plot, world, and characters that feel very original. Novik organically blends the familiar conventions of fairy tales with such a strong world and characters that the whole thing feels fresh and inventive.

The pacing is also much improved from Uprooted, I think because everything that drives the story - the characters, world, and plot - are much better developed and more interesting. Novik still manages to pack a ton into this novel, but the story reads more seamlessly than Uprooted, which felt like it was split into three distinct parts. I do think the story as a whole feels like it's a little slow-paced, but it's more that Novik gives the illusion of being slow-paced when actually the novel passes you by very quickly. Spinning Silver clocks in at almost 500 pages, and I wanted more when I got to the end.

I can't believe how much I enjoyed this! If you didn't like Uprooted, I highly recommend giving this a try. There's a lot to love here.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Synopsis:

 

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

 

Rating: 🌟🌟

 

Imagine all the tired YA tropes and pair them with slightly better writing and plot than you usually get out of a generic YA fantasy novel, and you get Uprooted.

My biggest issue is how immature the whole novel comes off as. From the characters, to the plot, even the magic system and antagonist lack the depth I've come to expect from adult fantasy. I respect the cross-over potential this novel has, and I do think it's perfect for readers that want to start venturing out of YA and into the adult genre. But as someone that reads both YA and adult, I don't think it's particularly compelling for either genre.

The characters were easily the most disappointing part of this book. Agnieszka has the personality of a piece of cardboard, and feels so typically YA fantasy heroine. I think the first person perspective especially hindered her narrative. It's much more difficult to express a character's personality if the reader is constantly in their head and they don't have an especially strong voice. A third person perspective would've done wonders for making her character feel less bland.

The Dragon is just straight up poorly written. The Dragon has no complexity, which doesn't translate to an immortal character. He's lived for over a century, yet the reader never feels the years weighing down on him. His impatience with Agnieszka just comes off as him being an asshole, and his constant use of "idiot" flashed me back to my middle school anime phase so fast I still have whiplash. I have no idea why Agnieszka is attracted to him. There's no mystery to him that makes him alluring, nor does Naomi Novik paint an especially compelling picture of his physical features. I couldn't tell you what he looks like, besides having eyes and hair.

I sincerely believe Kasia should have been the main character. Though she starts off as the cliche best friend, she quickly becomes the most interesting character. She's subversive of the character trope she's meant to represent, and overall just does some really cool stuff over the course of the novel. The fact that she's a side character, yet overshadows the main cast, says a lot about the novel.

Because I didn't like Agnieszka or the Dragon as characters, I probably would've dnfed this book if it had followed the set-up of the synopsis. But the synopsis only represents about 1/3 of the book, and the second and third parts go in entirely different directions. I have mixed feelings about it, because the synopsis is what drew me in, but then I wouldn't have been able to finish the novel. But I also didn't especially enjoy the plot progression, and the pacing felt very off. Novik packed SO MUCH into this novel, yet I still felt like I was dragging myself through this.

I just expected so much more from Uprooted. None of the elements shine, or do anything especially original. If you're looking for an adult fantasy with fairy tale vibes, I recommend checking out The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden instead.