Night Spinner Book Review

A lot of stories we can find in literature, cinema, or art are retellings of the classics, begging the question: why rewrite the same story? The answer is that often, when the story is changed, it can teach us something new or unexpected. By changing just a few details, there is representation for people who weren't there before, or a deeper understanding of multiple characters. Retellings are the most exciting stories, in my opinion, because they can be viewed as a kind competition -- who did it best, the original or the retelling? Like the book vs. adaptation question, this question lacks a clear answer. Luckily, that means we can continue to invite these stories into the world, and Addie Thorley does just that with her novel, Night Spinner. A loose retelling of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which combines epic fantasy elements, engaging characters, and a series of crazy plot twists, Night Spinner proves that retellings are surprising and necessary.

Addie Thorley, author of Night Spinner, also wrote the YA historical fiction novel An Affair of Poisons, which was chosen as a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and is a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominee. After graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in journalism, Thorley decided to enter the world of fiction, and never looked back (good call!!). Now, Thorley lives in Princeton, NJ with her husband, daughter, and wolf dog. You can find her on Twitter @addiethorley or at www.addiethorley.com.

Enebish was one of the greatest warriors in the Sky King's Imperial Army before the massacre. Honored with the titled Enebish the Warrior, she utilized her powers of the night sky as a Night Spinner to protect the people of Ashkar against their enemies, the Zemyans. Now, she's known as Enebish the Destroyer, banished as a traitor to a monastery far from home. But when her adoptive sister, Imperial Army commander Ghoa, arrives with an opportunity for Enebish to return as one of the warriors of the Kalima, Enebish jumps at the chance to prove herself. All she has to do is find the notorious Temujin, whose band of rebels has been stealing the army's supplies. Sounds simple enough, until Enebish becomes reacquainted with the country that's now losing a war. She's torn between duty and conscience, Temujin and her sister. No matter who she chooses, can she still help her people? Or will they still be defeated by an even greater enemy?

Enebish is another amazing female main character to add to the ranks of the amazing female main characters of fantasy. Her character is one that we have to pull apart at different levels to understand. She sees herself in black and white: the Enebish before the massacre, and the Enebish she is now. Warrior or Destroyer. She's drawn by conscience and duty -- another juxtaposed pair, which to her are two choices that can't exist together. The only constants are Serik, her best friend since childhood; her Night Spinning -- even if she can't always practice it; and her faith, despite all the twists and turns that might cause anyone else to lose faith. Throughout the course of the book, though, we learn that there aren't just two Enebishs -- there's multiple that mesh together to create the whole character: Enebish before she was taken in by Ghoa as a child; Enebeish the Warrior; Enebish the Destroyer; the Enebish she wishes she was; the in-between Enebish she is during the course of the novel as she tries to redefine herself and her place. It's a treat to see all these versionsof the same character, because we truly get to see Enebish evolve and grow. I also enjoy that she's not strong -- she's disabled, she hasn't used her magic for years and still struggles to regain control of it, and she's dependent. Enebish is wildly criticized by those closest to her that she's like a puppy looking for a master, but I think Enebish is an able warrior looking for a cause. That's noble, and a warrior's way of life. She wants a cause, and there's nothing puppy-like about that. I can see myself in her, because she wants to see the good in people (and the rebels' cause), even if she can't immediately trust them. She makes the best choices she can with the information she has, which is a very relatable kind of decision. Enebish's disability is also important to mention. It's obviously a big identifier of a Quasimodo character in a retelling, but regardless, it's always positive to see characters who have either physical or mental disabilities because it can help readers with disabilities see themselves in more characters. I think Thorley did a good job of balancing how Enebish felt held back from a warrior's life because of her physical disabilities, but how she evolves to accepting this part of herself and using it to her advantage (which is something I hope we see in the sequel, too).

Within just the opening pages I could tell that this book was for fans of Woven in Moonlight and the Grishaverse books. But this book stands apart from those novels because of its emphasis on faith. I haven't read a whole lot of fantasy (yet!) but this book was exciting because Thorley took a lot of time to build the world, but also the sociological aspects, like faith and family cultures and traditional army customs. The faiths were especially interesting, because they were at war with one another, via the vessels of warring countries. To me, this element of the story emulated the kind of wars of religion we see in Europe in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Not only did Thorley have to build one religion, but she had to build two -- something that deserves a lot of respect, because crafting a convincing faith foundation is no simple feat (anyone who has taken a sociology class would know). And on top of loosely basing her story on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, she also built her story around some of the classical historical events like the wars of religion. Anyone who loves Hugo, sociology, or European history will see the influences these things had on the story, no matter how subtle, and because I'm a fan of all three, it made my reading experience more fun.

If you, like me, tried drawing all the character parallels between the characters of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Night Spinner, you might have gotten something like this. Enebish is our female Quasimodo, Ghoa and the Sun King are our Frollo-like characters, and Temujin is a kind of Esmerelda. What I enjoyed about this retelling is that it's actually very loose -- Thorley used it as a kind of base to jump off of, and while she leaves little Easter egg images throughout, this is truly Enebish's story, and the story of Ashkar. I think framing the novel as a The Hunchback of Notre Dame novel was clever, though, because we can apply what we know about Quasimodo and Frollo and Esmerelda to these characters while also leaving plenty of room for them to develop themselves. Ashkar is its own world, but giving it something familiar to bounce off of brings in more interested readers -- I was one of them, and I'm so glad!

I was impressed by the pacing of this novel. At the beginning, it felt rather slow, and started to pick up when Enebish finally entered the rebel stronghold. The slow pace of the beginning allowed for the world-building, and for readers to cement the culture of this fantasy in their head. I never felt too overwhelmed by all the fantasy elements (the places, the gods, the names of the armies, etc.) and I think a good part of that has to do with the slower pace. All throughout the beginning, though, I was wishing for a map! A lot of fantasy series I read have them and it makes the reading experience just a bit more immersive and allows for a bit of a faster pace, and I truly believe the experience with Night Spinner could have been enhanced by a map. Nonetheless, once all the fantasy elements were in place, Thorley could pick up the pace as Enebish begins her journey with the rebels. While it does pick up, it doesn't go at rapid speed, but more at a quicker boil. We can feel something happening beneath the surface, but we have to keep moving because we need to know if Enebish will fail. At this point in the novel, I also felt like we were beginning to wonder what exactly happened that day in Nariin, which is a story we get with a subtler build than the big plot twist. I could feel the writing build to the plot twist when I was a bit more than 100 pages from the end, and that's when I couldn't put the book down. I was literally reading to have the whole world turned upside down, which makes for a really kind of a strange, and strangely enjoyable, reading experience. The plot twist itself was wicked! As in, you can really get lost in the writing and shocked by it if you don't try to guess too much ahead. Breaking the book apart like this to see how pacing worked was really an experiment for me, and helped me understand the characters and plot so much better! If you ever want to think critically about any book you read, breaking down the pacing is always a great way to do so.

And what's in store for Enebish and the rebels now, by the end of Night Spinner? I started reading this book the literal day Addie Thorley announced the title of the sequel, Sky Breaker! We can only hope that we see more of Serik and Enebish against the world, and how they'll lead their country to the finish line. Sky Breaker is set to release in early May of 2021. Stay tuned for my review!

*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*