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Book: “The Summer War” by Naomi Novik
Publishing Info: Del Rey, September 2025
Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Celia discovered her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother Argent left home. Furious at him for abandoning her in a war-torn land, she lashed out, not realizing her childish, angry words would suddenly become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love.
While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse she placed on him. Yet even as she grows from a girl to a woman, she cannot find the solution—until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her own people and the summerlings, the immortal beings who hold a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbors.
Now, with the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to both undo her eldest brother’s curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War.
Review: There’s no point in building up to a point that is probably already a given, but I really loved this story. Like I have for every other piece of writing by Naomi Novik that I’ve read over the years!
One of the more interesting aspects of this one, however, is its length. Last fall, I read a collection of short stories that Novik released which included the original, short story version of “Spinning Silver.” While enjoyable, it was also clear how much the final version of the story benefited by being elongated into a full length novel. Here, we have something in-between: not a short story, but still a shorter, novella length piece of fantasy fiction. And, while I still would love to explore a longer version of this story, I think that has more to do with the fact that I simply want more of Novik’s writing full stop, not that this particular narrative required further depth; for all of its shorter length, the story felt complete, impactful, and fully realized.
One factor that stood out in particular was the choice to center sibling and family relationships as the emotional core of the story, rather than the more typical romantic plotline. And while I love a good romance (and Novik in particular has always written excellent ones), it was also a breath of fresh air to see this sort of acknowledgement that romantic love is not the be-all, end-all of character motivations. Indeed, sibling relationships can be some of the most complicated ones there are, as we see here!
This also read as an original fairytale, from start to finish. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what quality of writing it is, but there’s a distinctive style of fairytale fantasies that always feels easily identifiable when you’re reading it. Some combination of whimsical, lyrical, and character-focused, perhaps? Whatever it is, this one had it in spades! I enjoyed the world-building we had, though this is definitely an area of the book that I’d love to revisit in a longer story, just to get further into the details and history of this world.
Perhaps my one critique is that there were moments where some of the characterization felt a bit off. The subplot romance that we do have comes on quickly, just dipping its toes into the water of “instalove.” As this romance doesn’t include our main character, this ultimately didn’t bother me as much, but it is there. There were also moments where Celia reads as older than she is. However, again, this is fairly standard for fairytales where children are often the main characters and must act and think in ways that are, perhaps, more mature than one would expect.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novella! Of course, I’m always left wanting more when it comes to Novik’s writing, but I think this one does a good job of standing on its own two feet, even for a shorter tale. Fans of fairytale fantasies who want a more manageable read than the typical tome should definitely give this one a try!
Rating 9: Atmospheric and heart-wrenching, Novik introduces a wholly original feeling fairytale that only leaves you wanting more!
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Summer War” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy Releases
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