Kate's Reviews > The Brides of High Hill
The Brides of High Hill (The Singing Hills Cycle, #5)
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Kate's review
bookshelves: age-range-adult, rating-highly-recommended, recommendations-all-time-faves, genre-fantasy, southeast-asian-authors, book-rep-asian, book-rep-nonbinary, book-rep-queer, author-rep-asian
Jun 25, 2024
bookshelves: age-range-adult, rating-highly-recommended, recommendations-all-time-faves, genre-fantasy, southeast-asian-authors, book-rep-asian, book-rep-nonbinary, book-rep-queer, author-rep-asian
DID SOMEBODY SAY GOTHIC HORROR
I can't believe Nghi Vo included a gothic horror novella in The Singing Hills Cycle. My life is finally complete.
All kidding aside, I absolutely adored The Brides of High Hill. It starts off like a retelling of Bluebeard (which I already loved it for from the very beginning of the book, because Bluebeard retellings are one of my absolute favorite things). Pham Nhung, a young bride, is on her way to the estate of Doi Cao to get married. At first you think that the old lord of Doi Cao is a villain, with multiple vanished wives in his past and a mad son who he keeps drugged and locked away. But Nghi Vo's genius is in that the usual and expected is neatly circumvented, the twists so brilliantly revealed in a way that makes you realize she's been dropping hints all along and that you should've seen it coming.
“The world starts with a story. So do dynasties and eras and wars. So does love, and so does revenge. Everything starts with a story.”
My other reviews from The Singing Hills Cycle
Book 1: The Empress of Salt and Fortune
Book 2: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
Book 3: Into the Riverlands
Book 4: Mammoths at the Gates
I can't believe Nghi Vo included a gothic horror novella in The Singing Hills Cycle. My life is finally complete.
All kidding aside, I absolutely adored The Brides of High Hill. It starts off like a retelling of Bluebeard (which I already loved it for from the very beginning of the book, because Bluebeard retellings are one of my absolute favorite things). Pham Nhung, a young bride, is on her way to the estate of Doi Cao to get married. At first you think that the old lord of Doi Cao is a villain, with multiple vanished wives in his past and a mad son who he keeps drugged and locked away. But Nghi Vo's genius is in that the usual and expected is neatly circumvented, the twists so brilliantly revealed in a way that makes you realize she's been dropping hints all along and that you should've seen it coming.
“The world starts with a story. So do dynasties and eras and wars. So does love, and so does revenge. Everything starts with a story.”
My other reviews from The Singing Hills Cycle
Book 1: The Empress of Salt and Fortune
Book 2: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
Book 3: Into the Riverlands
Book 4: Mammoths at the Gates
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Reading Progress
April 4, 2024
– Shelved as:
to-read
April 4, 2024
– Shelved
June 21, 2024
–
Started Reading
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
age-range-adult
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
rating-highly-recommended
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
recommendations-all-time-faves
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
genre-fantasy
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
southeast-asian-authors
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
book-rep-asian
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
book-rep-nonbinary
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
book-rep-queer
June 25, 2024
– Shelved as:
author-rep-asian
June 25, 2024
–
Finished Reading