Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for letting me read an e-ARC of The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo! This book releases on May 7, 2024 and for fans of the Singing Hills Cycle - you won’t want to miss this installment! Preorder it now from your favorite bookstore or request a hold from your local library in advance.

This is the fifth novella in Vo’s Singing Hills Cycle and it is her darkest yet. Readers dive back into the world with our beloved Cleric Chih as they accompany Pham Nhung and her parents to Lord Guo’s castle where she is to be married. Nhung is a curious person, though, and Lord Guo’s son is said to be completely mad. Chih and Nhung quickly confide in and trust each other, so Nhung ropes them in on a mission to find out what awaits her as Lord Guo’s future wife (she isn’t his first wife, but how many wives has he had before?). It isn’t long before Chih begins to notice missing memories and they start to uncover secrets about Lord Guo’s castle, his son, and even the lovely Nhung. Will they figure out what plots lie underneath the surface before too much is lost?

The Brides of High Hill is grisly and horrifying in some of the best ways possible. Touted as a gothic mystery, it lives up to the hype and is, perhaps, my favorite installment in the series so far! While I thoroughly enjoy anything Vo writes (especially this series of novellas), the tone of this book stands out in stark contrast to the previous books in this series. There is less contemplating of deeper theories and concepts, though that is certainly not fully absent. Fans of gothic horror and mystery: now’s your chance to get in on this series!