★★★★☆ Matrimonial predators

The Brides of High Hill

Nghi Vo

We catch up with Chih, who is accompanying the Pham family -- Mr and Mrs Pham and their daughter Pham Nhung to the castle of Lord Guo. The Phams are a family of merchants down on their luck, and Nhung has been proposed in marriage to Lord Guo. She and Chih met cute, and she asked them to accompany her to Lord Guo's castle for the marriage negotiation. Chih appears to have a mini-crush on Nhung, which she appears to encourage. Chih desperately misses their neixin Almost Brilliant, who is mysteriously absent. Nhung is naturally worried about being married. Chih, who knows many stories, true and fictional, about husbands and wives, would like to reassure her, but cannot honestly do so.

Stuff happens. You will recognize the story pretty quickly. It's Bluebeard. You probably already figured that out -- the plural "Brides" in the title kind of gives it away. In this one Chih faces serious personal danger, more immediate than in any other Singing Hills book. Also, they get to be an action hero in this one. Unlike When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, when Chih and their companions were in real danger of being eaten by tigers, Chih can't get out of this one just by telling stories.

I enjoyed this a lot. It was simpler and more straightforward than the other Singing Hills stories. The Singing Hills stories are stories about story-telling -- very meta. While I appreciate that -- Nghi Vo is a master story-teller, and it is a delight that she teaches her craft. But in this installment we get something more like a simple (well, honestly, not THAT simple) story straightforwardly told.

Thanks to NetGalley and TorDotCom for an advance reader copy of The Brides of High Hill. This review expresses my honest opinion.

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