The Brides of High Hill is the fifth novella in the Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo.
Finished on: 16.4.2025

Plot:
Cleric Chih is accompanying a young bride to a wedding. The bride is welcomed with lavish banquets and festivities by Lord Guo, her husband to be. But the servants are scared, there are warnings of Guo’s son who seems disturbed and wild rumors about Guo’s earlier wives. As Chih tries to figure out what is going on and to protect the bride, things turn stranger and stranger.

The Brides of High Hill really took me by surprise and I loved it. I generally love this entire amazing series, and I think I said it before but I will say it again, each entry manages to go in a new, exciting direction.

The Singing Hills Cycle really is one of the most insightful series about storytelling in a wide sense that I have ever read. Storytelling already included keeping memories and with this entry in the series, it is also about lying. Not only does Vo manage to highlight complexities in that topic, she does so in beautiful prose and a story that has one of my favorite twists ever.

The monsters here are definitely scary. I did not expect a horror novella, but Vo definitely goes all the way there and she goes there well. I don’t get scared easily and I watch and read my fair share of horror, but she managed to scare me for sure. I still get goose bumps thinking about it.

Plus, Chih is simply an amazing character and I loved the sense of strangeness that accompanies them here. It has an unsettling effect that both announces and hides what ist o come. Amazing work.

Summarizing: an absolute favorite.