The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo!

Title: The Brides of High Hill

Series: The Singing Hills Cycle #5
Author: Nghi Vo
Source/Format: NetGalley; eARC
More Details: Fantasy; Novella
Publisher/Publication Date: Tordotcom; May 7, 2024

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

The Hugo Award-Winning Series returns with its newest standalone entry: a gothic mystery involving a crumbling estate, a mysterious bride, and an extremely murderous teapot.

The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to an aging lord at a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. But they’re forgetting things they ought to remember, and the lord’s mad young son wanders the grounds at night like a hanged ghost.

One of my most anticipated releases of the year was Nghi Vo’s next novella in The Singing Hills’s Cycle, The Brides of High Hill, which the synopsis described as a gothic mystery. I’ve enjoyed books of that type from time to time, so, going into The Brides of High Hill, I was interested to see what Vo’s interpretation of it would look like.

The latest adventure of Cleric Chih takes a slight detour from the typical structure of the series, and puts them right in the thick of the action. There’s still a story that’s being told, but its clues can be subtle and are deeply embedded in the occurrences of the novella, rather than a story that is being imparted, in pieces, to Cleric Chih by other characters. The switch, however, works well, when the mystery and gothic aspects are taken into account. Atmosphere can be key—sometimes—and getting to see the faded or outright eerie elegance as well as the dilapidation that make up Doi Cao was a crucial part of setting the stage for the story.

And what a story it was. The twist managed to catch me by surprise, because it subverted the way I thought the story was going to go. But hindsight is 20/20. However, the ending is part of what I love most about Vo’s handling of The Brides of High Hill. It could have been straightforward, but it wasn’t. And I enjoyed that direction at lot more than my guesses.

At the end of the day, The Brides of High Hill is another great installment in the series.

About the author....

Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began withThe Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Locus Award and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.

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Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Tordotcom) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you! 

I Listened to What Now by Brittany Howard

Do you ever, on occasion, suddenly think about a band you haven’t listened to in what feels like ages? That’s my story here.

Early in March, I was cleaning up an old playlist, when I revisited my favorite tracks from Alabama Shake’s Sound & Color (2015). There was the vague expectation of more albums, other music, but the band is on indefinite hiatus since 2018. That, however, has spawned projects from its members like the group Sun On Shade and Brittany Howard’s solo career—beginning with Jamie (2019).

What Now, released on February 9, 2024, is Brittany Howard’s sophomore solo album and is also my reintroduction to her music. It was also the release I was least expecting and the one I was most surprised by; I’ve been missing out, because it’s one of the most creative bodies of work I’ve listened to so far this year. There is an infusion of everything from rock, R&B, soul, funk, synth, house, jazz, and electronic. Howard makes it work, and makes it seem effortless while creating a sonically interesting listening experience that showcases her vocals and creativity.

Some of my favorite tracks include Another Day, the titular What Now, Red Flags, and Power To Undo—which instantly made me think of Prince’s music—among others.

What Now is memorable and an absolute delight, and it’s going to stick with me for a while.

Music Monday (283): Brittany Howard, Sid Sriram

Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: Another one of my favorite songs from Brittany Howard's What Now is: Prove It To You.

Andrea: Hi all! This week I'm listening to Dear Sahana by Sid Sriram. Have an amazing week!

What are you listening to this week?

What I've Been Listening To

There has been so much music lately and, between backlist albums and releases from last year I missed, I’m here again with another “What I’ve Been Listening To.” And with that, welcome back to the music minded corner of Our Thoughts Precisely!

 

If there has been one group that’s come up in my recommendations multiple times in the past, it would be Måneskin, an Italian rock band. Originally released on January 20, 2023, their album Rush! was reissued in a deluxe version in November last year, called Rush! (Are U Coming?), adding five additional songs. I haven’t explored much of their discography yet, but I listened to this one. I love a good rock album and, when it comes to what I was looking for, Rush! (Are U Coming) ticked a lot of boxes. The guitar solos were fun, and there wasn’t a single point where it felt repetitive. Each song had its own thing going for it, and that’s what I loved most about it. I also like the songs added with the deluxe version, so it opens with Honey (Are U Coming?)—one of my favorites—instead of Own My Mind. But it also added Valentine, a soulful rock ballad accompanied by a black and white music video, and Trastevere, an acoustic track that’s in the same vein as the former. All in all, Rush! (Are U Coming?) was an excellent album.

Moving on, I also checked out Qveen Herby’s most recent EP (extended play). To date, Housewife is one of my favorite bodies of work by Herby, on the same level as Halloqveen (2021). It’s still in her usual style of music, a blend of singing and rapping, but I enjoyed the production—how the beats were arranged—as well as the feature by Oli VVV (which added another layer to the track.) Housewife was another strong EP release from Qveen Herby!

Last but not least, is the BB/ANG3L Experience by Tinashe. This one isn’t a new release per say, since, after all, it is a dance performance that goes with BB/ANG3L. It is a nice way to experience the album outside of its music videos, and it does play around with some of the beats, for example the one for Needs.

Some singles that have made it to my playlist include: In Your Hands by Halle, Overcompensate by Twenty One Pilots, Some Type of Skin by Aurora, Made For Me by Muni Long, Next Semester by Twenty One Pilots, and Saturn by SZA.

That’s all from me for today!

I Watched Marry My Husband (2024)

I watch K-dramas from time to time. It’s been a while since the last one, though, which was Business Proposal on Netflix. I’ve wanted another series that matched the levels of hijinks and drama in that one. And, low and behold, one of the serializations I read from start to finish got an adaptation this year.

Marry My Husband (which is available to stream on Amazon Prime) is a good adaptation that captures the overall vibe of the series as a whole. But, it’s not a one-to-one 100% accurate adaptation that includes every plot point from the comic. Some of the most marked changes came from how little screen time was devoted to the development of the other relationships outside of the main protagonists (Kang Ji-won, Yoo Ji-hyuk) and antagonists (Park Min-hwan, Jeong Su-min). And instead it centers the story on Ji-won and Ji-hyuk, while also making some smart changes that really emphasized the point of it: of the necessity of Ji-won giving her fate to someone else to avoid the misery, betrayal, and tragedy that jumpstarts the story.

Despite all the changes, this was still a great adaptation. One, the majority of the scenes I wanted to see brought to life was there. Two, the series didn’t mince how awful, controlling, and abusive (including domestic violence) Su-min and Min-hwan actually were. I mean, with friends (and a significant other) like those, who needs enemies?

The back and forth of will Ji-won escape her future or won’t she provided the tension and driving force for the story. It was so fun and satisfying seeing her gain confidence and scheme, because—make no mistakes—this is a story that is as much about taking back control of one’s life and finding happiness just as much as it was about getting revenge. Along the way Ji-won also gained a system of support and genuine friends.

I did like the way they used flashbacks, particularly for scenes where there was conflict and turmoil as well as where the future and the past (Ji-won’s present) overlapped. It revealed more of the characters backstory and also imparted information about sticky situations, without slowing down the narrative too much.

At the end of the day, I liked what they did here. One of the main takeaways is how people could change, and it was those who didn’t (who grew more resolute in their toxicity and capacity to do harm to others for the benefit of themselves) who fared the worst—and justifiably so—in Marry My Husband.