Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Weaver and the Witch Queen

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The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec

27 reviews

jennp28's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Really enjoyed this one! I love finding new eras of historical fiction to enjoy and Viking-era Scandinavia is one I’ve not read about before. The addition of magic/mythology made it even better. Loved the rep of women taking on “male” roles, the inclusion of what would today be recognized as a trans person… so much good stuff!

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slinkmalink's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

There were parts of this I really liked - the image of magic working as tethered to their bodies with a thread was cool, and I liked a lot of the side characters a lot too.

I particularly thought Halldor was a really cool inclusion, especially having read an interview where she said she was inspired by a Viking grave filled with weapons alongside bones later proved to be female, and the interpretation by some academics that we shouldn't assume how they identified, and they could have been a trans man rather than a shield maiden.

The adventure was cool, and I liked the fact that the most important relationships in the book were between the women. Oddny in particular was a good character for me as I think she did have a lot of depth and between her and Gunnhild I thought she was the stronger character.
Gunnhild did annoy me at parts,

the whole cheating thing and then not backing down from it was irritating,

and I know she was the main character but she did have main character syndrome.
There was a lot of enemies to lovers but the tone of Eirik and Gunnhild was very different to that of Oddny and Halldor. Again there were bits of the Eirik/Gunnhild romance I liked, the moments of realising they had shared childhood trauma were good, but they did get somewhat irritating.

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epen's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No

I was excited about this initially, but by the end I was finishing to get it over with. The pacing was off—the middle dragged on, and so much happened at the end that felt unearned. I am fine with unlikeable characters as long as the book has a smart perspective on them, but I found Oddny deeply unlikeable in a way that I don't think the book had a clear perspective on, and I ultimately don’t know that I could say that Gunnhild was super fleshed out as a character either. As other reviewers have noted, by the end this was regurgitating romance tropes and I was put off by the story’s handling of the central characters’ relationships to one another vs the men in their lives.
This was a fun backdrop for a story but it disappointed me on the whole.

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mzgeee53's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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netanya_shira's review against another edition

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4.0

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reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I find that many, if not most, descriptions of conflict within friend and/or sibling relationships, especially between women and girls cast one as a sort of antagonist, often seemingly unintentionally. Even in stories where the story ends with them having a good relationship, I'm left with a strong dislike for one of them and indignation on behalf of the one I perceived as having been victimized. For this reason, I often struggle to fully enjoy or buy into narratives with a theme of sisterhood or female solidarity.

In this book, Gornichec handles beautifully the complicated relationships between three women -- two sisters and their friend, all "sworn sisters" -- who have very different personalities, goals, and struggles, which sometimes come into conflict with each other. She also portrays the female antagonists with surprising depth and empathy. It is not "the duality of women: good and evil," it's just different women in different circumstances doing what they can to protect their own interests within the framework of both society and their own individual sense of the world. This is an excellent example of writing female villains and interpersonal conflict between women without encroaching into misogynistic tropes/undertones and instead using all these various female narratives to tell a story of women's strength.

With that in mind, I'd posit that the three things that separate the three sworn sister protagonists from the three witches who are trying to separate them are: genuine care/respect for their allies, acting upon their free will rather than trying to conform to or escape from a prescribed reality (AKA not basing their actions on a prophecy), and an ongoing self-reflection of their actions and allegiances. While I love historical fantasy and I think this book does an excellent job of it, what really stood out to me was the emotional intelligence, growth, and complexity of all the major characters.

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reka111's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

One of you clouds the futures of the others. For better or worse, your fates are intertwined

Genevieve did it again, she enchanted me. I liked this book as much as The Witch's Heart, but it didn't have such a strong effect on me. Honestly, I've been waiting for decades to read it, and now I regret waiting so long because I liked it immensely.

Gunnhild was probably my favourite, not only because she was so strong and cunning, but also because she had a bit of Angrboda in her—at least in my opinion, anyway, I really liked her. Signy and Oddny (whose names I read through half the book as Odin and Sigyn) have been through so much, especially the former, but I believe their wounds will heal, and their broken parts will heal again because they deserve it, more than anything. Although the former was not in the book, I was terribly hurt by her absence, I was excited about her along with Oddny and Gunnhild, I really was. Of the other characters, Erik may stand out, and for good reason; A king cannot be overlooked. He was a terribly difficult and complicated character, maybe he could have done better, but eventually he shows that he is capable of compassion and forgiveness, he was not a monster, but he was not an angel.

The plot was easy to follow, and I really liked that this time we were transported back to the Scandinavian 10th century (the Norwegian one). So much, so much I needed a historical fantasy for my soul, oh my goodness! Although there are scattered foreign words in the text, they do not make reading difficult at all. The phrasing was beautiful — as always. The only problem I had was the pace, which was too fast for me and there were plenty of time jumps, but apart from that, it was perfectly fine.

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