A review by villagebooksmith
Hild by Nicola Griffith

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

I so desperately want to find people who have read this to talk to. This book is a slow read, the medieval names and general writing style makes you take your time, and I really enjoyed it, up until the end. This would have maybe been a favorite book if not for the ending.

I tend to not look too hard into a book if I think I may be interested in it. Was told this was a medieval historical fiction with some queer representation… But sections of this book irked me.

Hild’s relationship with Gwladus was uncomfortable at times, but understandably so. I felt Griffith did a decent job exploring how a young and important member of a royal family would deal with the concept of slavery, and owning another person they found themselves attracted to. It was a bit weird for that to be the queer representation in this story, but ultimately I didn’t try and think much of it as I did think it fit in well enough. But Hild’s relationship with Cian, her half brother… I looked into this a bit after finishing the book, and apparently Griffith did not write that ending to be romantic. And I get it, it’s a part of the political power struggles of an insecure king to marry Hild to Cian. But she still wanted it! It was written in a way in the end where she gives into the desires she knows are wrong, and it’s been a week and it still just feels a bit icky. For fans of the Lannisters, maybe this book is for you lol