Title: The Weaver and the Witch Queen
Author: Genevieve Gornichec
Publisher: Titan Books
Published Date: 25th July 2023
Page Count: 512
ISBN: 9781803361390
Price: £8.99
Reviewer: Gwendoline SK Terry (23rd April 2024)
Blurb
Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children in tenth century Norway, and they could not be more different: Oddny hopes for a quiet life, while Gunnhild burns for power and longs to escape her cruel mother. But after a visiting wisewoman makes an ominous prophecy that involves Oddny, her sister Signy, and Gunnhild, the three girls take a blood oath to help one another always.
When Oddny’s farm is destroyed and Signy is kidnapped by Viking raiders, Oddny is set adrift from the life she imagined—but she’s determined to save her sister no matter the cost, even as she finds herself irresistibly drawn to one of the raiders who participated in the attack. And far to the north, Gunnhild, who fled her home years ago to learn the ways of a witch, is surprised to find her destiny seems to be linked with that of the formidable King Eirik, heir apparent to the ruler of all Norway.
But the bonds—both enchanted and emotional—that hold the two women together are strong, and when they find their way back to each other, these bonds will be tested in ways they never could have foreseen in this deeply moving novel of magic, history, and sworn sisterhood.
Review
I wanted to love this book so much. It was good, I looked forward to sitting down and reading it, but I couldn’t help feeling that something was missing the whole way through. It was promising but fell short.
Heavy on the dialogue, with smatterings of historical fact throughout, there wasn’t much in the way of atmosphere, description or setting the scene. Even though finding Signy was the goal for both Gunnhild and Oddny, the majority of the book was focussed on their similar love-hate relationships with Eirik and Halldor, respectively. I understand that they were stuck in place until winter was over, but there were other ways this could’ve been handled that wouldn’t have made Signy a second thought. It felt like the relationships were the main storyline and reuniting with Signy was never actually the main plot, like reuniting with her intended to be quick and sorted out through magic, which felt like quite the cop-out to me.
I empathised with Gunnhild and her strained relationship with her hateful mother, having had a very similar relationship with my mother, but that was the beginning and end of my sympathising with her. She wasn’t too much of a likeable character, and I found myself much more intrigued with Oddny’s portions of the story rather than Gunnhild’s.
I really liked Signy and Thorolf, and I had hoped to see more of them in the story. I felt more for Oddny than for Gunnhild, and I was drawn to Eirik, but his constant bickering with Gunnhild quickly became tedious.
The deal Eirik and Gunnhild struck was intriguing, a marriage that was business instead of pleasure, but one that benefited them both. It was obvious they would fall in love (though secretly I hoped she would continue an affair with Thorolf), but it was the slowest of slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance I’ve ever read. Unfortunately, their ‘enemies’ stage dragged on far too long into their relationship and it became hard to understand how or why they loved each other at all. They enjoyed bedding each other, but outside of that, they were constantly fighting and bickering. Their relationship wasn’t believable, she had more romance with Thorolf for the five seconds she was with them than the entire time she was with Eirik.
The twist with Halldor’s gender was quite smart, and I liked how the author explained that Halldor wasn’t stronger than Eirik, but he was faster, which made sense with everything considered. I did, however, dislike the fact that Oddny fell in love with someone responsible for the slaughtering of her family and the slavery of her sister. I understand the reasonings they used, that all men did things like that in that period, but he did it to Oddny’s family. She should’ve hated him to the ends of the earth for that, just like Halldor was willing to die to avenge his father, even though he wasn’t close to him or even seemed to like him.
Though the book felt long and drawn out, the magic was interesting and creative, and the final battle was thrilling. There were a few farfetched moments, including Oddny mastering in moments magic that took Gunnhild twelve years to learn. All in all, a good book but not great. I still intend to read other books by this author.
gwensalir 