You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this, but gang, were Hild and Cian brother and sister?
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Immersive, imaginative, well written read. Would recommend for those who like to imagine past people and worlds.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Abortion
adventurous
challenging
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was LONG. And well written, but I tried to read as a physical book at first and had to switch to an audio book because I was constantly looking up how to pronounce words. I think the author did her due diligence in her research on this historical figure and the time period. Though this was a very long book about the development of a weird royal child with an opportunist and scheming mother who knew way too much about birds to the point that it made her an influential politics advisor to her king uncle. There are romantic aspects to this book but I almost wish there weren’t, I felt like it took from the storyline. Excited to read the next one.
History buffs and/or fantasy fans may enjoy this one. The Anglisc is a bit cumbersome at first (I never studied it) but eventually I found it easy to wade through. Hild is a bit like a fictionalized account of a historical Game of Thrones. Many of us read about how the native Britons, Irish, Welsh, etc, were treated by the Anglo-Saxons, but it putting it into context is a bit horrifying (to someone of 'wealh' descent, anyway).
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
heavy and intense with compelling characters and magical landscapes
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
I can't wait to read the sequel to this. I'm really glad I this after I read that whole nonfiction book about the Anglo-Saxons a few weeks ago. A bit like if Wolf Hall was combined with Game of Thrones and set in 7th-century Northumbria. And the main character is an uncannily intelligent teenage girl. Hild was a real person, but the author is at pains to state that this is a work of fiction; indeed the real Hild disappears from the historical record for 20 years, and what we do know about her can be summed up in less than a page. However the book is packed with other historical details. If you aren't interested in the ins and outs of the politics of the British Isles and regional trade and the shift from paganism to Christianity during the time before the Middle Ages, you're probably going to struggle with this. It's not for everyone. But I loved it.