Book Review: Genevieve Gornichec spins a fun yarn with ‘The Weaver and the Witch Queen’

“The Weaver and the Witch Queen” by Genevieve Gornichec (Ace)

They say your second book is the hardest one to write, but Genevieve Gornichec — leaning on her Norse mythology love yet again as with debut “The Witch’s Heart” – performs a magic hat trick with her sophomore novel.

Historical fantasy “The Weaver and the Witch Queen” finds its footing immediately as tween friends Gunnhild and less well-off sisters Oddny and Signy reunite for a special celebration on their Norwegian fjord, only to be horribly separated by a seeress foretelling that one of them will destroy the other two’s lives without naming the culprit.

As a result, ambitious Gunnhild runs into the night with the witch in order to get away from her cruel mother and forge her own destiny, while the sisters stay at their father’s’ farm with no prospects, until a decade later a violent raid tears them apart as well.

The now young women’s journeys come together once again as cross paths with the charismatic if unwieldy Prince Eirik whose destiny also seems to be entangled in the strange vague prophecy that put the girls on their catastrophic path.

Gornichec is adept at mapping her characters’ emotional whereabouts and finding their propulsion points to the next disaster or solution. Their charm is in their flaws and their determination to achieve their goals, which is mostly saving Signy from a life of slavery but also finding their own place in the world in a time when women were largely relegated to the house.

Is this a romance? Yes and no. Is it a womance? Yes and no. is it a classic enemies-to-lovers story? Yep. The ingredients are there for a heroine’s journey and the result is a delicious Christmas pudding — crunchy, sweet, rich and a little bit hot once you set it on fire.