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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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
dark
slow-paced
2.5 Stars (outliner)
One Liner: Too slow and clunky
Valour and Petrichor are young but esteemed members of the Order of Axsten, an assassin guild in Vinterstock, Sweden. They were with the guild as children and hated each other, which continues even to date.
The guild then gives them a job – to kill Brandquist, the mysterious leader of the city’s drug ring. No one knows who he is and how he looks. Valour and Petrichor are determined to deal with the job alone, but they may have to work together to stay alive.
As if that wasn’t hard enough, Valour has to babysit Ingrid Rytterdahl, the beautiful daughter of an aristocrat. With Valour in love (lust) with Ingrid and the mounting danger, can the assassins stay alive and finish the job?
The story comes in the Valour and Petrichor’s third-person POVs.
My Thoughts:
NGL, I requested the book mainly for the cover. Just look at it! So gorgeous! The premise was intriguing, too, though I admit the execution is less than satisfying.
First, the good points –
- The setting is dark, grim, and depressing. Given the premise, this works well to create a sense of doom, especially for the underprivileged. The snowy landscape adds to the atmosphere.
- I also love the interpretation of the title. That’s a great touch!
- Ingrid shines better than the main characters. There’s more to her than the mask she puts on.
- A few scenes where the characters introspect their lives are well done.
- I could guess one of the twists and like it.
- The romance between Ingrid and Valour is okay. It suits Valour’s arc, so can’t complain.
- A decent ending (and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief).
Now, the not-so-good points –
The characters are 20+ (around mid-20s) but act like teenagers. They have been through so much trauma, but it feels hard to empathize due to their behavior. The scenes between Valour and Petrichor tend to be annoying, even when they are being nice to each other.
The narration is super slow. A lot seems to happen, but the % doesn’t move. And when you stop reading and consider the story that happened until then, it wouldn’t be much. There are many conversations; some are necessary, but some can be edited. Looking back, it doesn’t feel like the two are as efficient assassins as they are portrayed. Yeah, they can fight well and stab, et al, but an assassin has to be focused and precise. We are told they are very good at the job, but I couldn’t see it anywhere in the book (except once in Petrichor’s case).
Instead, we get pages of hate-filled banter between V and P that’s supposed to be some sort of trauma-bonding sibling rivalry type thing (?) except on the extreme level. There are ten instances of V saying ‘stick up the arse’ with some variation.
The last section is better than the beginning in terms of action and drama. Yet, not much of it is due to the MCs’ efforts. It doesn’t seem realistic that the villain would so easily share everything. It works in cozy mysteries, but the stakes are high here (think kingdom-level).
And oh, that brings me to the vibes. Though this is historical, the feel is almost modern. Also, there really isn’t any magic or fantasy. While I appreciate the support for old gods and paganism, it is not well done. Make it a cohesive part of the plot (and not simply repeat the stuff in dialogues).
To summarize, Snowblooded has a worthy premise and an intriguing setting but is weighed down by extras. Toning down the excess will give the characters more space to show their true selves.
Thank you, NetGalley and Solaris, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
#NetGalley #Snowblooded
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship
There’s snow and there’s blood so this book is perfectly titled. I loved the action scenes with the assassins and the Norse mythology woven into the world. The actual characters were ok, I felt they weren’t complex enough to really understand. I did like some of the banter and wit between the pair but at times it felt forced. After reading the book I still don’t really know how old the characters are? Did I miss something? Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.
adventurous
dark
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:
Yes
An interesting concept (assassins in a 18thC Sweden with illegal magic!) but the execution fell flat for me.
Whilst I did enjoy the MCs as individuals, I grew irratited every time they shared a scene together in the first two-thirds of the book. Their arguments and 'banter' quickly grew annoying - there was far too much time dedicated to them flinging childish insults at each other repeatedly and I ended up skim reading a lot of their dialogue together. I did like the arc their relationship eventually went on, but I wish the story could have found a better way to show their initial antagonism.
One part of the characterisation I found really strange is that Valour is constantly described as 'quiet' and how she learns stuff by staying silent and listening, and yet she's never written like that and we never see her doing that.
There was also a few issues I had with the writing style. There's a couple of twists/ reveals in the story and, whilst they do make sense, I found the narrative a bit heavy-handed with its signposting of them. I also found that in the final fight scene the characters felt very detached from what was occurring around them and their actions unrushed despite the urgency of what was supposed to be happening.
My other main issue is that it adds a new aspect to the magic system in the second half of the book that was not well-explained - it had something to do with the Norse gods but that was about all I understood.
Overall, an intriguing concept and MCs, but could have done with less 'banter' and more world-building and a subtler writing style.
Whilst I did enjoy the MCs as individuals, I grew irratited every time they shared a scene together in the first two-thirds of the book. Their arguments and 'banter' quickly grew annoying - there was far too much time dedicated to them flinging childish insults at each other repeatedly and I ended up skim reading a lot of their dialogue together. I did like the arc their relationship eventually went on, but I wish the story could have found a better way to show their initial antagonism.
One part of the characterisation I found really strange is that Valour is constantly described as 'quiet' and how she learns stuff by staying silent and listening, and yet she's never written like that and we never see her doing that.
There was also a few issues I had with the writing style. There's a couple of twists/ reveals in the story and, whilst they do make sense, I found the narrative a bit heavy-handed with its signposting of them. I also found that in the final fight scene the characters felt very detached from what was occurring around them and their actions unrushed despite the urgency of what was supposed to be happening.
My other main issue is that it adds a new aspect to the magic system in the second half of the book that was not well-explained - it had something to do with the Norse gods but that was about all I understood.
Overall, an intriguing concept and MCs, but could have done with less 'banter' and more world-building and a subtler writing style.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Vinterstock, in 18th century Scandinavia, is a grim place to live. Wars keep draining the population, the drugs trade (a semi- magical range called 'ness) is rife and the city's ruler has no qualms in keeping a whole order of assassins to remove anyone they find problematic.
Petrichor and Valour are the two bright young stars of the order, and are given the task of finding and eliminating Brandquist, the drugs overlord. It is obviously not going to be that simple.
Firstly, Petrichor and Valour hate each other, the majority of their interactions are just childish bickering.
Secondly, no one seems to know who this Brandquist is, and are they really the villain?
This means that the first half of the book is mix of the two of them wandering about trying to look for clues and bickering with each other. It drags. It's too long.
The second half, as they finally manage to work together more and occasionally manage to speak to each other without hurling insults, is much stronger. There's some decent twists and action and a hint of some more of the Norse mythology related magic/religion (underutilised in my opinion)
I'm not sure about the comparisons to The Princess Bride and Six of Crows - although there is a Rodent of Unusual Size, I didn't find it especially humorous nor the protagonists charismatic or cunning enough. Despite being in their twenties, they were too childish for too much of it and I think if that had been toned down and their supposed competence as assassins shown more clearly, I'd have liked this more.
Overall, not bad but not mind-blowing
Thanks to Rebellion for providing a netgalley copy for review
Petrichor and Valour are the two bright young stars of the order, and are given the task of finding and eliminating Brandquist, the drugs overlord. It is obviously not going to be that simple.
Firstly, Petrichor and Valour hate each other, the majority of their interactions are just childish bickering.
Secondly, no one seems to know who this Brandquist is, and are they really the villain?
This means that the first half of the book is mix of the two of them wandering about trying to look for clues and bickering with each other. It drags. It's too long.
The second half, as they finally manage to work together more and occasionally manage to speak to each other without hurling insults, is much stronger. There's some decent twists and action and a hint of some more of the Norse mythology related magic/religion (underutilised in my opinion)
I'm not sure about the comparisons to The Princess Bride and Six of Crows - although there is a Rodent of Unusual Size, I didn't find it especially humorous nor the protagonists charismatic or cunning enough. Despite being in their twenties, they were too childish for too much of it and I think if that had been toned down and their supposed competence as assassins shown more clearly, I'd have liked this more.
Overall, not bad but not mind-blowing
Thanks to Rebellion for providing a netgalley copy for review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Though the premise was incredibly exciting - assassins, found family, queer characters, Scandinavian setting - this fell a little flat for me. There were points where I really enjoyed the undoubtedly fun and engaged writing style, which was really injected with the characters’ personalities, but the bickering between the two MCs began to read more as childish rather than entertaining. The plot didn’t hold my attention as much as I thought it would, and I found myself unable to be truly invested in the characters.
I found Petrichor to be the most interesting narrative, and really enjoyed the occasional depth that we saw from him, as a result of his traumatic upbringing and formative experiences - I just wish there was more of that we got to see! Valour was humourous but a bit grating, and not entirely believable as an assassin. Of course I enjoyed the sapphic pairing, however there were times where I didn’t find myself fully believing the chemistry.
Though the plot sounded promising (reminiscent of Six of Crows for sure), it didn’t grip me as much as I was expecting and I found my attention wandering. This may have been due to pacing issues, as I found some sections were given entirely too many pages compared to other more important matters which would have allowed for more plot and character development.
A lot of promise! Just didn’t quite deliver for me. There were fun and exciting elements though, so I’ll certainly be keeping tabs on the author for what they do next.
Thank you to Solaris for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review!
I found Petrichor to be the most interesting narrative, and really enjoyed the occasional depth that we saw from him, as a result of his traumatic upbringing and formative experiences - I just wish there was more of that we got to see! Valour was humourous but a bit grating, and not entirely believable as an assassin. Of course I enjoyed the sapphic pairing, however there were times where I didn’t find myself fully believing the chemistry.
Though the plot sounded promising (reminiscent of Six of Crows for sure), it didn’t grip me as much as I was expecting and I found my attention wandering. This may have been due to pacing issues, as I found some sections were given entirely too many pages compared to other more important matters which would have allowed for more plot and character development.
A lot of promise! Just didn’t quite deliver for me. There were fun and exciting elements though, so I’ll certainly be keeping tabs on the author for what they do next.
Thank you to Solaris for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review!
Unfortunately this just couldn't hold my attention, over halfway through and it felt like the plot hadn't progressed enough to justify over 200 pages, and the characters were largely one-dimentional.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance digital copy of this book.
Unfortunately, this book was a disappointment for me.
It didn't work for many reasons: all 3 main characters speak in an unnaturally odd way, the action scenes are severly lacking, there are weird intervals feeling like therapy sessions, the protagonists are barely competent at what they do (they are really not smart), the climax scenes feels silly with the evil character monologue, the romance I did not bring myself to be invested at all...the comaprison to Six of Crows is unfortunate, it has nothing to do with it in every sense.
It didn't work for many reasons: all 3 main characters speak in an unnaturally odd way, the action scenes are severly lacking, there are weird intervals feeling like therapy sessions, the protagonists are barely competent at what they do (they are really not smart), the climax scenes feels silly with the evil character monologue, the romance I did not bring myself to be invested at all...the comaprison to Six of Crows is unfortunate, it has nothing to do with it in every sense.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No