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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
The FMC seemed incredibly young & naive and the mercenaries gave off icky biker gang vibes. Too old to be teasing her.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
This book was fantastic! So unique with its Viking and Norse mythology, the magic system and the world...... and I ate it up!
* Multi POV
* Found family
* Unique world & magic system
* Family secrets
* Betrayal
* Addiction representation - possible Trigger warning
Silla, the MFC, life's is suddenly turned upside down and now she must find a way to get to a safe house (Shieldhome) but the only way is to travel the Road of Bones which is said to be dangerous and almost unservivable. She ends up convincing a mercenary crew, The Bloodaxe Crew, to take her in and help her.
You follow Silla on her journey of self-discovery and when family secrets are revealed and everything changes.
There are lots of twists and turns with a bitter betrayal and I was immediately drawn into the world and story!
* Multi POV
* Found family
* Unique world & magic system
* Family secrets
* Betrayal
* Addiction representation - possible Trigger warning
Silla, the MFC, life's is suddenly turned upside down and now she must find a way to get to a safe house (Shieldhome) but the only way is to travel the Road of Bones which is said to be dangerous and almost unservivable. She ends up convincing a mercenary crew, The Bloodaxe Crew, to take her in and help her.
You follow Silla on her journey of self-discovery and when family secrets are revealed and everything changes.
There are lots of twists and turns with a bitter betrayal and I was immediately drawn into the world and story!
This was a great book, the ending wow I can't wait to get into the second book to see what happens.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars
What a gorgeous and intricately-woven world the author has created with her first novel. The book starts slow but as it progresses, it immerses you in a fast-paced, high-stakes viking magical story with an all-around impressive cast.
We follow a young girl, sheltered her whole life, doing her best to survive, experiencing a lot of firsts, finally coming into her own and embracing her destiny, all through her journey on the Road of Bones. The cast of characters is incredibly strong, the "found family" is more than just a trope thrown in, even the side-characters feel full-fledged and charismatic. Whist sometimes I disagreed with the characters' choices, I always understood the reasoning behind those choices.
Silla - the main protagonist might come off as weak or silly half the time, however she has spent her entire life in kitchens, trying to remain unseen, without any friends (except for the imaginary one in her head). I loved that she is written as inadequate half the time, because she is, in fact, inadequate - in fighting, in survival, even in love.
I loved that our initial love interest Jonas - full of pride, burdened by his own tragic past, but pretending to be cold and uncaring - is made an enemy in the end. His arc made sense to me - he himself is a young man full of anger and hellbent on returning his homestead from those who have unfairly taken it from him. He gets so lost in this quest, that he even ignores that his own brother is not so certain whether he wants his old life back. His brother's tragic death is blamed on Silla, because it is better to have a villain to blame than come to terms with the pain. It is rare in novels of the "romantasy" kind to see a couple turn from lovers to enemies and I felt it was very important for the character progression of both Jonas and Silla, as well as one of the strong points of the novel to show how great tragedy can turn us into monsters, while we think we are chasing a righteous path.
Rey, who I assume is going to be the actual love interest in the continuation of the series, is also full of complexities and tragedies, though he learns to deal with them more maturely - though he often feels much older than Silla, though they are only 6 years apart. To me, the weakest link of the novel is the budding romance between Rey and Silla. Rey, albeit reluctantly, acts as Silla's mentor and her guide on the Road of Bones. He helps her overcome her addiction, she annoys him and he annoys her, yet they secretly (not so much towards the end) hold respect for each other. The dynamic between them is much more father-daughter or master - apprentice, than actual love interests. Rey acts frustrated by Silla's character, and she loves to antagonize him and banter with him, but I do not see this as romantic banter at all - the truth is next to him she does seem like a child - he has grown as a warrior and a man, killed many, fought to become the leader of a group of warriors and Silla is just a kitchen girl with zero life experience. There is no mistake she grows immensely on the road, yet there is not a lot of reason to believe Rey would fall for her.
The main villain - Skraeda is also given a believable backstory - her recklessness ends up being her downfall, yet she is a nice juxtaposition to Silla - both powerful women born with magic, one forced to supress it with drugs her whole life, the other using her powers to gain power in a male dominated world where her kind is hunted and brutally killed.
The next part of the series aims to progress Silla's story as well as introduce us to her sister, who already seems like a captivating character. I hope that when Rey and Silla's romance happens, it is made in a logical manner, much as all the other relationships in the novel are developed. Very much looking forward to reading the sequel!
What a gorgeous and intricately-woven world the author has created with her first novel. The book starts slow but as it progresses, it immerses you in a fast-paced, high-stakes viking magical story with an all-around impressive cast.
We follow a young girl, sheltered her whole life, doing her best to survive, experiencing a lot of firsts, finally coming into her own and embracing her destiny, all through her journey on the Road of Bones. The cast of characters is incredibly strong, the "found family" is more than just a trope thrown in, even the side-characters feel full-fledged and charismatic. Whist sometimes I disagreed with the characters' choices, I always understood the reasoning behind those choices.
Silla - the main protagonist might come off as weak or silly half the time, however she has spent her entire life in kitchens, trying to remain unseen, without any friends (except for the imaginary one in her head). I loved that she is written as inadequate half the time, because she is, in fact, inadequate - in fighting, in survival, even in love.
I loved that our initial love interest Jonas - full of pride, burdened by his own tragic past, but pretending to be cold and uncaring - is made an enemy in the end. His arc made sense to me - he himself is a young man full of anger and hellbent on returning his homestead from those who have unfairly taken it from him. He gets so lost in this quest, that he even ignores that his own brother is not so certain whether he wants his old life back. His brother's tragic death is blamed on Silla, because it is better to have a villain to blame than come to terms with the pain. It is rare in novels of the "romantasy" kind to see a couple turn from lovers to enemies and I felt it was very important for the character progression of both Jonas and Silla, as well as one of the strong points of the novel to show how great tragedy can turn us into monsters, while we think we are chasing a righteous path.
Rey, who I assume is going to be the actual love interest in the continuation of the series, is also full of complexities and tragedies, though he learns to deal with them more maturely - though he often feels much older than Silla, though they are only 6 years apart. To me, the weakest link of the novel is the budding romance between Rey and Silla. Rey, albeit reluctantly, acts as Silla's mentor and her guide on the Road of Bones. He helps her overcome her addiction, she annoys him and he annoys her, yet they secretly (not so much towards the end) hold respect for each other. The dynamic between them is much more father-daughter or master - apprentice, than actual love interests. Rey acts frustrated by Silla's character, and she loves to antagonize him and banter with him, but I do not see this as romantic banter at all - the truth is next to him she does seem like a child - he has grown as a warrior and a man, killed many, fought to become the leader of a group of warriors and Silla is just a kitchen girl with zero life experience. There is no mistake she grows immensely on the road, yet there is not a lot of reason to believe Rey would fall for her.
The main villain - Skraeda is also given a believable backstory - her recklessness ends up being her downfall, yet she is a nice juxtaposition to Silla - both powerful women born with magic, one forced to supress it with drugs her whole life, the other using her powers to gain power in a male dominated world where her kind is hunted and brutally killed.
The next part of the series aims to progress Silla's story as well as introduce us to her sister, who already seems like a captivating character. I hope that when Rey and Silla's romance happens, it is made in a logical manner, much as all the other relationships in the novel are developed. Very much looking forward to reading the sequel!
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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
I tried, I really did. This was so hyped up, and I was intrigued there at the beginning. Silla just gets on my last nerve though. She knows that the drug will leave her impaired, but takes it anyway and can't believe she got ambushed. I totally get the "not wanting to deal with detoxing off of the drug" but it was just weirdly written in my opinion. The traveling scenes, cat and mouse chase, and the budding "romance" were drug out. It got to a point that I just didn't care anymore about any of it. I'm pretty sure I guessed all the "crazy twists" that was raved about and it was boring. I might try this again, but I doubt it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked it! I instantly read book two after finishing. It started out pretty slow but ended up keeping me interested.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment