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giulia_acobac's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I love DLJ and I’m glad she became a NYT besteller author with this book and that she is finally getting the recognition she deserves. I was excited for this book and I found it to be good overall. But at the same time a bit repetitive with Freya’s innner self loathing molonogues. The plot was inteiguing and the plot twist at the end mind blowing.
The romance part of this book was not as swoony as I expected.
The romance part of this book was not as swoony as I expected.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Gore, Violence, Sexism, Emotional abuse, War, and Animal death
lisashelves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, War, Vomit, Death, Sexual content, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Death of parent
soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, War, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, Cursing, Murder, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Vomit
kissmelicia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
kylosten's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent
downtown_kb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"I’ll let the past burn to ash, Freya, because you are my present, my future, my destiny.”
Freya is just a fishwife with a secret who dreams of being a warrior. When the local jarl comes and forces her to fight his son in battle to save her family she must reveal that she has a drop of the god’s blood. She is long prophesied shield maiden who will make a king of whoever binds themselves to her.
This kicks off pretty brutal and fast paced and I really liked the first half of this story. The Norse myth and magic system was really fascinating to learn about. Loved having a Viking story. This story is a story of war, betrayal and vengeance.
This dragged a bit in the middle but mostly I think because I started to find Freya borderline insufferable? She became less and less likable as the story went on. She is really a bit pompous and her bravado is frustrating because she’s often proven wrong. Jumping to so many conclusions. And while it’s explained, she gets angry about everything and it just comes across sometimes - oftentimes- like a teenager throwing a fit. Furthermore, she is willing to sacrifice herself and her happiness for her very shitty family over and over. Usually this is a DNF thing for me but I was invested enough in the rest of the story to overlook my annoyances with her. This says a lot, trust me, because Freya just was a perfect storm of things that irk me. I enjoyed Bjorn fine, he is flirty, protective and a true friend to Freya. I liked the bodyguard trope and the secret aspect of their relationship. They had some good banter.
Honestly, I’m not that invested in this story. I liked the direction it was going but after the twist and the cliffhanger I don’t think I’ll continue this series. This plot twist is tired and I can guarantee we will just have to deal with the fmc being butt hurt and mean to the mmc the entire 2nd book. No thanks. Definitely not a fan of all that.
Recommend on audio for sure Nina Yndis does a great job especially with pronunciations.
Freya is just a fishwife with a secret who dreams of being a warrior. When the local jarl comes and forces her to fight his son in battle to save her family she must reveal that she has a drop of the god’s blood. She is long prophesied shield maiden who will make a king of whoever binds themselves to her.
This kicks off pretty brutal and fast paced and I really liked the first half of this story. The Norse myth and magic system was really fascinating to learn about. Loved having a Viking story. This story is a story of war, betrayal and vengeance.
This dragged a bit in the middle but mostly I think because I started to find Freya borderline insufferable? She became less and less likable as the story went on. She is really a bit pompous and her bravado is frustrating because she’s often proven wrong. Jumping to so many conclusions. And while it’s explained, she gets angry about everything and it just comes across sometimes - oftentimes- like a teenager throwing a fit. Furthermore, she is willing to sacrifice herself and her happiness for her very shitty family over and over. Usually this is a DNF thing for me but I was invested enough in the rest of the story to overlook my annoyances with her. This says a lot, trust me, because Freya just was a perfect storm of things that irk me. I enjoyed Bjorn fine, he is flirty, protective and a true friend to Freya. I liked the bodyguard trope and the secret aspect of their relationship. They had some good banter.
Honestly, I’m not that invested in this story. I liked the direction it was going but after the twist and the cliffhanger I don’t think I’ll continue this series. This plot twist is tired and I can guarantee we will just have to deal with the fmc being butt hurt and mean to the mmc the entire 2nd book. No thanks. Definitely not a fan of all that.
Recommend on audio for sure Nina Yndis does a great job especially with pronunciations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
sarahyjackson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.75
Eager to see where this story goes! It had the disadvantage of my reading it after The Weaver and the Witch Queen BUT still a wonderful (and spicy!) Nordic fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Death, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Pregnancy and Child death
bookrecsbyjess's review against another edition
While I was enjoying this story, the content is just way too graphic. Not only was there too much spice, but the way people and animals were treated was too much for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Sexism, and Animal death
thecanadianbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you so much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book early.
Right off the bat: wow. I was so taken in by this world and these characters. Such a strong start, and the momentum keeps up!
Freya has spent her life longing for the glory of battle, while being forced to hide her God given magic. But, of course, nothing can stay hidden forever.
After her magic is forcefully revealed, she is whisked away from her small fishing village to join the side of Snorri, the Jarl who believes he is to control Freya's fate.
Children with God's blood are believed to create their own fate, free of the threads that bind mortals. But Freya finds herself bound by a Seer's visions of her rise to glory, and her own desperation to save her family from the Jarl's wrath.
Honestly, I thought I knew where this book was headed.. and many times I was wrong. Which is truly the best part!
I have also come to *love* Jensen's ability to write a slow burn. *THE TENSION* 👌👌
I cannot wait to see where this series goes!
Right off the bat: wow. I was so taken in by this world and these characters. Such a strong start, and the momentum keeps up!
Freya has spent her life longing for the glory of battle, while being forced to hide her God given magic. But, of course, nothing can stay hidden forever.
After her magic is forcefully revealed, she is whisked away from her small fishing village to join the side of Snorri, the Jarl who believes he is to control Freya's fate.
Children with God's blood are believed to create their own fate, free of the threads that bind mortals. But Freya finds herself bound by a Seer's visions of her rise to glory, and her own desperation to save her family from the Jarl's wrath.
Honestly, I thought I knew where this book was headed.. and many times I was wrong. Which is truly the best part!
I have also come to *love* Jensen's ability to write a slow burn. *THE TENSION* 👌👌
I cannot wait to see where this series goes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, War, Gore, Death of parent, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Grief, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Misogyny
Minor: Vomit and Kidnapping
rainbowsandbookshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.75
I think this book is now my new favourite by Danielle Jensen! Thank you netgalley and DelReyUK for sending me the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
As a romantasy set with Norse Mythology, I found it gripping from chapter 1 and just didn't want to put it down! It has the perfect amounts of romance with the fantasy, has Jensen always does well, and I really enjoyed diving in to a Norse world as it's not one I've read about much. I feel like I got to know the world well without it being info dumpy - like I said, I was hooked by the end of chapter 1 and the story moved along at a fast pace. Jensen also has a great ability to end a chapter at the point where I need to know more, making it really hard to stop!
Freya was a really interesting main character as we could explore her emotions whilst she was thrown into different situations that were beyond her control. I really enjoyed getting to know her and my heart broke for her a few times when we saw her need to protect everyone, even when they didn't seem to be deserving.
My favourite part has to be the romance. I loved the dynamic between Freya and Bjorn and simply can't wait for more! They had such great banter with each other but then you could really see their relationship grow and develop. The spice was excellent and scattered throughout without it being too much.
For a lot of the book I wasn't sure where things were going, especially at the beginning, so it kept me needing to keep reading. I did find a few of the end reveals were predictable but I can't wait to find out what happens next. When is book 2?!
I highly recommend if you enjoy: Norse Mythology, romantasy, MMC protectiveness, fierce FMC badassary and spice!
As a romantasy set with Norse Mythology, I found it gripping from chapter 1 and just didn't want to put it down! It has the perfect amounts of romance with the fantasy, has Jensen always does well, and I really enjoyed diving in to a Norse world as it's not one I've read about much. I feel like I got to know the world well without it being info dumpy - like I said, I was hooked by the end of chapter 1 and the story moved along at a fast pace. Jensen also has a great ability to end a chapter at the point where I need to know more, making it really hard to stop!
Freya was a really interesting main character as we could explore her emotions whilst she was thrown into different situations that were beyond her control. I really enjoyed getting to know her and my heart broke for her a few times when we saw her need to protect everyone, even when they didn't seem to be deserving.
My favourite part has to be the romance. I loved the dynamic between Freya and Bjorn and simply can't wait for more! They had such great banter with each other but then you could really see their relationship grow and develop. The spice was excellent and scattered throughout without it being too much.
For a lot of the book I wasn't sure where things were going, especially at the beginning, so it kept me needing to keep reading. I did find a few of the end reveals were predictable but I can't wait to find out what happens next. When is book 2?!
I highly recommend if you enjoy: Norse Mythology, romantasy, MMC protectiveness, fierce FMC badassary and spice!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
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