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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-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
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
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
First things first: Freya. At no point did this character read as being 20 years old to me. She was both somehow much older and also had the maturity of a 13 year old boy. She made awful, terrible, dumb decisions throughout the entire book and by the end, I was actively rooting against her.
Which leads me to my other two complaints: 1) why tf would Bjorn be into her? and 2) at no point does Harald seem like the bad guy.
So #1... Why is Bjorn into this absolute maniac who becomes possessed by Hel, makes no attempts to squash the Hel influence, and continuously allows her family (and others) to walk all over her? At one point he describes her as "fierce," which... Sure, when Hel is in control, I bet she sure is. But she also manipulates and lies when Hel is in control. Is she brave and "fierce," or is it a goddess possessing her? Bjorn tells her over and over and over again that her family is using her and she just lets them? It's spineless behavior that she calls "loyalty."
Now, Harald... From the first time we meet Harald at Fjalltindr, he seems VERY DECENT? Like a very chill, smart dude. I already thought it UNLIKELY that Bjorn would love and by loyal to Snorri, given that he was raised by a different family in a different culture and spent the MAJORITY of his life away from not just Snorri but Skaland as a whole. The fact that very little attention was paid to this was a huge red flag to me. I get that everyone (Harald incl) talking about Freya as an object rather than a human with agency is Bad, but at least Harald didn't want to ALSO use her? And somehow she is still choosing Snorri. BECAUSE OF HER FAMILY. Jfc you guys she is just so, so dumb. I was personally delighted by the twist at the end, not because it surprised me, but because I thought Maybe in the second book I'll be able to root for her! TBD.
And the sexy times! Were also 100% annoying. First of all, they don't actually have p*netrative sex until like page 380 (of a ~420 page book) and MORE IMPORTANTLY, prior to that, he does hand stuff to her IN A TENT FULL OF OTHER "SLEEPING" PEOPLE???? No. Absolutely not. We are not 15 years old on the ski club bus. So cringe.
All of that said, I really loved the Norse mythology and will be borrowing the next book from the library so that the author does not get any of my pennies. Her writing isn't BAD but it also isn't great lol. Like, why do all MMCs have to smell like leather and pine? Especially ones in way olden days Scandinavia? I just know that man smelled like sweat, BO, blood, and alcohol.
Which leads me to my other two complaints: 1) why tf would Bjorn be into her? and 2) at no point does Harald seem like the bad guy.
So #1... Why is Bjorn into this absolute maniac who becomes possessed by Hel, makes no attempts to squash the Hel influence, and continuously allows her family (and others) to walk all over her? At one point he describes her as "fierce," which... Sure, when Hel is in control, I bet she sure is. But she also manipulates and lies when Hel is in control. Is she brave and "fierce," or is it a goddess possessing her? Bjorn tells her over and over and over again that her family is using her and she just lets them? It's spineless behavior that she calls "loyalty."
Now, Harald... From the first time we meet Harald at Fjalltindr, he seems VERY DECENT? Like a very chill, smart dude. I already thought it UNLIKELY that Bjorn would love and by loyal to Snorri, given that he was raised by a different family in a different culture and spent the MAJORITY of his life away from not just Snorri but Skaland as a whole. The fact that very little attention was paid to this was a huge red flag to me. I get that everyone (Harald incl) talking about Freya as an object rather than a human with agency is Bad, but at least Harald didn't want to ALSO use her? And somehow she is still choosing Snorri. BECAUSE OF HER FAMILY. Jfc you guys she is just so, so dumb. I was personally delighted by the twist at the end, not because it surprised me, but because I thought Maybe in the second book I'll be able to root for her! TBD.
And the sexy times! Were also 100% annoying. First of all, they don't actually have p*netrative sex until like page 380 (of a ~420 page book) and MORE IMPORTANTLY, prior to that, he does hand stuff to her IN A TENT FULL OF OTHER "SLEEPING" PEOPLE???? No. Absolutely not. We are not 15 years old on the ski club bus. So cringe.
All of that said, I really loved the Norse mythology and will be borrowing the next book from the library so that the author does not get any of my pennies. Her writing isn't BAD but it also isn't great lol. Like, why do all MMCs have to smell like leather and pine? Especially ones in way olden days Scandinavia? I just know that man smelled like sweat, BO, blood, and alcohol.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes