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tifftastic87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
The book has this premise of "everyone always forgets that Angrboda wasn't just a monster mommy and Loki's wife" and then went the extra mile to make her nothing but a monster mommy who pines for Loki. She is described as this badass witch, but acts like a naive woman who can't do anything on her own. Loki is very much an angsty teen emo kid from 2008. This is supposed to be more based on the poems (Poetic Edda and Prose Edda) but you cannot convince me this isn't a fanfic of "what if MCU Loki was dropped into the actual myths?"
There is literally no reason given why Loki and Angrboda end up together or why she "loves" him before they hookup. He only comes to complain to her and get her help and then she's like "omg he smiled crooked and his hair is so curly" and marries him. She forgives him living a double life with a whole ass other family, which again I understand is the myth, but she could have had emotions over it other than the brief flashes of jealousy that she then feels guilty for. When Loki is present in her life he has the energy of a 90s sitcom dad. He brags about how much more the kids like him, gets them riled up before bed and then complains to "Boda" about things. So, then she feels like she's not good enough.
She works forever to be able to contact Hel and when she finally does Hel rejects her. Which is fair honestly, but not done in a way that makes sense. However, when she can finally contact Fenrir and Jornumgand they are excited to see her, because "boy mom." She then convinces them not to eat Loki. For some reason, she just keeps forgiving him. They could have finished the myth out with each of them playing their parts without her forgiving him and having an emotional goodbye with him.
I will give it that the end wasn't predictable until at least the last 30 pages-ish. But that could also be that I wasn't paying much attention because I was so irritated.
I wasn't a fan of the writing style it was overly narrative with no prose. To the point it felt like reading the poems sometimes instead of a novel. So many sections (there are no chapters) started with "then one day" or a variation of and it was grating to me. A lot of the world building was done in weird asides. Example being when the raven's of Odin are introduced it says:
"I didn't know that Odin sent his ravens out to disperse information," Angrboda said to the birds, who were named Hugin and Munin, Thought and Memory. They flew around the Nine Worlds each day before returning to tell their master all they'd seen.
Most world building was done in this way, a lot of telling and little showing.
Things I liked, Thor is played as dumb and angry and reactive and that kind of feels on brand with the poems I am most familiar with.
I gave it a couple of points for making me laugh at a couple of places, but I took a lot away for the disturbing (bigoted) way that it talked about Loki's gender fluidity.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Alcohol, Ableism, and Bullying
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Vomit, and Cannibalism
redheadorganist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, Animal death, Grief, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Torture, and War
Minor: Sexual content
ibjilln's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Child death, Confinement, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Miscarriage
jenmcreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Confinement, and War
ashleycmms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Animal death, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, War, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Body horror, Violence, Grief, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Confinement, Child death, Death of parent, and Child abuse
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
- The writing reads like oral tradition, flowing on and on.
- While many of the plot developments were telegraphed in advance, taking Angrboda longer to catch on that it probably should have, I still found myself quite immersed in the story.
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Confinement
innastholiel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Stalking, War, Death, Animal death, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Grief
ekmoore11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Torture, War, Grief, Blood, Body horror, and Child death
Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Infidelity, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol
samusc's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
This book revisited some classic tales, including Loki's brutal stitches and the time Thor was poorly disguised as Freya.
This work is undoubtedly well researched, and the scenes as presented got emotional at times (I teared up towards the end!).
I loved the voices given to Fenrir and Hel, and how emotive Jormungand was. I felt as though the beginning of the book was a little slow, but once Boda's children were born, the pace picked up. I was hooked at the end of Part 1 for obvious reasons.
Boda's trauma surrounding her death, forgetting her past, and at times forgetting how to use magic, was a real strength of this story. She's incredibly powerful, but has been through some terrible things and has to access parts of herself that were sealed off. Despite all she's faced, her drive to help people with medicine provided depth to her character.
My favorite character is of course Skadi. Her loyalty and determination was well balanced against Loki's mistakes and punishments from the Aesir. This quote form her will stick with me for awhile:
"I loved you then. I love you now. I will love you until the day I die. And even after, whatever comes then, I will love you still..."
I'd recommend anyone that enjoyed this to keep an eye out for The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector, in October 2021, which focuses on Sigyn, who we caught some glimpses of here as well.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Violence