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nat20charisma's review against another edition
5.0
Tragedy with a satisfying conclusion.
I don’t love the pregnancy trope usually, but this was done in a way that didn’t feel odd or uncomfortable.
Gotta love the LGBTQ+ representation. And a strong female main character with a found family.
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Grief
Minor: Abandonment, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
squidreads12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, and Death
braveprincess11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I had only passing knowledge of Norse mythology and the events of Ragnarok - enough to recognize some names, but little enough that the entire story was new to me.
Genevieve Gornichec has put so much heart and personality and humanity into names of mythology that it’s left me absolutely speechless. I got sucked right into the world of Ironwood & Asgard, and every single moment necessitates it’s being there. There’s nothing extra or distracting; it all adds to the overall tale. It’s brilliant & I can’t wait to see what Gornichec does next
I’m shattered. It’s beautiful, brilliant, stunning…
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, War, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Abandonment
singalana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I got very strong fanfiction-vibes from the start of this book, but in my opinion, this story lacks the best aspects of a good fanfiction: deep understanding of the characters and compelling interaction between them.
The ending, which was meant to be profound and emotional achieved some of what it was trying to do, but still felt somewhat clichéd and so did parts of the dialogue.
And finally, things that I liked about this book (warning, spoilers ahead):
-
The banter in the beginning of the book. -
The reunion of Loki, Angrboda, Fenrir and Jormungand. -
Baldur -
Some scenes with Loki.
Minor: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, War, Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Death of parent
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
spworley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Abandonment
ka_ke's review against another edition
What could have been a story of adventure, romance and diversity turned into a book about women becoming mothers simply because that was expected of them.
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Blood, Pregnancy, Body horror, Miscarriage, and Misogyny
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Sexual content, and Stalking
texas666's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Abandonment
lilfirebird's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Minor: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Grief