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abthebooknerd's review against another edition
5.0
Epic. Wonderful. Astonishing. Amazing. I'm running out of wordssssssss.
I'm SCREAMING. THIS WAS WONDERFUL.
This one took me forever to finish (because life) but oh my god. It was worth it. This entire book was like a slow-burn love story. The story hooks you, and gives you bits and pieces of nuggets here and there to mull over, and then BAM. The payoff hits you like a bolt of beautiful lightning. The world-building was so immense and intricately woven, I adored everything that Harmon did. Her characters were beautiful.
Ghost was beautiful. Bayr was beautiful. Dagmar was beautiful. Alba was beautiful. Ivo was sassy. Dred was beautiful. EVERYONE WAS BEAUTIFUL. I want to just bottle up Amy's writing. This woman is so stunning in her prose. I felt like a creeping goblin as I pictured her writing this, and me, reading everything she wrote with a joyous, unholy screech. It's not fair for someone to be so perfect.
We'd be here all day if I shared with you all my favorite quotes from this book, but to sum it up: The prose was gorgeous. I loved Ghost's character arc, and her entire dynamic with Dagmar. I loved Dred and his redemption as a father. I loved Alba and Bayr and they're unyielding devotion to each other.
I loved all the things. Pick up this Viking-inspired fantasy. You won't be disappointed!
I'm SCREAMING. THIS WAS WONDERFUL.
This one took me forever to finish (because life) but oh my god. It was worth it. This entire book was like a slow-burn love story. The story hooks you, and gives you bits and pieces of nuggets here and there to mull over, and then BAM. The payoff hits you like a bolt of beautiful lightning. The world-building was so immense and intricately woven, I adored everything that Harmon did. Her characters were beautiful.
Ghost was beautiful. Bayr was beautiful. Dagmar was beautiful. Alba was beautiful. Ivo was sassy. Dred was beautiful. EVERYONE WAS BEAUTIFUL. I want to just bottle up Amy's writing. This woman is so stunning in her prose. I felt like a creeping goblin as I pictured her writing this, and me, reading everything she wrote with a joyous, unholy screech. It's not fair for someone to be so perfect.
"I make you miserable?"
"Yes." She raised her brown eyes to his, exhaling on the truth, and saw her own pain echoed there. "Being with you...is like holding water in my hands," she murmured.
We'd be here all day if I shared with you all my favorite quotes from this book, but to sum it up: The prose was gorgeous. I loved Ghost's character arc, and her entire dynamic with Dagmar. I loved Dred and his redemption as a father. I loved Alba and Bayr and they're unyielding devotion to each other.
I loved all the things. Pick up this Viking-inspired fantasy. You won't be disappointed!
solairesstories's review against another edition
3.0
I had really high expectations for this book, but it was a really slow read without much happening and I was deeply disappointed sadly. I wanted to love the story, and ended up loving some characters, but in the end it wasn't enough. The first two thirds of the book were just too slow to be exciting or even slow burning.
But I loved the idea! What would humankind do without women ready to bear the future. What would humankind do without the womens endurance and patience? What would humankind do with only man wanting to fight and own the females? Right. They couldn't do anything without the men OR women together. So I loved what Amy Harmon wanted to tell the reader through the middle age set and the brutal reigns. I also loved the little bits of magic interwoven with the story and the overall idea about the monks who are like the church and the monarchy being in war most of the time.
Too sad that it couldn't catch me through the whole read. I often drifted away while reading or skipped some passage I thought not necessary in the end. I think its a great read for lovers of Amy Harmon, but for me there happened too less and I wasn't really invested.
But I loved the idea! What would humankind do without women ready to bear the future. What would humankind do without the womens endurance and patience? What would humankind do with only man wanting to fight and own the females? Right. They couldn't do anything without the men OR women together. So I loved what Amy Harmon wanted to tell the reader through the middle age set and the brutal reigns. I also loved the little bits of magic interwoven with the story and the overall idea about the monks who are like the church and the monarchy being in war most of the time.
Too sad that it couldn't catch me through the whole read. I often drifted away while reading or skipped some passage I thought not necessary in the end. I think its a great read for lovers of Amy Harmon, but for me there happened too less and I wasn't really invested.
jgnoelle's review against another edition
5.0
Aside from her always-beautiful prose, one of the things I love most about Amy Harmon's fantasy novels is her worldbuilding—how, despite it's deceptive simplicity, it is incredibly unique and interesting, suits the major challenge of the story (or rather the story challenge suits it), and it supports characters who read wholly as products of this particular place as opposed to somewhere else.
In The First Girl Child, Norse-inspired Saylock is a tribal, patriarchal land of warriors and raiding, and also magical runes that the monastic Keepers of Saylock protect from misuse by the general population. Typically, it is only the Keepers who know how to use the runes. But the story begins with a warrior woman, Desdemona, who proves to be the exception. Dying in childbirth and full of rage over being rejected by the child's father, Desdemona uses runes and her dying breath to place all of Saylock under a curse where no more baby girls will be born until such time that her son, named Bayr, becomes Saylock's salvation. Bayr ends up being raised in the Keepers' Temple by Desdemona's Keeper brother, Dagmar, and in demonstrating super-human strength from a young age, Bayr becomes both protector and friend to Princess Alba, the only girl child born amidst the ongoing curse.
Ultimately, The First Girl Child offers a highly credibly examination of the impacts a lack of baby girls for 20+ years would present within a patriarchal society—how some people would use the calamity to advance their own agendas and seize power while others would become heroes who look out for others and preserve culture and traditions amidst a long societal collapse. The story had great pacing for covering such a long time span. It didn't really follow any defined story beats that I could perceive—I never really knew where the story was going or what was going to happen next until the third act, such as it was—but this unpredictability really worked given the nature of the curse and the various (fruitless) efforts made by the Keepers, the tribal chieftains, and the king of Saylock to break the curse.
The story follows a number of POVs, including Bayr, Dagmar, Alba, Ghost (a mysterious woman from neighbouring land who becomes ensnared in the politics and fate of Saylock), and the villainous King Banruud, who uses the situation to advance his own interests at every stage. Every character, whether a good person or a bad person, is extremely well-written and fascinating to follow. I really enjoyed this story and loved it all the more for its excellent audiobook narrator, Rob Shapiro, who infused so much subtly and heart into so many different types of characters, and in general has a very pleasant-sounding voice. His performance truly brought Amy Harmon's lovely prose and fascinating plot to life.
In The First Girl Child, Norse-inspired Saylock is a tribal, patriarchal land of warriors and raiding, and also magical runes that the monastic Keepers of Saylock protect from misuse by the general population. Typically, it is only the Keepers who know how to use the runes. But the story begins with a warrior woman, Desdemona, who proves to be the exception. Dying in childbirth and full of rage over being rejected by the child's father, Desdemona uses runes and her dying breath to place all of Saylock under a curse where no more baby girls will be born until such time that her son, named Bayr, becomes Saylock's salvation. Bayr ends up being raised in the Keepers' Temple by Desdemona's Keeper brother, Dagmar, and in demonstrating super-human strength from a young age, Bayr becomes both protector and friend to Princess Alba, the only girl child born amidst the ongoing curse.
Ultimately, The First Girl Child offers a highly credibly examination of the impacts a lack of baby girls for 20+ years would present within a patriarchal society—how some people would use the calamity to advance their own agendas and seize power while others would become heroes who look out for others and preserve culture and traditions amidst a long societal collapse. The story had great pacing for covering such a long time span. It didn't really follow any defined story beats that I could perceive—I never really knew where the story was going or what was going to happen next until the third act, such as it was—but this unpredictability really worked given the nature of the curse and the various (fruitless) efforts made by the Keepers, the tribal chieftains, and the king of Saylock to break the curse.
The story follows a number of POVs, including Bayr, Dagmar, Alba, Ghost (a mysterious woman from neighbouring land who becomes ensnared in the politics and fate of Saylock), and the villainous King Banruud, who uses the situation to advance his own interests at every stage. Every character, whether a good person or a bad person, is extremely well-written and fascinating to follow. I really enjoyed this story and loved it all the more for its excellent audiobook narrator, Rob Shapiro, who infused so much subtly and heart into so many different types of characters, and in general has a very pleasant-sounding voice. His performance truly brought Amy Harmon's lovely prose and fascinating plot to life.
lauraelizabeth1969's review
5.0
I loved this fantasy story. No one writes one like Amy Harmon. I wasn’t happy the main couple were children through most of the book though. This wasn’t what I expected, but it was fabulous nonetheless. And the side characters were fantastic too.
always_reading_romance's review
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
I guess I’m confused. I KNOW this wasnt supposed to be a romance. I get that. I thought when i initially bought it that it was, but after reading some reviews I figured out that it wasnt.
Still, it took 300 PAGES OF SET UP BEFORE ANYTHING HAPPENED. I shit you not. 300 mother effing PAGES. And the book was only 391 pages long! Not only did like NOTHING happen, I dont even exactly know what the entire ass point of this book was. I mean I get the premise but honestly, you could have read the blurb on the back of the book and been just about as entertained as you would be reading the book.
What I Liked
-The Norse Mythology. That shit sucks. me. in. No matter what, if there’s some mythology, I’m game. And the book started out strong with runes and twins finding out they had blood magic and a curse and by page 40 I was all “hell yes,” and then came 260 pages of FILLER and my excitement dissipated pretty quickly.
I guess I’m confused. I KNOW this wasnt supposed to be a romance. I get that. I thought when i initially bought it that it was, but after reading some reviews I figured out that it wasnt.
Still, it took 300 PAGES OF SET UP BEFORE ANYTHING HAPPENED. I shit you not. 300 mother effing PAGES. And the book was only 391 pages long! Not only did like NOTHING happen, I dont even exactly know what the entire ass point of this book was. I mean I get the premise but honestly, you could have read the blurb on the back of the book and been just about as entertained as you would be reading the book.
What I Liked
-The Norse Mythology. That shit sucks. me. in. No matter what, if there’s some mythology, I’m game. And the book started out strong with runes and twins finding out they had blood magic and a curse and by page 40 I was all “hell yes,” and then came 260 pages of FILLER and my excitement dissipated pretty quickly.
robbishreads's review
4.0
A single-volume fantasy that spins its own Norse-inspired legend that finds its deepest roots in the parents among its readers. When the island kingdom of Saylok is cursed by a mistreated woman to have no more girl children, secrets pile on secrets and the blood runes run deep as a nation already burdened with a harsh climate and many enemies comes to terms with its ruining and its salvation by the hands of a boy secluded in the temple and a girl stolen from her mother.
julie_hatch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
5.0
girlwiththebookshelf's review against another edition
4.5
Flew through this! I thought I would be overwhelmed with all the characters and Norse mythology, but I had no issues. I'm really picky about the romance in my books, but I really loved the way it was done in this one! I'm really excited to dive into The Second Blind Son and hopefully end the year on a high note