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saskiarodenburg's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Another excellent read from Laybourne.
Her characters and setting are well-developed and interesting. In this case, I did not connect with Sissel as much as Hanne but it was a good companion novel.
Another excellent read from Laybourne.
Her characters and setting are well-developed and interesting. In this case, I did not connect with Sissel as much as Hanne but it was a good companion novel.
davidreyno'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A decent sequel to Berserker, though trying to give Sissel her moments as the hero required Hanne to not be as strong a Berserker as she was in the first book. This is a typical weakness when the hero mantle shifts to a new person in sequels.
wildflower_magic's review
5.0
Great story!
This was a wonderfully written story containing a great deal of Norse mythology, cowboys, action, romance, betrayal, and it is chalk full of plot twists that will keep you thirsty for more! I have read this and Berserker, and I hope she writes more books about the Nyette life.
This was a wonderfully written story containing a great deal of Norse mythology, cowboys, action, romance, betrayal, and it is chalk full of plot twists that will keep you thirsty for more! I have read this and Berserker, and I hope she writes more books about the Nyette life.
margaretann84's review against another edition
2.0
The premise of this was fantastic: a fantasy set in the 1880s focused on a family with powers granted by the Norse gods. Sign me up!
But the reality is disappointingly lackluster. Practically every page we're told that the character the book ostensibly focuses on is weak and small and sick, but she ends up with two dudes after her hand? One of them even tells her he likes her "ambition"? To that point, I hadn't seen an ambitious bone in her actions! Willful and impulsive maybe, but nothing so set as "ambition."
And the details. The food menus sounded like she was reading off of lists of "Things People Ate" and the clothing details were entirely wrong. Even in the hills of Montana women weren't wearing "hoopskirts" in the 1880s; they were barely even wearing fashionable bustles (and sometimes corsets!) except for special occasions and Sundays, given how impractical they were for farming. A character couldn't "tuck cash" into her "décolletage" because the collars were all up to the chin unless you were in evening dress (she wasn't) or a hooker (she wasn't). And when a sixteen-year-old character was described as "too young" to work...wow. Just wow. Plenty of rural teachers were in the mid-teens, and others were married and starting their own families by that point. A town with a fancy hotel like Carter would've had at least one dressmaker's shop, and they would've probably employed young, unmarried women. Kids regularly did whatever they needed to do to help their families, regardless of their ages. That's why school terms were so random during the year--all the hands on deck for the harvest. Now, if the author had chosen to say the character was too sickly to work, then maybe I could've just read past it without pause, but even someone who can't do a lot of hard physical labor can thread a needle and sew on buttons in a dress shop, especially if she has time after school every day to hang out with her friends (also historically inaccurate).
The kicker, though, was throwing in at the end that a character is gay just seemed like the author trying to be like, "Look! I can write LGBTQ+ stuff, too!" rather than her taking any real effort to include that aspect into his character from the start. Or, y'know, if it's not gonna matter one way or another plot-wise or have any impact on his character development or growth whatsoever, maybe don't even mention it? I'm 100% for representation in literature, particularly YA lit, but this was handled in the most Rowling-esque way possible.
The actual plot was interesting enough, I guess, even if the serendipity of some parts was kinda hard to believe and the writing itself was lackluster. I thought the Nytte-magic aspect was probably the best part of the entire book; those segments where Hanne went into her berserker rage and the end bit with Sissel were really well-done and earned it back a star.
Too bad the rest of it was such a slog.
But the reality is disappointingly lackluster. Practically every page we're told that the character the book ostensibly focuses on is weak and small and sick, but she ends up with two dudes after her hand? One of them even tells her he likes her "ambition"? To that point, I hadn't seen an ambitious bone in her actions! Willful and impulsive maybe, but nothing so set as "ambition."
And the details. The food menus sounded like she was reading off of lists of "Things People Ate" and the clothing details were entirely wrong. Even in the hills of Montana women weren't wearing "hoopskirts" in the 1880s; they were barely even wearing fashionable bustles (and sometimes corsets!) except for special occasions and Sundays, given how impractical they were for farming. A character couldn't "tuck cash" into her "décolletage" because the collars were all up to the chin unless you were in evening dress (she wasn't) or a hooker (she wasn't). And when a sixteen-year-old character was described as "too young" to work...wow. Just wow. Plenty of rural teachers were in the mid-teens, and others were married and starting their own families by that point. A town with a fancy hotel like Carter would've had at least one dressmaker's shop, and they would've probably employed young, unmarried women. Kids regularly did whatever they needed to do to help their families, regardless of their ages. That's why school terms were so random during the year--all the hands on deck for the harvest. Now, if the author had chosen to say the character was too sickly to work, then maybe I could've just read past it without pause, but even someone who can't do a lot of hard physical labor can thread a needle and sew on buttons in a dress shop, especially if she has time after school every day to hang out with her friends (also historically inaccurate).
The kicker, though, was throwing in at the end that a character is gay just seemed like the author trying to be like, "Look! I can write LGBTQ+ stuff, too!" rather than her taking any real effort to include that aspect into his character from the start. Or, y'know, if it's not gonna matter one way or another plot-wise or have any impact on his character development or growth whatsoever, maybe don't even mention it? I'm 100% for representation in literature, particularly YA lit, but this was handled in the most Rowling-esque way possible.
The actual plot was interesting enough, I guess, even if the serendipity of some parts was kinda hard to believe and the writing itself was lackluster. I thought the Nytte-magic aspect was probably the best part of the entire book; those segments where Hanne went into her berserker rage and the end bit with Sissel were really well-done and earned it back a star.
Too bad the rest of it was such a slog.
kleturgez's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
domisreading's review against another edition
5.0
This book was amazing, I thought the first book was good but on so many levela this book elevated that. The themes of family and love and learning to love ones self really reaonate with me. While reading this book I had moments of out loud laughter and many, many tears. Every part of this book made sense and wrapped up very well in the end. Though I must admit some plot things did seem a touch to convenient they were hard not to love and appreciate. Overall a wonderful and well thought out book.
kaitmary's review against another edition
3.0
Do you ever get the feeling that an author had specific intentions then changed their mind halfway through? That's very much the vibe I get from this book. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't live up to the original.
Spoiler
Perhaps there was an attempt at subversion in quickly and unceremoniously killing off a complicated POV character after building up his backstory. Same with turning the 21-year-old character who tricked and used the teen MC multiple times into a repentant love interest (and excusing it with her brother saying "SURE it's an age gap now, but people will hardly blink at it when you're 30." I get that this is the 19th century, but addressing the 21st century implications made it weirder?) These two decisions basically killed the story for me.truestorydesu's review against another edition
5.0
If you haven’t read the first book in the Beserker series, er, Beserker, then its sequel, Ransacker won’t make a lot of sense. So, maybe you should go read Beserker. Or you could read about it in the review that I wrote a while back! It’s got Henrik Ibsen references... Go ahead, I’ll wait.
So its two years after the events of Beserker and now we're focusing on now 16 year old Sissel. Sissel is sick and tired of being treated like a little weakling, with Hanne hovering over her all the time and everyone else making decisions that directly affect her without her input. The Hemstads and Owen, now engaged to Hanne, live in a timber house on a farm outside Carter Montana. Unfortunately, and I'm not sure if you guys are aware of this, but during the summer, the entire Western half of the United States catches fire. Like, all of it. So a giant fire sweeps through the community, destroying the Hemstad's farm - with no hope of enough income to afford to marry, Hanne and Owen take off to join a cattle drive, Knut goes off to work as a laborer on an unaffected farm, and Steig, now the local schoolteacher, and Sissel go to live in the town hotel, managed by the hunky 20-year old Isaiah McKray.
While the Hemstads are enjoying these relatively normal 19-century-Western-immigrant life problems, they have no idea they're under constant Pinkerton surveillance, led by Mr. Peavy and a kid he hired to pretend to be his son, James. The Pinkertons were hired by the evil Baron Fjelstad from the first book and he seems obsessed in knowing about Sissel. James's one job is to woo Sissel, be her suitor and get her to spill her secrets. But the thing is, of course, James actually likes Sissel and is a bit wary of the intentions of the Baron and the Pinkertons.
Poor James has zero idea about the whole Nytte thing, by the way.
At first it seems like Sissel has no Nytte, until a funeral after the fire when she starts to feel something in the Earth calling to her... turns out Sissel is a ransacker, a very rare nytte in which a person can sense metals and draw them to themselves. Like gold. Gold is good. Have I mentioned that Isiah McCray also owns a gold mine outside of town? Yeah, he would very much like someone of Sissel's talent to work for him. And so would the Baron. Sissel has to keep her new gift a secret, but her family needs money and she can sense gold so...what could possibly go wrong?
Lots of things, as it turns out.
Beserker and Ransacker are both the sorts of book that I just start reading and then just breeze through - again, I’m a slow-ass reader, I take breaks, get distracted easily, have to work while at work and do housework while at home...I’m lucky if I can manage 1 book per week (maybe 2 if I have an audiobook on-hand), but with both Beserker and Ransacker, I’d start and then find myself having to drag myself away. Nooo, I don’t want to do dishes, I want to read more about magical 19th Century Norwegian immigrants! That’s way more fun than scrubbing bits of cat food off the cat dishes. You know who’s really good at getting the bits of dried cat food off the cat dishes? The dog. Why can’t he just do those dishes and don’t say it’s because he doesn’t have opposable thumbs...
I was going to have this review done sooner but I'm currently at ALA midwinter, drowning in all the books they just give out for free. FREE. the two sweetest words in the English language: free books. Either way: though it may not work as a standalone book, Ransacker is an excellent sequel, and gives a highly satisfying conclusion to the story of the Hemstads. I’m not sure if this series is meant to be a duology or a trilogy or what, but I do know that Ransacker delivers one hell of an ending. I cried. It was great.
So its two years after the events of Beserker and now we're focusing on now 16 year old Sissel. Sissel is sick and tired of being treated like a little weakling, with Hanne hovering over her all the time and everyone else making decisions that directly affect her without her input. The Hemstads and Owen, now engaged to Hanne, live in a timber house on a farm outside Carter Montana. Unfortunately, and I'm not sure if you guys are aware of this, but during the summer, the entire Western half of the United States catches fire. Like, all of it. So a giant fire sweeps through the community, destroying the Hemstad's farm - with no hope of enough income to afford to marry, Hanne and Owen take off to join a cattle drive, Knut goes off to work as a laborer on an unaffected farm, and Steig, now the local schoolteacher, and Sissel go to live in the town hotel, managed by the hunky 20-year old Isaiah McKray.
While the Hemstads are enjoying these relatively normal 19-century-Western-immigrant life problems, they have no idea they're under constant Pinkerton surveillance, led by Mr. Peavy and a kid he hired to pretend to be his son, James. The Pinkertons were hired by the evil Baron Fjelstad from the first book and he seems obsessed in knowing about Sissel. James's one job is to woo Sissel, be her suitor and get her to spill her secrets. But the thing is, of course, James actually likes Sissel and is a bit wary of the intentions of the Baron and the Pinkertons.
Poor James has zero idea about the whole Nytte thing, by the way.
At first it seems like Sissel has no Nytte, until a funeral after the fire when she starts to feel something in the Earth calling to her... turns out Sissel is a ransacker, a very rare nytte in which a person can sense metals and draw them to themselves. Like gold. Gold is good. Have I mentioned that Isiah McCray also owns a gold mine outside of town? Yeah, he would very much like someone of Sissel's talent to work for him. And so would the Baron. Sissel has to keep her new gift a secret, but her family needs money and she can sense gold so...what could possibly go wrong?
Lots of things, as it turns out.
Beserker and Ransacker are both the sorts of book that I just start reading and then just breeze through - again, I’m a slow-ass reader, I take breaks, get distracted easily, have to work while at work and do housework while at home...I’m lucky if I can manage 1 book per week (maybe 2 if I have an audiobook on-hand), but with both Beserker and Ransacker, I’d start and then find myself having to drag myself away. Nooo, I don’t want to do dishes, I want to read more about magical 19th Century Norwegian immigrants! That’s way more fun than scrubbing bits of cat food off the cat dishes. You know who’s really good at getting the bits of dried cat food off the cat dishes? The dog. Why can’t he just do those dishes and don’t say it’s because he doesn’t have opposable thumbs...
I was going to have this review done sooner but I'm currently at ALA midwinter, drowning in all the books they just give out for free. FREE. the two sweetest words in the English language: free books. Either way: though it may not work as a standalone book, Ransacker is an excellent sequel, and gives a highly satisfying conclusion to the story of the Hemstads. I’m not sure if this series is meant to be a duology or a trilogy or what, but I do know that Ransacker delivers one hell of an ending. I cried. It was great.
marydrover's review against another edition
4.0
I felt much the same about this sequel as I did the original. This was so cute. When you put Norse Vikings and Midwest American cowboys together, there’s no way you aren’t going to have a good time. This picks up a few years after the events of Berserker and finds the Hemstad family & Owen living peacefully on a farm in Montana. Sissel, however, is about to discover a secret Nytte hiding within her that will change everything.
Cute is truly the best word to describe this. All of the characters are adorable, right down to Daisy the dog, and the plot makes me laugh a little because, come on, Vikings and cowboys, it’s the best thing in the world. This was fast-paced while still leaving room for a lot of development, and I was really pleased with this as a finale to the story.
Cute is truly the best word to describe this. All of the characters are adorable, right down to Daisy the dog, and the plot makes me laugh a little because, come on, Vikings and cowboys, it’s the best thing in the world. This was fast-paced while still leaving room for a lot of development, and I was really pleased with this as a finale to the story.
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