The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

4.05 AVERAGE

floramano's review

4.5
emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
Well written, a bit romanticized maybe, but a great read for peoplewho know a bit already about norse mythology :)
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marirene's review

4.0
dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
This reminded me of Madeline Miller’s Circe, but make it Norse mythology. TBH I’m not terribly well-versed in most mythology, but slightly moreso in Greek than in Norse. This book was described to me as the story of Loki’s wife and that was enough to pique my interest. Full disclosure, my gateway to Norse mythology was Hiddleston’s portrayal of Loki in the Marvel universe so make of that what you will. I really liked how fleshed out Angrboda was in this retelling as opposed to the other stories I’d read that mentioned her. I also really liked how multi-faceted Loki’s character and the kids were in this. I disliked that the main pantheon of Norse gods still felt flat and ominous and generic bad with not enough motivations fleshed out for their various actions/interferences for my tastes. I also disliked that some of the later romance in this book felt very forced and not well foreshadowed or fleshed out when compared to earlier relationships. Ultimately this was close to a five star for me, but I actually wanted more insight into the characters thoughts and motivations. I’d recommend it to anyone who liked Circe or is interested in Norse mythology. I plan to read other books by this author. 

katiegrrrl's review

5.0
I don’t know a lot of Norse Mythology but I recognized some of the stories that weave their way through the witch’s story. This was such an incredible reworking of this mythology.

YMA 2022 Alex Award

ekschu's review

3.0
Ended up being gay - loved it! A very cool interpretation of Norse myths.

mackenzie_thibb's review against another edition

3.75
adventurous dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
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ashleysas's review against another edition

5.0
adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
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museofbibliophile's review

4.5
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

_crookshanks_'s review

5.0
dark emotional funny sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
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clumi's review

5.0
adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

shelbypey's review

3.75
adventurous slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
this is a norse mythology retelling centered around a powerful and influential witch forgotten by most of history. I would very much recommend this to fans of Circe by Madeline Miller!

pros:
- lovely story
- main character was great
- wonderful ending 
- seems to be very well researched

cons:
- it lacks the level of flourishing prose you see in Miller’s books. not a huge con but I did find myself wanting
- quite a slow start