Reviews

I ended up listening to this story via audiobook. The story was so magical - I just loved the main character, her ability to grow in herself while raising a family. I teared up at some parts. I felt like I saw a lifetime through this book. I highly recommend to everyone.

wild_er_ness's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

indigoblue777's review

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3.0

2.5 stars.

I am not a huge fan of Norse mythology, but I love Greek mythology retellings. I went into this novel not knowing who Angrboda is.

According to Wikipedia, Angrboda is a giantess who gave birth to three of Loki's children: Fenrir the wolf, Jörmungand the Midgard serpent, and Hel, the ruler of the dead. Fascinating, right? The three children are woven into the witch's hair on the book cover.

Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me on a few points.

- I couldn't connect with many of the characters because they were present very briefly. It made it hard to like them.

Spoiler

I am mad that there wasn't more characterization of the children. The only interesting child was Hel, and it was obvious that the author ignored Fenrir and Jormungand because they were 'savage' animals, and they were going to die in the apocalypse anyway. When they died it was hard to feel anything for them. Also, there was very little mother-and-child bonding happening throughout the story because every time Loki left, the kids turned into depressed sacks of potatoes. The boys became more savage, and Hel constantly moped. I understand that they are magical/supernatural kids, but I think they would be a bit more attached to their mother.

Also, the wolf-witch character that joins Angrboda towards the end was pointless. She briefly served as a guide and nothing else. There could have been so much more about Angrboda's origins in this story, but Angrboda refuses to accept her old powers as the "mother witch". It was incredibly frustrating.

- The dialog was awkward. The banter between Angrboda and Loki clashed with the narration style. There were also some dialog parts that I think should have been edited out.

Spoiler

There's one part when Angrboda is sitting in the foundations of an old house and literally looks up and asks if the answer would fall out of the sky for her. It probably was supposed to be humorous, but I found it be cheesy and extremely out of place.

- The romance was bad. All of the romantic relationships felt very rushed. I enjoyed the Loki romance up until after he

Spoiler

gets his mouth stitched closed. Also, towards the end, Angroboda kind of forgives Loki for everything he's done by blaming his betrayal on 'fate' and blames the Asgardians.

The Skadi romance was ok, but it felt like it was thrown in at the last minute.

I was really hoping to like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

kaitie_reads's review

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adventurous dark reflective sad medium-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? No

5.0

I would give this book a million stars if I could.

A Norse Mythology reimagining, The Witch's Heart is a gorgeous journey. It's easy to read, a little bit weird at times, and heavily inspired by age-old stories. I loved this book.

Betrayal, love, heartbreak, yearning, the lengths that a mother will go to for her children, tragedy, and hope are all contained within these wonderful pages. While the pacing alternates between being fast and slow, I devoured this book and thought it was really beautifully written.

Angrboda is so strong as our FMC. She is a witch who has been burned for refusing to aid Odin in his quest for knowledge. Even though she has endured so much suffering, she continues to give so much of herself. You can feel her anguish, her loyalty, and her desperation throughout her story. As a mother, I could relate very much to the sense of duty she feels towards her children.

I'm not well-versed in Norse Mythology, so this book also provided ample learning opportunities. I learned, I laughed, I cried (sobbed), and it was all very digestible and written in a modern way.

"𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓐𝓷𝓰𝓻𝓫𝓸𝓭𝓪. 𝓢𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮. 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷. 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓸𝔀. 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓵 𝓘 𝓭𝓲𝓮. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻, 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷, 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵."

kcv's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This one was giving Circe but Norse. I didn't love Circe and this one took me a minute to get into, but ultimately, I really enjoyed it. I'm more of a Norse gods girlie than Greek gifs so I think that made this more fun for me. Also, women are just so great. I loved finishing this one just as women's history month started. Cut out Loki and Odin and Thor and Frey and blah blah blah. Give me stories of the women who were forgotten. Loved that. Also there was a line about how someone can be dead but as long as the stories live on nothing is truly ever gone and that just like really rang true for me right now. Big fan of this one.
Long live Angrboda.

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