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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is what I want out of a book. It was solid.
Lemme just take a moment to say the hardcover is so gorgeous! Silver foil along the pages, and the chapter artwork of the Viking ships I absolutely loved!
Now, for the book.
I will say the banter/flirting in this book was top notch. There was so much of it, and the fmc and mmc were witty in their verbal sparring.
This book was like reading a romance fantasy of Jerry Springer somewhat. (And I don’t like Jerry Springer, but I did like this book!). There was so much f’ed up relationships and trauma. It really kept me hooked.
I thought the world building was fine! I mean it’s basically Vikings. Idk why people are like “:( I couldn’t picture it” bro it’s Vikings. Just imagine some mountains and stuff idk what to tell you!!
I also would like to say that I HATE TRAINING MONTAGES. But this book did a really good job. I didn’t have to sit through 15 pages of fmc learning how to throw a punch. It was very nicely summarized and we could get on with the story.
I thought the fmc didn’t really do anything too stupid, which I appreciate. Although she is very cautious, which I understand.
Mmc has quite a few green flags… but he certainly isn’t perfect 😉, so he is not going in my approved mmc in my bio. But he did a lot of things I cheered him on for.
Specific spoilery moments I loved:
When Freya threw that fire axe into Vragi, I audibly cheered. This was a great way to open the book.
The first 25% or so of the book I was like sad because Freya’s family were pieces of shit, so when Bjorn insulted them and when he fought Geir, it just sang to my soul.
Oh and Freya’s confrontation with her mom. I liked that.
Lemme just take a moment to say the hardcover is so gorgeous! Silver foil along the pages, and the chapter artwork of the Viking ships I absolutely loved!
Now, for the book.
I will say the banter/flirting in this book was top notch. There was so much of it, and the fmc and mmc were witty in their verbal sparring.
This book was like reading a romance fantasy of Jerry Springer somewhat. (And I don’t like Jerry Springer, but I did like this book!). There was so much f’ed up relationships and trauma. It really kept me hooked.
I thought the world building was fine! I mean it’s basically Vikings. Idk why people are like “:( I couldn’t picture it” bro it’s Vikings. Just imagine some mountains and stuff idk what to tell you!!
I also would like to say that I HATE TRAINING MONTAGES. But this book did a really good job. I didn’t have to sit through 15 pages of fmc learning how to throw a punch. It was very nicely summarized and we could get on with the story.
I thought the fmc didn’t really do anything too stupid, which I appreciate. Although she is very cautious, which I understand.
Mmc has quite a few green flags… but he certainly isn’t perfect 😉, so he is not going in my approved mmc in my bio. But he did a lot of things I cheered him on for.
Specific spoilery moments I loved:
Oh and Freya’s confrontation with her mom. I liked that.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Freya is the shield maiden—she possesses a drop of a goddess's blood that makes her magic incredibly powerful. It has been foretold that the shield maiden will help unite Skaland, so every king and jarl in the region wants to have Freya under their control. Freya's husband betrays her to their region's jarl, Snorri, to whom she is eventually bound by blood oath. However, Freya also begins to develop feelings for Snorri's son, Bjorn, who is assigned to protect her. As Freya comes into her magic and trains to be a warrior, Freya and Bjorn must survive the enemies seeking control over her power and learn how to take control of their own fates.
Having recently read and loved Danielle L. Jensen's Dark Shores series I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, the aspects of Dark Skies that I enjoyed were lacking in this one and the aspects of Dark Shores that didn't work for me as much were much more prevalent here. To start, I was missing the fantastic world-building of Dark Shores. I couldn't really picture the landscape or get a sense of the different cultures. I also was missing any real character depth. Freya and Bjorn felt pretty flat to me and this made it hard for me to root for them and their relationship. Freya was self-sacrificial to a fault, which ironically did not make her more likable or layered in my mind. Instead, her decisions were either dumb, rash, or felt unrealistic/unrelatable. And then aside from a couple promising side characters that were killed off, the other side characters were just plain evil, selfish, or cowardly.
In Dark Shores I did have some concerns with the author's "telling" rather than "showing" especially with regards to the romance. I had the same complaint here. Freya was lusting after Bjorn for so much of this book (to an almost distracting degree and not in a good way). But we were never really shown why the relationship between these two characters grew beyond that, we were just told that it had (unless the point is that it hadn't, I guess we'll see in book 2).
I imagine some of these differences are because Dark Shores is marketed as a young adult book and A Fate Inked in Blood is a new adult novel. I also think this book follows a lot of the formulas that are quite popular on social media right now, which is not necessarily bad, but just not always my thing. I acknowledge that this is a fun read and maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace for it this week.
The bright spots were the norse mythology, Danielle L. Jensen's writing in general, and the ending. There some twists near the end, both anticipated and unanticipated, that were promising and may end up revealing some character nuance. These aspects intrigued me enough that I'd probably read the next book if I came upon it.
Having recently read and loved Danielle L. Jensen's Dark Shores series I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, the aspects of Dark Skies that I enjoyed were lacking in this one and the aspects of Dark Shores that didn't work for me as much were much more prevalent here. To start, I was missing the fantastic world-building of Dark Shores. I couldn't really picture the landscape or get a sense of the different cultures. I also was missing any real character depth. Freya and Bjorn felt pretty flat to me and this made it hard for me to root for them and their relationship. Freya was self-sacrificial to a fault, which ironically did not make her more likable or layered in my mind. Instead, her decisions were either dumb, rash, or felt unrealistic/unrelatable. And then aside from a couple promising side characters that were killed off, the other side characters were just plain evil, selfish, or cowardly.
In Dark Shores I did have some concerns with the author's "telling" rather than "showing" especially with regards to the romance. I had the same complaint here. Freya was lusting after Bjorn for so much of this book (to an almost distracting degree and not in a good way). But we were never really shown why the relationship between these two characters grew beyond that, we were just told that it had (unless the point is that it hadn't, I guess we'll see in book 2).
I imagine some of these differences are because Dark Shores is marketed as a young adult book and A Fate Inked in Blood is a new adult novel. I also think this book follows a lot of the formulas that are quite popular on social media right now, which is not necessarily bad, but just not always my thing. I acknowledge that this is a fun read and maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace for it this week.
The bright spots were the norse mythology, Danielle L. Jensen's writing in general, and the ending. There some twists near the end, both anticipated and unanticipated, that were promising and may end up revealing some character nuance. These aspects intrigued me enough that I'd probably read the next book if I came upon it.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I might change this to a 4 in time. Overall a very enjoyable book!! But I found the plot very obvious, and I never guess the end of the murder mysteries right. Like maybe it’s because I’m Icelandic and grew up hearing the Sagas, but I feel like anyone who’s seen the Thor franchise was rolling their eyes by the end. I’ll still finish the series though! Less cringe than Maas, but also less intrigue.
I liked this a lot and will def continue the series, but did find that I predicted most of the plot/twists. I'm not sure if that's because I read a lot of fantasy romance or if it was well-foreshadowed...perhaps a little of both? The characters were hotties for sure and had some good chemistry, though the romance did feel a bit insta-lusty. I would have enjoyed more emotional connection but still ate it up. Anxiously awaiting book 2!!
*blows the dust off my long retired shield and hugs it to my chest as i take a seat in the jarl's chair of a longhouse. my feet dangle off the edge of the chair and do not touch the floor, this detail is ignored*
i wasn't expecting this book to unlock repressed memories of my vikings history hyperfixation circa 2016, yet here we are.
what can i say about this book that perhaps hasn't already been said? to start things off, is this the worst book i've ever read. no. does that mean it's good? also, no.
the frustrating thing to me is how much the plot is rooted in blissful ignorance about norse history/mythology. the author almost proudly implemented elements of percy jackson's take on mythology and molded it into its own being, tho whereas rick riordan was always respectful and clever about his takes, jensen instead creates a world that makes little sense.
what makes vikings and saxon history unique to other time periods is the way that women wielded power in both culture and politics. contrary to what this book implies, it wasn't strange at all for women to become shieldmaidens (or jarls!). in fact, in vikings' culture, women were renowned and considered formidable beings simply because of their ability to bear children (seers were typically women as well); they weren't considered weak, fragile things as jensen's characters claim. i bring up the saxons bc, while not norse, anglo-saxon law considered women as having claims over property and their own being in the same accord as men, and the law granted them rights that weighed the same in court as that of men.
even the polygamy part of the story was strangely done, especially when it's well-known by historians that sisterwives and brotherhusbands weren't a big deal in viking culture.
idk, it all just felt lazy, like jensen and/or her publisher had a preset list of tropes she/they wished to checkoff.
i have other problems with the way jensen molded norse historical figures (is harald meant to be harald finehair-coded???? who's to say), but these problems aren't as glaring overall. it's strange to me that jensen's main themes explore sex and sexism tho when this is probably the worst cultural example to set those themes in.
i know this is fantasy/romantasy ??? but i don't think fantasy means one should get away with having a historical fiction setting and then removing all the history. just write a vikings inspired fantasy then, why are we in a parallel version of the 10th century?
in the end, i can't even blame freya or bjorn or the rest of the menagerie of characters from acting as they do. they're just as confused in this alternate world as i was.
i wasn't expecting this book to unlock repressed memories of my vikings history hyperfixation circa 2016, yet here we are.
what can i say about this book that perhaps hasn't already been said? to start things off, is this the worst book i've ever read. no. does that mean it's good? also, no.
the frustrating thing to me is how much the plot is rooted in blissful ignorance about norse history/mythology. the author almost proudly implemented elements of percy jackson's take on mythology and molded it into its own being, tho whereas rick riordan was always respectful and clever about his takes, jensen instead creates a world that makes little sense.
what makes vikings and saxon history unique to other time periods is the way that women wielded power in both culture and politics. contrary to what this book implies, it wasn't strange at all for women to become shieldmaidens (or jarls!). in fact, in vikings' culture, women were renowned and considered formidable beings simply because of their ability to bear children (seers were typically women as well); they weren't considered weak, fragile things as jensen's characters claim. i bring up the saxons bc, while not norse, anglo-saxon law considered women as having claims over property and their own being in the same accord as men, and the law granted them rights that weighed the same in court as that of men.
even the polygamy part of the story was strangely done, especially when it's well-known by historians that sisterwives and brotherhusbands weren't a big deal in viking culture.
idk, it all just felt lazy, like jensen and/or her publisher had a preset list of tropes she/they wished to checkoff.
i have other problems with the way jensen molded norse historical figures (is harald meant to be harald finehair-coded???? who's to say), but these problems aren't as glaring overall. it's strange to me that jensen's main themes explore sex and sexism tho when this is probably the worst cultural example to set those themes in.
i know this is fantasy/romantasy ??? but i don't think fantasy means one should get away with having a historical fiction setting and then removing all the history. just write a vikings inspired fantasy then, why are we in a parallel version of the 10th century?
in the end, i can't even blame freya or bjorn or the rest of the menagerie of characters from acting as they do. they're just as confused in this alternate world as i was.