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A review by elocoel
The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
4.0
3.5 --> 4 Stars.
I've been a big mythology enthusiast ever since picking up a book on Greek mythology at the ripe old age of nine. And so, I feel a quite strong gravitational force pull me in whenever a mythology retelling comes into my radar, as happened with The Witch's Heart.
The Witch's Heart is the story of Angrboda, a figure very much left behind when Norse mythology is talked about, only remembered as the mother of her children, something focused on in the book as well. It begins with her fleeing away from a past life and ends with the End. And the middle is where a magical story awaits you.
Reading how the author merged stories in a way that made sense was very, very satisfying since it is the part I feel the authors of this genre usually fail the most at. I adored Angrboda and her relationships with Skadi, Loki, and her children. I laughed, and I wept at midnight, maybe enough that if this were the olden times, the story of my weeping would be carried around by the river formed from my tears. Okay, while that part might be a little bit of exaggeration, I truly liked many aspects of the book.
However, this does not mean there were no aspects I didn't like. Mainly, I did not enjoy the extreme modernization, especially when it came to the dialogue. The dialogue felt like it could very well fit in a (maybe not so great) contemporary novel and took me away from the story from time to time. I also found the second romance of the book a bit rushed, but that might very well be a personal preference. Some parts also felt a little bit underwhelming and dragged out, but it wasn't too big of a problem, in my opinion.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Witch's Heart -the first half more than the second, if I am frank- and it is definitely a strong reimagining. Gornichec did a great job filling in the bits unknown to her heart's desire and came up with a tale no mythology lover can drop from their hands.
I've been a big mythology enthusiast ever since picking up a book on Greek mythology at the ripe old age of nine. And so, I feel a quite strong gravitational force pull me in whenever a mythology retelling comes into my radar, as happened with The Witch's Heart.
The Witch's Heart is the story of Angrboda, a figure very much left behind when Norse mythology is talked about, only remembered as the mother of her children, something focused on in the book as well. It begins with her fleeing away from a past life and ends with the End. And the middle is where a magical story awaits you.
Reading how the author merged stories in a way that made sense was very, very satisfying since it is the part I feel the authors of this genre usually fail the most at. I adored Angrboda and her relationships with Skadi, Loki, and her children. I laughed, and I wept at midnight, maybe enough that if this were the olden times, the story of my weeping would be carried around by the river formed from my tears. Okay, while that part might be a little bit of exaggeration, I truly liked many aspects of the book.
However, this does not mean there were no aspects I didn't like. Mainly, I did not enjoy the extreme modernization, especially when it came to the dialogue. The dialogue felt like it could very well fit in a (maybe not so great) contemporary novel and took me away from the story from time to time. I also found the second romance of the book a bit rushed, but that might very well be a personal preference. Some parts also felt a little bit underwhelming and dragged out, but it wasn't too big of a problem, in my opinion.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Witch's Heart -the first half more than the second, if I am frank- and it is definitely a strong reimagining. Gornichec did a great job filling in the bits unknown to her heart's desire and came up with a tale no mythology lover can drop from their hands.