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A review by onemanbookclub
The Second Blind Son by Amy Harmon
5.0
Check out my blog, One Man Book Club
The Value of a Star: Ratings Explained
Whoa. Wow. Holy cow. What a story!
The Second Blind Son was....powerful? Passionate? Gripping? Romantic? Really, really cool?
Yes. Yes it was.
I was impressed with The First Girl Child, and I don't impress easily. Just the Norse-Mythology based worldbuilding alone deserves praise for it's careful detail and seamless incorporation into the narrative. It's smooth. And it's awesome. It was very well imagined, wonderfully built, and perfectly executed. Theology, culture, government, the magic system, and even societal expectations were delivered clearly, and in a way I would have expected from a much longer book. Skilled writing, indeed!
The characters and their relationships were some of the best I've read. Amy Harmon's ability to get her characters to connect to each other and to the reader has earned her legions of loyal fans. I had plans for the characters from the first chapter, and there was a delicious slow burn as the pages turned themselves to the satisfying end.
So, ya. I was impressed.
Then I read The Second Blind Son. If I was impressed with The First Girl Child, then The Second Blind Son had me...um...what's better than impressed? Blow away? Shocked? Gloriously surprised? Perfectly satisfied? Left with a huge, goofy grin? I don't know. One of those. All of those?
I wasn't sure what to expect. The First Girl Child didn't need a sequel, and a brief scan of the synopsis gave me the idea it was going to be a stand alone story set it in the same world. So okay, cool.
But I was wrong. It's even better.
This is a retelling of the events of The First Girl Child, told from the perspective of a tertiary character you'll recognize and a brand new character your going to love. LOVE! I figured it out in the first few pages, and the book nerd in me starting doing cart wheels! Well, in my head, anyway. It's not a sequel or a stand alone...it's a retelling from new perspectives and that. Is. Awesome.
All the things I loved from The First Girl Child were there, but more. The characters were more. The relationships were more. The good guys. The bad guys. The magic. The mythology. The romance! It was all more!
Amy Harmon writes romance like Steven Spielberg makes movies. She hints, she teases, she gives subtle clues. A touch. A longing. A glance. You know it's there, and you know it's coming. But when the shark finally jumps out of the water and eats the boat, you are still left with your mouth hanging open and your heart swells and you can't stop reading! Wait. No, there's no sharks. But the feeling is the same. There was some passion in these pages!
The events of the two books intertwine, then separate, then cross again. Each book is it's own story, but it's also the same story. And when the narratives collide at the smashing finale, I again found more: more closure, more satisfaction, and more oh-my-gosh-I-really-loved-this-story!
I think both The First Girl Child and The Second Blind Son can be read as stand-alones. I can't think of any reason you HAVE to read The First Gild Child before The Second Blind Son. But I will say the two books complete each other...neither book is whole with out the other. Read one, and you'll enjoy a good book. Read them both, and you'll LOVE the story. I would love to hear from you if you read The Second Blind Son before The First Girl Child--I'm dying to know how things come together for you!
There is no language, a bit of violence, and the passionate lovers get really passionate with their love three or four times. The descriptions are not physical or detailed, but you definitely know what's happening and when it happens. I wouldn't want to read it out loud with my teenage daughter. So for that, I'll say The Second Blind Son is best for 18 and up.
Happy Reading!
The Value of a Star: Ratings Explained
Whoa. Wow. Holy cow. What a story!
The Second Blind Son was....powerful? Passionate? Gripping? Romantic? Really, really cool?
Yes. Yes it was.
I was impressed with The First Girl Child, and I don't impress easily. Just the Norse-Mythology based worldbuilding alone deserves praise for it's careful detail and seamless incorporation into the narrative. It's smooth. And it's awesome. It was very well imagined, wonderfully built, and perfectly executed. Theology, culture, government, the magic system, and even societal expectations were delivered clearly, and in a way I would have expected from a much longer book. Skilled writing, indeed!
The characters and their relationships were some of the best I've read. Amy Harmon's ability to get her characters to connect to each other and to the reader has earned her legions of loyal fans. I had plans for the characters from the first chapter, and there was a delicious slow burn as the pages turned themselves to the satisfying end.
So, ya. I was impressed.
Then I read The Second Blind Son. If I was impressed with The First Girl Child, then The Second Blind Son had me...um...what's better than impressed? Blow away? Shocked? Gloriously surprised? Perfectly satisfied? Left with a huge, goofy grin? I don't know. One of those. All of those?
I wasn't sure what to expect. The First Girl Child didn't need a sequel, and a brief scan of the synopsis gave me the idea it was going to be a stand alone story set it in the same world. So okay, cool.
But I was wrong. It's even better.
This is a retelling of the events of The First Girl Child, told from the perspective of a tertiary character you'll recognize and a brand new character your going to love. LOVE! I figured it out in the first few pages, and the book nerd in me starting doing cart wheels! Well, in my head, anyway. It's not a sequel or a stand alone...it's a retelling from new perspectives and that. Is. Awesome.
All the things I loved from The First Girl Child were there, but more. The characters were more. The relationships were more. The good guys. The bad guys. The magic. The mythology. The romance! It was all more!
Amy Harmon writes romance like Steven Spielberg makes movies. She hints, she teases, she gives subtle clues. A touch. A longing. A glance. You know it's there, and you know it's coming. But when the shark finally jumps out of the water and eats the boat, you are still left with your mouth hanging open and your heart swells and you can't stop reading! Wait. No, there's no sharks. But the feeling is the same. There was some passion in these pages!
The events of the two books intertwine, then separate, then cross again. Each book is it's own story, but it's also the same story. And when the narratives collide at the smashing finale, I again found more: more closure, more satisfaction, and more oh-my-gosh-I-really-loved-this-story!
I think both The First Girl Child and The Second Blind Son can be read as stand-alones. I can't think of any reason you HAVE to read The First Gild Child before The Second Blind Son. But I will say the two books complete each other...neither book is whole with out the other. Read one, and you'll enjoy a good book. Read them both, and you'll LOVE the story. I would love to hear from you if you read The Second Blind Son before The First Girl Child--I'm dying to know how things come together for you!
There is no language, a bit of violence, and the passionate lovers get really passionate with their love three or four times. The descriptions are not physical or detailed, but you definitely know what's happening and when it happens. I wouldn't want to read it out loud with my teenage daughter. So for that, I'll say The Second Blind Son is best for 18 and up.
Happy Reading!