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burtini 's review for:
Shield Maiden
by Sharon Emmerichs
3.5 stars
I’m a sucker for a weapon wielding female warrior tale, a historical story that puts women at the forefront. However, while this book definitely has its strong points, there were just a few elements that didn’t work for me.
I’ll start with the positive and that’s the main character Fryda. At the start of this story Fryda, in a bid to prove herself strong enough to be Shield Maiden and impress her cold father, goes out hunting alone and becomes injured in an earthquake. This earthquake in fact is to do with a dragon cursed beneath her and we later learn that some of that dragon’s power channels into Fryda. But I’m getting ahead of myself, during the earthquake Fryda’s hand becomes trapped and badly injured and for the rest of this book Fryda has limited use in this hand.
The beauty in this book lies in how disability is portrayed. Fryda experiences shame and she spends a lot of the book hiding her hand, set crooked when it healed, out of fear of how people treat her. However as the book goes on Fryda learns to accept herself for how she is, the book doesn’t cure Fryda, she’s a strong character who lives with her ailment alongside people who doubt her. Alongside this you also have Theow the slave who as a child was burned and has scars to show for it. Both these characters deal with ptsd and body issues from their scars and yet they nourish and reassure each other and it’s beautiful in that sense.
That said, the love story between Fryda and Theow is sweet enough but almost too sweet. These are both 2 characters with their own pain and trauma who help strengthen each other. Theow is a slave, Fryda the regents daughter, and on paper this should be a positive relationship with clear lines on consent, support and unity against the odds. The problem is though that Theow is just that, nice, too nice in fact, he’d die for Fryda, he risks himself constantly for Fryda, all he thinks about essentially is Fryda, he doesn’t feel like he exists on the page beyond her shadow.
In terms of other supporting characters, again they are likeable enough, they’re just not developed enough, Bryce lives on the edge of the camp like he lives on the edge of this book, Hild has potential also but she’s just there.
The plot is a little slow and yet also, somehow overwritten. You’ve got the issue of the attacks on Weohstan’s family, the betrayal, the battle, the scheming and the questions of inheritance. But then you’ve got this quite unnecessary dragon plot with Beowulf, a plot which is only fuelled by vague (and confusing) very brief chapters from the pov of the dragon Fyrdraca which don’t give you enough to either know or fear/hate this apparent threat the book is heading towards. Both plots, alongside an additional romance which takes up as much time if not more, is a little frustrating.
The villains in the scheming story are painfully obvious to the point everyone around them has got to be stupid to miss it. Like I said, the dragon isn’t built up enough to be feared and these sections are confusing in their tone. Had one story been committed to and dealt with properly I think this would have been more enjoyable.
Wiglaf is a ridiculous character, his jealousy, rage and cruelty is dastardly in its proportion for a character that freely walks unchallenged around characters who can’t see it. His narrative is bizarre, he wants to protect Fryda, his twin sister, he feels left out when she doesn’t need him, and yet you get whiplash after whiplash spending time with his thoughts. Maybe he’s meant to be complex but it just reads contradictory and inconsistent.
The writing style too is a little confusing, is this YA? Based on the amount of romance and the way the characters aged in their 20’s talk like teenagers. At one point the word “ar*ehole” is used, another time “c*nt” is used, all while set within a Nordic myth setting. It’s a little out of place.
At face level this isn’t a bad book in fact it is enjoyable. It’s just a little disjointed, a little underdeveloped and a little predictable. That said, it does still have good disability representation and a strong feminist character with some quality action scenes.
Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review
I’m a sucker for a weapon wielding female warrior tale, a historical story that puts women at the forefront. However, while this book definitely has its strong points, there were just a few elements that didn’t work for me.
I’ll start with the positive and that’s the main character Fryda. At the start of this story Fryda, in a bid to prove herself strong enough to be Shield Maiden and impress her cold father, goes out hunting alone and becomes injured in an earthquake. This earthquake in fact is to do with a dragon cursed beneath her and we later learn that some of that dragon’s power channels into Fryda. But I’m getting ahead of myself, during the earthquake Fryda’s hand becomes trapped and badly injured and for the rest of this book Fryda has limited use in this hand.
The beauty in this book lies in how disability is portrayed. Fryda experiences shame and she spends a lot of the book hiding her hand, set crooked when it healed, out of fear of how people treat her. However as the book goes on Fryda learns to accept herself for how she is, the book doesn’t cure Fryda, she’s a strong character who lives with her ailment alongside people who doubt her. Alongside this you also have Theow the slave who as a child was burned and has scars to show for it. Both these characters deal with ptsd and body issues from their scars and yet they nourish and reassure each other and it’s beautiful in that sense.
That said, the love story between Fryda and Theow is sweet enough but almost too sweet. These are both 2 characters with their own pain and trauma who help strengthen each other. Theow is a slave, Fryda the regents daughter, and on paper this should be a positive relationship with clear lines on consent, support and unity against the odds. The problem is though that Theow is just that, nice, too nice in fact, he’d die for Fryda, he risks himself constantly for Fryda, all he thinks about essentially is Fryda, he doesn’t feel like he exists on the page beyond her shadow.
In terms of other supporting characters, again they are likeable enough, they’re just not developed enough, Bryce lives on the edge of the camp like he lives on the edge of this book, Hild has potential also but she’s just there.
The plot is a little slow and yet also, somehow overwritten. You’ve got the issue of the attacks on Weohstan’s family, the betrayal, the battle, the scheming and the questions of inheritance. But then you’ve got this quite unnecessary dragon plot with Beowulf, a plot which is only fuelled by vague (and confusing) very brief chapters from the pov of the dragon Fyrdraca which don’t give you enough to either know or fear/hate this apparent threat the book is heading towards. Both plots, alongside an additional romance which takes up as much time if not more, is a little frustrating.
The villains in the scheming story are painfully obvious to the point everyone around them has got to be stupid to miss it. Like I said, the dragon isn’t built up enough to be feared and these sections are confusing in their tone. Had one story been committed to and dealt with properly I think this would have been more enjoyable.
Wiglaf is a ridiculous character, his jealousy, rage and cruelty is dastardly in its proportion for a character that freely walks unchallenged around characters who can’t see it. His narrative is bizarre, he wants to protect Fryda, his twin sister, he feels left out when she doesn’t need him, and yet you get whiplash after whiplash spending time with his thoughts. Maybe he’s meant to be complex but it just reads contradictory and inconsistent.
The writing style too is a little confusing, is this YA? Based on the amount of romance and the way the characters aged in their 20’s talk like teenagers. At one point the word “ar*ehole” is used, another time “c*nt” is used, all while set within a Nordic myth setting. It’s a little out of place.
At face level this isn’t a bad book in fact it is enjoyable. It’s just a little disjointed, a little underdeveloped and a little predictable. That said, it does still have good disability representation and a strong feminist character with some quality action scenes.
Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review