A review by doctorbrew
A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A lot of book two focuses on Freya’s decentering of men and feminine rage. Her connection to Hel literally personifies that rage. A woman finding and wielding her power in a world ruled by men is a dangerous thing in their eyes. The book delves into the questions of morality in war, “othering” perceived enemies, emotional and mental abuse, men’s lust for power, the objectification of women (in more ways than one), and most importantly consent. I do feel the book feels rushed at times. Some character deaths fall very flat to me because I felt the scene needed to breath more to truly encapsulate grief in an appropriate way. Like
Snorri’s death. Bjorn literally just finds out he’s been the victim of narcissistic abuse and manipulated into killing both of his parents and nearly has no overwhelming breakdown over this. Finding out nearly everything in your adult life is a lie and your primary caretaker has cruelly and purposefully deceived you would be devastating for anyone. Let alone finding out your mother has truly been dead all this time and now you’ve just killed your own father too. I felt the same rushed pacing when we find out Freya’s brother died, her killing an entire fleet of her own people and condemning them to Helheim, and even when she inevitably kills Harald. All of these scenes would’ve benefited with extra time and more emotional weight. I know the point was not to see Freya as weak, but I think overwhelming anxiety from her power over Death as well as her innate desire to weird it could have hit harder if we’d gotten more of that grief and anxiety and mistrust of herself.
Other than that, I did enjoy this series. I felt very sad it was over. I did enjoy book one more than two, but the ending still holds its own and portrays redemption, female empowerment by means of reclaiming your voice, your story, and your truth, and recognizing the many faces of sacrifice. This series is easy to enjoy, the characters are memorable, flawed, and likable. And most importantly, I feel the love between the two main characters is actually believable. I still stand by not loving the insta-lust in book one, but it’s clear to me they do love, like, and respect one another. I’m going to miss my fishwife and firehand.
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