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sarahc0608 's review for:
Shield Maiden
by Sharon Emmerichs
I don't typically leave reviews but this book just irked me enough to review. I know it's fantasy and a retelling of part of the Beowulf poem, but the second I read that the story was set in the 900s, I knew I was going to have a hard time with this book.
I picked it up because I love Beowulf. I've read and studied the poem in the original Old English. And I think that's part of the reason I struggled so much with this. It took a lot of liberties with Beowulf that I just couldn't get behind. Which, to each their own, I guess. That doesn't necessarily make it bad, but it did impact my review.
It's entirely predictable. At no point was I surprised by anything that happened. Dialogue and actions were cliche. I've never read about so many hairpins springing loose from hair being ruffled. The characters are boring. Beowulf and Bryce are essentially the same character personality-wise. Fryda is extremely naive while somehow still beloved by everyone. She doesn't think about the consequences of her actions and how they could really impact Theow and Hild negatively.
On top of that, it felt choppy. I would go back to reread passages, thinking I missed something, only to find that I didn't miss anything, the author just failed to disclose it. Fryda being attacked in her room? Oh yeah, everyone had been drugged the night before, and Fryda mentions after the fact that she had felt off. No mention of this prior to Theow coming to recuse her. I think this can be attributed to the various POVs. Sometimes it would switch POV within the chapter. It was hard to keep track of whose viewpoint we were reading from.
And the dragon. The only real thing that ties this story to Beowulf besides character names. We get vague clips of the dragon's story throughout the book, none of which really make any sense or add to the story, imo. And then the dragon is barely there for the ending. It really felt like the dragon was crammed in there because it needed to be according to the original poem, not because it added anything to the story. The real drama is between Frida and Wiglaf; the dragon feels like it was just tacked-on because it had to be.
This story could be told without Beowulf. It's so separate from the Beowulf poem that you could change characters' names and it could be its own fantasy novel. It still has some major flaws regardless, so my one-star review would probably still stand.
I picked it up because I love Beowulf. I've read and studied the poem in the original Old English. And I think that's part of the reason I struggled so much with this. It took a lot of liberties with Beowulf that I just couldn't get behind. Which, to each their own, I guess. That doesn't necessarily make it bad, but it did impact my review.
It's entirely predictable. At no point was I surprised by anything that happened. Dialogue and actions were cliche. I've never read about so many hairpins springing loose from hair being ruffled. The characters are boring. Beowulf and Bryce are essentially the same character personality-wise. Fryda is extremely naive while somehow still beloved by everyone. She doesn't think about the consequences of her actions and how they could really impact Theow and Hild negatively.
On top of that, it felt choppy. I would go back to reread passages, thinking I missed something, only to find that I didn't miss anything, the author just failed to disclose it. Fryda being attacked in her room? Oh yeah, everyone had been drugged the night before, and Fryda mentions after the fact that she had felt off. No mention of this prior to Theow coming to recuse her. I think this can be attributed to the various POVs. Sometimes it would switch POV within the chapter. It was hard to keep track of whose viewpoint we were reading from.
And the dragon. The only real thing that ties this story to Beowulf besides character names. We get vague clips of the dragon's story throughout the book, none of which really make any sense or add to the story, imo. And then the dragon is barely there for the ending. It really felt like the dragon was crammed in there because it needed to be according to the original poem, not because it added anything to the story. The real drama is between Frida and Wiglaf; the dragon feels like it was just tacked-on because it had to be.
This story could be told without Beowulf. It's so separate from the Beowulf poem that you could change characters' names and it could be its own fantasy novel. It still has some major flaws regardless, so my one-star review would probably still stand.