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A review by lezreadalot
Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox
2.0
Lmao this was such a baffling book. It was not... good, that's for certain, but it was good enough that I feel vaguely bad about sending it to keep company with some of the other books that I've given two stars.
The good:
- Listened to the audiobook as read by Hamish Long. He had a great voice and did very distinctive character voices that I really enjoyed. Especially for Fenrir.
- The romance was sometimes heart clenchingly good. As I will mention, I don't know that either of these characters were particularly good or will have any lasting effect on me, but their romance! So very tender and strong; it was just... great. This was just a really romantic book.
- Harper Fox has some very pretty writing!
Before I start on my dislikes, I guess I should mention what I didn't mind. This takes place more than a millennium ago, a historical period that you just don't see a lot of romance written in, and which I imagine is a lot harder to research than, say, the Victorian era. I have my doubts about the historical accuracy of... so many things in this book lmao, but I also genuinely don't care that much! I'm here for the romos and the general history, and if I read something that makes me go 'huh, that doesn't sound right' I eventually forget about it.
(Most times. I am fickle.)
So yeah my dislikes have nothing to do with historical accuracy or lack thereof. That said:
- This was was too long. Too too long. Nothing much happened in it and I don't understand how there was 13 hours of it.
- I didn't like either of these characters. I didn't dislike them either, but there wasn't that temporary bond I oftentimes form with characters of the novel I'm reading. I didn't care about them. I spent so much time with them and I feel like I should know them by heart but I truly don't. Their romance was cute but by themselves? Could not care less.
- This book stagnates. In that... hmm, how to explain. There were of course periods of action and battle and that was fine and good. But... for example, I really hated how the problem of Aelfric just... existed for so long, and Cai made the decision to just leave him be, multiple times, and he just went on being the antagonist, living in their midst. I understand that Cai obviously couldn't just kill him, but it felt so weird to have this big glaring problem right in their midst for so long, while he keeps causing trouble. The book just didn't deal with him. The entire book felt like that, like I was waiting for something to happen, and nothing happened so much as it meandered into the plot.
- There was so much un-lubricated sex in this book dear god.
- I really wish it had revealed sooner whether or not there were paranormal elements or not for real... it felt like we were in some very silly type of limbo.
- The entire secret/plot of the book got dropped like a stone for aaaaaaages at a time, and the big reveal was anticlimactic in the extreme.
These feel like very benign nitpicks, especially compared to some other books I've read, but the fact remains that it just wasn't particularly good. I'm so confused by this book lol.
2.5 stars.
The good:
- Listened to the audiobook as read by Hamish Long. He had a great voice and did very distinctive character voices that I really enjoyed. Especially for Fenrir.
- The romance was sometimes heart clenchingly good. As I will mention, I don't know that either of these characters were particularly good or will have any lasting effect on me, but their romance! So very tender and strong; it was just... great. This was just a really romantic book.
- Harper Fox has some very pretty writing!
Before I start on my dislikes, I guess I should mention what I didn't mind. This takes place more than a millennium ago, a historical period that you just don't see a lot of romance written in, and which I imagine is a lot harder to research than, say, the Victorian era. I have my doubts about the historical accuracy of... so many things in this book lmao, but I also genuinely don't care that much! I'm here for the romos and the general history, and if I read something that makes me go 'huh, that doesn't sound right' I eventually forget about it.
(Most times. I am fickle.)
So yeah my dislikes have nothing to do with historical accuracy or lack thereof. That said:
- This was was too long. Too too long. Nothing much happened in it and I don't understand how there was 13 hours of it.
- I didn't like either of these characters. I didn't dislike them either, but there wasn't that temporary bond I oftentimes form with characters of the novel I'm reading. I didn't care about them. I spent so much time with them and I feel like I should know them by heart but I truly don't. Their romance was cute but by themselves? Could not care less.
- This book stagnates. In that... hmm, how to explain. There were of course periods of action and battle and that was fine and good. But... for example, I really hated how the problem of Aelfric just... existed for so long, and Cai made the decision to just leave him be, multiple times, and he just went on being the antagonist, living in their midst. I understand that Cai obviously couldn't just kill him, but it felt so weird to have this big glaring problem right in their midst for so long, while he keeps causing trouble. The book just didn't deal with him. The entire book felt like that, like I was waiting for something to happen, and nothing happened so much as it meandered into the plot.
- There was so much un-lubricated sex in this book dear god.
- I really wish it had revealed sooner whether or not there were paranormal elements or not for real... it felt like we were in some very silly type of limbo.
- The entire secret/plot of the book got dropped like a stone for aaaaaaages at a time, and the big reveal was anticlimactic in the extreme.
These feel like very benign nitpicks, especially compared to some other books I've read, but the fact remains that it just wasn't particularly good. I'm so confused by this book lol.
2.5 stars.