A review by reka111
A vér szövetsége by Genevieve Gornichec

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

One of you clouds the futures of the others. For better or worse, your fates are intertwined

Genevieve did it again, she enchanted me. I liked this book as much as The Witch's Heart, but it didn't have such a strong effect on me. Honestly, I've been waiting for decades to read it, and now I regret waiting so long because I liked it immensely.

Gunnhild was probably my favourite, not only because she was so strong and cunning, but also because she had a bit of Angrboda in her—at least in my opinion, anyway, I really liked her. Signy and Oddny (whose names I read through half the book as Odin and Sigyn) have been through so much, especially the former, but I believe their wounds will heal, and their broken parts will heal again because they deserve it, more than anything. Although the former was not in the book, I was terribly hurt by her absence, I was excited about her along with Oddny and Gunnhild, I really was. Of the other characters, Erik may stand out, and for good reason; A king cannot be overlooked. He was a terribly difficult and complicated character, maybe he could have done better, but eventually he shows that he is capable of compassion and forgiveness, he was not a monster, but he was not an angel. 

The plot was easy to follow, and I really liked that this time we were transported back to the Scandinavian 10th century (the Norwegian one). So much, so much I needed a historical fantasy for my soul, oh my goodness! Although there are scattered foreign words in the text, they do not make reading difficult at all. The phrasing was beautiful — as always. The only problem I had was the pace, which was too fast for me and there were plenty of time jumps, but apart from that, it was perfectly fine.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings