ARC, 334 pages
Release Date: April 24, 2018Published by: Wednesday Books
Read from: April 18-22, 2018Stand-aloneSource: EdelweissFor fans of: Fantasy, Romance, Vikings, YAOND ELDR. BREATHE FIRE.
Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.
Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.
She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.
*MY THOUGHTS*
OK… *takes deep breath* I was SO excited for this…. Especially with one of the taglines being “Part Wonder Woman, Part Vikings” but when I finally sat down to read it, I have to say, I’m majorly disappointed.
“The only thing cutting deeper than the agony of the arrows was the knowledge that he was a traitor.“pg. 40
Eelyn has been a warrior since birth. She’s fought alongside her friend and her late brother. Until she finds out, there’s nothing wrong with her brother at all. She immediately tries to get to him when she’s captured. This makes her decide if she wants to trust him or not at all.
“It was what we’d been taught out entire lives- regr yfir fjor- honor above life.“pg. 51
So, the main thing I didn’t care for about this book was the fact that there is NO back story. I seriously felt like I was missing some HUGE really telling prequel or something. Like the feeling you get when you read the sequel to something but you’ve forgotten everything that’s happened in the first one. There is a bit of the explanation in the book, but it’s seriously like a couple paragraphs and it happens so late in the book. By then I was already confused. If you have written a fantasy book, I’m expecting a fully developed world with details and information. To me, this one didn’t have that.
“[he] is a prisoner you kept as a pet.“pg. 64
I also wasn’t a fan of the synopsis. Every plot twist that’s in the book, is in the synopsis. There was nothing huge that made me go O_O. This is another staple for me in books. I like for there to be surprises and “OMG’s” in books. This one had none of that. Like seriously, the synopsis is exactly what happens in the book.
“A woman was as likely to die in childbirth as she was to die in battle.“pg. 117
What I DID like was the fight scenes. I LOVED how grusome some of it was. Strange coming from a person who’s favorite genre is contemp romance lol but I really was into the fight scenes. At one time I did find myself gasping outloud because it was really gross, but then it wasn’t too bad, as Young doesn’t dwell on it for very long.
“Believe what you like […] The … is an omen. […] And omens often bring change.“pg. 205
I also kind of liked the romance. Although it was easy to see how their story plays out, it was good to see a slow-burn type romance. It was so interesting to see how she melted to him and how she changed over the book to let more people in. Eelyn wasn’t my favorite character ever, but it was good to see her change.
“We die fighting or we die hiding. Which would you choose?“pg. 288
I know there has been SO MUCH HYPE surrounding this book, but as it turns out, this is just not the book for me. It had potential, but there were so many things that ruined it for me. I’m still interested in seeing what else Young writes, but for now, this one didn’t do it for me.
Overall, I give this
Oh, no! I was super pumped for this one, that's such a bummer there was no backstory and ALL THE TWISTS were already REVEALED, WHAT!? Not cool.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I probably won't be rushing to pick this one up any time soon.