Odin's Child

Absolutely fantastic. The story has amazing pacing especially for a large book. The problems and ways they are faced feel authentic. The plot kept me feeling like I knew more than the main character... and then realizing I knew nothing at all.
It was such a clever way to introduce Norse Mytholodgy espeically from a different view than I've had it before at least. I feel so grateful this was translated over. It is one of my favorite books now, and I can hardly wait to go read the rest of the series.

If you enjoy fantasy with both political intrigue and action along with mytholodgy and retellings... check this one out!

First, thank you to NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows a young woman named Hirka. She has grown up her whole life believing her tail was taken by wolves when she was a baby. One day, her father reveals that her life is not as it seems. In a world run by a Council who work for the Seer, and where ravens are holy symbols, Hirka must discover who she is and what she can do to stop the coming war.

The premise of this book was unique and interesting. It set a very dark tone from the beginning. However, I think the pacing was off throughout a lot of the book. There were multiple times where I would get confused about what was going on because I felt like we had time jumped without any preamble or explanation. I am still confused on a lot of the magic system. It's never fully explained what the Might is or how it's used. I was waiting for something to happen that would make it make sense, but it never came. I'm not sure if these problems are because this book wasn't originally written in English, so things might have been lost in translation, but it made some of my reading experience jarring at times. This made the middle of the book feel very boring at times. The beginning drew me in, and then it felt like it took a long time for me to get interested again.

I really enjoy Hirka and Rime as characters. I especially enjoyed their character development throughout the novel. They both started as naïve children who were forced to grow up pretty quickly. Their ending was a HUGE cliffhanger, and this alone is making me want to read the sequel.

Overall, the premise of this book is strong, and the characters are complex and interesting. However, the pacing is very weird and can definitely draw you out of the story for a bit.

TW: sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence, drug use, suicide