Disclaimer: I received a free e-arc copy of this book from NetGalley. Thanks! I also went and bought my own copy of the book to finish off my reading of it.
Rating:
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 16+ (sexual references, trigger warning for sexual assault, violence, gore, and religion/religious dispute)
Pages: 352
Synopsis:
OND 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.
Okay, can I just say something crazy?! VIKINGS! I absolutely loved this book! It was so unique in so many aspects. Eelyn’s identity wasn’t partially tied into her romance with another character, the romance didn’t come into play until the end of the book, all of the characters had amazing character growth, and they were just very relatable and real. The writing was absolutely fantastic and this author has become an insta-purchase for me. I also want to praise the book for talking about religious acceptance. I talked about this in my rave video on the book on my YouTube channel, but to summarize: throughout the book the reader is told about these two different, but similar, religions that the Aska and the Riki have and cherish. But in the process of the story the reader comes to see that maybe while they worship different Gods they’re not as different as they appear to be. In my opinion, one of the main problems in today’s world is the lack of respect of other people’s religions. While I’m not a religious person I respect and try to be mindful of other’s religious preferences and beliefs. I liked how the book showed the character’s progression and acceptance of the other group despite their religious difference. The main character’s progression from absolute hatred for the Riki to accepting and being open minded about their beliefs, even though she didn’t sacrifice her own, was absolutely inspiring for me.
The only thing I felt needed a little more progression in the book was the world building. I feel that there was more to this world than what we had at the end of the novel, but for what we got it was well done. The book as a whole was extremely well done and I’d definitely buy a whole series of Eelyn and Myra’s adventures as… wait for it… VIKINGS!!!!!
Verdict: Break out your battle axe and grab this book today!
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