carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

This was an excellent book! I was really quite surprised by just how much I ended up liking this one. I try to go into books as blindly as possible so I didn't read the summary of this book too closely and as a result, I was really quite surprised by some of the turns the story ended up taking. This was the kind of book that I found myself reaching anytime I had a moment to spare. I am so glad that I took a chance on this gem of a book.

Hanne and her siblings posses a gift. Or maybe a curse depending on how you look at it. Hanne doesn't see it as a gift. She is a Berserker which means that anytime someone she cares for is in danger she loses control to the Nytte and people die. Hanne doesn't want to be someone who kills so she really struggles with this gift. She must eventually flee Norway with her siblings after one of her murderous rages.

I really liked the characters in this story. Hanne was so easy to like and her struggle with her different sides felt authentic. Her elder brother, Stieg, has his own gift which proves to be rather useful to the family. Stieg is a really even tempered and intelligent man. Knut also has a gift and is the quietest of the siblings but he possessed a certain wisdom. Sissel was the youngest sibling and the most difficult of the group. I am not sure that I really cared for her character but I think she added a needed element to the group.

When I started reading this book, I had no idea that the story would soon shift to the American frontier. The change in setting was really well done. I could completely envision the small towns and wilderness that this group encountered. I think the combination of the frontier setting and the Norse mythology worked perfectly in this little story and I found it to be really exciting. There were a few sections of the book that were a bit more violent that I would have expected but it worked well with the story.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This book is listed as being the first in a series but this story stands on its own. This was the first book written by Emmy Laybourne that I have had the chance to read but I am eager to read more of her work including future installments in this series.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group - Feiwel & Friends via NetGalley.

Initial Thoughts

I really liked this book. It was very different than I had imagined it would be which was wonderful. I loved the characters and the premise of the story.