Blodeuedd Reviews: Path of Gods by Snorru Krist Jansson

Blurb:

Reunited, Audun and Ulfar have a new sense of purpose: to ensure that the North remains in the hands of those who hold with the old gods. To do this, they must defeat the people who seek to destroy all they have ever known with the new White Christ. But these are powerful enemies and if they have any chance of victory, they must find equally powerful allies.

In Trondheim, King Olav, self-appointed champion of the White Christ, finds that keeping the peace is a much harder test of his faith than winning the war. With his garrison halved and local chieftains at his table who wish him nothing but ill, the king must decide how and where to spread the word of his god.

And in the North, touched by the trickster god, something old, malevolent and very, very angry stirs…

My thoughts:

I think this one was the best of the series. I read it in a day, it felt so light. Just like it should. Many historical books put in useless facts that drags down the book. Here he balanced it well, I felt like I was there, and then he mixed it with mythology and made it believable.

Audun and Ulfar are back together. They are still immortal, and they know that things are happening. A big showdown is coming.

First we have King Olav, arghh he made me so mad! So raping women who do not believe in Christ is ok. You are going down Olav, you and your religion! I kept waiting for ships to sail...if you catch my meaning... *whistles*

But then we have the dark evil parts. Loki has a willing pawn who wants to start Ragnarrök. And that is not really ok. There is a lot of darkness going on there. You are going down Loki!

As you can see our two heroes who are not really heroes, just men, have their job cut out for them. Armies are marching. Trolls are coming. Loki is laughing and the Gods are watching.

I used to read a lot of his fic set around this time, but ever since I started reading in English not so much. A shame really, it's always interesting. It's fun, and this book is a mix of fiction and mythology. A great mix that works.

Hardcover

Expected publication: July 2nd 2015 by Jo Fletcher Books

The Valhalla Saga #3

Historical fiction /fantasy

For review

Book Review: Brailling for Wile by James Zerndt

Author: James Zerndt
Title: Brailling for Wile
Genre: Fiction
Pages: ebook
First Published: April 2015
Where I Got It: My shelf (given to me by the publisher/author for my unbiased opinion)

BRAILLING: Feeling the surface of a tile while your hand is in the bag in order to draw a blank or other specific letter. This is strictly forbidden. -from SCRABBLE’s Official Glossary

Brailling was something twelve-year-old Mattias Long learned to master during the games of Scrabble he used to play with his mother while they waited for his father, Wile, to close up the family restaurant. But now, one year after his father’s suicide, it’s Mattias who feels cheated. He hates his father. He hates him for leaving Mattias and his sister, Georgie, alone. He hates him for turning his mother into a young widow who hasn’t left the house in months. And he hates his father for leaving behind his stupid tree. Four of them are planted outside the restaurant, one for each family member, his father’s now casting the biggest shadow. That is until Mattias’s mother, no longer able to stand the sight of the tree, hires a local landscaper to remove it in the middle of the night. This seemingly unremarkable act soon sets in motion of series of events in the small Colorado ski town that leaves more than just young Mattias groping in the dark for answers.


Brailling For Wile is a unique novel told from multiple points of view about loss and the lengths some will go to heal the human heart. Ultimately, it is a story about lives being uprooted and what it takes to go on living even when everything in the world might be telling us it isn’t possible to. 


I adore the writing style of James Zerndt. This is my second novel by this author. I really must read the others, because he has a certain way with words and telling a story. He is the King of POVs. There are multiple POVs in this story, but it is done in a way where it doesn't take away from the story, but enhances it. Also, I do not get confused about who is talking. 

Sadly, I didn't connect with any of the characters. That is my only complaint, because I just couldn't relate or connect. However, that didn't really take away from the novel entirely. I did feel bad for Mattia and especially for Mattia's mom. The dad was a jerk and I resent him for killing himself....

Anyways....

This was a good, quick book about how the acts one person can impact many people even after the person is gone. WHICH I loved the whole symbolism behind the trees and scrabble. Beautifully done. At first I rolled my eyes about the connection of scrabble, but after a while it all connected with me and I actually grew to like it. 

There is not much else I can without spoiling the book for everyone, but yes, the ending was good and it fit. 


In the end, I highly recommend this for people who like people stories. This is a people book with a serious and horrible act of one person. I wish I could have connected the with characters, but I don't think it took away from the story even though i didn't connect with it. Out of five stars, I shall stamp this with 3 stars.

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Author: Gayle Forman
Title: If I Stay (If I Stay #1)
Genre: Fiction, YA, & fantasy
Pages: ebook
First Published: 2009
Where I Got It: Borrowed from friend

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

THE FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS! Ugh! Meh! 

Yes, this book made me feel....A LOT. I really felt bad for boyfriend, because he was just trying to play his video game and I kept spewing out emotions. Crying, anger, confusion, anguish, "awwwe" moments. and so forth. Once I was finished - yes, I finished in one sitting - I had to explain to him what was happening and why I felt the way I did. It was simply written, but man did it pack a punch.

I really connected with the story, because I had a stay in the hospital where no one could tell if I was going to make it, so yes, I kept putting myself in her shoes and I kept visualizing her friends and family as my friends and family. Gah, so the feels hurt even more when I was doing that. 

Especially with the grandpa's speech. He reminded me so much of my Grandpa Carol it hurt; we had a similar relationship, so it hurt even more. His speech made me sob like a baby, while I only had a tear for Adam's speech at the end. It was young love after all and I have my doubts about this couple. I think they could go the distance, if she stays, but they have a lot issues to work out. 

Speaking of which, I love the ending. The whole book you think Mia has the final decision. NOPE. She really doesn't and I am glad she didn't get to make the decision, because she was going to choose wrong and I was going to slap her. >__> However, the author made me happy. Ultimately, you do not get the choice to live or die; that is made FOR you. It was perfect and I loved it. Plus it was left open-ended in a way and that oddly pleased me. Normally these type of endings bug me, but I applaud of it was done and I felt it was appropriate for this story. 

I was not a fan of Adam. Nope. Can't tell you why, but nope.

I loved her family though! Why did they have to die? They were kickass parents and UGH!!!! I do love how they got to have their spotlight and it wasn't all about the love between Mia and Adam. Thank goodness. They were awesome characters. Sad they had to go though. :/

In the end, I really adored this book. It has been the first book in a looooooooooooooooooooooooong time to actually make me physically cry and feel such emotions and I finished it in one sitting. Good book. I am excited to see the movie even though I worry they are mainly going to focus on Adam and Mia, which will bum me out. This had a nice balance of flashbacks and current moments. They better have the grandpa's speech in that movie darnit! I highly recommend this for those that want a quick read that will tear your heart out, but make you think. Out of five stars, I stamp this with 5 stars. 

Blodeuedd Reviews: The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker

Blurb:

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.

Struggling to make their way in 1899 New York, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their immigrant neighbors while masking their true selves. Meeting by chance, they become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of folk mythology, historical fiction, and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.

My thoughts:

For me it felt like one of those more quiet books. It was a sort of folktale told, it was sweet, sad and made you wonder....

A man goes to a rabbi and tells him to make him a wife. And the rabbi makes a Golem, the best one ever made. Then Chava is brought to New York.

"Ahmad" is a djinni, free and curious. Until the day a wizard captures him and he awakes a thousand years later in New York.

They are both lost, not human, and trying to find their way. Trying to act as human as they can. To figure out what life really is. They will eventually meet and for a moment feel like they are not alone in the world.

I liked how the book was real, but at the same time, maybe there used to be Djinni, maybe there still are, but they have learned to be hidden. Maybe a rabbi of the old really could create a golem. So it works.

I already said it felt quiet, and it did. The pace was, ok not slow, but not fast. Stuff did not need to happen, we could just go with the flow, experience thing. It was the way this story had to be told and it worked splendidly that way.

Interesting and beautifully told.

Paperback, 484 pages

Published April 2013 by Blue Door

Fiction

Own