Series: Loki #2
Release Date: 17th May 2018
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 320
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy to review.
Synopsis
Ragnarok was the End of Worlds.
Asgard fell, centuries ago, and the old gods have been defeated. Some are dead, while others have been consigned to eternal torment in the netherworld – among them, the legendary trickster, Loki. A god who betrayed every side and still lost everything, who has lain forgotten as time passed and the world of humans moved on to new beliefs, new idol and new deities . . .
But now mankind dreams of the Norse Gods once again, the river Dream is but a stone’s throw from their dark prison, and Loki is the first to escape into a new reality.
The first, but not the only one to. Other, darker, things have escaped with him, who seek to destroy everything that he covets. If he is to reclaim what has been lost, Loki will need allies, a plan, and plenty of tricks . . .
Review
This is the second of Joanne Harris’s books featuring the trickster God Loki. I absolutely loved The Gospel of Loki so I was really excited to return to this series. In this instalment Ragnarok has occurred, Asgard has fallen and Loki has very few options. By chance he escapes eternal torment only to end up sharing the body of a young teenage girl.
One of the things I really adored about this book is the way that Joanne Harris writes this series. Loki is of course a trickster, he’s mischievous and scheming and that really comes across in the narrative. It’s very much like you’re sitting down with Loki and he’s regaling you with his greatest feats. I loved seeing things from his perspective and watching as he managed to worm his way out of every situation.
The Testament of Loki really was an emotional read. There were bits I was laughing (Loki attempting to understand the modern world of mobile phones and pizza) to the sadder moments as Loki grows as a person and learns to care about people other than himself. I really liked Jumps, (Loki’s host) she was a fascinating character and she had a terrific amount of character development as she dealt with her problems and became who she wanted to be.
The story is fun and fast paced, with plenty of Loki’s schemes leaving you wondering what on Earth he’s going to do next. These books are such a fun and accessible way to learn about Norse mythology and I can’t recommend them highly enough.
The story follows a family who live in an everlasting winter. The scene is set beautifully and the icy landscape is lushly described in the book. I could almost feel the icy winds and see the frozen forest that Mila and her family live. The story definitely felt reminiscent of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and if anything that made me love this book even more.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has really touched my heart – it’s such a sweet and cute story and I think it’s wonderful that it’s getting so much recognition at the moment – recognition it really deserves. Lara Jean is a really fantastic character, she’s so adorable, she lives in her head spending more time imagining things than living them. She’s relatable and shows an immense amount of character depth in this book.
Middle grade normally isn’t the kind of book that I read but this sounded like such a fascinating read that I couldn’t resist. After racing through it in a single sitting I am now desperate for more of Cassidy and her best friend Jacob.
Series: The Hazel Wood #1
The first half of the book I absolutely fell in love with. I loved the mystery surrounding the Hazel Wood. Where was it located? What was really behind the gates? There were so many questions and these creepy fairy tale characters kept appearing which made me desperate for me. At this point I felt the book could easily have been a five star all time favourite read, but for some reason as soon as Alice reached the Hinterland I felt the book fell a little flat. I felt like the story was racing towards the end and Id didn’t get the opportunity to enjoy it.
Through the woods features five different stories told in graphic novel form. The art is haunting and beautiful. The stories are told in a fairy tale style, but with a much darker and chilling twist. I really liked this section:
I found the pacing for this book to be quite off, the first few chapters were incredibly slow and I had to put the book down for a week and go back to it – which isn’t really something I do. I then felt the later chapters that had quite important scenes in them completely raced through and I didn’t get enough detail.
The story centres on a surprise conversation through a puzzle book, and the protagonists subsequent attempts to find out who the person writing back is. I don’t read an awful lot of chick-lit but I this struck me as a really interesting and unique take, so I was really excited to pick it up. It was definitely worth it, I really enjoyed Cassy’s antics as she attempts to juggle her work life and find out who this mystery man is.
I found it difficult to pick just one book for this because I have quite a few spooky books I’m dying to read. I decided to go with Easy Prey by Catherine Lo as it’s coming out in October and means I can get a review up when I’m done. Easy Prey is a mystery following three high school students who are suspected or releasing racy pictures of a teacher online. Each of them has a motive, but which one is guilty? This sounds so intriguing and I can’t wait to read it!
This book was completely different to what I expected. There were plenty of really funny moments as the alien attempts to understand why we do the things we do and I really enjoyed this unusual concept, however the main focus of this story is what it means to be human. It read like an in depth study into human nature.
The Bibliophile Chronicles 