Scan barcode
arual13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My favorite book! I absolutely love Norse mythology so having some of my favorite characters from that culture written into an excellent if somewhat dark and fucked up fantasy/love story was amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Torture, and Kidnapping
savshanae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is an absolute MASTERPIECE. Hands down one of my favorite standalone books. I tore through it and nearly started it over again as soon as I finished!
As the story continued I felt more and more attached to Angrboda and invested in her story, whatever form she took. The way Gornichec weaves together so many myths (and has notes to back it up at the end!) and draws the characters in a new light is nothing short of stunning. The portrayal of motherhood is raw and heartfelt, all while subtly highlighting the strengths (and weaknesses) of women.
10/10, no notes, just praise for this book!
As the story continued I felt more and more attached to Angrboda and invested in her story, whatever form she took. The way Gornichec weaves together so many myths (and has notes to back it up at the end!) and draws the characters in a new light is nothing short of stunning. The portrayal of motherhood is raw and heartfelt, all while subtly highlighting the strengths (and weaknesses) of women.
10/10, no notes, just praise for this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Alcohol
proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
After being burnt at the stake, not once, but three times, the witch Angrboda is injured and without her powers. She escapes to Ironwood, a forest on the outskirts of Jotunheim, where she decides to stay. There Loki, the trickster god, finds her and declares they should be friends. Angrboda doesn't trust him at first, but soon they’re in a relationship that will change the world.
I do love Norse (and Greek) mythology, so it wasn't really a surprise that this would be a book to my liking. But we all know that high hopes can go wrong, so I'm very pleased that I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Angrboda is a character I really love. She's set on her own path, while at the same time she's willing to sacrifice everything to save those she loves. Loki's always been a favorite of mine. Despite his selfishness and quirks he still seems to have his heart in the right place. I also have to mention Skadi, Angrboda's friend, who's always there for her. All the characters in this book feel so alive, as if I actually got to know them throughout the pages. Physically I'm done with The Witch's Heart, but emotionally it will stay with me for a while longer...
I do love Norse (and Greek) mythology, so it wasn't really a surprise that this would be a book to my liking. But we all know that high hopes can go wrong, so I'm very pleased that I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Angrboda is a character I really love. She's set on her own path, while at the same time she's willing to sacrifice everything to save those she loves. Loki's always been a favorite of mine. Despite his selfishness and quirks he still seems to have his heart in the right place. I also have to mention Skadi, Angrboda's friend, who's always there for her. All the characters in this book feel so alive, as if I actually got to know them throughout the pages. Physically I'm done with The Witch's Heart, but emotionally it will stay with me for a while longer...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I got very strong fanfiction-vibes from the start of this book, but in my opinion, this story lacks the best aspects of a good fanfiction: deep understanding of the characters and compelling interaction between them.
The Witch’s Heart is based on Norse mythology, perhaps a little bit too faithfully, because the different elements in this book create a jarring dichotomy. For example, the banter in this book feels modern and clashes with the mythological aspects of the story. No matter how horrific or bizarre the events get, the characters shrug them off without feeling any deeper emotions. (But Loki wearing a dress, that’s considered weird.)
I found the writing to be average, and at times I disagreed with the word choices the author chose to use. For example the word ‘snivel’ was used in many cases, for example: “(daughter) snivelled, sensing his (her father’s) distress”. And "she chewed dismally". Sometimes the words used paint a different picture than the author had perhaps intended.
The characters don’t feel well-rounded. And the interactions between the characters feel juvenile, especially since the world appears black and white in this book. Angrboda (the main character) is depicted by an innocent and peaceful woman, who is wrongfully persecuted by the evil Aesir. Her relationship with Loki lacks attraction, and because of the fanfiction-vibes, I was expecting there to be more steamy scenes in this book, but the relationship between Loki and Angrboda is lukewarm at best. (Warning, mild spoilers ahead!) Instead we get a sapphic romance that feels forced with zero attraction between the characters until they suddenly realise that they’ve been in love with each other all this time.
In the back cover it says that “Angrboda is an unforgettable heroine”, and I must say that I disagree with this completely. In the beginning of the book she is extremely passive, things just happen to her without much reaction from her. Around the middle of the book she has an overscaled and unjust (in my opinion) reaction and sets in motion a chain of events. If there is an unforgettable heroine in this story, it should have been Sigyn. What she endured was just as bad, and in fact, even worse than what Angrboda did.
The ending, which was meant to be profound and emotional achieved some of what it was trying to do, but still felt somewhat clichéd and so did parts of the dialogue.
The ending, which was meant to be profound and emotional achieved some of what it was trying to do, but still felt somewhat clichéd and so did parts of the dialogue.
And finally, things that I liked about this book (warning, spoilers ahead):
-
The banter in the beginning of the book. -
The reunion of Loki, Angrboda, Fenrir and Jormungand. -
Baldur -
Some scenes with Loki.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
tifftastic87's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
The main character of this story is as close to wet cardboard as a main character in any book I've ever read. She has just about as much agency too. I'm extremely disappointed because I was so hyped for it.
The book has this premise of "everyone always forgets that Angrboda wasn't just a monster mommy and Loki's wife" and then went the extra mile to make her nothing but a monster mommy who pines for Loki. She is described as this badass witch, but acts like a naive woman who can't do anything on her own. Loki is very much an angsty teen emo kid from 2008. This is supposed to be more based on the poems (Poetic Edda and Prose Edda) but you cannot convince me this isn't a fanfic of "what if MCU Loki was dropped into the actual myths?"
There is literally no reason given why Loki and Angrboda end up together or why she "loves" him before they hookup. He only comes to complain to her and get her help and then she's like "omg he smiled crooked and his hair is so curly" and marries him. She forgives him living a double life with a whole ass other family, which again I understand is the myth, but she could have had emotions over it other than the brief flashes of jealousy that she then feels guilty for. When Loki is present in her life he has the energy of a 90s sitcom dad. He brags about how much more the kids like him, gets them riled up before bed and then complains to "Boda" about things. So, then she feels like she's not good enough. It isn't until Loki calls the children monsters that she is ever outwardly angry at him. This kind of kicks off everything, but then after she bans him she lets him back! So the kids get taken and then she vows to not forgive him... and then forgives him!
She works forever to be able to contact Hel and when she finally does Hel rejects her. Which is fair honestly, but not done in a way that makes sense. However, when she can finally contact Fenrir and Jornumgand they are excited to see her, because "boy mom." She then convinces them not to eat Loki. For some reason, she just keeps forgiving him. They could have finished the myth out with each of them playing their parts without her forgiving him and having an emotional goodbye with him.
I will give it that the end wasn't predictable until at least the last 30 pages-ish. But that could also be that I wasn't paying much attention because I was so irritated.
I wasn't a fan of the writing style it was overly narrative with no prose. To the point it felt like reading the poems sometimes instead of a novel. So many sections (there are no chapters) started with "then one day" or a variation of and it was grating to me. A lot of the world building was done in weird asides. Example being when the raven's of Odin are introduced it says:
The book has this premise of "everyone always forgets that Angrboda wasn't just a monster mommy and Loki's wife" and then went the extra mile to make her nothing but a monster mommy who pines for Loki. She is described as this badass witch, but acts like a naive woman who can't do anything on her own. Loki is very much an angsty teen emo kid from 2008. This is supposed to be more based on the poems (Poetic Edda and Prose Edda) but you cannot convince me this isn't a fanfic of "what if MCU Loki was dropped into the actual myths?"
There is literally no reason given why Loki and Angrboda end up together or why she "loves" him before they hookup. He only comes to complain to her and get her help and then she's like "omg he smiled crooked and his hair is so curly" and marries him. She forgives him living a double life with a whole ass other family, which again I understand is the myth, but she could have had emotions over it other than the brief flashes of jealousy that she then feels guilty for. When Loki is present in her life he has the energy of a 90s sitcom dad. He brags about how much more the kids like him, gets them riled up before bed and then complains to "Boda" about things. So, then she feels like she's not good enough.
She works forever to be able to contact Hel and when she finally does Hel rejects her. Which is fair honestly, but not done in a way that makes sense. However, when she can finally contact Fenrir and Jornumgand they are excited to see her, because "boy mom." She then convinces them not to eat Loki. For some reason, she just keeps forgiving him. They could have finished the myth out with each of them playing their parts without her forgiving him and having an emotional goodbye with him.
I will give it that the end wasn't predictable until at least the last 30 pages-ish. But that could also be that I wasn't paying much attention because I was so irritated.
I wasn't a fan of the writing style it was overly narrative with no prose. To the point it felt like reading the poems sometimes instead of a novel. So many sections (there are no chapters) started with "then one day" or a variation of and it was grating to me. A lot of the world building was done in weird asides. Example being when the raven's of Odin are introduced it says:
"I didn't know that Odin sent his ravens out to disperse information," Angrboda said to the birds, who were named Hugin and Munin, Thought and Memory. They flew around the Nine Worlds each day before returning to tell their master all they'd seen.
Most world building was done in this way, a lot of telling and little showing.
Things I liked, Thor is played as dumb and angry and reactive and that kind of feels on brand with the poems I am most familiar with.
I gave it a couple of points for making me laugh at a couple of places, but I took a lot away for the disturbing (bigoted) way that it talked about Loki's gender fluidity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Vomit, and Cannibalism
nick13's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed most of this book, even with how weird it got at some parts, and would recommend it to anyone who considers themselves fans of Greek mythology, however, I will say the character development on several side characters left more to be desired with a certain few characters to be quite lacking for how important they end up being - the two sons that she births - but even so this book is still really solid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Animal death and Genocide
lilfirebird's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
deedireads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Witch’s Heart is a great addition to the feminist mythology retelling subgenre. Genevieve Gornichec gives Angrboda so much richness and depth, and I read it in a day.
For you if: You liked Madeline Miller’s Circe.
FULL REVIEW:
If you know me, you know I love mythology retellings about often-overlooked women. Up until now, most of my experience in that subgenre has been with Greek mythology: Circe, The Silence of the Girls, A Thousand Ships, etc. The Witch’s Heart, on the other hand, is Norse mythology — and I hope it will be the first of many Norse retellings I read.
This book is about Angrboda: thrice-burned witch, wife of the trickster Loki, and mother of the monsters fated to help defeat the gods in the great war Ragnarök. She sounds badass, right? Well, she is, but in The Witch’s Heart, she is so much more than that, too. Genevieve Gornichec gives her tenderness, depth, and humanity. She’s a woman who just wants to live in the woods in peace (and not burned at the stake again), a mother who just wants to raise and protect her children, and eventually, a witch determined to challenge fate itself. I really, really enjoyed it.
It feels kind of reductionist to compare this book to Madeline Miller’s Circe (keeping in mind, too, that I read Circe years ago), but it also feels like an accessible comparison, and I want more people to read this one. Both women are side characters in traditional mythology, and both authors have expanded and nuance-ified (yes I just made that word up) their lives and stories in interesting, engaging ways. Both books also have beautiful, storytelling-style prose.
Finally, a tip: There’s an appendix in the back that gives an overview of the characters, places, and races mentioned in the story, and I actually decided to read through it before I read the book itself. Since I knew actually nothing about Norse mythology before this, I found it really helpful and I think I enjoyed and appreciated the book more for it. That said, if you like to know absolutely nothing nada zilch about the plot before you read, then I’d say skip this step, or read it after.
TL;DR REVIEW:
The Witch’s Heart is a great addition to the feminist mythology retelling subgenre. Genevieve Gornichec gives Angrboda so much richness and depth, and I read it in a day.
For you if: You liked Madeline Miller’s Circe.
FULL REVIEW:
If you know me, you know I love mythology retellings about often-overlooked women. Up until now, most of my experience in that subgenre has been with Greek mythology: Circe, The Silence of the Girls, A Thousand Ships, etc. The Witch’s Heart, on the other hand, is Norse mythology — and I hope it will be the first of many Norse retellings I read.
This book is about Angrboda: thrice-burned witch, wife of the trickster Loki, and mother of the monsters fated to help defeat the gods in the great war Ragnarök. She sounds badass, right? Well, she is, but in The Witch’s Heart, she is so much more than that, too. Genevieve Gornichec gives her tenderness, depth, and humanity. She’s a woman who just wants to live in the woods in peace (and not burned at the stake again), a mother who just wants to raise and protect her children, and eventually, a witch determined to challenge fate itself. I really, really enjoyed it.
It feels kind of reductionist to compare this book to Madeline Miller’s Circe (keeping in mind, too, that I read Circe years ago), but it also feels like an accessible comparison, and I want more people to read this one. Both women are side characters in traditional mythology, and both authors have expanded and nuance-ified (yes I just made that word up) their lives and stories in interesting, engaging ways. Both books also have beautiful, storytelling-style prose.
Finally, a tip: There’s an appendix in the back that gives an overview of the characters, places, and races mentioned in the story, and I actually decided to read through it before I read the book itself. Since I knew actually nothing about Norse mythology before this, I found it really helpful and I think I enjoyed and appreciated the book more for it. That said, if you like to know absolutely nothing nada zilch about the plot before you read, then I’d say skip this step, or read it after.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity and Torture
tcameron85's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a wonderful spin on Norse mythology. I enjoyed it so much I had trouble putting it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Death and Kidnapping
Minor: Infidelity and Miscarriage
mooshake's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i kept missing the read button because i couldn't see through my tears
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Infidelity