Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Witch's Heart

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The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

35 reviews

kyeruhh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Very slow in the beginning but the back half is fantastic. It’s definitely not an action packed myth retelling but I really enjoyed it. I put off finishing it for over a week bc I didn’t want to say goodbye to the characters.

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proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

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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...

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squidreads12's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I thought this book was going to be gayer.

And it was, eventually, but it kind of seemed like an afterthought. The twists at the end were pretty interesting, and I’ve really been in this groove with reading mythological retellings. I just think that on the heels of reading A Song of Achilles (pun absolutely intended) and Circe, I had super high expectations for these kind of books. While still quite good, it didn’t have the same kind of lyricism as Madeline Miller. Although I suppose that’s more fitting for a Norse-inspired novel though.

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braveprincess11's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am stunned, I am shattered… this book is absolutely brilliant.

I had only passing knowledge of Norse mythology and the events of Ragnarok - enough to recognize some names, but little enough that the entire story was new to me.

Genevieve Gornichec has put so much heart and personality and humanity into names of mythology that it’s left me absolutely speechless. I got sucked right into the world of Ironwood & Asgard, and every single moment necessitates it’s being there. There’s nothing extra or distracting; it all adds to the overall tale. It’s brilliant & I can’t wait to see what Gornichec does next

The parallels of Hel & Baldur to Angrboda & Loki at the end absolutely shattered my heart - even the dialogue upon his return was a near perfect mimic. And them telling their children the tales of the gods & the worlds beforehand, where Angrboda could not tell Hel and her brothers about the Jarnvidur, since she couldn’t remember her previous lives…

I’m shattered. It’s beautiful, brilliant, stunning…

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singalana's review against another edition

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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.

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.

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tifftastic87's review against another edition

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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:

"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.

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redheadorganist's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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ncoletti's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ka_ke's review against another edition

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I don’t mind slow pacing, but I can’t stand reading about pregnancy for chapters on end. I would recommend avoiding this book if you have no desire to experience pregnancy, childbirth or parenthood.

What could have been a story of adventure, romance and diversity turned into a book about women becoming mothers simply because that was expected of them.

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