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

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

24 reviews

booklifeisthelife's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a mostly enjoyable read. I know next to nothing about Norse mythology so almost everything that happened was a surprise to me. I liked Angrboda as a character for the most part. She was just a woman who wanted to live in peace, away from those who could and would harm her and her family. This wasn't my favorite Loki interpretation but I can't say it's inaccurate from the little I know anyway. I wish he had been a better husband and father though. The fact that he continually chose the gods who mocked, neglected and disrespected him over Angrboda and his kids who always chose him and loved him, blew my mind, frustrated me and hurt my heart. The pacing of this was so very slow. I really did like the everyday aspects, the normalcy and just living day by day but there was so much of it, it dragged on. I didn't love Loki and Angrboda's relationship. She deserved better and

I'm glad she did with Skadi. Skadi and her had a healthier, more supportive relationship than the one she had with Loki.

There was so much sadness and heart hurting in this book. I really wished for their happiness. Now onto some things that I didn't like or that stood out to me.

I did not like how Hell treated Angrboda when they first reunited. It was not fair at all. I don't understand how they can say Hell saw and understood so much yet knew nothing of Angrboda and what she had been up to. I know she was hurt and young but it was still really upsetting. I'm happy she eventually came around (thanks to Loki) and they had some happy moments together before everything happened. I was happy she had a better reunion with her sons than she did her daughter but I also wished they had more time. They barely got to reunite before Jörmungand and Fenrir died. It also bugged me a lot that not only did Loki call his kids monsters and think it occasionally, Hell called her brothers monsters too. It was never explained why she changed her view on them and it was never brought up again after she said it. Then at the end when Loki, Skadi and her wolf companion (sorry, forget her name) came to her as dead souls, I was very confused why Fenrir and Jörmungand weren't there? Is that some mythology I don't know of? I wish she had been able to see them off.

All in all, this was a mostly enjoyable read/listen but I couldn't get too into it.

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courtsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-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

Angrboda, a witch with the ability to see the future, has found herself burned for her knowledge and her magic by Odin. However, she escapes death and creates a new home in the forest. When Loki appears at her doorstep, we discover a love that defies understanding and the birth of three magical children. In fear of the abilities of the children and Angrboda, Odin and the Aesir must decide how to avoid the foreboding possibility of Ragnarok.

This is truly a saga of the gods. Angrboda's personality and decisions felt real and relatable while the gods seemed ruthless and selfish. I was drawn in from the beginning with the appearance of Loki. I did not know this Norse story, but I am familiar with Ragnarok. As such, I was captivated by the origins of Hel, Fenrir, and Jörmungandr. Gornichec allows the reader connect with them individually as they grow. As I am greatly intrigued by Norse mythology, I found this novel to be informative and accessible to one who has only a little prior knowledge.

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daniellekat's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

1.0

The worst book I've read all year and if I hadn't been reading it for a book club it would have been a swift DNF. Writing majorly correlates to my enjoyment of a book so it's really no surprise that I hated this. The writing was SO BAD - the dialogue was terrible, there were so many repetitive descriptions, and the book was just way too long. The plot was a long series of Norse myths (somewhat tied together but most just thrown together) and the author didn't do enough to explain some of these ideas to the reader (especially one unfamiliar with the mythology).

Mostly, I felt like the book had a lot of rising action with very little payoff.

Needless to say I will not be reading this author again.

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nat20charisma's review against another edition

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5.0

For fans of Circe; a modern retelling of Norse mythology. The author does a great job showing the quick passing of time while also making it feel natural.

Tragedy with a satisfying conclusion.

I don’t love the pregnancy trope usually, but this was done in a way that didn’t feel odd or uncomfortable.

Gotta love the LGBTQ+ representation. And a strong female main character with a found family.

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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.

Content Warnings

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.

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

spworley's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

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