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A review by deedireads
The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
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