A review by katkinney
Steel Hand, Cold Heart by Rachel Menard
5.0
I LOVED this Viking-warrior YA story. Carina has grown up in a society where women rule, where she has trained since she was old enough to wield an axe and a knife to kill a man in multiple ways, and is now old enough to go out on her first raid. One of her hands has been replaced with a steel one. She must prove herself to the woman who raised her—who also took her from her biological parents on a raid much like the ones she now goes out on years ago.
The world building is superb, the descriptions absolutely delightful, and I fell in love with the characters and the harshness of Carina’s world. Things quickly shift gears as she finds herself a captive with Flavian, Nik and Mateo holding her prisoner on a ship. The scenes out at sea were wonderfully described and some of my favorites with a wonderful Viking/pirate feel! But why she’s been captured and where she’s being taken isn’t immediately clear. Not to worry, Carina will likely murder them all before morning. I loved the twists and turns that came as we got further in. I also loved the diversity of the characters—having strong female characters, LGBT characters, and characters with disabilities. The way A wonderful read!
Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
The world building is superb, the descriptions absolutely delightful, and I fell in love with the characters and the harshness of Carina’s world. Things quickly shift gears as she finds herself a captive with Flavian, Nik and Mateo holding her prisoner on a ship. The scenes out at sea were wonderfully described and some of my favorites with a wonderful Viking/pirate feel! But why she’s been captured and where she’s being taken isn’t immediately clear. Not to worry, Carina will likely murder them all before morning. I loved the twists and turns that came as we got further in. I also loved the diversity of the characters—having strong female characters, LGBT characters, and characters with disabilities. The way
Spoiler
the stone and the priestess and Mateo’s connection to Carina developed over the course of the story made for a great read. There were lovely hints of romance between her and Nik.Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.