A review by see_sadie_read
Liesmith by Alis Franklin
4.0
I thought that this was quite clever. That alone would be enough for me. But paired with how darned CUTE Sigmund was, makes it's a real winner for me. I just wanted to grab all his über-geeky, low self-esteem (what he would call realistic self-appraisal), hipster envy, good boyness and hug it and love it and call it George. I adored him. Plus, he's a not a cookie-cutter, Ken-shaped, white main character. He's plump and dark. Maybe with some Maori ancestry, but that's never clarified. I loved it, even more since this was played all sorts of cool, as if it wasn't some rare gem to be treasured when found in a book.
The story itself is quite convoluted and, honestly, readers would be well served to have at least a basic understanding of Norse mythology. I'm not saying that it's not understandable if you don't, but I think it will be more enjoyable if you do. But beyond the story of the machinations of the gods there is a lot to enjoy here. The romance is slow and sweet. It never progresses beyond a kiss, but it's obvious the end goal is love not lust. *sigh* And there is just tons and tons of Gamer/Trekkie/Trekker/Ringer/comic book/Star Wars/DnD/etc nerddom to revel in. It's glorious in its own way, but not over-played. Plus, Sigmund is never disparaged for his interests. In fact, he's quite comfortable in who and what he is.
With the tangled plot, I did find it a little hard to keep up with on occasion, it seemed to slow down and drag for a while in the Helbleed, friends accepted the impossible with aplomb, and the ending is left a little 'we'll figure it out eventually' open. But for the most part I found this a really enjoyable read.
The story itself is quite convoluted and, honestly, readers would be well served to have at least a basic understanding of Norse mythology. I'm not saying that it's not understandable if you don't, but I think it will be more enjoyable if you do. But beyond the story of the machinations of the gods there is a lot to enjoy here. The romance is slow and sweet. It never progresses beyond a kiss, but it's obvious the end goal is love not lust. *sigh* And there is just tons and tons of Gamer/Trekkie/Trekker/Ringer/comic book/Star Wars/DnD/etc nerddom to revel in. It's glorious in its own way, but not over-played. Plus, Sigmund is never disparaged for his interests. In fact, he's quite comfortable in who and what he is.
With the tangled plot, I did find it a little hard to keep up with on occasion, it seemed to slow down and drag for a while in the Helbleed, friends accepted the impossible with aplomb, and the ending is left a little 'we'll figure it out eventually' open. But for the most part I found this a really enjoyable read.