A review by ladyfives
The Goddess of Nothing At All, by Cat Rector

5.0

At least in Hel, I’d have a seat at the table.

i can’t remember the last book that made me cry at the end but okay

This is seriously a triumph. Immense Circe vibes in the absolute best way. I’d been yearning for a book that would again deliver that incredible sense of scale, breadth of life and experience, uncomfortably close intimacy with a character…all that pain… I think it requires such a skilled hand to take that much time and that much story and make it into something cohesive that never lets go of its power (especially when the readers are lazy like me and take a month to read it) but WOW, Cat Rector did it. I need to lie down.

My only experience with Norse myth is the Neil Gaiman retellings and circa 2011 Tom Hiddleston gifs sneaking on my tumblr dashboard no matter how many tags I blocked. The tales are incredibly bizarre and fantastically gruesome. So reading GoNaa, I went from being like, “oh neat, I recognise that name, this is the myth where they get Mjolnir!” to “oh no, I recognise that name, this is going to hurt to read, isn’t it?”

Spoiler

Ughh, the sinking in my stomach every time Vali became a wolf…

The past wouldn’t matter, because I’d be sitting alongside my family, not in their shadows but in their light.

My favourite part is that I was there. I fell for Loki as Sigyn did, mourned for him, fought for him, and hated him. I understood the gods’ hate for Loki and Sigyn even when she didn’t. I felt weird, terrible relief when she was done with Loki, as well as when she fell for him again. When going through my bookmarks for quotes for this review, I found some of the earlier chapters, and was just remembering happy times. :’’’)

I think it’s one thing to make a great plot, and another to make a triumphant and painful emotional journey, and that journey requires the reader to buy in — I was there the whole way. I’m talking in circles, but really this was an experience and I’m just HERE FOR IT.

Not only was it romantic and agonizing and satisfying, it was also funny — despite the overall grim tone, it isn’t afraid to lean into the bizarreness of the myths

Spoiler

though just when you’re busy thinking the Loki-having-a-horse-son thing is funny yOU JUST WAIT—

and the often silly characters:

“It’s just a hammer.”
“It’s not just a hammer. It’s my hammer, and I’ve been telling everyone about it and killing everyone with it, and if the realms find out it’s gone, then not only will everyone want to pick a fight with me, I’ll look like an idiot.”
Loki cackled. “Don’t you always?”

I’ll go lie down now. I am so happy to finally have another book to fit alongside the very, very narrow genre of sweeping, heartfelt mythology retellings that aren’t dry or all about the heroes. This was about war, trauma, infectious hate, so very much blood, and Ragnarok, but it was also about family, love, and forgiveness.

One more killer quote for the road:

“There’s no need for a war.”
“No,” Skadi said, a grin splitting her face. “You wouldn’t want a war with us. Because one day, you’ll get one, and you know as well as everyone else that one of those wars will end you. So. What will you give me?”

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.