Title: The Weight of a Soul
Author: Elizabeth Tammi
Genre: YA Fantasy/Mythology
Pages: 320
Edition Read: eARC from NetGalley
Series: none that I can find
Blurb: When Lena’s younger sister Fressa is found dead, their whole Viking clan mourns—but it is Lena alone who never recovers. Fressa is the sister that should’ve lived, and Lena cannot rest until she knows exactly what killed Fressa and why—and how to bring her back. She strikes a dark deal with Hela, the Norse goddess of death, and begins a new double life to save her sister.
But as Lena gets closer to bringing Fressa back, she dredges up dangerous discoveries about her own family, and finds herself in the middle of a devastating plan to spur Ragnarök –a deadly chain of events leading to total world destruction.
Still, with her sister’s life in the balance, Lena is willing to risk it all. She’s willing to kill. How far will she go before the darkness consumes her?
Review: This one took me a while to get through. Not because it was bad, per se. I’m sure it was more about me than the book itself.
I really liked the setting of this story and the story world in general. So many fantasy stories that I read use a British/Celtic model for their magic, so having this set in the Norse pantheon was a nice change for me. I confess that I don’t know as much about those deities as I do others, which made reading about them even more enjoyable.
Lena is a good character and an easy one to relate to. She feels oppressed by the society she lives in and the fact that her sister has died and she is forced to marry the man her sister loved makes everything even more complicated. Yeah, that happens. Which is really messed up and awkward to say the least. Lena is utterly devoted to her sister Fressa and determined to find a way to save her, even from death. Their relationship is a beautiful thing to read.
There is a twist at the end involving Lena’s family, including Fressa, that I didn’t see coming at all. Obviously I’m not going to spoil it here, but it does involve a certain popular trickster god who I’m sure you all can guess. I won’t say what he’s up to, but you know whenever he’s involved, things are likely to get complicated.
This was a very refreshing read with good pacing, good character development, and a fun take on Norse mythology. I do have to wonder if there are any plans for a sequel, since I could easily see there being more to this story. GoodReads doesn’t mention anything and the author’s website doesn’t either. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
GoodReads rating: 4 stars
Categories: Books I've Read
Life With No Plot 
Leave a Reply