Book Review: Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Marlin is a Valkyrie, born and raised to slay the immortals and return them to the underworld before they can wreck havoc in the world. But when Malin’s mother fails to carry out a mission, and lets one of the immortal escape, she sets in motion a series of far reaching, life changing events that could change Malin’s life forever. 

I was drawn to this initially because of the mythology and background. It’s an interesting take on the Norse myths, told in a modern futuristic way, which I found unique. It’s also a quick read, with a consistent pacing filed with plenty of action and fighting that made it really easy to read. I do think it helped that I’d read up on some Norse myths before I started this however, as I found a lot of the background information isn’t really explained well and at times it could have got a little confusing. Sometimes the plot itself was also a little all over the place, bouncing from one area or character to the next, without any clear idea of where it was going to end up. It really could have done with some more coherency, and tightening up of the text. 

I also didn’t really feel any connection with the characters. They were overly simplistic, with little depth to them. I think the characters really suffered because of the short length of the story, and they had little chance to develop beyond the one dimensional. I also didn’t really see much of a relationship between Malin and her friends and lovers (although I loved the fact that she was bisexual), and I disliked the love triangle element. I found it slightly cliched, and harked back to more stereotypical and unoriginal YA fiction. 

The premise for this is wonderfully unique, but ultimately I felt that it failed to deliver on some key points, which was a shame.

Between the Blade and the Heart is available to purchase now from: Amazon

 - 3 stars