Between The Blade And The Heart - Amanda Hocking


BETWEEN THE BLADE AND THE HEART (VALKYRIE #1)

Amanda Hocking

    "Amaryllis Mori, you have been chosen to die," I said, as I walked towards her. "It is my duty to return you to the darkness from whence you came."
   She smiled then, a bright red slit spreading out across her face. "Not if I send you first."
- Between The Blade And The Heart



Image result for Between the blade and the heart coverPages: 319
Format: Paperback 
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: Jan. 2nd, 2018 
ISBN: 9781250084798
Price: $14.50 CAN


SYNOPSIS:



As one of Odin's Valkyries, Malin Krigare's greatest responsibility is to slay immortals and return them to the underworld. But when she unearths a secret that could unravel the balance of all she knows, Malin, along with her best friend and ex-girlfriend, must decide where their loyalties lie. And if helping the blue-eyed boy Asher enact his revenge is worth the risk - to the world and to her heart.
RATING: 3/5 STARS


I started Between The Blade and The Heart  with a lot of enthusiasm and hope - It was one of the books that I was most looking forward to in 2018. Having read Amanda Hocking's Trylle Series (and LOVING it), I was excited about the possibility of a new duo-logy to read. The beginning of the book started out well, interesting, different, promising!  Unfortunately, it did not keep up.  While the book did have some good qualities, overall, I was left feeling disappointed.

What I liked:

  • The World.  This book definitely created for you an imaginative and unique world. There is an array of paranormal and mythical creatures all living freely on earth. I would have to say that the world building was by far my favorite thing about the book! It felt like a world that I wanted to be a part of, where you can walk down the street and interact with any number of different creatures.
  • The characters: We are introduced to a ton of characters in this book!! Malin -our main, Asher & Jude -her love interests, Oona - the best-friend, and Quinn -the ex-girlfriend, all a mash-up of diverse, unique, and realistic (human and non-human) characters described in great detail and easy to visualize. 
  • The Writing. The writing was good, descriptive and vivid. The dialogue was well written and easy to follow. I did find it a tad melodramatic and there seemed to be some inconsistencies between the world and the characters. What I mean by that is the atmosphere for the story is quite mature, sex, drugs, bars and drinking, etc; however, the characters themselves came off as juvenile. 

     What I Didn't Like:

    • The Love Triangle (Quartet?): Malin is involved with two different men while swooning over her ex-girlfriend.  And, for me personally, the amount of (unnecessary) drama took away from the story. It felt forced. The love scenes came out of nowhere and then ended just as abruptly. There was no chemistry between the characters, it was awkward.
    • The Pace.  I feel like nothing actually happened, even though there was a lot of discussion about things happening, not much actually did. Also, there was a lot of time spent lusting over or reminiscing about love interests. It left me bored, repeatedly reading the same inner monologues about the ex-girlfriend. 
    • The Plot. The plot, while it seemed fascinating, and could have been great, was drowned out by the characters awkward lusty romance. 

    WRAP-UP: 

    Would I recommend this book?   If someone were looking to read something written by Amanda Hocking I would recommend The Trylle Series.

    To whom? N/A

    Will I continue the series? This is a duo-logy, the second book From the Earth to the Shadows is due to be released in April of 2018. Honestly, I'm not sure if I will continue it. While I did enjoyed the world and the characters within, I was kind of bored by it. We will see.

    Will I read other Amanda Hocking's works? I will. As I said before I have read other books by her and absolutely loved them!! I think that this particular book just wasn't for me.


    Anyhoo, while I didn't enjoy this story, I'm sure there are many who did/will... let me know if you've read Between The Heart And The Blade, I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

    If you've read the first book in a series, and did not enjoy it, do you continue the series or write it off?


    Comments

    1. Nice review! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd expected but thank you for the honest review. I was quite curious about this book but every time I see something with mythology I kind of... Well, the only books with mythology I've read and liked are Rick Riordan's :D I find anything else boring or with a lot of wrong facts :D

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      1. Thank - you! I haven't read any Rick Riordan books (yet), did you enjoy them? I know he has a few series, which one would you suggest starting with?

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