I went into this one hoping for a little more action/excitement. I was more forgiving of the lack of that element in the first book because it's a lot of setup on the world and plot in general but I really needed to see that progression in the sequel, and through the first two thirds of this book I did not. The Morning Flower was actually set up quite the same as the first book in terms of very little progression until the end. Again with this one, the plot and world are interesting but I can't help but to be left feeling like a lot of the search for answers and rather mundane details could be condensed greatly in the first 2/3 of this story. It drags. It made it hard for me to fully get into and that's not what I want in a sequel. It's a lot to wade through to get to the excitement, just to end on another cliffhanger.

Even other sub-elements like the romance are basically non-starters. When done well a 'will they or won't they' can be fun and torturously exciting. Ulla and Pan or even the hinted at spark of attraction with Jem-Kruck just never had that integral draw. The desire to see either happen at all never fully formed for me. The characters were so apprehensive and not fully into it that how in the world could I as a reader be? Surprisingly I think a lot of this book was meant to be a slow progression to more between Ulla and Pan but their lack of passion and outward interest definitely fed into mine and I just didn't end up caring one way or another.

I was really hoping book one was an exception and not the rule and unfortunately that proved otherwise for me here. While I would like to see what happens next in the story, it's just not enough that I am content waiting to reach the end of another novel to get a little further.

I received an arc of this book from Wednesday Books via Netgalley and this is my honest review.

So I have yet to read the original Trylle books but when I came across this spinoff start to a new set of books it sounded good and I wanted to jump right in. I don't know if reading the first set might have increased my enjoyment in this one, probably a bit. I did still enjoy it for the most part but I would have liked to see more action. The story kept a rather slow pace and that could make it feel like it was dragging at times.

I liked Ulla well enough. As a protagonist she's rather interesting...she's so even-keeled and pragmatic, which is kind of refreshing in a sense, but it also made it her feel maybe a tad robotic at times and left a little disconnect there. I think her story, her search for answers on where/who she came from helped even that out and give her more depth and feeling. I had similar feelings on the other prominent characters in the sense that I liked them but none were exactly jumping off the pages. Eliana might be the one stand out, but I think a lot of her intrigue came from all the mystery surrounding her.

While it lacked in action for the most part it certainly didn't lack in imagination or world building. This was an interesting world to explore and I would like to see where the next book takes me. I think that one will likely make or break it for me.

I received an arc of this book from Wednesday Booka via Netgalley and this is my honest review.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

This book was fun. An action packed paranormal adventure.

First book I read by this particular author, and I enjoyed it. The world building was a little haphazard, in this world there are all sorts of supernatural creatures around, all governed by Norse gods, and kept in control by Valkyries. Seemed to be a vaguely futuristic kind of society. A little unclear on when it was set. A little bit of history on the species and the set the governing body and the jobs of Valkyries.  When your time is up, a Valkyrie is sent to dispatch you to the next plane of existence. Valkyries only go through the female line, Marin is training to follow in her mother Marlow’s footsteps and is in the final steps of her training to become an official Valkyrie as well as attending a supernatural academy for classes.

Marin was tough and spunky, relatively sensible and a likeable MC. Also extra points – she was bisexual. She had a relationship with another female Valkyrie, Quinn. Which didn’t end brilliantly but they remained sort of friends.  Marin lives with her best friend, witch Oona and her beloved pet, some sort of a hybrid creature a little like a dog but not quite.

Lots of action, though I did find some of the characters to be a little flat, there didn’t seem to be much back story to hardly anyone other than Marin herself. There was very little seen of the academy she attends, there’s a few classes mentioned, and a rivalry with a classmate she doesn’t get on with. Though later on in the novel they do have a fairly interesting discussion about fate and destiny – which was about as deep as the novel got.

Mostly it was all action packed. Marin’s world is thrown into chaos when a handsome stranger breaks into her apartment demanding information on her mother. Something that was supposed to have happened didn’t and as a result people are being killed. Marin is stunned and furious, and with the stranger, Asher, by her side sets off to confront Marlow about what happened.

She’s shocked at the revelations and she and Asher decide to try and put things right and stop the killings. The supernatural beasties Marin is hunting are getting stronger, she’s feeling pain when she shouldn’t and it could all be a result of what went wrong many years ago. She gets help from witchy Oona and Quinn appears a few times saving her butt and becomes part of the group who work to find the bad guy and solve the mystery.

Of course, Marin is starting to develop feelings for Asher and finds herself getting closer again with Quinn, trying to understand why their relationship failed – something to do with something that’s been ingrained into Marin about Valkyries and love and how it never works. So Marin is struggling to come to terms with her feelings on top of this manhunt for a bad guy getting nastier and stronger as the time goes by.

A surprise death half way through doesn’t help at all.

Not particularly moving, while the world building wasn’t brilliant (in my opinion) it was interesting and it’s been a long time since I’ve found a paranormal adventure I’ve liked so much. Decent characters, and a fun read.

Looking forward to the next one in the duology.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan McMillan for approving my request to view the title.

Per fictfact.com's new release calendar :

7thGARDEN, Vol. 7 - Mitsu Izumi  #7 in 7th GARDEN
A Song Unheard - Roseanna M. White  #2 in Shadows Over England
A Wedding At Two Love Lane - Kieran Kramer  #2 in Two Love Lane

("Read more" stays on booklikes, I just didn't want a long post hijacking the dashboard for those of you who don't have settings set to initially view shorten posts)