Ingrid Paulson

While visiting Norway, 16-year-old Ellie must step out of her popular older brother's shadow, join forces with his infuriating best friend and embrace her Valkyrie heritage to rescue teen boys kidnapped to join the undead army of the ancient god, Odin. 30,000 first printing.

Valkyrie Rising

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The good:

1)Valkyries! Norse mythology! Who doesn't love Norse mythology? I didn't know very much about Norse mythology when I started this book and it was pretty interesting. Of course, there's Odin and Loki and perhaps Thor will make an appearance in a future book. No Thor here, folks.

2)Hilda Overholt seemed pretty badass. She and Astrid and the other Valkyries hold a lot of mystery for me.

3) Valkyries!

4) It was engaging. For some reason, I just couldn't stop reading it.

The bad: A lot.

The writing made me roll my eyes a lot. The word-building was lacking and the style left a lot to desire. A lot of the writing was also the kind of cliche that makes you cringe a bit.

Given the subject matter too the plot was very anticlimactic, but the premise kept me engaged so much I just didn't want to put it down.

There isn't one character beside Hilda who held some intrigue. Not even the main character. Honestly, it was really my obsessions with mythology of all kinds that kept me reading it, however, I can say that the author has a great backdrop to work with. 

Book 2 better make up for this one. I'll give it 3 stars for good read with a lot of potential to work with.

Cindy Lee

You can also read this review here.

Valkyrie Rising was a very well-written book that taught me more about Norse Mythology. There also some other mythical characters that I knew of before. Being a total mythology junkie, I knew I had to read this one :) 

The first chapter goes off well at Graham's party. We were also introduced the very charming Tucker (ah, such a cutie :3). We see how Ellie's life was always lived in Graham's shadow and controlled by Graham. I think Graham is too much of a controlling character. REALLY, DUDE. That guy needs to let Ellie live her own life.

I am not as familiar with Norse Mythology as I am with Greek/Roman. But at least I knew Odin (the one-eyed dude, lol) and Loki (he was pretty sexy or downright evil in some other books). There was also an appearance of the goddess Morrigan (did I spell that right?). Morrigan is a celtic birdie (raven?) goddess I think.. I knew that from a series of MG books I read. In this book, Morrigan isn't sadistic but actually a kind goddess so I was kind of surprised by that.

I think Ellie is a very kick-ass Valkyrie. She tried to beat Astrid even though she's not experienced at all. No, really. Astrid beats her by a few thousand years or something. Oh yeah, ELLIE & TUCKER. BEST. COUPLE. EVER. As I'm typing this, I got a goofy smile on my face. Ah~ They're so cute :3 *fangirl*

I really wish there was more on Norse Mythology. The only thing mentioned about it was Odin and Loki and some war that they're in. That's not that much on Norse stuff at all. Heck, I know more about Norse Mythology than this book mentions and I've never read a single book about Norse mythology. So I thought that's something the book could have added.

So, that's basically my whole experience of reading Valkyrie Rising. And an amazing experience, that was :) I really loved this book and I would totally recommend this to any mythology junkie (like me!) or just anyone who wants some action :)

Andrea Ayala

I really liked this book. It's about a different kind of supernatural being which was really refreshing. Loved the characters and the plot and Tuck and Graham too actually.

Jessica Nottingham

I'll admit that I chose Valkyrie Rising because I was looking for something a little bit different than what I had been reading. I was intrigued by the setting and definitely by the idea of the plot. The rich setting of Norway sounded like a perfect place to weave a tale. Plus I mean, Valkyries? Kick-ass female warriors? Yes please. I was ready to be wowed.

It didn't take me long to totally adore Ellie, the main character. Constantly in the shadow of her older brother, Ellie is overprotected and unsure of herself. All she really wants is for something exciting to happen. Something new. She gets her wish! When the action picks up, and the Valkyries come into play, it's hard to stop reading. I loved watching Ellie discover her true self and couldn't help but root for her to embrace it. 

Oh, and the romance of course! I can't forget to share that. I won't spoil, but I will say that this was such a sweet build up. Slow, steady, and downright adorable. This is the type of love that grows and begs to be fulfilled. I found myself wanting to shake Ellie and let her know that the perfect guy was right in front of her if only she looked! I won't delve too far, since I want you to discover it for yourself, but it's so worth it.

The setting was perfection, the plot was evenly paced, and to be honest I read through Valkyrie Rising so quickly that I was left wishing I had another book in my hands to follow it up with. It looks like this is shaping up to be a series, and I sincerely hope so! I found a lot to love in Ingrid Paulson's writing. This was a breath of fresh Norse air, and I can't wait for more.

Valkyrie Rising

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