Marie Brennan: The Waking of Angantyr

Hi everyone

The Waking of Angantyr is a standalone novel written by Marie Brennan.
I read this on my e-reader. 

" The bondmaid Hervor is used to dead men whispering in her sleep. They’ve been doing it for as long as she can remember; it’s the living she has to watch out for. And when a new arrival at her holding triggers her into a berserker fury, she’s forced to flee the contract that enslaves her and into the arms of an uncertain future.
Unchained from the living, Hervor goes in search of a way to silence the dead, but it will take much more than grit and determination to make that happen. She’ll need the help of a ruthless Viking, an ailing jarl, a mad witch, and more―for the treachery that killed her ghosts isn’t nearly as dead as they are, and the path to peace must first traverse a river of blood."

This had its ups and  (mostly) downs.
The pacing was definitely off. The book started out rather slow but it did pick up. The plot itself was all over the place and I didn't really like that. There was just too much she was trying to do. Brennan would skip months at a time and every time it felt jarring and I felt out of place.
The characters were mediocre too. Hervor herself was ok, and I love her strength and determination but she hasn't got a lot more to her, there's not much to like about her character. The other characters were very one-dimensional. By two thirds in I didn't care for anyone because they would all die so what's the point. And that made loose even more enjoyment.

The book didn't grip me. I never felt the urge to start or continue reading it. Once I was reading, it wasn't bad but I would get easily distracted and that's not the sign of a great book. It was boring to be honest. And that's a strange thing to say about a book filled with fighting and gore, but it was.

Happy reading!
Helena