Barbara

A very thorough defense of Elizabeth Bathory. It goes into a lot of detail which describes the life at her times and how her legend came to be. Hard times to be a woman with power and property.

Takes a bit to get going but great finale/cliffhanger. Interesting character development.

DNF

What a great re-interpretation of Norse mythology. I loved Norse mythology as a child and read everything about it (i even own an Edda or two). Therefore I love to read books which are based on it because I feel right at home and understand the pictures and subtleties.
This book is a great story about the journey of great protagonists with flaws and strength. These are women one can relate to. They all learn from their errors and change in some ways. The story took me in right away and I red the whole book in one go. I think I have to read it another time but much slower to get all the small details I am sure I overlooked.
Because the author asked in the end: I would love to read more about Lovis and Solveig. Maybe about the golden glory day or even how they fare now. Also about Birke.

I first I was not really sure if I would be interested in the story, but it captured me quite quickly. Interesting setting I want to learn more about. Loved the character development and the intrigue (which is credible and not over the top). The revelation at the end really surprised me and made me wonder about what comes next.

I do not often write reviews because I never know what to write. Most of the times I can't properly say why I like a book and why not.

At the beginning I was not sure If this was a book for me because of the setting, but after a few pages I was hooked. I could not put the book down (and I was very sleep deprived the next day at work). The story is very “believable” (even for fantasy this is very important for me) and flows in the exact tempo I like. I really love the development and thought processes of the main character. But not only the main character shines, also the other characters were nicely “fleshed” out.

I also got an ARC with no strings attached.

I was so happy because I could not wait to learn how the story ends. I picked the series up quite late, so that I got the ARC after I finished the 4th book.

I do not want to spoil and I am also not a good writer therefore I keep it brief. For me it brought the story to a conclusive end but with a potential for more stories. It was a good, fast paced read and I could not put the book down. I loved the whole story and the development of the characters and this book is the icing on the cake.