Did you like Twilight, but maybe wish that Edward wasn't quite so psycho? Or did you want writing of an ever-so-slightly higher caliber? Or a college setting rather than a high school one? But still with "powerful immortal spends all of his time going to school over and over again and then falls in love with teenage girl"? Well then do I have the book for you.I read this for a category in the Unapologetic Romance Readers group, that of a virgin hero, because I already had it on my Kindle and it appeared on a list that fit that category--unfortunately, the matter of either character's virginity never really comes up, though it's kind of implied the heroine is (go figure). So I'm going to have to ditch it for that and pick another one. But at least I can take it off my Kindle now!
The plot follows Kristia, an eighteen-year-old college student from Oregon who gets visions, though normally boring ones, and nightmares of Ragnarok that she blames on her grandmother telling her too many stories of Norse mythology when she was younger. Wanting a change of pace, she applies for a study abroad at Cardiff University in Wales, where she meets Ull, the hottest guy on campus who also happens to be a Norse god in disguise. Of course it's love at first sight, and Kristia figures out who Ull really is in pretty quick succession because of two conversational slip-ups he makes and her mythology class. Because, you know, a centuries-old god would totally just let it slip in casual conversation that his stepfather is Thor and he's known his best friend for eight hundred years. And when hearing that his stepfather's name is Thor, Kristia would totally automatically assume that his family is comprised of gods instead of thinking, you know, maybe they're just really into mythology, hence the reason Ull is studying it.
The romance here is kind of flat, because the two are in love and all gushy over each other pretty much right away. And because they're in love right away, there's need for another conflict--aka the "We can't be together because of Ragnarok!!!" plotline. The problem with all of this is that the entire story is full of holes that you could sail the Titanic through. Let's examine a few, shall we?
For example, why is Ull so concerned about Kristia not getting wrapped up in Ragnarok? It shouldn't matter; the story of Ragnarok involves the destruction of the human world, as well, with only two people surviving to restart the human race...and if one of those was Kristia, she'd be hooking up with another guy, so I'm not sure that's something he'd be psyched about either. Ull says that Kristia is in control of her own fate--but also has a Norn that has decided the two of them are supposed to be together, which doesn't seem like Kristia has a lot of say in the matter. And they're fated to be together, but apparently no one knows if that will actually happen. And apparently being a seer will allow Kristia to travel through the various worlds without being detected? What kind of logic is that?
The actual writing here is okay. It was nice to see some female friendships, and the girls do discuss things other than guys, though Ull is still a central topic of conversation. Bende seems to have a shaky grasp on how grammar with dialogue works, and she also has a few words that are misused in the place of homophones. Additionally, the cover is a little weird because it says "You don't win the heart of an immortal assassin without making a few enemies along the way," which has nothing to do with the story, because Ull is not an assassin (he mentions he was a warrior in the past, but not really an assassin) and Kristia doesn't make any enemies except one person in her dreams, who I am betting is Loki because Loki is suspiciously absent here, but that doesn't even really affect the story at all.
Overall, this was kind of meh, and I don't really see myself reading the future books. But it wasn't terrible, so I'll give it...
2 stars out of 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment