Firstly, this is probably one of my favourite covers from the books I read for Norsevember (there’s just something about corvids on a book cover that immediately catches my attention, and this one certainly did). Secondly, this was an author I had been wanting to check out for a while having heard very good things about her.

That said, I wasn’t as taken with this book as I had expected and hoped to be, and I think that is largely down to two things – one was the pacing, which just felt a little too rushed in places, and the fact that outside Raef the main pov character we did not get nearly enough time to spend with the secondary cast and while that does play into the idea of betrayal and revenge and the uncertainty in various relationships, it meant that we had a rather narrow view and I think it would have enriched the plot if we’d been able to spend more time with the other characters. That said, this is the first in a series, so it is possible that aspect will be expanded on in future books, and I really hope it is.

However, Greylock has created a wonderful world that has breadth and depth, and all the ingredients that you want in Norse depth and I absolutely loved her writing style, which really brought it to life.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 Stars.