I'm not sure how I feel about this. I wanted to LOVE it, since I enjoyed a few of her other series, especially The Blood Approves books. But there was just something that didn't click.

There was a ton of world building, so lots of new words to get all jumbled up. I liked the premise of the story, but I was getting lost in the words. This is how it is for me with some new series. Everything has a new word and I just can't keep up.

The main part was that the romance just didn't mesh with me. I'm not a fan of that type of romance so I found my myself skimming quite a bit. Not for me. Plus it felt forced. I didn't feel any connection, except between Malin and her roommate, Oona. But that was a friendship connection, not romantic. I wanted to get sucked in, and it fell flat.

But after all of that, I am rather curious as to what's going to happen next. And I will get the next book. I'm rather curious as to how this will wrap up.

I've tried to get into this one more than once and for some reason it just doesn't pull me in. Not sure if it's my mood or what, but I love Amanda Hocking, so I will definitely try this one again at a later time. I still recommend this one to my friends and family.

was pretty excited to get into a new book based on Norse mythology, which I have (confusingly) seen listed as New Adult and YA. I haven’t read many books based in Norse mythology, and due to my recent obsession over American Gods (both the book and the show), I couldn’t wait to see what Amanda Hocking would do with it.

There is quite a bit of mythology built up, which is good, of course, that the author went so deep. We have the Gods, the immortals, and the mortals. Monsters, demons, angels… they all live among man in day-to-day life. It’s the norm. However, at times it can also seem like a lot to try to remember. I am not going to try to give you the breakdown – I will fail miserably at it. There is also a lot of world building, which actually caught me off guard, because I was not expecting it to be so…. futuristic? (I wonder if this is where they are pulling that weird Blade Runner comparison from.) It seems to be an overpopulated, crowded, dirty mess of a place, with hover cars and the like. It does not sound appealing at all. This book also continually brought up the concept of predestiny, which I found interesting, and I would like to see where the author goes with that theory.

So we can check the boxes for mythology and world building (however dismal it may seem). So the characters… hmm. Well, let me get my biggest frustration off my chest – UNNECESSARY LOVE TRIANGLE.

This literally makes no difference to the story, at all. It is a useless plot device, I assume only to add drama, and seems like a last ditch effort to make the main character, Malin, seems diverse. Not to mention, the relationships seem either superficial or insta-love-ish. I would have ditched the annoying ex and spent more time building up the character of Asher. Or not made Asher a thing and let it be a second chance love story. Either way, romance is involved and not in a great way.

Malin is also really wishy-washy and tends to make super irrational decisions. Part of me likes her, the other part of me is annoyed by her. I like Asher. And Malin’s best friend, Oona. She is a reasonable, adorable, person.

The story moved along at a quick pace, and seems pretty interesting now that we are getting down to the nitty, gritty underworld. I will say I feel like this leans towards YA… it wasn’t quite mature enough to be NA, and I feel like it had the potential to feel like a darker, more serious story if it had been given the opportunity to actually be NA and written for a slightly more mature audience. While this book didn’t completely thrill me and blow my mind, I still think I would continue with the series, if I can manage to get past the love triangle and also remember all the details by the time the next book releases!

To be honest, I didn’t hear about her latest novel until around October, which seems pretty late in the game, but I was still pretty intrigued! I loved The Trylle Trilogy and The Kanin Chronicles, so I couldn’t wait to read this book! Once I started reading it though, I wasn’t as excited for it as I thought I would be…

A good reason for this might be the world-building within the novel. Usually, in the author’s past novels, the mythology is concise and easy to follow. In this case, I felt as if it was all over the place, with different mythologies coming together to create a hodgepodge all-encompassing mythological world. I just wasn’t a fan of mixing mythologies together and then just leaving holes in that world later on because of it. That and the fact that until the end, I had no clue whatsoever about where the book was set. It didn’t really bother me until Malin used some British slang and then I paused to ask myself “Wait! Where is this taking place?” Luckily, by the end, the book hints to take place in the U.S. since they mention Mexico and the border. I’m still not 100% sure… But those are just my opinions! I’m sure there are people who loved the world the novel was set in! 😉

As for the characters, while they were good for all intents and purposes, I didn’t connect with them that much. I mean, I was interested in their actions and whatnot, but that was more in terms of plot and the mystery surrounding them. Plus, I felt as if some of the characters could have used a bit more backstory. Not necessarily Malin and Quinn (I actually like the amount of backstory given to them), but Oona, Asher and even Marlow. Maybe it’s my feelings about the world building that’s clouding my judgement as well, but overall, I just didn’t click with the characters as much as I wanted to…

I guess that’s all I have to say about Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking. At least for now. While I wasn’t into this book as much as her other novels, I hope that the second book will be better.

Between the Blade and the Heart is a sort-of urban fantasy story, set in a very polluted and doomed world. Our main character, Malin, is a Valkyrie, meaning her job is to kill immortals when their time is up. The four central characters throughout the story are Malin, her best friend Oona, Asher, a guy who is thrust in her path, and her ex-girlfriend, Quinn. Oh yeah, we have a bisexual main character!! All of these characters are now near and dear to my heart, and I can’t believe I’ll have to wait for like a year for the second book to come out 😦

Every booth was overflowing with exotic and strange wares, like dragon’s breath in a bottle, bones that allegedly belonged to Hercules, and the quills of a thunderbird.

Without going into plot details, I must say this story totally captivated me. I read about 30% of this book over the course of a few days, but when I finally had time, I flew through the rest of the book. It’s such a great, fast-paced story that I couldn’t put down.

The pictures changed to a depiction of men bent forward, worshipping feline-headed Bastet; then to the multi-armed Vishnu, adorned in gold and jewels…

There is a mix of a lot of different mythological creatures, from various ancient cultures, and I am ALL about it. If you don’t know by now, Egypt is kind of my thing, so I was very excited to see some of my favorite gods mentioned, even if they barely come into play ♡

I’d offer you something to drink, but I don’t want you here, so…
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“I’m leaving the money here for you.”

“Damn, Malin, you really know how to make a guy feel like a prostitute,” Jude said with his rumbling laughter

The dialogue in this book was great, and I laughed out loud a few times. The wit is absolutely on point. The creatures Hocking features in this story are pretty damn awesome. I do have to mention my personal favorite – Bowie, who is Malin’s wolpertinger, meaning she is a bunny with WINGS AND ANTLERS. How freaking cute is that, seriously!? Also, can we appreciate this piece of information about Bowie:

"Some wolpertingers could fly, but Bowie had always been too fat and preferred doing as little as possible"

Yeah… I need twenty of them in my house 😀 I should advise you that there is a love triangle in this story, but not exactly a silly one – at least in my opinion, it is rather justified. Just letting you know, since a lot of people don’t like love triangles.

There is a cliffhanger at the end of this book that is totally eating up at me, so I REALLY need to know what happens. Brilliant ending, by the way! I can’t stop thinking about this book now hahaha it’s gonna be a struggle until the second book comes out!

Between the Blade and the Heart (Valkyrie #1) is a brand-new series by Amanda Hocking that is based on Norse Mythology and more specifically the training of a young Valkyrie who discovers that her life and all she believed was twisted lies and hidden agendas.  I have to admit when this first came on to Netgalley it reminded me a little bit of Lost Girl the show I couldn’t get enough of that show so I could not wait to read it. This was easy entertaining and fast paced and a series I will definitely continue. While this is not my first book by Amanda Hocking this is the first book by her that will be getting a 4 star rating. I found the concept well thought out but my connection with the characters just did not happen the way I would have liked… That being said I loved the end it left me curious and wanting more. All and all I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get lost in a beautifully written fantasy and doesn’t mind a cliff hanger because this book has one. Thank you to all parties that made it possible for me arc. I really did enjoy this book.

Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking is a dynamic Sci-Fi/Fantasy YA with a blend of seemingly normal and paranormal/unique settings. Malin, a Valkyrie in training, is part of a special sisterhood of beings, Valkyries, whose responsibility it is to slay/return immortal beings to the next plane of existence when it is their time. She is almost finished with her course work and has gained experience in the field with her mother. When she finds out that her mom has broken the rules and let an immortal live, thus possibly upsetting the balance of the world, she is thrust into a world of danger and investigation alongside Asher, the son of a Valkyrie, as well as her ex-girlfriend, also Valkyrie, Quinn.

There was a lot to digest in the world that Ms. Hocking created, but it is provided in a way to not feel overwhelming yet still give the necessary info to navigate the story as a reader. The mythology used, Norse and others, is both somewhat familiar, but also more complex than a casual reader would come across. I very much appreciated the work that was done to utilize these mythos as well as build a dynamic and complex world for Malin and the other characters to navigate. Malin is essentially a college student and has a lot to learn about how the world really works and so she develops as a character both as she learns more as well as interacts with people who were outside of her and her mother's family. She displays what I felt were characteristics you would expect of a young Valkyrie, strong, brash, but also emotional and still learning. The more I read the more I liked about both her and the world.

I recommend Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking as a book that has more than meets the eye, with discussion of predestination vs free choice as well as a cast of characters that provide a breadth of interactions and experiences for Malin and readers to explore.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)

3.25 Stars

Firstly, I received an e galley of this story from St Martin's Press, in exchange for an honest review.

I typically love Amanda's work so I expected to love this just as much but something just felt off for me. There was very minimal world building. Enough that I knew it wasn't set in either our time or our reality, but not enough to get a full grasp of where (or when) they actually were. Was it the future? Was it an alternate reality? Both? Who knows, not me. There was just not enough world building for me to fall in love with it.

The characters were hard for me to connect with as well. Malin was only likable for about the last quarter of the book. I liked Oona and Asher and that was about it. I honestly had to look up Quinn's name because, despite the fact she plays a major role throughout the book, I couldn't remember if her name was Quinn or Gwen.

There were none of the usual twists that I love in Hocking's writing. The foreshadowing was so heavy you pretty much knew exactly where the story was going to go but unlike in her Trylle and Kanin series, it got there exactly how you expected it to.

There wasn't a lot of action or anything. It was mostly the group sitting around talking about what the next step in their plan was, and it just felt off for me.

I like the little bit of Norse mythology that we got, I just wish there was more of it.

Will I continue this series? Yes, because I know what Hocking is capable of and I expect to see it in full force in the sequel.

I will post a full video review of this book on my youtube channel jlw reads on January 12, 2018

This was an interesting read. This is the second Amanda Hocking book I've read, and it's also the second time that I'm disappointed with the romance aspect of the story in her books (in case you wonder why I'm mentioning it first it's because I really like romance). The main character was a bisexual girl, and I was all for it until she was involved in one of the weirdest love triangles I've ever read, and it made me dislike all characters involved.
The book feels a little slow, but the story is still great, and the writing is decent. However, some decisions made about the characters and the world it's set in made it a little messy.
Whether this book is for you or not depends on how big of a fan of fantasy YA you are.

The story centers around Malin, a Valkyrie, who is learning her job of slaying immortals and returning them to the underworld under the tutelage of her mother, also a Valkyrie.

But when she unearths a secret that could unravel the balance of all she knows and lead to the destruction of the world, Malin along with her best friend Oona, and her ex-girlfriend Valkyrie Quinn, must decide where their loyalties lie.

It doesn’t help she’s also attracted to Asher, the son of a Valkyrie, who got her into this mess in the first place.

Hocking does a good job in creating a world for her story that is both familiar and strange, combining the lore of mythology with a sci-fi edge. I really enjoyed reading Between the Blade and the Heart, and recommend it for those who enjoy sci-fi/fantasy or paranormal romance.

(3.5 stars)

I was definitely interested in this book due to its mythology background and the summary I was given. The cover was gorgeous, too.

Malin is a Valkyrie, meaning she sends immortals back to the underworld when it is their time. When some secrets unfold about her mother and unlawful actions, Malin must team up with her ex girlfriend, a cute boy wanting revenge, and her best friend.

Details

I’ll be honest that this book went kind of fast. I found the descriptions of setting and, even emotion, lacking. It was kind of just a few words about something and then we move on to the dialogue, which was also kind of too casual for my taste. When I say casual, I mean that the conversations between characters seemed kind of loose. The characters had promise, as did the summary, but the words all together didn’t hold up to my expectation.

Malin

Malin is a really strong female character. She has a wall built around her heart because of her personal life, but she is definitely kick-ass with her actions and her heart itself in different situations. She definitely made up for the book itself by being who she was, even straight to the end at the cliffhanger. However, I do feel like I don’t know her as well as I should. There was some backstory with her relationships, but not enough in my opinion.

Asher

Asher is someone that I don’t really have a good feel on. He is a nice guy in the book, of course. However, judging from the ending and I what I grasped, he definitely has a lot of secrets that nobody knows about. Also, he and Malin kind of have that insta-love thing going on and it was definitely way too fast for me. I don’t even know the guy and neither does Malin, yet she feels a sense of safety with him?

Quinn and Oona

Quinn is Malin’s ex-girlfriend. She has a unique look to her face where one side of her mouth is slanted a bit, so she has a crooked smile that she can’t help. She isn’t afraid to speak up about her personal thoughts, which I always find a great trait for a character. No fear. Oona is a sorceress-in-training, but we don’t get much about her except that she is a good friend to Malin through thick and thin. I only paired these girls up because there isn’t much backstory that I felt should have been in this first installment.

The Bottom Line

I will say that I was a little disappointed at how fast things went in this book. I already knew the reviews were kind of mixed for this novel, but I did have my hopes when it came to the summary. However, like I said, it was very fast. Scenes were too fast that I felt should have been spread out or halted. Characters moved too fast. The ending was something I didn’t expect, which I actually liked. So, given that and regardless of my rating, I am still interested in finding out what happens next, but I do think the author should spread things out and take it slow.

2 things we need to get out the way first. 1. This book is not YA it's just not I will never understand (okay i really do understand) why some books are labeled YA when they aren't YA. 2. This book wasn't at all what I expected. I expected a 14th century type setting and like magical powers (I was right about that). What I got was this alternate universe which has technology far surpassing what we have today.

Between the Blade and the Heart was super fast paced and I basically read it in one sitting. There was so much action going on!

The world building was fun. So many different types of super natural creatures and oh oh oh they live out in the open. Like human and valkyrie and succubus (succubi?) with a son fear or tension. That was a change for me.

The character were all pretty likable and have to say I really like Mal and Quinn together but it seems I have to Rip that notion. After the books I read at the end of the year it's really just refreshing to like characters.

I wouldn't exactly say it ended in a cliffhanger but I most certainly absolutely need the next books Pronto. Thankfully I only have to wait until April but even then it feels like forever! Definitely check this book out if you like urban fantasy, Norse mythology, and if you are tired of reading the same characters over and over. This book was absolutely refreshing.

I managed to breeze through reading Between the Blade and the Heart while on the tail end of a reading slump, which really says something about the writing style, I think. There are things that are both positive and not that I noticed while reading it that I’ll discuss specifically in their own little sections (since I’m apparently organized in my reviews now, I guess?) but let’s start it out with the trigger/content warnings I noticed during the story. These are by no means all of the needed warnings but they’re the ones I personally noticed.

Drug use
Blood
Death of a family member
One of the things I really enjoyed about Between the Blade and the Heart was the characters themselves, especially the unexpected bit of LGBT+ representation I found in it. There was also a dysfunctional and borderline abusive mother/daughter relationship that I thought was written very realistically. Unfortunately, the characters were also something I didn’t like about the novel. (I know. I’m making all kinds of sense today. Bear with me!) Some of the character descriptions felt info-dumpy and repetitive. After having spent an entire page and a half learning about the way a character looks, I don’t need any more description later. I just wish it had either been done more efficiently or not in a way that was so repetitive.

The characters didn’t blur together very often and I was able to keep them all straight just based on their personalities in relation to the point-of-view character, Malin. I feel like, at least for character development, Amanda Hocking made a good use of first person narration. My favourite character is most definitely Oona, the sorceress-to-be best friend and roommate of our main character. She’s sweet and caring and knowledgable, even if she is little use in a fight.

The majority of the story takes place in a very urban area of a large city. The settings are described with just enough detail that, since I live in a large city myself, I was able to put myself into the settings Malin found herself in. There were areas like Malin’s apartment and the Evig Riksdag that I would have liked more details on because I had trouble picturing them well, but overall I thought the visuals were adequate.

Where the world building excels is with the culture surrounding immortals, humans, Valkyries, and everything in between. The development of subcultures within that culture was impressive and, for the most part, believable. I really enjoyed immersing myself in this world and discovering new ways of seeing how things might be in some alternate reality where immortals and humans live side by side.

So, I’m not entirely certain about Game of Thrones meets Blade Runner, but I definitely got some Percy Jackson meets the Chicagoland Vampires vibes throughout the novel. It’s definitely a New Adult novel content wise but I felt like some of the writing was geared more toward a Young Adult audience. This gave me the impression that it’s meant for those just making the transition from YA to NA. Once I allowed myself to grasp onto the fact that the novel was New Adult, I found myself really enjoying it.

3.5 stars

Between the Blade and the Heart is Hockings new fantasy series. I have started her Kanin Chronicles and plan to finish it this year and so far have really enjoyed it. So when I got the chance to read/review and be apart of a blog tour for this one I was really excited.

This world is very different from her other series I believe as this one now deals with Mythology and Fantasy elements at the same time. As this is the first in a series we get a lot of information and it was a little confusing at times with a lot of new terms and a whole new world. Some things from the human world are still apart of this and humans are mentioned quite a bit as Valkyrie's are just humans with super strength and the ability to use certain weapons. There are also a lot of Immortals that are demons, etc. this means that the Valkyrie have to send these Immortals back to the underworld when they are supposed to die as they can otherwise life forever and take over the human world. The main character Malin is still in training and her mom is supposed to be helping her but they have a strained relationship and her mom hasn't always done what she's told which ends up being a whole mess that Malin has to take care of with some help from her friends. I don't want to go too much into the word because I think that's part of the excitement of starting a new duology and I don't want to give too much away.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I could have done without the love triangle and so much emphasis being put on the romance when they really should have been focused on saving the world and dealing with all that after the fact. I did like that the main character was aware of the problems that she had, and that she was openly BI as that is something we're still not seeing much of in YA. I love Malin's friendship with her roommate and how a few of the other side characters ended up helping her out when she didn't feel like she could ask anyone in charge for help. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book after that cliff-hanger at the end. Why do you do this to me, Hocking? I need answers!

I was really excited for this one. I’d read Amanda Hocking’s Freeks and enjoyed it, but Between the Blade and the Heart just sort of… didn’t work for me.

Valkyries have one great responsibility: to return immortals to the afterlife by slaying them. As a Valkyrie, Malin has always known that the balance of the world rests on her ability to carry out orders. But when Malin discovers that her mother spared the life of an immortal who was destined to die, her world is thrown into chaos.

Malin not only wrestles with the knowledge that her mother might not be who she thought—she’s also thrust into the path of a gorgeous blue eyed guy named Asher who needs her help slaying the rogue immortal who destroyed his family. The balance of the world is at stake. And, as Asher competes with Malin’s ex for her love and loyalty, so is her heart.

Like, look at that description. That sounds awesome! A girl who can kill immortals? How cool is that? I’m choosing to ignore that tropey gorgeous new guy competing with the main character’s ex romance sub-plot. That had nothing to do with the fact that I had to DNF this one.

I liked Hocking’s writing in Freeks. It was punctual and flowed well. But something about Between the Blade and the Heart‘s writing just felt so damn boring that I couldn’t get back the 15% mark.

I’m not sure what it was. It was an interesting premise and a cool world, a little sci-fi, a little urban fantasy, and I liked the idea of it.

But liking the idea of something isn’t the same as liking the actual thing itself.

I was bored and annoyed with Malin, I didn’t care what happened to her and I just wasn’t connecting to the story. Not to mention how often I found myself rolling my eyes at every single page.

I couldn’t connect to the story; it happens. This one wasn’t for me.

Between the Blade and the Heart releases January 2nd, 2018.

Overall, I really enjoyed Between the Blade and the Heart. I loved the characters and the storyline. I do think the world building could have been stronger and the final action scene with Tamerlane, Malin, and Asher did fall flat for me. However, I still liked it and can't wait for the second book to come in April. Hocking did a good job of mixing Norse mythology with urban fantasy.

I really enjoyed this book! It was very different from what I was expecting, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I'm a big fan of Norse mythology, so I was expecting more Norse myth influence in the book, but it's more loosely based on it and Hocking provides a lot of imaginative twists. Still, Hocking's combination of different mythological figures was fascinating and enjoyable to read. The world she created was unexpected and reminded me of some popular Urban Fantasy books.

This book was a quick, enjoyable read. Definitely a page turner! Once you start reading, it's hard to stop. The characters were fascinating, particularly Quinn. I loved the history between Malin and Quinn, as well as her complicated relationship with her mother. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Let me first explain what the Valkyries where:
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja “chooser of the slain”) is one of a host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddess Freyja’s afterlife field Fólkvangr), the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin. There, the deceased warriors become einherjar (Old Norse “single (or once) fighters”). When the einherjar are not preparing for the events of Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them mead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens and sometimes connected to swans or horses.
–Wikipedia–

Against this background Hocking opens up a world and story of love, relationships, superhuman creatures, mythology and fiction which is well paced, and (again) a joy to read. The story line is good and touches a couple of life questions. What is destiny, what is free choice and what are their consequences is one of them.

Between the Blade and the Heart is a fun read aimed at young adults, but I do know some adults who’d love to read this as well. Go ahead: pick it up, snuggle up and emerge yourself in this mythical adventure!

j'ai beaucoup aimé le contexte mis en place par l'autrice et sa manière de nous présenter les différents personnages. J'étais toujours plus curieuse de voir ce qui allait leur arriver et si le début est assez calme, les choses s'accélèrent petit à petit. J'ai apprécié l'évolution de Malin tout au long de l'intrigue, elle est plutôt froide et distante mais au fur et à mesure, au contact des autres, elle apprend à s'ouvrir, à demander de l'aide et fonce dans le tas pour ses idéaux et sa famille. Le final est pour le moins stressant et nous promet un second tome palpitant !

Between the Blade and the Heart is book about a young girl named Malin. She was born to be a Valkyrie. That’s her destiny. But what happens when everything she was taught turns out to be a lie or is it?

I have to admit I didn’t like Malin much when I first started reading. She reminded me of me when I was her age and that’s a bad thing. She seemed stand offish, hateful at times and not grateful. The more I continued reading though the more I understood her and loved her. I couldn’t help my heart going out to her. The mother side of me wanted to hug her and hold her while assuring her that everything would be alright. The friend side wanted to kick ass beside her. Rooting her on and being that shoulder she needed.

She’s a strong female lead and reliable narrator. There was no question what was going on. Her character wasn’t whiny or needy and I loved how she didn’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend in her life.

I think what made this story even more remarkable were the side characters. Oona, Quinn, and Asher in their own right added the right amount of drama and heart to this book. Where Malin was lacking they made up for it. Then you add in the not so lovable ones and you have a book packed full of fast paced action and some drama that you can’t stop reading until it’s over.

I love how different Between the Blade and the Heart is. We have a little bit of everything paranormal not just one or a few. Amanda tackles them all and it’s a reprieve from the same old vampire books and demon/angel books you read.