I felt so sure I would enjoy this book. And the fact that I did not is breaking my heart a little. That cover is gorgeous. And this story sounded interesting and exciting. Sadly, it was none of those. At least not for me. And so I have to give this one two stars. It was almost three, but I did not like it that much, I'm sorry to say. Sigh.

There is so much I feel like sharing about this book. And I do not think much of it will be positive. Will simply share all my thoughts about this book. And I have many of those. I really liked the first book by this author, even read it twice. But her second book was also a two star for me. I wish this had been better, but it was not.

Will begin by saying that I did not like the writing. At all. I tried to grow used to it, to start enjoying it, but it never happened. Oh. It bothered me from start to finish. I was not able to connect to the characters. Did also not manage to visualize most of this world either. Which was disappointing. It also annoyed me greatly that there was no empty line between when the character falls asleep or days go by, or things like that. It made sure that I lost focus on the story many times, because it happened so often, and so abrupt. Sigh. The writing wasn't terrible, truly. It was just not for me. Not at all. I really wish I had been able to love this book. I really wanted to. As I do adore this author. And Warrior of the Wild looked so very gorgeous. But ended up being not for me at all.

This book tells the story of Rasmira. She is the youngest of six siblings, all girls, born to the village leader. He has been raising her to be a warrior, like the men, to be able to take over as the leader after him. She is the best at training, the best with an ax. She is close with her sisters, but not with her mother. She also has no friends. Except for this one boy that started being nice to her six weeks ago. She truly hopes for more between them, and it seems like he wants this too. Until be betrays her just a short time later. Sigh.

At the biggest thing that happens to young people in this world, when they take a test to finally become a real warrior. This boy makes sure that Rasmira fails her test. And because of this, she is banished. And faced with the task of killing a god that lives in the forest, which is a death sentence. This whole beginning was pretty messy. Yet interesting too. I did like getting to know Rasmira. She was interesting, most of the time. But she did not question this boy at all, and that hurt my heart a little bit. How easy she was fooled.

I would not consider this to be too big of a spoiler, as it happens early in the book, and it is what gets this book started. Something that bothered me a lot, however, is that Rasmira let what happened with the boy bother her too much. And for too long. Worse things could have happened to her with this boy. She felt a bit over dramatic. But I also somewhat understood her too. Anyway. She is banished. Spends a few days on her own. Until she ends up meeting a boy almost dead in the forest. He lives there with another one.

We get to know these two boys a lot. They have been banished for a year now, with tasks of their own. I did grow to care so much for Soren. And I did ship them a whole lot. But did not feel any sparks. Probably because of how badly she treated him at times. It wasn't too horrible, but it bothered me. Oh, well. I have shared enough of this book now. Something that I did like, however, was all the different creatures in this book. I wish they had been more detailed, and more scary, but I liked reading about them. I wanted more.

This book is about Rasmira surviving out in the wild. With two other boys. About her learning to do things, learning a whole bunch of things. While also trying to figure out how to kill a god. And helping these boys with their missions too. While I did not love this book, I did find parts of it to be interesting. I liked reading about the creatures. Was curious about the world. But sadly did not love the characters. At all. Liked them sometimes. But they felt silly most of the time, and felt like the girl was too much. Do wish I had loved her.

Another thing that truly bothered me about this book was that I was never sure what time period it was supposed to be set in. The past? The future? It was impossible to tell. It did not feel like a book from the past at all. It seemed like they all lived as in the past, but none of them behaved like it. As this book was simply not written in a way that made it seemed like it was set in the past. Not with how the main girl was talking and thinking. That bothered me through the whole book, to be honest. I wish it had been clearer.

Huge thank you to the publisher, Feiwel & Friends, for the approval to read this one early as an eARC via Netgalley. I am glad I had the chance to read this one, despite not liking it much. I'm still unsure if I will be buying the hardcover or not. I do want the print ARC for my collection, however. Hmm. Sadly do not think I will ever read this book again. But I'm also glad that I gave it a try, that I managed to finish it. Although this book was not for me, I'm positive that many others will love it. Curious to see what you all think of it.

One word....VIKINGS!!!! How can you not want this book!?! Never before have I read such a great work of fiction on vikings. This story was so well fleshed out and the characters were vivid and immerse you into their world. I feel like the different charters were great to balance one another out in strengths and weaknesses. So many fascinating elements were brought to life in this book and you can tell the author did research to keep this fiction as true as possible! LOVE LOVE LOVED it.

Warrior of the Wild is a great adventure. It was a joy watching Rasmira grow as a character.

As the daughter of the village chief, Rasmira has many privileges and a bright future. It has also made her many enemies that sabotage her initiation ceremony including some of her family. She is forced out of the village with an impossible task--kill the god who terrorizes the neighboring villages for tribute. His superhuman powers make it an insurmountable task. Rasmira finds out she is not alone in her task and learns a lot along the way.

This book had an original stroy and a great message. I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it to my students.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars
*This will be a spoiler-free review with some non-spoilery text*

I think going into his book with such high hopes and expectations was my biggest mistake and made this book significantly less enjoyable. I had read and thoroughly enjoyed Tricia Levenseller's other books Daughter of the Pirate King & Daughter of the Siren Queen for the strong and compelling main character Alosa, the romance, strong female friendships, and overall enjoyment. Because of that other series, I went into this book expecting to find a main character that was strong and likable in her own way, cute romance, adventure, and a fun read from start to end. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

Let's start with this story's main character, Rasmira. From the very first few pages, I already knew I would not like her. She actively complained about getting so much attention and praise from her father and instructors, which I can see how that would separate her from her peers, however, the amount she complained about praise quickly got very annoying. One example:

"Being put on display is the last thing I want. It separates me even more from the rest of the trainees. I already receive more attention, receive the highest marks. It's as if my instructor, my father, and everyone else are *trying* to make my life harder for me"(1%).

As you can imagine, someone complaining about how they are so amazing and it makes their life so difficult gets INCREDIBLY tiring and ridiculous. She spends so much time complaining about how her life is harder because she is so talented and dangerous. How? You have a very good looking future and eventually, you'll have POWER over these petty trainees. Rasmira is nothing like the Alosa I loved from page 1. She complains about attention, is over-dramatic, and is completely not self-aware.

Next, the plot: I actually found the plot pretty solid. Like Daughter of the Pirate King, this book was very short and I read most of it in one sitting. Despite having issues with the book I flew through it and I liked the structure of the plot. Levenseller did a good job of keeping me invested and interested in the story throughout the whole book despite my dislike of the main character. I thought the writing wasn't anything too special, like with Daughter of the Pirate King, but made this book easy to read and I personally thought fit the pace and overall story well. No complaints there.

And lastly, the romance. I personally loved the romance in Daughter of the Pirate King. It was cute and I felt like they had loads of chemistry. I didn't feel nearly as strongly about the romance in this book, however, I also didn't dislike it too much. I felt like they had decent chemistry and banter (for lack of a better word). However, I felt like the love interest was a bit boring and didn't pull off the arrogant personality as well as Riden had. Also, towards the beginning, I couldn't help but think he was an Edward Cullen 2.0. I will refrain from spoilers but he followed her around for 2 days, basically stalking her, and not only did her "incredibly skilled warrior" skills not pick up on it but she wasn't too concerned by it. His excuse was, in the long run, it helped her. I felt like this pretty creepy behavior was glossed over and forgotten but I still feel weird about it. He also kept pursuing and bugging her after she told him she wasn't interested and was kind of possessive and overprotective at times...I still felt like at points in the book I didn't mind them as a couple and thought they were cute, but I still didn't LOVE them and felt strange about how they first met.

Overall, this book was pretty disappointing to me but it was still a quick, entertaining read. It's worth a try because it wasn't a bad book it just wasn't as good as I expected and let me down in a few ways. I am still excited to see what Levenseller has in store for us next because I do still like Daughter of the Pirate King and I want to see where she goes in the future.

I really enjoyed reading this book, as I like to read about strong female characters. It was interesting getting into the world building and learning the customs of the setting, but thought some of it was over the top. I mean banished because you didn't pass all the tests? Well, it was the premise of the book, so it had to be but still felt a little bit much for making an error.. But with the strength and leadership Rasmira showed, and the combined effort from the two males she finds it the wild, it was very good. This will be on my list for purchase for our library and will be book talking it so teens can enjoy it hopefully as much as I did.

Levenseller has managed to write a very engaging coming-of-age story about a chief's daughter. Rasmira Bendrauggo, who must face impossible odds in order to return home from unwarranted banishment. Raz, as she later becomes known, is an excellent warrior, unique as the only known female warrior in the surrounding villages. When she is betrayed by people she believes close to her, Raz is banished and given an impossible task to complete in order to return home. In the wild lands surrounding the villages, she meets two boys, brothers in all the ways that count, and together they set down a path to conquer their trials in the hopes of returning home and righting past injustices. But, how can they succeed when mythical creatures abound and there's a god to kill?

Filled with surprising turns and wonderfully nuanced characters, Levenseller's work embraces the coming-of-age theme by showing true character change and growth in Rasmira, Soren, and Iric. Those characters are then able to change their world and help begin the rebuilding of an oppressed way of life. Vibrant flashes of fear, determination, and a dash of romance make for a wonderful mix.

First heartbreak, revenge, new friendships, and finally, redemption.

Warrior of the Wild was one of those books that I was about to label “did not finish” based on the first few chapters. I’m glad I didn’t since I now realize those chapters were necessary to show Rasmira’s growth as an individual. We meet Rasmira on the day before her trial. Her and other warriors must pass before they are declared adults and if they fail they are banished into the Wild with an impossible quest. Rasmira knows she will pass since she’s dedicated ten years of her life to practicing and becoming the perfect warrior, all to please her stoic and selfish father. She’s the sixth child in a family of girls and from a young age she learned that to gain her father’s approval she must become who he wants her to be: a faux son, warrior, and future village leader.

Rasmira is crushing on Torrin, a fellow warrior that she’s known for six weeks. He was once part of a group of boys that routinely bullied and picked fights with her. Sounds fishy, right? This is one of the reasons why I easily grew irritated with Rasmira. She’s love-struck on Torrin despite him being a former tormentor and talking with him for a mere six weeks. I didn’t understand why she would take him seriously when he claimed he was sick of Havard’s bullying games. Why all of a sudden would he decide to befriend Rasmira and like her when he’s spent all but six weeks in a ten-year frame bullying her? And why didn’t Rasmira consider this?

So we get to the next day where Rasmira and Torrin team up and fight their way through the trial with their fellow warriors. In the middle of beasts running at her, Rasmira breaks one of the most important rules when it comes to fighting: remain focused. While beasts are charging at her, she looks away to watch her parents whom don’t like her for different reasons. Her mom hasn’t given her the time of day since she declared she wanted to be a warrior, and despite pleasing her father by following his footsteps, she isn’t the son he wanted. The issue here is her lack of focus during a time when she could easily be ripped to shreds. I spent nine years as a martial artist and I learned from day one to always. Remain. Focused. Do NOT take your eyes off your opponent. So why did Rasmira throw ten years of training out the window to gaze longingly at her parents in the middle of a fight? This is the second thing that irked me and had be disbelieving she’s a good warrior.

Anyway, she miraculously focuses back on the beast after spending a good time thinking about her parents and everything is going well until she and Torrin make it to the center of the maze after slaying multiple ziken—beasts that aren’t ostriches based on their description, but I can’t help but think of them as ostriches. Rasmira celebrates conquering her trial until she feels pain on her arm. She looks down to discover that Torrin used a decapitated ziken head to bite Rasmira, and being bit by a ziken is automatic failure. His betrayal shocks Rasmira to her core, but that means nothing compared to her mom remaining silent and not voicing that she saw what Torrin did. Since Rasmira’s father is in charge of the town, he proclaims Rasmira a failure to their bloodline, ancestors, and the warriors and banishes her into the Wild with a quest of killing the immortal God.

After a laughable start, the book actually takes a turn for the good. Rasmira is plagued by the betrayals of Torrin, her mom, and dad and is dead set on finding and killing the God so she can return home. She stumbles upon two other banished warriors from another town and the final eye rolling thing happens when one of the guys asks Rasmira if she has a boy waiting for her back at home. That’s the first thing he says to her after she saves him from getting eaten by ziken. Why would you say that to someone you just met? It’s absurd.

If we minus the bad, then the book is actually an intriguing and suspenseful read. Rasmira teams up with Iric and Soren and they vow to master all of their quests before returning home to their villages. Rasmira proves she can take care of herself by battling a variety of beasts and the God without needing to be rescued by a man who will whisk her away from the impending danger and fight her battles for her. Despite Soren falling into instant love with Rasmira, it takes her months to return his affection since she’s scarred from Torrin’s betrayal and is too focused on her quest.

These three friends live in the Wild, fight off beasts, plan how to conquer their quests, and also stumble upon some truths that changes how they view their former village lives. I’m glad I gave this book a chance because I raced through chapters and was sad when the end arrived since I desperately wanted to know more.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

Every year the omnipotent and malevolent god Peruxolo makes near impossible demands of the kingdom, and every year there is a test of upcoming warriors. Rasmira has every confidence that she will excel in her warrior test, but after she is betrayed and fails she is banished and commanded by her father to kill Peruxolo, which everyone knows cannot be done. The survival tale that follows is filled with suspense, and satisfaction that this gutsy heroine can outsmart every challenge placed in her path.

It was such a treat to read a stand alone story, with a final ending. Rasmira is the daughter of the village chief, a warrior and is in line to be the next ruler. She reaches the age of 18 when all of that age have to pass a trial. But she fails her test because of sabotage and is banished to the wild. Her task, if she is to return to the village Is to kill the god Peruxolo, to whom they pay tribute once a year. Peruxolo demands food, gems and girls once a year. It seems her task is impossible and in reality she has been banished to die in the wild. Rasmira meets two boys in the wild who have also been banished from another village. I will say no more because it would spoil the story. I loved how the characters grew and matured. I also loved the romance and the strength of the friendships.

This was a great quick read. The originality of creatures and setting were creative. The storyline was somewhat predictable and the characters were a little flat and stereotypical, but overall, I enjoyed the book.

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

This was a fun little book. It was shorter than I expected, only took a couple of hours to read, but it was good. I didn't love it, it wasn't anything very new, but it was well-written and enjoyable. The romance was a bit much, and while we got a very blatant, "It's not because he's the first boy who cared, it's because he's the right one!" argument at the end of one chapter, it still read as a forced thing to me.

The will-they-won't-they thing is tired, the arguments and the "I hate you" attitude that Rasmira gives off is tropey, all the kissing is standard YA. It was pretty obvious from the start what the "god" actually was, I'm just surprised it took Rasmira so long to figure it out. She doesn't seem stupid, but she's also not that perceptive.

Anyway, recommended for people who like romantic YA fantasy with an adventure. If you're looking for ground-breaking world-building or non-trope characterization, you won't find it here.

This was a fun story, and I very much enjoy the female protagonists that Levenseller creates. In this story, she creates a heroin who is strong, persistent, and willing to learn. It starts off dramatically and just improves from there. Rasmira grows substantially from beginning to end, and when I reflect back on everything that happened throughout the course of the book, it just makes the story that much more meaningful. There was a strong focus on friendship and I thought that was great. Rasmira learns (the hard way) that sometimes you have to trust others to lend you a hand. There is a romance, which was amazing, but the friendship the two characters cultivated leading up to the big moment made the relationship something I was rooting for. I wish there was a little bit more world building, however. The setting and the characters were great for a light read, I just found myself wanting more. Levenseller created such a fantastic plot, I just left with more questions than answers in the end.

This book is such a great story! Characters who can wield an ax? Yes, please! I loved Sky in the Deep, and this reminded me of that story! Main Character who deals with betrayal, banishment, and having to prove herself? There is alot going on in this book, and each adventure is written incredibly creative and vivid. It makes it almost impossible to put down. Three almost impossible tasks for three who are banished. And the romance was adorable, and the friendships were incredibly entertaining and endearing. She's fighting to right the wrongs done to her, another warrior trying to get back to his boyfriend, and another who felt guilty for getting the other banished. This book did have a huge twist and it delivered in the most imaginative way. Highly recommend this book if you are looking for action, adventure, and redemption.

Pressured by her father, Rasmira has spent her entire life training to be a warrior and to take over as the next leader of the village. At the start of the novel, Rasmira faces her final challenge: passing her coming of age trial and finally proving to everyone that she is both a warrior and a woman. However during the trial, she is betrayed, outcasted by her father and banished to the wilds to complete an impossible task known as mattugr. Hers is to kill the god, Peruxolo, who demands a yearly tribute from the various villages. Alone in the wilds, Rasmira befriends two other exiles, Soren and Iric, and the trio help each other to complete their appointed tasks.

Levenseller's novel is fast-paced and filled with exhilarating action. Rasmira is a formidable heroine, who enjoys her strength and does not shy away from illustrating her prowess. This was completely refreshing as many strong female protagonists often default to being submissive or weak especially when they encounter the main male character. Warrior of the Wild subverts usual tropes and this can be seen when Rasmira encounters Soren for the first time. Instead of the warrior saving her, Rasmira actually saves Soren from a vicious Ziken attack on her first day in the wilds. Soren, as a result, swears to protect her until that debt is paid.

This promise introduces us to Soren and Iric, who have survived for a year, and learned some secrets about the wilderness. However, the introduction of Rasmira is not all sunshine and rainbows since Iric initially dislikes her. He believes that Soren and Rasmira will pair off and leave him alone to live out the rest of his life in the woods. I really liked the dynamic between these characters because Rasmira is not immediately accepted and has to earn their trust. Not only does she defend them from a monster attack, but she begrudgingly earns Iric's respect by helping him complete his mattugr and also instills a sense of confidence in him. And this is what makes Rasmira so likable she's strong, capable and does not shy away from a leadership role.

While I really enjoyed Rasmira's characterization and the world beyond the village, there were some qualities that I could not overlook. I'm not really a fan of books that take a real culture, the Vikings in this case, and add overly fantastical elements. This mostly manifested in the addition of the strange monsters and beasts added to the story, such as the Ziken and Otti. The creatures seemed a little too alien for this Viking inspired world. It takes away from the realism of the story because I am trying to imagine creatures that do not seem to fit seamlessly with the presented world.

The second quality that I inwardly cringed at was the introduction of the romance between Rasmira and Soren. I really hate when other characters continually make remarks that a pairing will happen and then it eventually does. Instead, I prefer subtle descriptions, such as when Soren rubs his hand after Rasmira touches him, which hints but does not overpower the main character's narrative with annoying, repetitive dialogue about the impeding romance. As a result, the romance and some the elements caused me to lower the rating from four stars to three.

Okay. I LOVE this book so much. It’s unlike any other story or book trope I’ve read but I’m SO here for it.

I loved the adventure and epic quests that is introduced. It felt grand but also personal enough to be able to get to know these characters.
I absolutely loved Rasmira. She’s a badass woman warrior who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants.

I LOVED the romance in this book. Even though they’re warriors with incredible ax skills they’re romantic and I cannot deal with how much i loved a certain male warrior in this book.

He might be my NEW favorite person ever. Thank you so much Tricia for writing this amazing book. And THANK you net galley for providing me with this ARC!

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller is a really great story with great characters, plot, and a dymanic story that never gets boring.

Our readers are familiar with Tricia Levenseller and her book Daughter of the Pirate King and how intense the story was in the book. In Warrior of the Wild this was intense and multiply that by 100. The story was so invigoratingly fascinating that I could not stop reading it to see if Rasmira will win back her honor and her father's heart. As I was reading this, my mind immediately went to Thor. Rasmira resembles Thor a little bit but more intense and female. Young readers of all ages eyes will be glued to the story wanting to see what will happen.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We will definitely consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This book had me hooked from the start, and I couldn't put it down! It was a faced-paced, fun read with great storytelling. In the book, Rasmira is an 18 year old viking warrior who is next in line to rule her village. However, she is betrayed during her warrior trial and is banished to the wild and given an impossible task: kill the god that preys on her village and the neighboring villages. Rasmira is a great protagonist- she's fierce and brave, but she isn't perfect- she has her faults. Throughout the novel Rasmira matures and learns some important lessons about how to be a good and effective leader. My only issue with this book is that it was so short and I wanted more story! I feel like the author could have fleshed out some areas and I wanted to learn more about some of the side characters. I'm definitely going to go back now and read Levenseller's other books!

I recommend Warrior in the Wild for middle to high schoolers. I would have really enjoyed reading this myself as a teenager - so many moons ago now ;). Although the dialogue is a little corny at times, the story moves along at a fast clip which holds your attention. I liked the not so subtle pointers about being a good leader and woman warrior!

This was such a great quick read. I couldn't put it down and knocked it out in 2 days!
I loved Tricia's other books and this one is just as good. Kick butt female, a viking like setting, a touch of romance, and an unkillable God that needs to be killed so our main character can go home was the perfect recipe. I loved all the tricks and I guess you can say science that go along with fighting the God. So clever!
I would definitely recommend this read to my teens !