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Actual rating of 2.5

Lena and her sister, Fressa, are one and the same, they know everything there is to know about each other, and no one is closer to them than each other. So when Fressa is found dead in a forest clearing, Lena's entire life begins to unravel. She is desperate to find out what happened, and will go to any lengths possible, some even impossible, in order to get her answers. After making a deal with Hela, the Norse Goddess of Death, she begins to do things that the old Lena never would have considered, not even if her life had depended upon it. As she falls deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, she realises that things she thought she knew, are not so and that there is so much more going on than meets the eye. The threat of Ragnarok looms on the horizon and Lena finds herself caught up in it all. How far will she really go in order to learn the truth of what happened to her sister, who's life hangs in the balance, with time running out?

The first thing that caught my eye was that cover. Oh my, isn't it a beauty?! I absolutely adore it, it's simple yet absolutely beautiful. As soon as I saw the cover I had a rough idea that the story would have something to do with Norse Mythology, and I was right, which made me even happier because I have a small love for Norse Mythology. It intrigues me, and it interests me and I'm totally here for it. When I saw that this story also encompassed not only Norse Mythology, but a murder mystery of sorts as well? Well colour me green and call me Loki because I. Was. Sold!

We get a brief introduction to Lena, Fressa and their friend Amal (who also happens to be smitten with Fressa, and vice versa), before the tragedy occurs in the beginning, the strange, unexplained death of Fressa. She is found in a forest clearing, with no marks of death upon her body, and no signs at all that she was attacked. It's almost like she just laid down willingly and went quietly into the dark abyss. Lena will not accept this though, she knows that something happened to her sister and she is determined to find out what. Lena's determination actually borders on obsession...actually, let's just make that straight up obsession. Lena literally cannot eat, barely sleep, or function in life because every waking second she is thinking about Fressa, and what could have possibly happened to her. She looks for any explanation that seems even remotely plausible and she runs with it, hoping that she can get to the bottom of it.

I found Lena to be quite unlikable if I'm honest. At first I did feel sorry for her because she had lost her younger sister and I couldn't even imagine losing a sibling and having to do life without them. But instead of going through the normal stages of grieving and dealing with what had happened to the best of her ability, she completely shut down and just refused to believe that it was Fressa's time and that she had travelled onto Hel where she was meant to. I guess in a way, this could be seen as her way of grieving to a degree, but it just annoyed me. She didn't take into account how anyone else around her who was connected to Fressa was feeling. It was sort of spoken about in brief passing, but she was just pissed mostly because she felt like everyone else was moving on when she didn't want to, or didn't feel ready to. She came across as an incredibly selfish character to me and I just found her whiny and unlikable. Fressa I never got to know, we meet her briefly in the beginning as stated above, and then she's dead, so while I felt for Lena's pain at the start, I didn't really feel anything for Fressa because I didn't know her. Amal I felt for the most because he's just doing his damned best and everything that has happened to him is sad, but I still didn't feel a strong connection with any of the characters, Amal included, that I felt I should have. I just felt incredibly disconnected from all of the characters, and it made me sad. I'm wondering if it's because the narrative was written in third person, that we lost some of the emotion the characters were experiencing?

In Norse mythology, I believe there are many afterlives, the two most spoken about, however, are Hel, and Valhalla. Valhalla is where the warriors chosen by Odin and the Valkyrie go, to live out their first death until such time as Ragnarok comes, and they then are called to arms to battle for the survival of the worlds. These are the two that are spoken about a lot in this story, and a few of the Gods and Goddesses are named as well, however, we only meet two of them, and I feel like this was a lost opportunity maybe?

I love the Tammi has obviously done some research into Norse mythology and viking culture as the story definitely had a good feeling of 'real' to it which I enjoyed. Though I worked out very early on a couple of things that were happening, even if one of them wasn't quite in the way it turned out, so I sort of went through the whole story wondering if I should continue because I felt I'd already worked out most of the mystery of it all. Granted the reasoning behind certain things I hadn't worked out, I still didn't feel overly blown away by their reveal.

I questioned whether I should DNF this book a few times, the pacing was pretty slow and a lot of the time I felt like not much was happening. The plot also seemed pretty all over the place at times and the narrative became a bit confusing for a hot minute as well. The pace did pick up at about the 70% mark which was good, I just wished the whole story sat at this speed for me. There didn't appear to be a sense of urgency throughout the story either which I feel made the pacing fall short at times. We had a timeline given to us, but I feel like it didn't really hit me how it should because I just didn't really care about the characters.

All in all, this was a really well researched book, and the story idea was there, I just feel like it wasn't executed to it's full ability which is a bit sad. I held high hopes for this story and it didn't quite reach the mark. It wasn't terrible, but it just doesn't seem overly memorable for me either. I feel like a lot more could have been done with the story than what we got. Don't take my word for it though, give it a shot if you're interested in Norse Mythology, it might surprise you!

I love the concept of this book. The world-building is great and the story felt very original. I really hope this series continues!

The Weight of a Soul is an absolutely breathtaking journey that will grab you by the feels and never let you go! A powerful, page-turner, it's a book that sticks with you long after the last page. I can't wait to read it all over again!

I love mythologies of all kinds but I don’t think I have dived enough into them as I want to, so I was immediately sold on this book when I read the synopsis. This book should have been perfect for me, I was so excited, sadly this wasn’t the case in the end. The only thing I liked about this book was the mythology, but nothing else really stuck with me, but I did find this book to ultimately entertaining.

This is one of those books where there was more that I disliked more than I did like. This all starts with the pacing in the first half of the book being choppy and confusing, and the second half I just found boring and easily could have put me asleep.

Another thing that I feel like I need to talk about the main character Lena, and unfortunately I didn’t end up caring for her at all. I found her to be unlikable, which isn’t always something that always bothered me, but I felt there wasn’t anything about her that was redeeming for me, and I had a hard time getting behind her as a protagonist. She was moody and she was said to be smart and clever, but I don’t think this was the case that was shown.

This wasn’t something that would deter me from reading another book by this author in the future but this book just wasn’t a hit for me, I did enjoy the mythology which was the only thing that redeemed the story at all.

I really wanted to like this book. The blurb sounded pretty cool and that cover is just gorgeous. However, despite the story-line showing much promise, it just dragged too much.
This book wasn't for me but maybe others will like it more.

I found myself waiting for this book to be over. I wasn't actively disliking it, I just found myself picking up other stories other than this one.

I'm a big fan of mythology and I really like norse mythology. I didn't enjoy this though. The story dragged on and I found myself 'reaching for it' less and less.

When Lena's younger sister Fressa is found dead, their whole Viking clan mourns—but it is Lena alone who never recovers. Fressa is the sister that should've lived, and Lena cannot rest until she knows exactly what killed Fressa and why—and how to bring her back. She strikes a dark deal with Hela, the Norse goddess of death, and begins a new double life to save her sister. But as Lena gets closer to bringing Fressa back, she dredges up dangerous discoveries about her own family and finds herself in the middle of a devastating plan to spur Ragnarök –a deadly chain of events leading to total world destruction. Still, with her sister's life in the balance, Lena is willing to risk it all. She's even willing to kill. How far will she go before the darkness consumes her?
Ok, so this book sounded really interesting. I loved finding a book wrapped in Norse mythology as I do love reading different books that have a mythological setting. However, something just didn’t work for me with this book. Part of it was Lena. I just didn’t really care for her as a character.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review and I’m happy to say that this one was pretty good! I haven’t had much look recently with ARCs so I’m glad this one delivered

The author is clearly a talented writer. I really enjoyed her style and felt that her writing was engaging. I liked that romance was not the central focus of this book. Lena’s love and devotion to her sister was clearly the focus so that was a nice change.

My only issue with this book was some of the characters, Amal in particular. He was pretty boring and I didn’t quite buy the romance with Fressa or the friendship with Lena. I was taking notes while reading and originally felt that Lena was also underdeveloped; however, that did improve throughout the novel. She is a gray character, neither completely good nor completely evil, and this is one of my favorite types of character.

I hope there will not be a sequel to this one because I like where this one ended.

Thank you Netgalley and Elizabeth Tammi for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I wanted to love this story so much, as the premise seemed right to my liking so much.
The Weight of a Soul is a story of one sister that wants to restore her sibling after her death, but as the whole book was around this. Yet Fressa's death happened so early, that I was not able to keep my interest in that. I had high hopes that it was just a passing feeling, but it went through the whole book, it just made a book with such possibilities boring with this whole idea.
Norse mythology was for a plus as it was shown in an intriguing way. That I liked and made the whole intriguing ad twists even more unexpected and likable.

What would you do if your sister mysteriously died? What lengths would you go to remake the world if you felt so deeply that she was meant to live?

When Lena's sister mysteriously dies after being given an unnatural dagger by their father, Lena knows that something is terribly wrong. Unable to depend on her family and friends, Lena invokes the Viking goddess of death and begins a journey to bargain for her sister's life. Lena quickly realizes that she isn't just pitted against death -- something bigger hangs in the balance.

Readers will enjoy Lena's dynamic character and the lengths she willing to go for her sister. The story weaves Norse mythology into the plot flawlessly, though the plot moves slowly at some points. In all, fans of Norse mythology and will surely enjoy Weight of a Soul and readers will want to know what happens next.

A good book about Norse mythology, it has action and everything nice character dynamics. However I couldn't connect really with the characters.

Thank you very much to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

The Weight of a Soul had a very interesting concept and initially I was excited to read something which covered Norse mythology as a concept. There is a serious lack of young adult books which discuss it. The way in which it handles the "weight of a soul" within the afterlife is fascinating, and I believe that the author handled much of the book in a lovely manner, particularly when it came to Lena's character. Her descent into a much darker point of view truly allows us all to question our own reactions to the situation she is placed in. However I do believe that Fressa was a very intriguing character as well and it would have been suitable for the story to have been written from both perspectives. Overall, however, I would recommend this book to those who have any interest in Nordic culture and mythology, as it delves into that aspect wonderfully.

Loved the story, loved the concept but it was a little dull for me.

I was very excited to read The Weight of a Soul because I really enjoyed Elizabeth Tammi’s first book. Besides, I got sold when I saw that Norse Mythology was in the mix.

The story was all very exciting as we journey with Lena in her search for a way to return her dead sister who had no reason to die. However, there were many other complications in the story that slowed that process.

In my humble opinion, I would have loved to see more action in the working of returning her sister and the complications that happens after that rather than spending so much time solving all the other clan problems in between. Even so, I still appreciated that the issues within the clan were highlighted and their traditions made very clear.

As for the use of Norse Mythology in the story, I loved the idea and how it was blended into the story. Unfortunately, the war between the gods were pretty vague and I was somewhat confused by their motives. I would have loved to see more revealed in this war.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Flux through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I didn’t feel as excited or fascinated by everything in this book, but I liked a few things and overall was entertained enough to finish the story. I think the premise and the mythology aspects are intriguing and I really wanted to read more about those. I wasn’t too fond of the writing style and the pacing wasn’t that great either, but the mystery part kept me reading and guessing for a while and that was kind of fun. The world-building is alright, but I wish there was more depth. There’s a few twists here and there and I liked them, but some were a bit predictable so when they were revealed, I wasn’t as shocked as I should have been. The conclusion also felt convenient just to end the story and left me feeling not so happy. I do think this book definitely had potential and there’s some really fascinating concepts and themes that could have been explored more or executed better.

Lena is an interesting character, but she’s just so unlikable and unrelatable that I couldn’t sympathize with her. I did admire her determination and loyalty to her sister, Fressa. I can’t say if I like any of the characters since I feel like they weren’t developed as much. To be honest, I really don’t care that much about the characters and that made it quite difficult for me to connect with the story. I love being able to picture myself as one of the characters and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that with this book.

All in all, this was an okay and quite interesting read. The Weight of a Soul by Elizabeth Tammi has some intriguing concepts and I did like the Norse mythology aspects, but I just wasn’t as enthralled or into the story as I would have liked. I wanted more from the world-building, the characters, the mythology and the overall storyline.

If you’re looking for a short, fast-paced, and an easy read fantasy story with a bit of Norse mythology, then you might enjoy this book.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the author and publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review and for participating in a Blog Tour hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this book unbelievably dull. I kept praying for my interest to at least catch a spark and for me to please get invested in the story or even just the characters but it never happened. I started The Weight Of A Soul four times before I finally made it through the first chapter and I admit that I skimmed most of the rest.

I wanted a Viking-esque world, I wanted strong characters, I wanted an action-packed plot and delightful insight in Norse mythology. Instead I got a messy romantic drama concealed as a young adult fantasy and a bunch of half-ass gods. Okay not fair. It wasn’t all exhausting love triangles but it certainly felt that way.

Lena is destined by birth to become chieftess of her clan, following in her father’s footsteps. Her father however, is no easy man to love. With him always gone at sea, forcing the other villagers to raid with him, there is little love lost between them. His disregard for others is (I wish I could say slowly but it really was more of an all of a sudden thing) weakening his position as leader. Which means that now more than ever, appearances are important. So when Lena’s sister Fressa reveals she is engaged to their mutual best friend Amal, it stretches already thin family bonds. A younger sister isn’t supposed to marry first and Amal is promised to someone else. But then Fressa dies. Sudden, unexpected and for no apparent reason other than she fell down and simply never got up.

So far not so bad, I suppose. It’s an interesting premise. But that’s where it went wrong real fast for me. Lena chooses not to accept her sister’s death. She chooses not to accept it. No grief, no denial, just “no”. In her grand plot to get her back, she summons a ghosty horse and goes to meet Hela in the underworld where the goddess of death spins a tale about well, death and Valhala and the weight of Fressa’s soul. And that right there is when I called bulshit. It was all so .. easy? Like, I’m nog going to accept my sister’s death so let’s summon a goddess and oh look it works and now a nice trek through some frozen wastelands and hi Hela can you please save my sister? There was some other vague but obvious foreshadowing talk but idk, when you lose my credibility it’s not coming back. Hela didn’t feel like an all-powerful creature of myth. She was just a one-dimensional character with the name of a god. Or so it seemed to me. Ragnarok was casually thrown in somewhere along the line and look that’s Loki passing by *wave*.

And that’s my main annoyance. I missed thorough exploration in every single line. This book has no soul, which is pretty ironic. It misses depth, it misses atmosphere. Show me what life in this settlement is like, give me more than just a few carefully chosen descriptive lines. Let me breathe it. Build this world, this plot. It has potential, now let it ripe. The father’s storyline and his demise was so… underdeveloped. Other plot lines could have been so much more. They could have made me care. I’m sure they could have.

And on top of that I didn’t even like any of the characters. If I had it may have changed my view on things but I was so indifferent towards it all. I had to look up most names for my review and it’s been less than a week since I finished the book. That shows just how uninvested I was. Still am. Maybe someone else would love this. I didn’t. Pity.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

Couldn't really get into this one. I'm not exactly sure why except the characters didn't hold my interest. The ending was unexpected but again I just wasn't thrown into the story enough to care.

When Lena’s younger sister Fressa is found dead, their whole Viking clan mourns her. Lena struggles to recover from her sister’s dead and just can’t let go. Lena is determined to found what and who killed her sister, and also how to bring her back. In her desperation, she makes a deal with Hela. In order to get her sister out of Valhalla, Fressa’s soul must be replaced by one of equal weight. Soon, she finds herself in the midst of a dangerous plan to start Ragnarök. Just how far is Lena willing to go to save her sister?

The Weight of the Soul had so much potenial – it could have been truly epic. The questions of morality could have been explored much more deeply. She also never truly suffers the consquences of her actions which was something that could have definitely be explored more. The mythology, which was an aspect I loved, could have been delved into much more.

Lena as a character was interesting, she was decent but so much more could have been done for her character and so much potential. She was impuslive and selfish and I adore unlikeable female characters and there was so much potential for character exploration that wasn’t really done. Fressa died early in the novel so we never really got to know her, never really got to connect with her, or even truly see her relationship with Lena.

As I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed the mythology aspect. I liked the twists near the end too. But, again, so much potential here! It just wasn’t explored and executed as well as it could have been. I would have loved some chapters from Fressa’s point of view while in Valhalla, that would have been so interesting.

Overall, The Weight of a Soul had so much potential and a really great premise that, unfortuantely, wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. An enjoyable book, but could have been better but Elizabeth Tammi is still an author I will keep an eye on.

I was intrigued by the title. I got pretty dissapointed in the storyline. It was too plain and confusing at times. I tried to enjoy the characters but it was too hard.
I guess this book did not meet my expectations.

Did you just see Frozen II and are looking for another story of sister love to fill that empty void in your heart? Elizabeth Tammi’s The Weight of a Soul might be just the book you’re looking for. The story opens with two sisters, Lena and Fressa, daughters of their Viking clan leader, who share a close bond between themselves and also with Amal, the healer’s son, who also has a romantic relationship with Fressa. Only pages into the book, Lena finds Fressa mysteriously dead in the woods and immediately knows that she do anything, anything, to get her sister back.


She finds an answer from the goddess Hela, who tells her that her sister’s soul has gone to Valhalla, and if she can just find and kill someone with a soul the same weight as her sister’s, then they can make an exchange. Lena doesn’t even hesitate before agreeing to do this, but instead immediately starts looking for someone who fits the description. Everyone around her is moving on, trying to adjust to a world without Fressa, but Lena longs to cry out, “No! Stop it! She’ll still coming back!” Now that Fressa is gone, her parents drop a bombshell on her — they want her to marry Amal, her sister’s fiance. Lena tries to fight it, but with Fressa dead, even Amal has come to accept this fate. Time is running out for Lena, the walls closing in around her faster than she can handle. Can she find the right soul in time and bring her sister back before there’s nothing to come back to?

I really wanted to like this book. It’s an amazing concept on so many levels, yet at every step of the way, the potential falls flat on its face. I loved the idea of love triangle between Lena, her dead sister, and her dead sister’s lover, made all the more interesting because Amal and Lena are best friends. They love each other and they carry each other through their grief, only to find that they must both betray Fressa’s memory by wedding each other.

I also loved the idea of a story that focuses on sisters and the lengths we will go to save someone that we love. But unfortunately, these characters just did not compel me enough to care. Fressa is only on the page for a brief scene before she dies, so we know nothing about her personality. Amal has no personality apart from his grief for Fressa, which is understandable, but I still wanted more from him. And Lena, despite being our main character, made me feel nothing. She had no distinct qualities or personality traits that stood out to me and made her interesting. Even when she was grieving her sister, I felt like I was watching her from a distance instead of being right there inside her head, feeling that awful pain with her.

The idea of souls having weight and having to kill one person to bring back someone else is also intriguing and prickling with moral problems. Lena had never killed someone before, yet over the course of the novel, she kills multiple people quite easily and she never once grapples with the morality of her actions. On one hand, it shows her devotion to her sister, which I appreciate, but on the other, it just didn’t seem realistic and it missed out on an opportunity for huge depth, which the novel so desperately needed.
Overall, reading this book made me a bit sad, because I felt like it held a lot of potential, but was just extremely underdeveloped. There was a fair bit of Norse mythology, which I enjoyed and would love to see more of, but even that was underdeveloped. Ultimately, I think it was a story that deserved telling, it just deserved to be told better.

That being said, this is all my own opinion. If you are looking for a book brimming with Norse mythology and a Viking aesthetic, or a sweet sister story to make you feel all warm inside,