The Witch’s Heart is an intimate imagining of Norse mythology surrounding the mother of monsters Angrboda. Finding herself alone and alive after her third death at Odin’s hands, Angrboda settles into a new home, a new life, and new relationships with Loki, Skadi, and Gerd. This is a slow burn, focusing on the slow growth and development, the intimate relationships with Loki and later their three children Hel, Fenrir, and Jormungand. As time moves on, the myths and legends of the Norse gods happening in the background (related only through Loki’s visits), fate begins to press in and around Angrboda, becoming less and less escapable. It’s heartbreaking, but much more for the portrayal of motherhood and her relationship with her children than anything else. (In fact, I was not keen on Loki to begin with, and that just decreased as the book progressed. Instead, Angrboda and Skadi are far more intriguing). These are messy, complex people, heroes or mythological figures brought down to as human a level as possible, and all the more tragic and compelling for it.

4.5 Stars

I adored this retelling of Norse myth!
Growing up on Percy Jackson and living in Ireland really made me live myths and legends from different cultures (and my own) and this retelling was so beautifully spun.

Angrboda has been burnt alive thrice by the Asgardians' hands, but this time she will live her life in peace. The magic and knowledge Odin seeks she does not believe should be shared. And in living a life in peace and falling in love with Loki, the trickster she unwittingly will bring about Ragnarok.

I loved the magic, loved the balance of myth info and storytelling & I loved the confusion (that made sense really) about where the gods started and the parentage of who - because let's be real, there are so many myths, and some myths say one thing while others say another. I'm happy this was addressed subtly!
I love Tom Hiddleston's Loki (Obviously not an accurate representation), but MAN did I hate this Loki in the end; I didn't forgive him for what he did.
ALSO, I AM SO HAPPY SKADI, AND BORA HAD HAPPINESS -even for a little!

Where to begin? I went into The Witch's Heart knowing the bare minimum details because as soon as I saw the tagline, "a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki," I knew I wanted to read it. But what I got by the end of it was so much more. I came away with a whole lot of interest in Norse mythology (as evidenced by the Norse Mythology book I bought two weeks ago) and just a deep appreciation for how Genevieve Gornichec took a character who was a footnote basically and brought her completely to life.


The character I'm talking about is our heroine and witch Angrboda. When she refuses to reveal the future to Odin, his punishment is burning her at the stake but she lives on--although injured and powerless. She flees to a remote forest where no one can find her, except for Loki who seeks her out and with whom she eventually falls in love. Together, they have three unusual children but Angrboda chooses to raise them with love, acceptance, and away from the prying eyes of the gods who would only judge them. But destiny and the gods can only be kept at bay for so long and soon she has impossible choices to make that would not only affect her family but the world as they know it.


No pun intended but the heart of the book was truly Angrboda. I was engrossed in every part of her journey from creating a life for herself in the forest, the tumultuous relationship with Loki, and the many ways in which she fought back against those who would belittle or suppress her. That said, all the other characters only further enriched the story through the different relationships they had with her. Loki was obviously one of the most important and it was really cool to get this more traditional view of him, especially when all I pictured before was the Marvel/Tom Hiddleston version which is so completely different! Other familiar names such as Skadi, Thor, Odin, Freya, all come into play and again, it wasn't the same images I had which were based on popular culture. This book draws inspiration from the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, which are two original sources of Norse lore and I know this because reading this book led me down a rabbit hole of googling these characters and their origin stories. I consider the latter to be more proof of how great the book and the author's storytelling was.


Do I recommend? I do! Mythology aside (which clearly interested me!), I was just very moved by the story and Angrboda's unconventional life.

Can I give a book 20 out of 5 stars? No? Because this book tops the charts for me. Norse mythology has snuck into fiction lately in the best ways, so I expected to like this. What I didn't expect was the perfect storm of beautiful and concise writing, thoroughly researched and thoroughly Norse mythology rather than simply being "inspired by," and a tale of motherhood and marriage unlike anything I've read before.

This book is getting the hype it deserves on "Bookstagram" so far, so while I could gush about the haunting settings, intense action, detailed characters, what struck me the most is how Gornichec explores and articulates Angrboda's attraction to a questionable figure and the pains and joys of her subsequent pregnancies. She details pregnancy and birth so well! She writes a lush inner dialogue of disappointment, loyalty, motherly love, the complexity of love, and facing your worst fears.

As a mother of young kids and a wife in a wonderful but imperfect marriage, Angrboda and her story spoke to my very heart. While being thoroughly entertaining and fascinating, it's also like being seen.

I have no criticisms of this book. None. The writing, pacing, research, characters, everything is amazing. This was neat to read after having recently read Gaiman's Norse Mythology. Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for a copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

I received an eARC copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book really surprised me in a good way. I enjoyed it as a beautiful retelling of Norse mythology with twists, turns, and betrayals.

The characters were so well written, I cared about all of them. When one felt betrayed, I actually felt that betrayal as well. I connected with the main character Angrboda as all she wanted was a quiet life and not put herself in the way of anyone else. However, fate seems to have another destiny for her.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who also enjoys books like Madeline Miller’s “Song of Achilles” and “Circe”.

Unfortunately, I made the decisions to DNF this book about 18% in. I didn’t know what was going on for the entire time and the plot moved so slowly and was mostly dialogue. It didn’t hold my interest so sadly I am moving on.

This retelling of Norse Mythology is one of the better and less confusing ones I've read. The characters are well-developed and straightforward. This book focuses in on the relationship between Loki and Angrboda, and their 3 children. I loved how the book tells this particular tale, while still giving background information on all the important players without going into too much detail. I'm not a huge fan of Norse Mythology, but this book made me want to learn more about these Gods.

Thanks to NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review

The Witch’s Heart is a retelling of a Norse mythology character, in the same vein as Madeline Miller’s Circe. This follows a witch who becomes romantically entangled with a god. If you read the synopsis or are familiar with the character, then you know who this is. However, I think it's a fun surprise if you can manage to read it without getting it spoiled. Overall, this was a good story. I think if you enjoyed Circe you'll probably like this, or if you like mythological retellings in general, you will probably enjoy this. While I felt like it was a fun retelling to follow, and an interesting perspective to have, it failed to add anything new to the story in the same way that other retellings.

I never felt strongly for the main character. For example, the finale was clearly mean to be an emotional send off, but I was void of emotion. I think I get invested in characters fairly easily. I can't help but think about this story in context of other stories like Song of Achilles or Circe where not only will be getting a unique perspective, that perspective gives a new insight into the characters that is focusing on. What's more, it makes you care for them. That was just a big thing missing in this story. Furthermore, the pacing was not always consistent. We jump between domestic life and some high stress high action situations where, and the way the story navigates between them is choppy and inconsistent. Overall, it was a positive experience, but I've seen it done better.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This was another anticipated read for me, and I was thoroughly impressed. I loved all the references to Norse mythology and the ethereal/magical mood that Genevieve Gornichec created with her writing.

I am not as familiar with Norse mythology as I am with other lore, but I liked how this made it accessible and bingeable (is that a word? Binge-worthy?). I felt like this tried to be Circe for the Norse, and while it was entertaining, it just didn't have the gravitas or the lyrical writing style that Circe did. The writing here was often times simplistic, and the characters didn't have the depth that they could have had. But it was vastly entertaining and the interactions and conversations were funny. A perfect, quick, effortless read for mythology fans and those who want a chuckle from the Trickster god, Loki.

This was such a beautiful book! I love Norse mythology, so finding a book that is based around that was so fun. And I enjoyed the character development so much!

At times I felt that the plot was moving a bit slow. I liked the story very much, but there were some parts where it took me a bit to read because the pace seemed to drag. I wasn't entirely sure where the plot was going during those slow parts, which made it harder to stay focused. But, in general I had a great time reading this book.

The characters were so wonderful! I loved the unique banter and dialogue between each character, and the growth as the story progressed. It was so much fun to really get to know the characters and create a connection with them.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy and mythology-inspired books! I'm so grateful for the chance to read The Witch's Heart and I can't wait for more people to discover it!

The legendary trickster Loki is a god that readers love to hate or perhaps hate to love. His status as an antihero is fully realized in this debut novel by Genevieve Gornichec and readers familiar with his story will enjoy the imagined relationship with Angrboda, the proclaimer of sorrows. But it is Angrboda herself that portrays what it is to love eternally and the reader will weep with her as she gives her heart over and over to the people that she loves.

The story will engage readers who enjoy mythology but the text does seem to be missing an element of gravitas in the writing. The violence in the story stays true to form to other mythological tales but may prove to be disturbing to a younger audience. Readers looking for the next saga in the story of Loki may also lose their heart to Loki’s witch.

Well, unfortunately this one was a DNF for me. I made it about 10% before I decided that I couldn’t keep going. I kept waiting for something to happen in this book but nothing was really grabbing my attention to make me want to continue reading. The reviews on Goodreads were pretty glowing, so I’m still kind of surprised why this was such a miss for me.

The storytelling really reminds me of fairy tale or folktale retellings. Very factual, very simple, and not a lot of action. The writing style felt very much like someone repeating a tale but with all of the emotion left out of it. And that may be intentional as the author was trying to make a slow build to more heightened action, but the beginning left me, frankly, quite bored. The characterization felt very flat, with Skadi feeling like the only character with much personality from the beginning.

There are a lot of subtle references that fans of Norse mythology will love, but I'm not sure where this grabs a reader who knows nothing of the mythos. There were things that happened where a lot was left for the reader to read between the lines, like Loki as a pregnant mare situation. Obviously based on a Norse myth, yet we're given no elaboration to excite our interest. Just a few remarks from Skadi along the lines of, "That's a pregnant horse. Where did that horse come from? You don’t need a horse!"

I think my expectations going into this book were not quite in line with what the work is meant to be. I thought that it would read more like historical fantasy, with a lot of action and adventure and a decent love story. I feel like this is going to be a good pick for fans of Circe or The Silence of the Girls, but I’ll admit that there’s a gap there for me because I haven’t read those works.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was reading a sequel and didn't get a chance to read Book One. All the seemingly juiciest bits of Angrboda’s story are buried in forgotten memories. Instead of a feeling of suspense where I would look forward to a slow unraveling of her past, we learn from page one that she was burned at the stake, like, three times? I just don’t understand how I’m supposed to feel, because Angrboda just rarely has feelings herself. Is that the point? I guess I’ll have to come to terms with never knowing.

• In the same way that Circe tells a story about a forgotten figure of Greek mythology, The Witch’s Heart does that for Norse mythology with Angrboda. While I wouldn’t compare the two because they are very different and individual stories, I felt the same amount of excitement and intrigue.
• A lot of thought went into the layout of this story, in the end I felt like it came full circle and was almost seamless.
• One of my favorite things is reading a backstory for the characters that are thought of as “the bad guy”, it makes everything feel so morally grey and really stretches the brain.
• Norse Mytholgy is so fun because there is so much humor in it. You can tell that the culture that told these stories to their children loved to laugh and I think the author did a good job of incorporating that into this book.

I received a free ebook via NetGalley via Berkley Penguin Random House. All my thoughts are my own.
CW for the book include domestic and familial physical and emotional abuse. It's Norse family so I think pretty typical for the genre but I don't have a huge frame of reference.

I think mythology is a wonderful genre in the way that it puts you in the middle of a story that feels a bit like magic that the reader can almost touch. I think mythology lacks a bit in the dehumanizing of situations. I think The Witch's Heart fits both of these to a tee.

I loved the story. I liked how we went from the cave to a journey and how all the little foreshadows circled back. The story was incredibly well thought out and clearly researched. The universe felt both massive and small as characters came and went during Angrboda's time in the cave.
I also thought Gornichec did a really good job at making the Norse gods unique to her story. I don't know if it was intentional but, at this point, most pop culture education of Norse mythology is from plotlines from MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies. I was worried about making assumptions going into it, but even something as innocuous as reiterating Loki's blonde hair was enough of a reminder that I could really get into Gornichec's story and not worry about others. The time I spent in the cave with Angrboda, and then with her children left me very attached. At one point, I sobbed for like 10 minutes. I really fell into the book. I absolutely could not put it down.
I also loved how much of Angrboda's identity was in being a mom. While all women should obviously not feel forced into making their entire world their children, some women choose motherhood as their passion and I felt it was really well done here. I got a well rounded main character and lots of cute children moments, win win for me.

The attachment to Angrboda also led me to my biggest complaint though. I understand why immortal gods are going to treat mortal beings and their short lifecycle as superfluous and unimportant, but the absolute disregard for anyone's feelings or physical well being was a bit too much for me. Everyone was just so cruel to each other. Yes I sobbed because I loved Angrboda and I was angry on her behalf, but she forgave and kind of moved on so much faster. Between the inevitable prophecy and the gods, I was really emotionally exhausted by the end, and I'm not sure in a good way.
I had also just finished The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller a few books before this one so in the future I might try and put bigger gaps between mythology based books.
I think Gornichec could've done a better job taking care of her characters, and in turn her readers, but I think I would still recommend the book to others. Maybe with a bit more caution, especially if they're experiencing difficulty with a partner or family. It just left me a bit hopeless.

I never downloaded this book to review and didn’t know I was accepted. Please take it out of my list because I was never able to read it

I'm very late to review (book has already been published) but this is a wonderful novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was like Skadi in wishing fervently that Angrboda would get over Loki already, and was delighted when Skadi and Angrboda finally got together and Skadi could care for her properly. The ending is masterful, as a mother's love literally conquers all at Ragnarök (which one usually thinks of as a very testosterone-powered end of the world).

A worthy feminist addition to the current mythological fiction craze!

It seems that Riordan’s success in retelling myths has emboldened adult authors to venture into this genre. Reminiscent of Madeline Miller’s “Song of Achilles” and “Circe,” or Linnea Hartsuyker’s “Golden Wolf Saga,” Genevieve Gornichec’s book dives into the tale of a banished witch who falls for Loki, the trickster god of Norse Mythology (not to be confused with Marvel Studios rendition). This is a story full of love and a deep, old magic that seems to radiate right out of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the digital arc right when the book was published. I ended up reading the physical copy I bought instead.

I’m doing a shorter review for it because of that.

The Witch’s Heart recounts the life of Angrboda, witch and wife of Loki, known only as being the mother of monsters. Her meeting Loki, their relationship with one another, their children, Angrboda’s friendship and eventual relationship with Skadi, all converging into the end times of Norse mythology: Ragnarok.

Overall, as someone who loves reading myth retellings, I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it. I liked the characters and the mythology itself. I LOVED Skadi, and Hel. The surprise wlw relationship that I didn’t expect to happen.

There were two main things I didn’t like.

First of which, and the most minor, being how modern the speech was. I usually only read historical fantasy and there is a way to write speech to be easily read (and not ye olde days speech) but also not sound super modern. This author failed at that. It was a bit jarring and prevented me from being fully immersed in the story. It wasn’t terrible but I just didn’t like that. You could really tell when Angrboda and Loki would bicker with each other. Their banter was much too modern to seem appropriate for the setting and tone of the book.

Second of which being Angrboda’s relationship with Loki. I liked both of them as characters and I do think the author did do a really good job characterizing them but Loki would do X bad thing to Angrboda/her children and Angrboda would either 1) not care 2) care for two seconds and then forgive him 3) be angry but still forgive him. It just got so annoying to read. It really took away from her growth as a character because it seemed like her whole purpose (aside from her being a mother) was to defend/forgive Loki every step of the way in the book no matter what he did and how he hurt her or their children. It was just.... weird.... and also unnecessary to the story. The same events could have happened without Angrboda constantly forgiving and defending Loki, even to the bitter end. I don’t like men enough to vibe with that, if I’m being honest.

But aside from those two things I think it was a great retelling and recommend it to people who are interested. I don’t think you’d need to know much about Norse mythology, this novel is pretty easy to read and incorporates lots of the myths.

The writing style feels too juvenile for an adult fantasy, and the contemporary-sounding dialogue is jarring. Both those aspects made it difficult to get very far, and I had to conclude this book just wasn't for me, even as someone who loves Loki as a character and an archetype. This approach doesn't do him justice, and the comparisons to Madeline Miller don't do this book any favors. Younger readers who don't mind the dissonant voice and tone, or who aren't very familiar with Norse mythology, might enjoy it more.