The Norse Fantasy has plenty of antecedents, arguable the first ever piece of fantasy fiction is Beowulf after all. And this is a well worn area of fiction, from attempts at straight historical pieces to more fantastic takes - after all How To Train Your Dragon is basically a Norse fantasy. Shield Maiden, as the name suggests, is a stab at a feminist bit of Norse fantasy, and hangs its coat lightly on Beowulf - who is here as a much much older character (pooh poohing without denying his previous exploits). It is borderline YA, though there is a smattering of sex, and is firmly in its heroine Fryda's head. Daughter of the local clan leader, Fryda has a disability (a damaged arm) but all the spunk and gumption you might need, particularly if you're embroiled in a chosen on narrative you aren't aware of.

I enjoyed Sheild Maiden a lot, mainly because its pretty clear about the story it wants to tell and how it wants to tell it. The stuff of sagas is in here, the foolish father, the duplicitous brother, the stirring deeds of braver and there's a massive dragon as well. And it gets to talk about the Vikings slavery and other historical misdeeds, this is very much a warts and all adventure. Once it pivots in the last third to its more fantastical subject matter, it does a good job of showing quite how much the stakes have been raised. Shield Maiden, much like its title, doesn't have much in the way of airs and graces and subtlety, but is is a lot of fun.

Shield Maiden is a read that goes a little bit outside of my comfort zone, being a kind of YA romance mixed with a coming-of-age historical fantasy, which I enjoyed greatly, especially with how Beowulf was implied in the plot.

We are going to be following Fryda, a captivating princess, whose dream of becoming a shieldmaiden was truncated at 13 years old, after an accident that left her with a useless hand. Despite her best efforts to train and improve, this will be a scourge on such an ableist society as the one we are seeing in this book; even being the daughter of the king and niece of the legendary Beowulf, she's seen as an invalid for the rest.
In the other part of the romance, we have Theow, a slave which was kidnapped when he was a mere kid. A brave man, who cares about Fryda's well-being, but whose condition makes this kind of relationship difficult.

Outside of this main point of the plot, we have a really interesting story around the politics and the fight for getting power in the Viking community; one that introduces some of the most interesting characters in Shield Maiden, such as can be Bryce and Wingraf. Bryce acts as a second father for Fryda, and at the same time, has his own secrets that he wants to protect. Wingraf is an excellently written character, Fryda's brother, and a despicable person who will be the catalyst of the change.

Worldbuilding is interesting, taking the legend of Beowulf as the inspiration, and blending it into a Viking setting, despite only using the last fragment, the one where Beowulf fights the dragon; and honestly, I think some of the best scenes of the novel appear as a result of taking this fragment.

In summary, I found Shield Maiden a great book, probably with a bit too much of romance for my taste, but really enjoyable and perfect for those who want an epic story in a Viking setting.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t enjoying this book as much as I thought I would and it’s not really for me , itwas overly long at points and some scenes were too descriptive or ridiculous to me (and yes I’m a fan of fantasy)
I’m sure others will enjoy this but it’s not my cup of tea

‘For every girl and woman who wants to be a shield maiden.’ What a brilliant dedication.

Freyda is a strong woman who has high morals and protects those she loves fiercely. She sees the goodness in everyone and treats people with kindness. Despite a horrific injury as a child she still works hard to become a skilled fighter even though her dream of being a shield maiden has been ruined.

As the politics in court rage and some unsavoury lords try to take control, an old magic is stirring and a dragon is waking up.

This interestingly has the pov of the dragon told in a dreamy, fairytale way which adds to the enchantment of the story.

Full of tales of Beowulf, this is an entertaining read with likeable characters, romance and battles with a dragon.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this in advance in exchange for an honest review.

‘𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗-𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗.’

🍷🍷🍷🍷 / 5

🌶️🌶️ / 5

»»————-✼————-««

Review:
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the author for gifting me a copy of this fantastic book for an honest review.

As a huge lover of history, mythology and fantasy, I knew I would love Shield Maiden from the description posted on NetGalley. And I was not disappointed, full of betrayal, battles and ‘who did this to you?’ Shield Maiden is every history buffs dream.

The story of Beowulf is one I have read and reread hundreds of times and this retelling follows his final battle with the dragon. You definitely don’t need to know anything about Beowulfs story to enjoy this action packed retelling, as it is explained along the way.

Fryda is a strong and powerful MC, who has a fantastic character arc. She goes from shy timid daughter, to strong powerful Shield Maiden. One of the things I really enjoyed about Shield Maiden is the disability rep show through Fryda who was injured at 13 and as a result has a deformed hand; she’s mocked and peered at with disgust, and after 7 years of not believing in herself; she achieves her dream.

Theow is everything. I love him. He loves Frydra and will literally hunt down anyone who has caused her pain. He is strong and omg I just want to hug him and tell him everything is going to be okay.

Sharon’s writing was incredible, fast paced and kept me begging for more. Her use of multiple POVs allows readers to gain better understanding of each character and create more personal relationships making betrayals and deaths much more hard hitting. I would like to say this whole book happens over about a week, the amount of things that happen kept me completely hooked. I loved the use of Old English words and names; they definitely added to the fantasy element of this story and the pronunciation guide at the end was really helpful.

I would like to say this book does discuss slavery, sexual assault, abuse and murder in various degrees of detail.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced fantasy the addition of the dragon and Fryda’s romantic subplot will have me recommending this book for life! Oooh also listen to like fantasy music while reading; I listened to the playlist ‘Running from Dragons’ on Spotify and honestly the vibes were incredible.

For lovers of:
- Fantasy
- Dragons
- Retellings
- Beowulf
- Disability rep
- Battles

Thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for this arc.

Shield Maiden is a fantasy novel inspired by the Beowulf poem. The story follows Fryda, who wants to become a shield maiden. This dream seems to be unrealistic after her tragic accident.
We see the cold relationship with Fryda´s father and a weird one with her brother.
Fryda has two slave friend, one of them is her bedst friend and the other a love interest.

Thw writing of this story was perfect, the historical background and Beowulf as well.
What was a let down for me was the the Fryda´s behavior and thoughts, I could not believe she is 20. Fryda was quite naive and inmature or better say she did not think abou the consequences of her actions.
The other characters were also underdeveloped, personally I would like to know better Hild.
However I hve enjoyed myself reading the story, so for me solid 3 and half stars.

I was really excited for this book because I loved Beowulf in high school and all things Viking/Norse myth related. It was a slow start and I almost DNFd but by the 20% mark I was more into the story. I enjoyed the character relationships and most of them are fleshed out/well written. For anyone that likes the found family trope, you may like this!

I normally love a switching POV novel but this one has too many. also they suddenly went away? For the start it was 6 characters getting a POV and then suddenly it changed to only 2 or 3 characters (plus the dragon). It felt like a weird choice, as most of the POVs were unnecessary. I especially didn’t enjoy the dragon’s POV chapters as it kind of pulled me out of the story.

The chapters were too long and too descriptive at times for my taste. It’s so much detail about the clothing and the views but somehow also zero world building! It’s a fantasy novel, where is the world building? Also with the descriptions; the gore and body horror was a little too much for me 🤢 it was so detailed it made my stomach turn.

The first half was so much better, I wished I had DNFd by the 65-70% mark. By the last third, I just began skimming the excessively descriptive passages because I couldn’t be bothered anymore. Sadly the most boring and lacking fantasy novel I’ve read.

TW/CW: blood, body horror/gore, injury, death of parent, sexual assault, misogyny, slavery, death, grief, violence, fire, PTSD, ableism, physical abuse

Fryda's one desire is to become a shield maiden. A young woman of very strong spirit, she is ambitious, yet kind and balanced. Her ambition is difficult to steer as a woman living amongst some men with deep seated views about woman and their ability to contribute to battle. Harder still when due to an accident she has a disfigured and dysfunctional hand.
However, she secretly undertakes training each morning. Supported by the blacksmith and her slave who worships the ground she stands upon, she navigates the trappings of being the niece of Beowulf.
Her father pays her little attention. He sees her injury as a failing, yet cannot see how well she lives despite this.
There is the background of the sleeping dragon- (yay, love a dragon!) that adds a warm and mystical element to the story as unbeknown to Fryda she is connected to this dragon. It accounts for why this dormant power in her starts to emerge.
A great balance of the intricacies of relationships, power, plotting, betrayal and lore, with history, battles and a hint of magic, this YA read delivers it all in a very engaging style. There are great characters, that develop nicely, tension and a very engaging script, making it a very satisfactory read.

The tale is often told from the perspective of the victor, distorting the truth to make them look better. In an epic poem like Beowulf, it all points to one man being the hero, but what if there is more to the story. Shield Maiden by Sharon Emmerichs retells the final part of Beowulf’s life from the perspective of his niece. A young woman who wants to become a warrior but looks destined to be married off as a political pawn, but when a dragon begins to awake from a slumber it awakens something inside her too. Perhaps Fryda has inherited some of her uncle’s legendary powers?

Fryda lives in relative comfort. Her father is clan leader, and her twin brother looks to follow in his path. Fryda always wished to be a Shield Maiden, but an accident as a child left her with a weakened hand. This has not stopped her training and within the town she is popular for her kindness. Uncle Beowulf is on route to celebrate 50 years of his rule. With him comes clan members from across the kingdoms and their tensions. Meanwhile, a dragon begins to wake from its slumber. Fryda will find her own story when she became a pivotal player in a game of intrigue, betrayal, and dragons.

When you think of Beowulf you think of epic poetry. Shield has epic elements, but it feels a far more centred story that concentrates on Fryda’s role in the story. It is a story of fighting against the odds, fighting against her place in the clan and her the perceptions of her disability. She has a warrior's heart and will do what it takes to prove it. Fryda's heart is full of fire, but also love. She has a love for all the people in the town, her aloof father, misguided brother, but also the slaves and workers. Indeed, an important part of the book is Fryda’s relationship with the red headed slave Theow. A childhood friendship has grown into something much more in adulthood, but this is a relationship that could never survive.

There are some rich ingredients for Emmerichs to work with, but the author does not fall into melodrama. The romance storyline is an enjoyable part of the story, but there is also political wrangling and action. This is a story based on one of the original sagas, a thousand years before any Game of Thrones. Emmerich makes skilful use of the setting and the characters. You feel transported to a time of Viking clans. Fryda has lived a closeted life and sees the best in others, but through her allies we see that not everything is rosy under the great King Beowulf.

I am not a student of the original text. From what I can tell Shield contains the main beats of the story, but suggests that at this point in his life, Beowulf if not as involved as the poem suggests and that some of the characters were portrayed more sympathetically than they deserve. As someone who has read countless retellings of the Arthurian legend from all different perspectives, I enjoyed Emmerichs taking the essence of Beowulf and making it their own. The character of King Beowulf is present in the story, but rarely at the centre. This is Fryda’s tale to tell.

For a story that contains a dragon, it is light on fantasy elements. It is more low fantasy with a realistic setting. It is about the politics first, but when the dragon wakes, an epic battle commences. I enjoyed the fleshing out of Beowulf told from the perspective of another. Fryda is a sympathetic character, and it was great to witness her accent into her own epic poem.

Shield Maiden is a beautifully written fantasy tale that follows Fryda, a young girl with a dream of becoming a shield maiden. After an accident in her childhood leaves her disabled, she believes she will never achieve that dream – no matter how badly she wants it. When her Uncle Beowulf comes to visit the clan and celebrations begin, Fryda uncovers a plot that threatens the safety of the people she loves most. Determined to do what she can to protect her people, Fryda soon feels a strange power growing inside her, but Fryda isn’t the only one who feels the power stirring and a dragon long sleeping might finally awake.

I admit I don’t know all that much about Beowulf but between the intriguing synopsis and that stunning cover I was incredibly keen to read Shield Maiden and I absolutely was not disappointed. This fast-paced fantasy retelling feels incredibly well crafted and lots of research has gone into creating the story. I immediately felt transported to this fascinating setting and I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. It was so easy to get lost in the story that I found myself sitting down to read a chapter and ended up reading for hours at a time. There’s plenty of action in the story and more than a few tense moments. The tension really ramps up towards the end of the story and that final battle scene definitely had me on the edge of my seat.

The characters are really interesting in this story and I really liked Fryda as a main character. There is quite a heavy romance focus in this story, the romance felt well developed and I really liked seeing their relationship develop as the story progressed. I also really liked that there were chapters from the point of view of the dragon, these were really intriguing and had me desperate to know more each time. Shield Maiden is a really captivating historical fantasy tale and if you’re looking for a story full of compelling characters, tense fighting, and a dragon then this one should definitely be on your TBR list.

This epic retelling of the third part of the poem Beowulf was an absolute dream to read. You are transported to a world of gods and monsters and kings that wield uncanny powers, those not unlike the beasts he battles. In Shield Maiden, Beowulf is an old king, ready to find a new heir for his kingdom.

Our main character, Fryda, is kin to Beowulf, and has dreamt her whole life of being a Shield Maiden - one of the famously fierce female warriors. After a horrid accident in her youth mangles Fryda's hand, she resigns herself to a life of running her father's household, befriending the servants and secretly training with the blacksmith, Bryce.

Shield Maiden follows Fryda as she discovers a growing power within her, and torn between loyalty to her family and the man she loves, Fryda has to choose if she will become the warrior she is destined to become.

The plot was somewhat predictable, but not in a bad way. As with any retelling, there were known elements of the story, but the characters and choices were refreshing and engaging. I fell in love with Fryda and Theow and Bryce and was fully invested in their story.

The writing style was easy to read, yet with flowing poetic descriptions that truly brought to life the tale of Fryda. The characters were lovable and believable. If you love Norse/Scandanavian mythology and epics, I would highly recommend Shield Maiden!

Shield Maiden is a story which is based heavily on and influenced by the poetry about Beowulf. Shield Maiden is a tale of a young princess called Frydda and her partner Theow. Frydsa is tragically injured and forced to give up her dreams of becoming a Shield Maiden.

The characters are well written and very familiar in this type of story, although Frydda’s point of view is a welcome difference.

The plot and story are gripping with plenty of politics, drama, a little romance, the chosen one trope, a curse and treachery are all present.

The world-building is set geographically in a small area and if you have read Beowulf this will be familiar but nothing much is added to expand the world. The atmosphere created is okay but not of the level of immersion you get with Beowulf. The pacing picks up toward the end after a slow start. Ultimately this is a tale of a heroic young heroine and all her travails, you will enjoy this if you love YA fantasy romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Head of Zeus for providing this e-arc.

So YA historical fantasy romance isn't my usual genre of choice, but having read Maria Dahvana Headley's excellent feminist translation of Beowulf last year I thought I'd give Shield Maiden a go.

Almost to my surprise, I enjoyed Shield Maiden very much. There's a bit of mythology, a bit of romance, some coming-of-age and even a dragon. The depiction of Fryda's damaged hand was very well done and I liked that it didn't hold her back in anything. The information about slavery was also very interesting and well-researched.

A solid 4 stars.

My actual rating is 4.5 stars but rounded up to 5 stars on here.

I really enjoyed this action packed intriguing feminine twist to an iconic tale inspired by Beowulf poetry.
Beowulf's niece takes centre stage, Fryda's an inspiring main character, she's as courageous as a dragon and her caring heart is pure as good. Fryda's relationships with the supporting characters warmed my heart so much but also totally broke it. Theow, Hild, Beowulf & Bryce are the most treasured of characters, even the Dragon captured my heart as it saddens me how lonely its cursed existence was. There's so much love, loss and betrayal, the betrayals are so profound it gives this story a driving force that the author freshly wields together with an unexpected turn of events that makes this a fierce page turner and representations are very well done.
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Thank you @headozeus for kindly letting me be part of Sharon Emmerichs #shieldmaiden blog tour and for the beautiful physical arc.
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The only reason I knocked off half a star from a full rating is because there were a few moments that didn't feel clear, I would have liked more depth, but overall it's a great read and a setting I love to visit in history.

Thank you to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for providing me with access to an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have listed potential triggers that I encountered when reading at the bottom of this review as a spoiler-free warning to those who, like me, have a sensitive disposition.

Shield Maiden follows a host of characters in the mythical country of Geatland, but our main protagonist is Fryda, aspiring shield maiden and niece of renowned King and warrior Beowulf. Fryda has long dreamed of joining the ranks of the legendary warrior women, but when she is thirteen she is injured in a serious accident and becomes disabled, as she has a permanently deformed left hand and wrist.

I enjoyed the setting of this novel, and I liked the atmosphere that Emmerichs created, the community of the burh and the mystical Scandinavian environment. Fryda is a good character to root for, and I liked her as a heroine, as well as her journey with her new powers. The book has a soft magic system that has a very classic feel to it, and I enjoyed the parts concerning the dragon. The fantastical elements were great strengths of this story. The book does take a bit of time to get into, but once you are settled into the story, it gets better. There were some passages I appreciated, most of which were mainly halfway through, and ninety percent of them when following Fryda’s POV. However, I did find this book difficult to connect with in general, and I’ve concluded that this story wasn’t really for me. I cannot comment on the book as a retelling of the poem Beowulf and the extent of its success as such, as I have never read it. However as a fantasy novel, I can give my opinions on what did and did not work for me in particular.

The best way I can describe the tone of this book is that it reads like a young adult fantasy novel. As the writing style is very plain and accessible, and the heroine quite stereotypical of the genre, I was surprised that this book wasn’t edited to be marketed as such. If the explicit language and graphic violence were removed (both of which is very sparing), and the length shortened slightly, this could have done really well in the YA section of any bookstore, what with the popularity of YA fantasy novels and classic retellings at the moment. This book does feel misplaced, because it’s a bit too juvenile to be an adult fantasy novel but slightly too graphic to be a YA novel.

The main, consistent issue that I had with the book is the dialogue. All conversations feel wooden and flat, and at no point does it seem to ever flow well or settle into a rhythm that feels natural: it reads consistently blocky and jumpy when characters talk to one another, which I found jarring and quite difficult to focus on. The overall writing style was very average in my opinion, and I was not personally impressed by it. The voice and tone of the book didn’t speak to me either. The plot and story itself was good, but the way it was told missed the mark for me.

The character work is a mixed bag. Fryda is a good heroine, I liked her, found her charming and believable and I was rooting for her consistently. Wiglaf made me cross and uncomfortable, as he was supposed to, and the relationship between the twins was very interesting. Bryce was okay, as was Beowulf, however I found it odd that Beowulf and Bryce seemed to fill very similar roles in the story, almost exactly the same, as both were Father figures to Fryda that she and her friends depended on, and who both adored and somewhat doted on her. Theow is very average as a love interest, and sadly I did not connect with him, and so the romance was very much just okay. Hild was a great side character but we did not get nearly enough of her.

The length of this book seemed slightly overkill, and with over four hundred pages it definitely felt like it was too long when I was reading it. There were a lot of passages that seemed repetitive and unnecessary, that could have been cut down to make the book feel a bit less sluggish. I was also a bit thrown by the POVs honestly, as they changed constantly, and it seemed an odd decision considering the book was meant to be about Fryda. Also, for a book called Shield Maiden, we don’t seem to get enough of them. We don’t see Fryda train with any of these warrior women (sparring with Hild doesn’t count in my opinion), we don’t learn about them, we don’t see any of them other than extremely briefly so I was slightly disappointed, but that was because of my own assumptions.

This read just wasn’t for me, and that’s okay. I did not connect with it and unfortunately it just didn’t resonate with my tastes. A 2.5 star rounded up to a 3.

Trigger warnings include: Ableism, racism and xenophobia, slavery, assault, sexual assault and implied attempted rape. Battle scene violence that includes some graphic descriptions.

The reason I wanted to read this book is because I read Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf last year and this novels features Beowulf years after the event. He is a side character in this and yet it made me curious, especially with Beowulf still relatively fresh in my mind.

There were parts of this novel I really liked. I liked Fryda as a main character and the fact that she had to overcome a physical injury that left her arm barely usable seemed an interesting premise. Though a big deal was made of this at the beginning of the book, her arm suddenly did not seem much of a problem anymore. That bothered me a bit for some reason.

I quite liked the over arching plot and I did grow rather fond of Fryda and Theow as a couple, but some o the execution did not quite work for me. The relationships between the characters were a mixed bag. Some were nicely written and others just did not seem to ring true.

I wanted a bit more of the environment, their surroundings and the way these people lived. I wanted more of a sense of time and place I suppose. Much of this read as if it could have been set at any time in any place, which was a little disappointing.

I liked it, but I did not fall in love with this one.

Fryda is the daughter of King Woestan but has always wanted to become a Shield Maiden; that is, until an accident permanently damages her hand, leading her to believe her dream of becoming a warrior is over. Years later her clan is hosting the celebrations for King Beowulf’s long reign and visitors have come from all over to join in the festivities. Amidst the drinking and feasting Fryda comes to realise that not all the guests have arrived with good intentions.

When she starts to feel a strange power rising within her, Fryda takes it upon herself to protect her people, no matter the cost. All the while, deep underground, a cursed dragon is rousing from a lengthy sleep and finds itself drawn to the power building within her.

Sharon Emmerich really brought 10th Century Sweden to life in this book and I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in this time period. The world was described really well although I found myself wishing for a bit more detail surrounding the historical and political nature of the area. This is probably just the archaeology student in me though!

Fryda herself was a heroine you could really root for, someone who came to realise that her damaged hand did not in fact make her unworthy or in any way less. I loved how Emmerlich handled the topics of both physical impairment and trauma in this book and how it was openly discussed by the characters.

The tone of the book seemed to waver between YA and adult, with the romance definitely sitting in the former category. I would have preferred a more adult leaning book but again, that is just personal choice. I enjoyed the plot and found myself wanting to keep reading, even when I knew I had to put it down, although I found the dragon parts slightly confusing and didn’t completely understand the issue of the curse.

Overall, this was an entertaining read and would lend itself nicely to being the start of a series. I’d definitely be on board for going back into Fryda’s world and seeing her develop further.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Shield Maiden centres on Fryda and her dream to one day join the ranks of the warrior women known as the Shield Maidens. She battles the doubts of those around her, her own disability, and even a dragon to achieve her goal.

If you are looking for an action packed book about battling dragons in the days of Beowolf you are in for a disappointment here. While I did enjoy the book and the glimpses into the everyday lives of people at the time, it was not the exciting fantasy book I had expected. The politics and deception were interesting and kept me guessing somewhat but the dragon's curse storyline made little to no sense to me. My largest gripe is that no dragon actually appeared in the story until well past the 80% mark.

Overall, an enjoyable historical fiction book but a large let down in the fantasy department.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book.
The language seemed simple sometimes, and this novel had many unnecessary and prolonged scenes. We did not need a description of debauchery at the feast. We all know already what Viking parties looked like.
Also, there were scenes written from the dragon's point of view meant to be foreboding of the future attack, but they were written in such a dramatic way that they sounded rather ridiculous.

So I haven’t enjoyed much YA fantasy romance recently. I’ve found issues of consent and grumpy male love interests to be the main culprits.

I only mention this because Shield Maiden is a welcome relief to what is currently on the market. We have both a captivating female protagonist called Fryda and a worthy partner in Theow. However, Fryda is a princess and Theow is a slave and they cannot be together.

These star crossed lovers don’t have an easy time, but their romance blossoms despite all this – and it was wonderful to read. As such it makes the story more wholesome and ‘coming of age’ than the average YA fantasy romance.

The world building is also interesting as the legend of Beowulf is the mythological inspiration. This story focuses only on the part of the Beowulf poem that deals with the dragon, which feels quite fresh as other stories around Beowulf usually feature Grendel and Grendel’s mother.

Beowulf himself is a side character in this novel, however, we are treated to POV chapters from the dragon – which were beautifully written and intriguing – and contained some of my favourite moments from the whole novel.

Fans of YA fantasy romance will enjoy this novel and linking the story with the epic poem of Beowulf was an inspired decision by Sharon Emmerichs!