I wanted to LOVE this book after hearing so many raving reviews, but unfortunately the story did not capture me. I enjoyed parts of this book but overall I felt a little underwhelmed.

What I enjoyed about the book:
-I thought the author did a great job as describing the setting in a Nordic fantasy world.
-I enjoyed the mythology
-A few great spicy scenes later in the story

What did not work for me:
-The main character Freya has potential to be a strong female character but I was frustrated with her lack of action towards her enemies. I understand why she held herself back, but I wanted her to be a stronger FMC. I am thinking she will grow as the series continues.
-I usually love a last cast of characters, but I did not connect with any of the secondary characters.
-I was hoping for more banter be tweet Freya and Bjorn. There were a few moments that made me smile but I would have loved alot more.

Thank you for netgalley for an ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I liked the story but did not love it. I think there will be many readers who will enjoy this story.

Imagine if 'The Shadow of the Gods' by John Gwynne were a romantasy. That's 'A Fate Inked in Blood' by Danielle L Jensen. I could not have loved this book more. It has an underdog main character, amazing fight scenes and a harrowing journey which keeps the story at a good pace.

"The sound of the metal striking against stone as it went down and down and down echoed louder than any shout. Worse, it felt like it went on forever, my stomach twisted into knots by the time it finally silenced... Hot mist swirled around my face as though the mountain had taken a deep breath. As though the mountain had … awakened."

This scene reminded me of 'Lord of the Rings' when the Balrog is awakened and also of the dead men of Dunharrow. I don't know if the author intended that as a nod or not but I loved it. Jensen absolutely nailed those scenes.

My only critique is, there were a lot of "tears drenched my cheeks" repeatedly. Also, if you aren't used to some of the Norse terminology it might slow your reading comprehension but don't let that stop you from checking out this beautiful book. If you're a romantasy fan, then I 100% recommend this book to you.

TWs: bloody on page ritual animal killings (you can skip those parts and you will be able to tell when they're coming)

Danielle Jensen hits a new height with Vikings and romance! IF I could describe this book without ruining the plot or the wonderful setting it would be beautiful, brutal, and blood thirsty! I agree with a lot of people saying this is as blood thirsty as it gets! Freya's character development is bloodthirsty. Bjorn is the giver. I liked the romance and it wasn't heavy for a fantasy romance but it was worth it. I think if you like books from more romance fantasy authors, you'll love this one! I am a huge fan of this author and she did not disappoint! Thank you so much to Danielle Jensen, Del Rey books, and Netgalley! A great romance fantasy book for 2024!

Romantasy Readers! This one is for you!

Reasons I picked up this book:
Danielle Jenson
Vikings
Shieldmaiden

Reasons you should pick up this book:
Banter
Creative Viking fantasy with magic
Slow Burn Forbidden Love

Enter Freya, a fishwife who detests her God-blessed husband (he's trash) Enter, Bjorn, arriving from the water looking like Baldur himself (yes, I loved seeing all the Viking gods' name dropped and I got to learn a few!) and fate takes them away into the Viking world Danielle has expertly crafted. Freya is tried by sacrifice, betrayal, obligation, and the role women have been confined to in the system, but she's not just a fishwife, there are secrets in her blood. The slow burn is SLOW, but the banter is great. I thought the action was well done, and I look forward to the rest of the series!

I did think the twists were a bit predictable but that might just come from reading so many books by her that I have enjoyed.

Would I reread? Not right away, but maybe in anticipation of book 2!
Would I recommend? yes! I think Romantasy readers will eat this up! Perfect for fans of Vikings and Bridge Kingdom. If you are now an Adult reader who Loved Percy Jackson as a YA reader, this a great book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for this ARC!

Freya, a shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king in this Norse-inspired romantasy. It's a captivating and fast-paced story but I didn't like any of the characters. The FMC struggles to find her path forward in a world dominated by men and is often indecisive and very impulsive. That said, since it's a duology it makes sense that her character arc is still incomplete and it's possible she'll be redeemed in the final book of this duology. There's several twists throughout the book, all of which have such obvious hints that they come as no surprise. I'd give this 3.5 stars. I enjoyed reading it, but it fell short of the hype.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley.

I think romantasy readers will enjoy this one. The main character is a Chosen One who discovers things about her powers and is mouthy. The love interest is your typical muscle-y, protective, handsome guy. The plot sometimes takes a back seat to the main character's lusting for the love interest. Typical romantasy stuff. It's well-written. Some of the banter was pretty good. The pacing lags a little bit in the middle, but definitely picks up at the end.


I'm coming to realize that romantasy might be something best read in small amounts. At least for me. I guess I just want my fantasy worlds to have depth and not just be a vehicle for a romance. (Especially when that romance is an insta-love)

“A Fate Inked in Blood” is a thrilling, Norse mythology inspired fantasy and adventure novel. The book is character driven, with complex and relatable characters, and no shortage of epic battles, heroes worthy of Valhalla, and romance.

Thank you netgalley and Del Rey for an earc in exchange for an honest review.
I have seen this book as being a lot of people’s most anticipated read of 2024! I already have two editions of this book coming in so I am very grateful to have received and early copy. I have never read Danielle Jensen before but I am excited to continue this series and to read her other books.
A Fate Inked in Blood was an enjoyable read. I enjoyed Freya’s journey and self discovery. From the beginning I was hooked at seeing how she held her own against these vile men who are just straight up nasty. I felt so much sympathy for her situation. She just continued to be put in these positions that really tested her loyalty. She had so much pressure put on her simply for existing and with everything about fate, was tested in really brutal ways. Now I sympathize with her, however she made some very impulsive positions which were really dumb in a way. For as smart and thoughtful as she was she did not put a lot of thought and really let her emotions cloud her judgement which was really frustrating to see.
As for Bjorn, I found him to be a very frustrating character. I appreciate the support he provided Freya. I liked his perspective in a lot of situations. Something about his character I just did not connect with. I also found it hard to route for their relationship partially because I just didn’t connect with him.
Overall I enjoyed this story! I found it to be an engaging fantasy and I liked most the characters. I enjoyed the norse mythological element I feel like I hear so much about greek gods, I found the norse gods to be refreshing. The ending was also really great and I am looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an e-arc of this book. This story follow Freya who is blessed by the gods as the shield maiden. We see her internal struggle to be true to herself, or to do her duty to her family.
I think the concept of the book was really interesting and the lore is worth exploring. However, I think it fell a little short in execution. We didn’t get enough world building and backstory to any of the characters. Everything felt a little flat. I liked the characters, I just wanted to understand their motivations better. I think for an introductory novel, this could have been longer. I needed everything to be more vivid and fleshed out.
As for the characters, Freya needs to sort herself out. She flip flops between decisions, and needs to just make up her mind and stick with it. Bjorn is an interesting character, he had some really fantastic dialogue, on top of awesome battle sequences. I am curious to know more about King Harrold and Steinunn. Again, I want details, backstory, descriptions.
Overall, this book was a quick and fun read, I didn’t really know what to expect going in because this is my first Danielle Jensen book. I want to try more work by her in the future.

3.5 stars

This story has potential, of that I will admit. I didn't hate it, but I didn't truly love it. It felt way too fast-paced; a lot of stuff happened, but I felt like there wasn't any real reason behind it other than to further war for this one dude. It was just fighting, fighting, and more fighting. No one seemed to care that any of this was happening, and those that did were killed off in a manner of pages.

The relationships between everyone felt significantly lackluster. In my opinion, there was no authentic relationship building between any of the characters; they just existed to further the plot line.

I do see more potential with the second book, which I will be picking up. I was so excited for this story because I love Norse Mythos, it is my favorite mythos out there. And even still, the mythos part of this felt kind of shallow. (If I'm being honest, it feels like a Percy Jackson spin-off for adults) I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but that's the vibe of it. But that being said, the only thing about the gods that even seemed remotely important in this is that they give children a drop of their blood so that those children can invoke their powers.

I think my biggest problem is that this was basically all telling and no showing, and that's why it felt so rushed. I'm disappointed, but still willing and wanting to read the next installment.

This one was fun. I enjoyed Denielle Jensen's take on an adult viking-inspired fantasy, but it definitely leaned into romantasy and had a lot of focus on the romance. That said, I found the character dynamics and the worldbuilding to be quite interesting, and I'm very intrigued by where the plot has left off, so I'm hooked for the next one!

I am truly shocked to be giving this book such a low rating. I'm also not convinced that Danielle Jensen wrote this book.

What starting off as a promising, comfortable read slowly devolved into convoluted nonsense. From writing, to character work, to basic plot logic, it was honestly a tough one to get through.

Characters
I have only ever despised one FMC more than Freya. Freya was the most useless, whiny character I've read about, maybe ever. Her emotions and opinions were all over the place and there was no consistency in her motivations. I don't recall her ever actually doing anything heroic on page - she was either falling and being rescued and held up by Bjorn or, in a very rare show of strength, went off the deep end and murdered everyone in her path. Her "commitment" to her family bordered on literal insanity. They weren't just morally gray or subtly rude to her, they were outright abusive and proved over and over again that they didn't care about her as a person. Yet, she constantly made stupid decisions (often at the detriment of others) for the sake of protecting them. It didn't come off as altruistic or loyal, it was just plain stupid.

From the beginning, Freya and Bjorn agreed that Snorri and his interpretations of signs and prophecies are skewed. He is clearly seeing anything as a sign of a test for Freya (which always happens to be a convenient way to make her do tasks instead of him) or as proof that he will be King. Yet, later on, she drinks the damn kool-aid and she's like "Yeah, Snorri says we should fight and I agree" or "He says this is my destiny and he's obviously right". Sorry, what? He literally spews nothing but bullsh*t but you're suddenly taking his word as gold? It makes no sense.

She was constantly crying about everything she did. She went on and on about how she deserved punishment for killing the person at the beginning of the book even though he was clearly one of the most evil people on the planet. I wanted to tell her to get over herself cause no one else gives a damn. Literally, he hasn't been missed or mentioned and NO ONE CARES THAT HE IS DEAD. So why are you over here being a victim and crying about it?

WRITING
The writing in this... I'm truly at a loss for words. Honest question - did someone else write the majority of this book? I've read The Bridge Kingdom and The Traitor Queen. I know the DLJ has published a large number of books and yet we are giving poorly written dialogue and repetitive cliches all throughout this book. I don't know how many times someone would say something "as if they could read Freya's thoughts" or how many times "she felt a hand on her only to turn around and see that it was Bjorn". You may be tempted to think that I'm being dramatic, but I know I read each of those lines at least 10 times each. That's lazy.

Also, why did we constantly skip pronouns in the dialogue? There were sentences like "Was just a..." No, we don't speak like it. IT was. Or "Was only..." instead of SHE was only. Again, this was littered throughout the book. I've never read an ARC and a finished copy, so I have no idea how much of this could potentially be changed later. But I was giving an ARC to read and review, so here are.

*Sigh* I'm not done yet, unfortunately. I have to at least briefly address how awful the "romance" aspects were in this book. Firstly, why are we still allowing books to be published when they refer to a woman's body part as her s3x? That's honestly disgusting. Mound is worse, but this is a close second. Please stop doing that. Secondly, I'm not here to expose my own personal accounts, but I just have to say that I think I have a fairly normal and healthy... romance life... and I can tell you that I have never once been so turned on that MY THIGHS WERE SLICK WITH LIQUID HEAT. She's wearing clothing.... How did her thighs get so wet? She's not a water faucet. It doesn't just drip all over the place.

I can't. Moving on.

Honestly, I could probably say more but I have already given this too much energy. I hate giving 1 star reviews. I hate bashing someone's work. But this was inexcusable. I'm literally shocked. This was a highly anticipated book for me but, as you can imagine, I will not be continuing on in this series.

Thank you netgalley for an ARC of this book.

It is a Danielle Jensen book, so I know it will be fantasy and I also realize it will only be book 1 of a series. Am I willing to read it so early on that I will have to wait for the sequel. Yes I am! Am I glad I read it? Absolutely. Danielle Jensen has created a world where gods are real and often interfere during conception to give a drop of blood to a new baby. This drop of blood will share some of their powers with those who receive it and will allow them to not only have power but to create their own fate, instead of the one already known to the gods. This story takes place in a Norse inspired world where land and riches are won in battles and weapons are spears and axes. This story focuses on Freya who is trapped in an unhappy marriage but has a secret that people will kill for. There are a lot of bloody battle scenes and a lot of people are killed in the story. There is also a fair amount of sex. The characters are very interesting and Freya and Bjorn together will have you rooting for them. Be careful about becoming attached to other characters as they may not survive or may not turn out to be who you think they are. I am eagerly awaiting book 2.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an early copy. My opinion is my own.

*actual rating 3.5/5, rounded up because I had fun reading this.*

The one downside to reading arcs is that you have to wait even longer for the sequel...
I had a lot of fun reading this book, and quite enjoyed my time with it. I'm excited to see where the story goes in future books.
I wasn't super attached to any of the characters yet in this first novel, but I can see myself becoming so in the sequel(s). Especially Bjorn. I really enjoyed him as the love interest, and I thought he was really sweet (and attractive, obviously). This man was head over heels in love with Freya from the first moment he saw her, like you could tell he was absolutely whipped and would do anything for her. Honestly, I kind of loved that though. Good for you buddy, love that journey for you.
There were a few slower parts, but that's to be expected in the first book of a fantasy series. You need to build the world, and that isn't always the most exciting thing to read about.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, even if it didn't become a new favorite.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Thank You Net Galley for an E-Arc of this book.

The character are very likeable, the interaction between Freya and Bjorn was very fun to read. This author has got the world building down to an art and could certainly teach many how to do this RIGHT. There wasn't any world shattering reveals and your probably see them coming, but don't let that detour you from reading this book you won't regret it.

Enemies to lovers, slow burn romance? Viking setting and characters? Fast paced action? Yes to all these! My favorite of Danielle L. Jensen's books so far, this had all her usual trademark tropes and characteristics. Addicting and engrossing, I enjoyed this from page one up to the end. I KNOW the sequel is going to be even better, and I look forward to seeing Freya's growth and hopefully, coming into her own. Loved Bjorn as the main lead-- I admired his dedication to and love for Freya, and they are totally endgame. Highly recommend!

This was quite the enjoyable read! Loved the slow burn romance between the two main leads, and the mystery surrounding the prophecy involving Freya. A definite must for any collection!

I desperately wanted to love this book but unfortunately I think I might be in the minority in my opinion. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and I felt it dragged. The writing wasn’t bad, but there was just something that didn’t completely vibe with me to keep me excited. Unfortunately I won’t carry on with the series.

Love love love love love.
There really is not a way to express how much I enjoyed this book.
I'm already a fan of Danielle Jensen's writing, her world building, and the way she tangles her characters into situations that force them to make awful choices that hurt the ones they love.

The worldbuilding in this series looks to be on par with her Bridge Kingdom series.
The romance is less of a forefront for me, but maybe I just haven't fallen for our eventual hero as much as I have fallen for Aren. Time will tell because I'll be staying up all night to read book two the moment it is available.

Freya shows so much strength, and ferocity, and bravery. She's everything I love about a heroine.
If you liked The Bridge Kingdom, or LJ Andrews' Broken Kingdoms series, this will be one of your top reads this year.

Thanks to Netgalley and Del Ray for the pre-release copy! Below you'll find my honest review.

I put this one off for a bit because I wasn't sure I was in the mood for fantasy. Then I realized it comes out this month and that I needed to read it before release, so I dived right on in.

I shouldn't have hesitated, even a little bit. It was so good! The magic was really cool, and I really liked so many of the characters. Did Freya have some whiny moments? Sure, but she kind of has a lot going on in her life. Is it a little unfair that Bjorn is as sexy as he is but trapped in the book and not here with me? Definitely.

Once I really got going, the pages flew by. It was hard to put down and I just wanted to read a little bit more, a little bit more, to find out what happened next.

I can't recommend this one enough for fans of mythological fantasy stories with spicy romance mixed in. Five stars.