A Captivating Fantasy with Norse Mythology

Siri Pettersen’s Odin’s Child is a thrilling fantasy with Norse mythology, rich world-building, and deep themes of identity and power. The world is vividly described, with unique landscapes, cultures, and a magic system. Hirka, the main character, has no magic and struggles in a society that fears those who are different.

The story explores oppression, politics, and prejudice. Hirka’s world highlights the dangers of fear and unchecked power. Her journey mirrors real-world struggles, making the story thought-provoking. Political intrigue and shifting loyalties keep the plot engaging.

With vivid writing, fast pacing, and well-developed characters, Odin’s Child is a must-read for fantasy lovers who enjoy action and meaningful themes.

This book was originally published in Norway so it’s hard to say whether my difficulty connecting with the story was due to the writing or the translation. The book has an interesting premise but left a lot to be desired. The characters lack depth and the book is too long meaning the story feels very slow and drawn out. The book has been given a lot of love and I’m disappointed that I didn’t share the joy. Not one for me.

This book just wasn't for me. The audiobook narrator is really good, but the story moves so slow I was zone out for a lot of it. The character development was okay, the plot was okay, I just wanted very invested and didn't care what happened to the characters. I won't be continuing the series.

SUCH A GREAT BOOK OMG!
I wish netgalley had the option to listen offline, but the story and narrations were great.

Reads very YA, but between the bloody battles, deep themes, and prostitution in the thrumming nights of Y’m, it is VERY MUCH an adult norse-inspired fantasy worth it’s weight in gold! Siri Pettersen is fantastic

I went into Odin’s Child expecting a strong Norse mythology influence, but while the world had some Nordic-inspired elements, it didn’t fully capture the mythological depth I was hoping for. Instead, the story leans more into political intrigue and a coming-of-age journey, which could have been engaging if the pacing had been tighter.

At over 600 pages, the book felt too long, and I found my interest waning about halfway through. The main character, Hirka, fits the familiar YA heroine mold—an outcast, “not like other girls,” thrown into a larger conflict. While her struggles with identity were compelling at times, her arc felt predictable.

That said, the audiobook narrator did a great job bringing the world and characters to life, which helped me stay invested longer than I might have otherwise. Fans of slow-burn fantasy with a political focus might enjoy this more, but if you’re looking for a fast-paced Norse-inspired adventure, this may not fully satisfy.

Odin’s Child starts off at a fast pace—quicker than I’m used to—which made it a bit challenging to get my bearings at first. I found myself rewinding sections to fully grasp what was happening. That said, the narration was superb, with a great tone and speed that truly pulled me in.

The mythology was fascinating, and the characters were well-developed, though I struggled to stay connected throughout the book. The main character wasn’t the easiest for me to relate to, but I really enjoyed the father figure and many of the elder characters. While I appreciated the world-building and unique take on mythology, this one wasn’t a favorite for me and unfortunately I dnf.

The people have tails and ravens are sacred. The ruling families, counsel of 12, and the "Seer" run everything but 1 area that is still independent. Then there is 1 girl and 1 boy, star-crossed in more ways than one but better and stronger together. The 1st in a Norse trilogy that is packed full of mystery, bad guys, secrets, and well written, complex characters. Didn't go into the book with any expectations or previous knowledge on the series.

A breathtaking fantasy that deserves to be a global phenomenon.

It’s not often I’m left completely at a loss for words, but this book rendered me speechless. Every time I tried to explain what made it so incredible—the superb world-building, the nuanced character development, the rich plot, the angst, the aching tension, the emotional depth—the words simply slipped away.

It became so overwhelming at times that I had to put the book down just to catch my breath, clear my mental palette, and start again—not because I lost interest, but because it demanded that kind of emotional pause.

Odin’s Child by Siri Pettersen is a masterpiece of fantasy literature, and I honestly can’t believe it isn’t talked about more. It’s the kind of story that grabs hold of your soul, sweeps you into its world, and doesn’t let go. It’s immersive, lyrical, layered—and it deserves far more recognition than it gets.

But this book is more than just fantasy—it’s a complex, emotional adventure, and once you dive into the next installment… well, just be prepared to have your mind completely blown.

To think this novel was originally written in Norwegian—had it not been translated, we might’ve missed out on this absolute gem. I listened to the audiobook, but I’ll be buying the physical books too, because this has officially become my new favorite series.

I only finished this book because I made a commitment on NetGalley. This was honestly one of the worst books I have ever read and finished. I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters. Not a single person the author wrote about had an actual personality that was likable or dislikable. They just existed.

The abrupt ends to many of the sentences in this book, whether in a paragraph or at the end of a chapter, was odd and didn’t feel right. There were a lot of words but nothing that was written really felt like it made sense or flowed well at all. The author would annoyingly write in the third person’s perspective then immediately have dialogue that didn’t make sense right after the third party explanation. It just felt wrong.

Despite the copious amount of words that this book contained, nothing was explained. So many aspects were just hard to grasp with no real flow between thoughts, descriptions, narration, or dialogue. It annoyed me that it took almost halfway through the book to truly describe the FMC albeit in vague detail. Were they merely humans with tails? Are they more like wolves? I literally have no idea. I was just so bored.

I did find it incredibly difficult to keep up with who is who or where I was within the story. I didn’t know what was happening or what the author was talking about/referring to. I was unable to picture anything that the writer was writing. There was no real excitement. No chemistry. There was nothing there to draw me in other than who Odin was and what the FMC could “potentially” do. It really lacked a buildup and fell so flat.

Hirka, like all of the other characters, fell short. She didn’t have a personality. There was no chemistry between Hirka and Rima; however, they somehow found themselves kissing a few times and willing to die for one another?? What?? So emotionless.

What exactly is the “force/might?” The rot? I literally did not care about anything in this book other than getting through to the end. This entire book was executed so very poorly.

I loved this. The translation is really good and the narration fits the book really well. I hope the next two in the series is going to be a good as this.
The story is really good. A nice exciting fantasy. Interesting world and that ending 😁😳

Highly recommend 😁

A slow start but a really decent book. The world building was very in depth and I loved the storyline. Sometimes the characters felt a little flat but all in all a great Norse inspired fantasy!

I love the atmosphere the author creates in this world, and listening to it just adds even more. This series is what got me into the Norse type fantasy genre

Thoroughly immersive, absolutely timeless gem of a fantasy novel. My only wish is I could have found this book sooner!
I’m not surprised to read that Siri Peterson is “Norway’s Fantasy Queen” her world building is impeccable. Full of Ancient Norse influence Odin’s Child feels familiar with a totally fresh spin.
Siobhan Waring brought the book alive with her immersive narration.
Thanks to NetGalley for the audio arc

I can't wait for the next book in this series to come out. I was chomping at the bit to finish this book as I just could not put it down.

Someone, anyone- please protect Hirka at all costs. 🥺

Confession:
I started this book a year (or two?) ago but did a soft DNF because I was struggling getting my head around the world building and cast of characters.

So when Netgalley offered an opportunity to listen to the audiobook, I knew it was time to circle back to it.

And I’m so glad I did. Sometimes when I’m reading new fantasy with my eyeballs, I tend to overthink the first leg of it. My ears tend to sit back and recognize the entertainment factor quicker.

I know some feedback is this is a slower paced book- and they are not wrong… but tbh, listening to it at 1.6x helped & amplify the tension. 🥰

This was a solid first installment to this trilogy. I look forward to moving to book two when the YA mythology reading mood hits again.

Odin's Child is the first novel in Siri Pettersen’s The Raven Rings series of Norse-inspired epic fantasy. I loved the magic, mystery, romance, and intrigue. Our 15-year-old tailless heroine Hirka was brave, resourceful, and easy to root for. She has a very sweet friendship with the slightly older Rime, an elite warrior and son of a powerful ruling family. I found the other characters interesting as well, although I wasn’t sure which of them could be trusted.

The book gets off to a slow start, but the pace picks up if you stick with it. I found the story held my attention, and I wanted to know what would happen next for Hirka and Rime and the other characters. I still do, and I am eagerly looking forward to Book 2. I recommend this book for fans of epic fantasy, Norse mythology, political intrigue, and slow-burn romance.

The audiobook production was excellent, and I loved the narration by Siobhan Waring. She’s a joy to listen to, with a delightful accent and distinctive voices and speech patterns to suit each character, and the ability to convey mood and emotion effectively. The story works very well as an audiobook.

I received a free advanced review copy of the audiobook through NetGalley, and I also found it available as part of my Audible membership. I volunteered to provide an honest review.

Not my favorite. The plot had the possibility of Being really good but it wasn't executed well. I also feel as if there was a bunch of fluff writing in this book that made it longer than necessary. The narrating was good though, intricate and encompassed the reader in a way that you could picture each individual character.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-audio arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book as it sounded right up my alley being based around Norse mythology in an icy medieval setting with a young heroine coming into her own strength and power, but this unfortunately fell very flat for me. The world building in this book was not great, and I had a hard time for the first 100 pages really getting a grasp on the concepts and setting of the book.

There is also so...much...dialouge. I understand when there's a lot of dialogue in a book that contributes substance to the storyline, but I feel there was so much unnecessary dialogue, especially in the third person. There was not enough action throughout the story until towards the end.

The characters were also void of personality, and I found it hard to relate to anyone and thus couldn't really make a connection enough to care about any of the characters.

I will not be continuing on with the story.

I liked the audiobook a lot. The narrator was really good. The pronunciation of the names sounded correct to me but I'm not Scandinavian.
Story also was great. Nice story about finding your place in the world and belonging. I'm not the target audience for YA anymore but I liked the characters and if I had read this when I was younger I think it would have been 5 stars :)
Hope to read the rest of the trilogy as well!

I was a bit surprised to hear camomile between all the foreign sounding herbs to be honest. Can't remember right now if there was something similar with trees. Other than that the world building seemed consistent to me.

This is such a unique trilogy and I was so excited to see audiobook releases!! Imagine being the only one without a tail...

Thank you to NetGalley for this audiobook ARC gifted in exchange for my honest review.