{Review} The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

Page count: 359

Publisher: Ace Books

Published on: February 9, 2021

Genres: adult fantasy, romance, mythology, retelling, historical fiction

Format: hardback - personally purchased

TW: burning alive, gore, sutures, near pregnancy loss, childbirth (x3), family separation, torture, and death (list acquired from author's website)

✨ RATING: 4.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.

Angrboda's story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.

Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin's all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.

With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she's foreseen for her beloved family…or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.

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Hey, all!

The lovely members of my book club and I picked this book to read for January. Wow am I glad that we picked this. Reminiscent of the style of Madeline Miller's Circe and The Song of Achilles (one of my all-time favorite authors and book duos), this book ticked all of the boxes for me. This book follows the witch, Angrboda as she falls in love, faces betrayal, loss, and hope.  

I loved this book. Honestly, the only reason I docked the half star was that at the beginning of the story, she is said to be the witch responsible for the Vanir-Aesir War, While I know that the myths are open for interpretation and that the details are not set in stone. But I've done so much research for my novel about Freyja that I was just bothered. Freyja was the witch responsible for the war. However, I really loved the concept that Gornichec introduced that the people from the myths could possibly forget entire parts of their lifetime, take on new names, and relearn things. I really loved that aspect of the story. Reading this book really helped me cement the ideas that I could implement (and hesitate to decipher) for my own novel. 

The characters in this story were incredibly fleshed out. I absolutely adored reading from Angrboda's perspective. She's so wise and she isn't stuffy or held down by the expectations of the Aesir or the Jotunn. I loved her strength and independence. I also really loved that this story captured the ambiguity surrounding gender, sex, and love that you can frequently find in the actual myths. When it comes to relationships and the capabilities that the gods and creatures from Norse lore have, gender, sexuality, and relationships are so fluid. When I read this book, it was like reading an old friend. It's obvious that Gornichec did her research and knew her stuff when she wrote this. I really resonated with the details that she included in the story and how she managed to touch on so many of the stories from the myths through the eyes of Angrboda. It was masterfully done. 

This book was absolutely beautiful and I'm so excited to discuss it with my book club. Let's discuss mythological retellings and reimaginings in the comments! 

Happy reading!

Olivia

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