Witch's Heart

368 pages

English language

Published Nov. 23, 2021 by Penguin Publishing Group.

ISBN:
978-0-593-09994-0
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3 stars (1 review)

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.

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2 editions

Review of "Witch's Heart" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This took me a really long time to finish. The slow pacing led me to take breaks throughout, inserting other audiobooks in between. The story is engaging and familiar, but the deep characterization and introspection carry it well, even in long stretches without any action or plot movement.

The feel reminds me of Song of Achilles but it is even more brought away from scene work in the narrative. As I mentioned, the pacing is incredibly slow as a result, but the writing is rich without being verbose, beautiful without being flowery, and accessible despite being about gods and giants.