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4.5 - I loved this! Even better than the first one in this series. Signy is a wild cannonball and her pursuit of her destiny (and the romance and friendship that happens along the way) is absolutely compelling. More rtc.
good book. however, ive moved on from goodreads so go use storygraph lmao.
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: A Valkyrie, a mysterious man with an unholy sword, and berserker who serves a different a god are out to claim her destiny.Opening Sentence: “I was born under a frenzied star, so our poets would say.”The Review:Signy Valborn was given a riddle to solve by Odin when he made her a Valkyrie, and Ned Unferth shows up years later to help her. Signy has been training to be a Valkyrie since she was seven. She ran from the Valkyrie council in order to b...
Complex, dark, and evocative tale – Gratton’s best book yet, 4.5 stars Tessa Gratton has penned her best book yet with Book 2 of her United States of Asgard series: The Strange Maid. I stayed up late into the night, with goosebumps raised on my arms, to finish this book. The story, the writing, and the characterization are all beautiful, deep, and complex. I love a book like this that prioritizes character development over plot, but The Strange Maid still manages to combine the two well. Most
4.5I enjoyed "Lost Sun" well enough, and while I wasn't actively looking *forward* to the next book, I was keeping half an eye out for it. And I'm glad I did 'cause, wow! At first I found "The Strange Maid" tough to get into: Signy is a complex character who embraces traits that can come off as pretty distasteful: death, madness, selfishness, and rage. When she is a child and her parents die she leaves her foster family to become a child of Odin and join the Valkyrie. Flash forward several years...
A few months ago, I finally read book 1 of Tessa Gratton’s United States of Asgard series, The Lost Sun. (Yeah, I don’t know what took so long either.) Liking it was a no-brainer; a Norse influenced United States, complete with berserkers, Odin, Thor, trolls, and everything else that makes Norse mythology fantastic. It was extremely well-written, and the characters are so likable that I find myself thinking of them when I’m reading other books. Strange Maid is even better. I have to admit, it to...
I really enjoyed the story. It was difficult to put down. However, the romance was flat, and not believable. It seems to me, if someone betrayed you, caused most of your family to be murdered by trolls, you wouldn't just welcome them back, no matter what their story is. If the author had made it more of a tortured romance, she could have made it work. As is, it's just flat. I did like the twist with the Troll Mother.
I am kind of disappointed with this book I expected it to be as good if not better than the first book. The first book was an interesting read this one not so much.I thought it was okay not I did not like it that much. The plot was slow and it was not that good. The main character was not one I could connect to very easily.
If you liked this book, you might also enjoy:✱ Iron Druid Chronicles series✱ Valkyrie series
........ the cover was pretty, okay?
I remember this book being not my jam, but still solidly written and engaging, if highkey weird. I will probably never revisit it, so that's just going to have to suffice for now, unfortunately!
A companion - and continuation - of The Lost Sun, the first book in The United States of Asgard series. Again we see how the familiar has been twisted into a culture based on Norse mythology rather than the one we have today in America.While the narrator and many of the characters are new to this book, a few from the first book make appearances. I can't wait to read the conclusion of this trilogy!
Review:Protagonist: Signy Valborn is also known as the child Valkyrie. After the tragic death of her parents she wants vengeance and tries to take her anger out on the gods, climbing the New World Tree in the process of getting to them. On her way up the tree she meets Odin, king of the gods, and he offers her the title of Valkyrie of the Tree. However she doesn't quite meld very well with the other Valkyrie and one day after receiving a riddle from presumably Odin himself she leaves her Valkyri...
Not as good as the first, mainly because I couldn’t stand Signy. But the plot and the characters were all masterfully written. Can’t wait to read the final book!
A wizard is that person who is outstandingly clever, the person of amazing skill and accomplishment; she who practices magick, also known as a conjurer and enchanter. Ms. Gratton epitomizes this definition, she is a true wizard and The Strange Maid confirms it.As the second in The United States of Asgard Books, I assumed that Signy’s saga would pick up where The Lost Sun left off. (Ms. Gratton throws back her head and wickedly laughs at my basic expectation.) Of course she would never do somethi...
Signy Valborn has fire in her veins. Anger over a devastating childhood incident led her to climb the New World Tree where she met and was claimed by the Alfather, Odin, for his own. But being a Valkyrie in training is not what she expected. The current Valkyries are tame compared to their history. They are the consultants to kings and presidents, and Signy longs for, burns for, the old ways.The final insult comes when she wakes to find a riddle on the day she is supposed to become a fully reali...
I love Gratton's United States of Asgard books. Because I have to read so much for the Campbell Memorial Award and student writing, her US of A books (THE STRANGE MAID and book 1, THE LOST SUN) are the first novels I've read for fun in months. And what a perfect pleasure these are!THE STRANGE MAID kept me up until 3am - I had to finish it! It's exciting, beautifully written, wonderfully structured, and a real pleasure to read in all the ways both readers and writers enjoy books. It demonstrates
The Norse gods are by far some of my favorites, so I was super excited to come across The United States of Asgard series. In my opinion, they Norse gods don't get used often enough in the Paranormal/Fantasy genre. It is a genre dominated by the Greek and Roman gods and it was really nice to take a break from that. Not that I don't love them either, I just love the Norse gods a little bit more. Tessa Gratton did an amazing job writing a book that combined a captivating story with enough danger, t...
THE LOST SUN ended up being one of my favorite books last year. The romance, the loyalty, the world - it all combined to form a delicious reading experience. But I was not prepared for the sequel. THE STRANGE MAID starts before THE LOST SUN, and is the story of Signy Valborn, a disgraced Valkyrie who couldn't be more different from Soren. Soren longed to escape his violent destiny. Signy would like to bring back human sacrifice.Signy is a delightfully unique heroine. She dances on the edge of ma...
As beautiful as it is ugly, The Strange Maid is a triumph of a story. Signy is a nuanced mess of a character, contrary and brave and foolish, young and smart and strong. The book took a moment to hit its stride, and sometimes the pacing of certain reveals was confusing, but those are rather minor quibbles. I love Gratton's world--she transforms Norse mythology and world history deftly--but the relationships were probably my favorite thing about this book. I loved the relationship between Signy a...