Going into this book and based off the description, I thought the basis for the supernatural creatures would be Norse, given that Valkyrie are one of the most famous facets of that pantheon. However, from the offset the mythology seemed to be a bit of a compilation. I noticed when Malin said the immortals slain by Valkyrie go to Kurnugia. Not familiar with the term I looked it up and it's not from Norse mythology but rather Sumerian. It does still refer to an underworld but readers should be aware that it's not Norse the way Odin and the Valkyrie are.

This one was an okay for me. Readable, but not truly my style. Would try the author again, though.

Never judge a book by its cover. And now I should tell you that never judge a book by its blurb either.

The Blurb: As one of Odin's Valkyries, Malin's greatest responsibility is to slay immortals and return them to the underworld. The balance of the world rests on her ability to carry out orders. But when Malin discovers that her mother spared the life of an immortal who was destined to die, her world is thrown into chaos.

As Malin wrestles with the knowledge that her mother might not be who she thought, she’s also thrust into the path of a gorgeous blue-eyed guy named Asher who needs her help slaying the rogue immortal who destroyed his family. Malin, along with her best friend and her ex-girlfriend, must decide where her loyalties lie...and whether helping Asher enact his revenge is worth the risk—to the world and to her heart.

What it delivers: Well...I tried to like it. Norse myth is one of my favourites. But I guess it just did not sit well with me. I have read Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology and since then I practically devoured everything that contain NM. But I guess I tried to compare them subconsciously. And everything fell flat.

But I will give it 3 stars. Amanda Hocking is a prolific writer of YA/Fantasy genre. But I guess her writing is not very up to the mark. This books did not work out.

I haven't read a Amanda Hocking book that I haven't devoured within a few hours. There is just something so captivating about her books and her writing is just amazing.

This is the first book in a new adult Valkyrie series, which was inspired by Norse mythology. I loved the romance part of this book so much, there was lots of angst and tension! I highly recommend this to fellow fantasy romance lovers.

I love ever second of this book! I couldn’t get enough of it! It was everything I have come to know and love about this author! Her stories will sleep you off your feet and transport you to a whole new world!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I understand a lot of people loved it and I firmly believe in the right book for the right person at the right time. Best of luck to Ms. Hocking on all of her literary endeavors!

Do you love mythology, especially Norse mythology, and kickass heroines? Me too.
“Between the Blade and the Heart” by Amanda Hocking has both and it is good read.
Hocking’s world is interesting and not necessarily predictable. I didn’t know exactly what I was expecting but something about the world left me feeling off. It was well written, but I guess I was surprised by the level of technology/futuristic-ness/sci-fi when throwing in Norse mythology. It worked in a strange way, but it was just not what I was expecting, and it took a while for me to wrap my head around.
The characters are well written but I was hoping for more from their relationships at times and more in terms of their individual development by the end. Our heroine Malin is a strong Valkyrie that gets pulled into things far beyond what she was expecting her life to be. She develops nicely throughout the course of the book but the rest of the characters left me wanting for more.
A copy of the book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

Between the blade and the heart had a good catch seeing as I love Norse Mythology. As for the actual book, I was disappointed. I was really excited to see a bi sexual character but the love triangle killed it for me. I felt like the plot was all over the place as we bounced back and forth to different characters. I had higher hopes for a Valkyrie book as most of the young adult books are vampire themed now. All in all it was a okay book but I won't read it again.

I came into this book wanting to love it so much, with it including Valkyries from north mythology and lots of mythical/supernatural moments. I just didn't. I mean, I really tried liking this book so much more because... come on, I'm fascinated by all things mentioned above. This book just didn't do it for me. 

Much of this included a very complicated love triangle (if that's what you want to call it, or lack of? confused myself in parts) that didn't make much sense to me for who the characters were and where this story was going. All it did was create a world of "I don't like you very much" and so much conflict with the parts I really did enjoy. 

For me, I would have wanted this to be more about the Valkyries, and not so much of all the other added mythical, supernatural/paranormal things. There was way too much going on and not enough of what should have been going on. And yes, I'm going back to the romance... this is not marked as a New Adult or Romance novel so I don't understand why this novel was made in such a way. 

It's probably not a popular opinion of many since I've heard many good things about other books by this author (in no way saying it's no good), but just for myself it left me wanting more of what I was already hoping for with the references made to Game of Thrones and Thor:Ragnorak. There were parts that might be associated with some of that, mostly what kept me reading, but the rest just went out the window. 

Like I said, I didn't dislike this novel, but I didn't fully like it either and that's why I left my rating at a two. I was going between one star more and what I finally decided on because yes, there was good in it and enough to keep me invested to read until the end. I just didn't feel like it was enough to get me reading it another time.

Maybe down the line I will give it another try and see where that puts me, hopefully leaving me with a little more of an appreciation for all the effort placed into it. It's not something though that I'm holding my breathe for because as previously mentioned, there was too much of the unnecessary love triangle going on that really didn't add much to the story for me. ***I received this copy from Wednesday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***

BETWEEN THE BLADE AND THE HEART by Amanda Hocking was a really good read, but I did find that the story line was very similar to other books that I have read in the past which distracted me from fully enjoying the book.

This book is about Malin, a Valkyries (their job is to return immortals to the afterlife by killing them, her mother is one also, and Malin is in training. All is well till Asher comes into Malin's life insisting that Malin's mother did the unthinkable and left an immortal alive. Thus starts the adventure of Malin and her friends trying to right the wrongs before the whole world is destroyed.

This is the first book in the series and it is a great start to a new series and I will be reading the second book just to find out what happens, as this book ends with a cliff hanger.

Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title, and the fact that the title has been archived.

Apologies for the long time in response, it's been a rough and busy year.

If I remember correctly, I tried to read this one but I didn't have much luck getting into it unfortunately.

Mini review:

DNF

I received this E-ARC via the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was really looking forward to reading this! Unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

The descriptions in the beginning made me sick. Very graphic to describe her murdering someone. I was expecting that. Yet I still felt ill. Thus I couldn’t continue.

Still recommend.

Filled with Norse mythology, Between the Blade and the Heart is a perfect story for fans of Percy Jackson and even the Thor movies. With Valkyries and Odin himself, this story is a intense tale of love, betrayal, and at the heart., an adventure worth reading.

**thank you to the publisher for the ARC**

I couldn't finish this book or its sequel. Strongly do not like this series. I found the main character unlikable and truly messed up. She does not seem like an appropriate character for a YA novel with drug use and sleeping around. I can't continue in this series. Yowza. This is the first series I DNFed.

<I>Between the Blade and the Heart</I> by Amanda Hocking

<b>Star rating</b>: ★★★☆ ☆ 3/5 stars

<b>Format</b>: galley ebook

<b>Summary</b>: Malin is a Valkyrie, just like her mother. Their task is to kill immortal beings who the gods have decided have outlived their time on earth. Malin discovers her mother didn't finish a kill and has left the whole world unbalanced.

<b>Review</b>: I received a free ARC copy of this book from Netgalley for review.

I liked the world building a lot, the lore and the whole setup of the world is really cool. I thought the world was well constructed, it's very rich in detail and I wish I had more just about the world.

This book took me a long time to finish. The story doesn't move at a good pace. There's a lot of unnecessary bullshit relationship drama that bogs the story down. I like that Malin is bisexual but I feel like her reasons for not being with Quinn are weak at best. I just can see Quinn genuinely cares for Malin and she does everything for her.

The overarching story is good but it gets convoluted as it goes. There's so much jam packed into this that a lot of it ends up almost too much. The lore is cool but there feels like too many subplots to me. It got to a point where I just didn't understand who the villain was anymore.

There's a lot of potential in this but it just wasn't coming together for me. I had to keep forcing myself to pick this up and I've been working on it for months. I don't think this is one I would pick up the sequel to.

<b>Recommendation</b>: Some of the lore in this is really cool but it gets bogged down in the story. There are a lot stronger YA books that use myth and lore.

Wednesday Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Between the Blade and the Heart. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Malin Krigare is one of Odin's Valkyries like her mother, Marlow. Still in training, Malin feels the call to slay immortals whose time is up and need to be returned to the Underworld. When Malin learns a secret that threatens her very existence, will she be able to help right the wrongs that were committed? Will assistance come from unexpected sources or will Malin be on her own?

If this book wasn't packaged with the typical YA love triangle, I may have found it more interesting. I liked the dynamic between Malin and her best friend Oona, with the ex-girlfriend Quinn and love interest Archer less so. The idea of the rise of returned immortals was interesting enough and did not need to be muddled with spurred love and romance. The conclusion of the book was a little more intriguing than the beginning, so I might be willing to read the next installment of the series. YA readers who like romance with a side of paranormal fantasy may find Between the Blade and the Heart to their liking.

This one just didn't work for me. I didn't find myself connecting with the story.

Thank you for the chance to read it early.

I don’t usually see that many books on Valkyrie’s so when this book stumbled onto my radar, I quickly picked it up. And for the most part, I found it entertaining and enjoyed the book.

The one thing that was pretty misleading about this book was the fact that it’s LGBT but nothing is mentioned on the synopsis or anywhere else. To me, I thought that this fact was really relevant because not only is Asher trying to win her heart, Malin is still struggling with her ex-girlfriend and how to get over it. So I thought it really interfered with her character as a whole. I just wish that this was somehow stated somewhere at least.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the creatures in this book. It was like a fantasy/mythology fest! Tons of creatures all mixed into one book – if they have any fantasy/mythology aspect to it, then they’re definitely in this book. There are dragons, demons, goddesses, and so much more. I also enjoyed the Valkyrie aspect to it as well and how there is that distinct gender division for this race. However, at the same time, be aware that with all of those varied characters and tech, it’s a bit of a confusing world. There are hovercrafts yet old-time swords. So there were definitely a few times when it seemed a bit scattered and all over the place.

Malin, for the most part, was a character I enjoyed reading about. Despite her stoic behavior and firm belief that Valkyrie cannot love, I found her to be loyal, passionate and just. She always tried to do the right thing either for her family and friends or for her “true calling in life” aka Valkyrie duties. The one thing that made me feel a bit frustrated towards her was her wishy washy feelings for her ex-girlfriend as well as any feelings for Asher. It seems to me that she couldn’t decide on any romantic aspects in her life and her relationship with her own mother didn’t help that at all.

Overall, while I enjoyed this book, I still think that Amanda’s other novels (Tyrelle Trilogy) was a lot better. Compared to her other novels, this one somehow seemed to lack something. I might have to pick up book two to decide better.

This book wasn’t for me. I decided not to review it on my site or any of the major retailers/Goodreads.