This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the next one. I’m interested to see what’s next for Runa. It was a pretty quick read and I kept wanting to turn the page to find out what happened next.

I didn’t go into this book with really any expectations. I saw it on NetGalley, liked the cover, the synopsis sounded interesting, so I requested it. Honestly, the Norse/Viking elements sold me instantly. I liked Runa, I liked Oski and I liked Einar. I liked their connections and relationships. I did find Runa a little annoying at the beginning, but as she gained confidence and a purpose, I ended up really liking her character. Not going to lie, I had a little trouble picturing Oski and a little trouble picturing Einar as well. But the world the author created was easy to picture and I really liked how it encompassed a bunch of different terrains. It definitely lent to the fantasy element of this book and how their world works.

While I did enjoy this book, there’s something about it that I’m finding a little hard to put into words. Something that bothered me just a little bit.

For whatever reason, Norse Mythology in YA always falls a bit short for me? Like, too much is either skimmed over or included. The plots tend to progress way too quickly, and relationships go from 0 to 100 pretty quickly. I guess I was just left wanting more? I know there are more books, I’m assuming this is going to be a trilogy, so I know there is more story to tell. It just felt like this plot progressed so fast. Like, nothing annoys me more, than journey’s in books, happening in practically a blink of an eye, or vast amounts of land being covered in mere days.

Yes, it’s fantasy, suspend your disbelief, I get it. And true, I don’t know how large this island they live on is, but I’m assuming maybe two weeks pass between the inciting incident and the climax, and yet, they’ve traveled all over this damned island…

I don’t buy it.

I think ultimately, to narrow it all down to one thing, I found the pacing too fast. I want journey books to be longer. I definitely don't think this is a bad book by any means. I liked the story, just wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style. I loved Runa's character growth and her relationships with her friends and family. Runa was probably my favorite aspect of this book, which is amazing, since I honestly thought I was going to end up not liking her. It's because of Runa's character growth and how the story ended, that makes me a bit excited for the next book.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book, despite my few 'issues'. If you’re looking for a quick, Norse Mythology/Viking inspired story, about learning to love and accept yourself then you may want to check this out. It’ll be out April 7, so mark your calendars!

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of this book, the first of a young adult (but early young adult) series featuring Icelandic mythology. Written by a BC author and publishing on April 7 via Orca Books, this series features a lot of magic, a few love stories (not graphic, thus the early young adult comment) and a quest featuring different beings such as Valkyries and Elves.

Runa feels like she always been in the shadow of her powerful sister Syr, the keeper of the powerful moonstone that she uses to keep her clan safe and healthy until the powerful witch Katla arrives to take over the island and the power of the moonstone. After Katla takes Syr, Runa is left without the security that her sister provides, and needing to accept the larger part in her family's role as caretaker's of the clan that she never wanted or felt able to do.

Runa has many obstacles to overcome, both physical and magical, but most of all her lack of belief in herself. This was a promising opening to a series, the characters are likable and readers will enjoy seeing their growth, probably from book to book as well. This book is a shorter read for this genre and might work well with early high school readers that I know that seem to be put off by the length of many mythology/speculative fiction series .

This was a DNF for me. The writing style is good, but overall I just could not get into it. I wanted to like this book because the idea is great! It just did not seem to connect for ,e however.
-Stone

Runa is studying to be a runecaster, like her talented sister, Sýr, but Runa doesn't take interest, she daydreams of her own adventures outside the village. There is also this mysterious moonstone that is important for their village survival. When her village is attacked and her sister is kidnapped by an evil witch, Runa embarks on a quest to rescue her sister. Along the way she meets a half human/half elf and a Valkyrie and the three form an odd team of sorts and somewhat comical one.

I really enjoyed that the book draws inspiration from Nordic mythology, the themes of sisterhood and friendship. I felt Runa could have been more relatable because of her insecurities, quirkiness and as the reluctant Chosen One. Unfortunately it did not deliver. There wasn't enough emotion and deliverance in the writing. The quest she embarks had potential for great world building, but it was lackluster. This leads me to the pacing, it didn't seem to flow well for me to stay engaged or care what was really going on. It was as if I was just skimming the surface or watching afar.

Overall it is a good story if you enjoy Nordic mythology, sisterhood, friendship and a magical quest.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Facing her destiny, Runa feels inadequate, lost and overwhelmed. She is not what her village had hoped for, nothing like her sister, but when her village is attacked, she is put in a position to grow beyond her doubts, her tiny place in the world and become the being she was meant to be, or die trying.

I was so ready to jump into this one, but I never got that “connection” I needed. ALL of the elements are there for sure, but they just didn’t meld together quite right for me. Too much inner confusion, not enough character growth and not really much of a current to keep this story moving along smoothly.

THE STONE OF SORROW by Brooke Carter may have just attempted to lay out a world that is massive in size and could just be a solid foundation for more in this series, but for me, it just wasn’t spot on.

I was invited to read and review a complimentary copy from Orca Book Publishers! This is my honest and voluntary review.

2.5 Stars

Series: Runecaster - Book 1
No purchase information available.

ARC from NetGalley

2.5 stars

This book was missing something, and it's hard for me to articulate what that is. If you were to brief me on the plot, it would sound good, but in full form, it's just words without life. Nothing excited me. Nothing really made me feel much of anything. A good book will attach puppet strings to my heart, causing it to clench and pump and near burst. I wish this book had done that. I feel like it had a lot of potential, but the author needs to do some work figuring out how to word things, where to inject suspense, how to imbue anticipation, etc. A lot of authors have trouble with this. You can have an excellent idea and actually be a fairly decent writer and still suffer from this affliction. All the commas are placed well, but there is no soul to this book. I am not interested in reading the next one. What praise I can give is that it was done well for a first book in that there was a complete plot, and it led well into the next book without giving up anything of the first or making it simply book 1 of 3 as opposed to a book of its own.

Runa's rune stones need work. At first, she casts them. She talks about how they are cast and what they mean and how they work, and that is interesting. However, for the majority of the book she simply speaks to them, and they rattle and perhaps glow and then respond. It was very disappointing and felt kind of lazy to be honest. You have this interesting magic system, and then you don't.

I didn't dislike Runa as a character. I actually appreciated the nystagmus rep. That said, she doesn't really have an essence. She starts of being treated like hot dung from the villagers and then suddenly forgets it all and is ultra passionate about saving them. A real human would be conflicted. She has no internal turmoil. She doesn't really have a flavour of her own. The romance was seen from a mile away and it was tame and boring. There wasn't a single character I was interested in aside from the raven, who got far too little screen time.

A solid meh from me.

I received this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, it had so much potential but I just feel like it fell short. I had a hard time trying to get into it because it started off so slow. I ended up DNF'ing it.

I received and early copy from Net Galley and here are my thoughts. I will start with I finished the book in one setting. I was also pleased that everything didn’t end well, as I am not a fan of everything ending happily. For me it felt like more of a stand-alone than a first book in a series. I would have liked more information/background on some of the side characters and even the main characters, the pacing was great for what I thought was only one book, and I would have liked a bit more world building. That being said, the second could do a better job at all of these.

The Stone of Sorrow was a book that had a lot of potential, but ultimately just didn't live up to the hype. I enjoyed the main character Runa and her willingness to adapt and embrace adventure to save her sister and her people. However, I didn't enjoy nor connect with the other characters. At some points in this book the writing was strong. The adventure was well written and the mythical creatures were unique and fascinating. But where it could be strong in those aspects it could also be weak and I found myself skimming over the parts I found boring. Overall this felt like a unique book with a lot of potential, but it just felt like it was missing something. I enjoyed the Nordic mythology and the magic though!

This book had such a great start and solid potential. However, there were some fatal flaws and I did not finish this title. I found the main character changed too drastically in a short amount of time. This made it hard for me to believe the character and connect with them. The main protagonist starts out as a vulnerable girl shadowed by the legacy of her sister. However, within a few pages she is strong and making blood oaths with the boy who cursed her village trusting him wholeheartedly. This left me confused. Also she meets a Valkyrie who is referred to in plural but the story never describes the character to clarify why this is. Between all those things, I stopped reading due to confusion and ended up not finishing the book.

2.5 stars. I was so disappointed with this book as it had so much potential. But it moved way too slowly, the MC was hard to relate to, and I didn’t sense much of a connection between the main characters. It was really 2 stars for me but I upped it to 2.5 for the potential of a cool Nordic mythology based story.
Posted review on Goodreads

I wanted to love this book so badly, but I did not connect with it at all. I think the premise of the story was intriguing but the characters fell flat for me - I didn't feel anything for them. But, I did enjoy aspects of the mythology which made the world-building unique, and the end reminded me of Lord of the Rings. I think this book could find its way into the hearts of many fantasy lovers, it was just not a book for me.

Closer to 3.5/5 stars.

I liked the overall story, but I did feel like it dragged. I didn't like it enough to round up, even though there are some really great moments here that I enjoyed. I found the character development to be a bit meh. I would've liked to know more about the characters, especially since the worldbuilding is really well done.

I loved the premise of the book, however the writing didn't pull me in as well as I would have liked.

Character development was weak and therefore I didn't have an attachment to them. The scenes of the dangers the characters experienced were flat and not very suspenseful.

I liked this book, but really didn't love it.

I actually really enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The characters were easy for me to get attached to and I loved this world and atmosphere that Brooke Carter created. I would definitely recommend if the synopsis intrigues you!

What a beautifully done dark book and with such an interesting premise that draws readers in from the very first pages and the atmosphere made it all the more compelling.

I'm not sure exactly what about this book I had a hard time connecting with. I enjoyed the Norse influence and the LGBTQ+ rep, but I just could not connect to the main character. I think some of the writing might have had something to do with it. (I.e. constantly having something referred to as "the sickness" felt repetitive and awkward). I think this book has potential, but it just wasn't for me.

This book was received as an ARC from Orca Book Publishers in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Family bond was the theme of this book. Runa was a runecaster but she would daydream and cast spells that are irrelevant to her practice. Then her sister being the best runecaster in the tribe, gets kidnapped from a rival tribe and Runa is forced to get her act together and help save her. Meeting a gorgeous half-elf and having her mindset on the mission, Runa is not sure whom she can trust to help her save her sister. Throughout the journey, Runa comes to discover that her destiny is not what she expected and that another path is right set for Runa, its a matter of life or death. I was invested 100% of the way and it's easy to get caught up in Runa's journey and join her for the ride. Our teen book club is sure to love this book and will generate very lively discussions.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. I ended up dnf’ing it at 50%, so I’m giving it an average 3 star rating. It never sucked me in. I didn’t find myself caring about the plot or the characters or the setting or anything. It was also weird how everything was falling together. Like so convenient and fast. I don’t know; it just wasn’t for me. Plus all the mystery around Runa was odd. Halfway through the book and we still know nothing. Hmmmm.

Thank you NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for providing an e-ARC for an honest review.

The Stone of Sorrow is a nuanced narrative that explores a deficient YA Fantasy niche. Brooke Carter deftly weaves Nordic mythology into her story and conjures a world of brutal beauty and magic. It is a bleak world of survival and sacrifice, but at its core is a story of sisterly devotion and love. Though undeniably absorbing, it is plagued by some flaws, especially pacing. It begins with long, languid strokes, but then proceeds with a rapidity that is detrimental to the story. The first part is bogged down by a bloated backstory, but once the action begins, there are few reflective moments. This jarring change of pace diminishes the impact of individual events. This is especially evident in the latter portion, where events quickly transpire with little differentiation. The conclusion ultimately comes too swiftly and neatly resolves the story despite the sometimes messy, meandering preamble. It is ultimately a satisfying conclusion, but perhaps a bit too rushed and precise. The story definitely has promise, however, and I intend to continue along with Runa on her journey.