This just was not for me. It had parts and no chapters, wich made it hard to get through when it was just going on and on. The characters were boring and meh. It did not feel like anything interesting happened.

dnf @ 10%. I couldn’t get into this story. I tried restarting a few times but it just didn’t grab me. I’ll go back at some point but for now, I’m letting it lie

This felt so much like a first draft. I loved Ladda, loved the concept of the book. But it wasn't done well at all. Bad pacing, no real character development, and writing that was stiff and didn't connect with me at all.

It was okay. Follows a lot of current popular tropes, but isn't bad. Not overly remarkable either. Just a fun read, but easy to put down and pick back up.

I thought this was an interesting book. I never really read a Viking's novel and thought it was very decent. I like how we have a strong main female character Ladda. After her village was destroyed by invaders she takes a few survivors to her Uncle's land to start over again. Then she starts a friendship with King Ragnar and they join forces to protect her village and to kill the men who invaded.

I'm afraid that this book wasn't for me. I'm sure that someone who enjoys a viking-esque world would enjoy it much more than I did.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

I truly enjoyed this book. It had a unique take on a topic I live and kept me interested until the last page. I look forward to the next book by this author.

I appreciate the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review and honest opinion.

I received an e-ARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Winter by Winter is a YA novella set in historical Scandinavia. It's about a girl, Ladda, who witnessed her village burn, and leads the survivors to a new village - to safety.

First, I'll start with what I liked:
1) Ladda - she's a fierce, determined young woman who is determined to keep her sisters safe.
2) The cover - it is beautiful
3) Concept- Viking fantasy! What's not to love?

Unfortunately there were a lot of things I didn't love about this book, many of which are closely related.
First and foremost, this was way too short to achieve what the author wanted to achieve. As a result, the pacing was super fast- we're talking breakneck speed here. Another result was that the characters lacked development, and the plot was kind of choppy. This was reinforced by the writing style, which I think was meant to evoke the old Norse myths and legends. There was also a lot of dialogue, which meant there was less exploration of the world than I would have liked. It just felt over-edited, and that is not something I say very often.

I think had this been longer, I would have really enjoyed it.

This story would've worked better as a full length adult novel rather than young adult novella. Despite the main character being young, this book did not read as if it was intended for younger audience so I'm not sure why it's being classified as such. I think it's doing it a disservice.

I liked the concept of this story and I really liked Stratford's writing style, which seems to be an unpopular opinion, but this book didn't reach it's potential because of its length. The characters and their relationships lacked development. There wasn't much build up to plot twists, things just kinda happened.

In my opinion, this story was told too quickly. The characters and the plot was interesting but it doesn't mean much when both are underdeveloped.

Thank you to Outland Entertainment for providing a free copy.

Ladda and her sisters were everything I was hoping for: quirky, strong, determined, resilient, and feisty. While the story was very dialog dependent, I still understood what was happening by what they said and how they said it. I'm happy the author chose to bring this grand story of the Viking culture to life for a new generation to enjoy.

However, the writing felt quite rushed - almost over edited in fact - for the sake of length. So much more of the setting and character backgrounds could have been explored if only more pages had been used. I never had the feeling that I "knew" the people of the story, they were merely casual acquaintances that held my interest for a few hours. I really wanted more depth. . . and it was never given.

Between the fantastic world building and the wonderful MC, this book should've been better then what it was. I honestly think it was to short! From the amount of content that was in this book to the length, I think the author could've written multiple stories out of this one arc or maybe novellas with one longer story.

It's a quick read, but it wasn't what I personally liked.

Rate: 4
Author: Jordan Stratford
Published: March 24, 2020
Series: Sword Girl #1

Thank you so much to Outland Entertainment for providing an advance reading copy of Jordan Stratford’s Winter by Winter in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

Set in Scandinavia, Winter by Winter is a story of a fifteen year old girl who witnessed her village burned into the ground. Desperate for the survival of her sisters and the villagers, she leads them to build a new village. In order for their village to survive, Ladda must make arrangements, including marrying the new King.

Winter by Winter is based on the story of Hladgertha (Ladda for short, found it cute too). It is also sprinkled with Norse mythology. Disclaimer though, I’m not so familiar with Norse mythology but I’m interested about it and the bits about Norse mythology in this book was really entertaining.

I love how this focuses on Ladda as she becomes an independent woman from an innocent young girl. It shows us her perspective, somewhere in between woman and girl, as she builds her own self in her own means instead of depending on men. In fact, she’s not afraid to step in front of a man. She becomes respected by the people around her, even by the king himself. I love her banter with the king [spoilers] but was disappointed she didn’t marry him. They became good friends though but seeing them as merely ‘friends’ kind of left a pang. So, imagine my reaction when I read the end!

This book was an interesting read. It was fast paced and full of action. It lets you rests but then you’re thrust again. I think this book, and the story of Hladgertha is empowering. The character growth of Ladda was done beautifully. I’d recommend it to everyone, especially if you love historical fantasy, and of course, Norse mythology.

i really liked this book, I had never heard of Hladgertha before so it was interesting to read a ficitional book then research her. I really hope there is more to her story.

I couldn’t finish the book. As much as I tried the characters nor the story called to me. The writing was confusing and did flow properly at times. This may have been intentional but I will not post my review on any other site. I will try again in the future and hope my opinion will change for this book.

This book was alright but the writing just didn’t do enough to suck me in or attach me to any of the characters

Interesting style of prose. It was a little hard to get into in the beginning, but I was able to enjoy the story once I got used to it.

Initially, I hadn't even really planned on reading Winter by Winter, but, and this happens quite often and is very detrimental to my real life responsibilities, I randomly was really in the mood for it and none of the other books I already own. I don't question that anymore. So I just went ahead, got it and dove right in.

This books lives off of its characters. There is far more dialogue than anything else which isn't always a bad thing but I feel like it would have benefited with some more details scenes. While Winter by Winter certainly didn't hold back any emotions, it did, unexpectedly, not contain a lot of actions. At some point I couldn't help but feel like the plot was stuck and something was missing. It didn't bore me, but it also didn't fully captivate me.

In the end, it is definitely story that lives off of its characters more than it does its action, which wasn't bad, but the latter and some more fantasy/viking aspects, which I was expecting, were lacking in the long run, which surprised me quite a bit. Nonetheless, a beautifully written, which, tone-wise, reminds me quite a bit of Sky in the Deep. So if you liked that, you might want to check this one out.

This book somehow was too short and dragged on at the same time. I was so excited to read a Viking book, I love Viking stories but haven’t found too many I enjoyed. Unfortunately, I think this book just wasn’t for me. Ladda was an interesting main character and fairly likable, but that was just about the only redeeming quality I found.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I've been quite excited about all of the Viking-based books lately. Being centered on a historical figure, this one especially appealed to me. Unfortunately, it just didn't live up to my expectations. I can't blame the story itself for losing my interest; it was the writing.

The book lacked any kind of emotion, for one thing. Seriously, there was no emotion whatsoever. Ladda's narration felt more like an observation than anything else. There was never really any indication of how she felt or reacted to anything that happened to her. Kind of like, "The sky is blue. Okay. There's a rock on the ground. Okay. My parents died. Okay. That guy killed my sister's dog. Okay. Here's a chair to sit in. Okay." No joke. When a character (or a book) lacks emotion, it makes it extremely difficult for at the reader to connect or care at all. I couldn't do either.

Related to that is the sense that these characters are just following a script--and again, they don't care. For example, early on in the book, Rota tells Kara and Ladda that she doesn't menstruate. She had gone to see the old woman on the hill, who told her she never would have a period, would take a wife, and would die in battle. Her response, and that of her sisters, was basically, "Okay." Again, "Here's a pencil. Okay."

Huge sections of this book were spent detailing stories from Norse mythology, being retold by various characters. Kara had her story times with the children. Ladda told stories, as well. And what was the point? What did those segments add to the story? Not really anything. Don't get me wrong--I love Norse mythology. But none of it felt connected or important to the story being told. It felt more like the author was trying to use her characters to show me what she knows about Norse mythology.

Which brings me to my next point: the lists. Okay, maybe they weren't outright lists (every time), but that's basically what they were. Lists of nautical terms. Types of boats. Weapons. Etc. Again, it felt like a demonstration of the author's collection of Viking-related words. And the way it was done? Kind of a "here, let me toss all these words at you."

In contrast to the pieces that felt like filler, huge events that it would have made sense to include were completely skipped over. At the start of a new chapter, Ladda is suddenly married--has been married for . . . I don't know how long. Battles end right after they start, and not even Ladda knows how it happened. And on and on.

Oh, and let's not forget all of the time Ladda spends hurling curses at her enemies. I think those are the longest segments of actual speech in the book. "I curse you blah blah blah. Your manhood withers, etc." Honestly.

So when I say this was one of the longest 120-page books I've ever read, I'm not joking.

Note: Maybe some swearing. Feels like reading an idea for a book rather than a book.