I didn’t get on with the humour in this book at all. I love the Norse pantheon, but this author seemed to be using them to play - which is fine, but not for me at all.

A very nice book with great characters that I really liked after no long time. And what I really enjoyed was that there was funny moments that made the story even better. The writing style is really great and I think the plot had something unique and was really nice.

I went in, hopeful that i`d like this book, since i really like Loki. But i didn`t find it funny or connect with any of the characters. I`ve noticed others found it hilarous, i guess it`s just me.

***I was provided the ARC for Runed by Kendall Grey from Net Galley & Publishing in exchange for an honest review. These are my thoughts and of my opinions. Thank you for allowing me access to this ARC***

I met Kendall Grey at the 2019 ApollyCon before I was approved of this ARC. She was delightful and super excited over her books, as she should be! I found Runed to a refreshing and hilarious.
What if Loki, the god of mischief, was born a girl in our modern times? What if she likes wearing leather and the world’s tallest high heels? What if Loki befriends a chicken- Huginn? The modern world is not quite ready to handle this witty sharp-tongued girl. There are so many times that I laughed out loud. I cannot recommend this book more!
The battle scenes with the baddies were exciting and I liked the other characters in the tale.
I did not like that Loki seems to be so backwards in our modern world. I believe that he/she would not bumble around so often. Loki would quickly adapt and be curious at everything.
If you are looking for a book that will keep you laughing and is quite an easy read, then I would recommend Runed as your next read. You, just like me, will be enthralled by everything Kendall Grey writes!

This was just an absolute fun and enjoyable read. I liked the characters and the story. I really liked following Loki around! Such a break from the one I associate with the MCU. I recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

I'm all things Loki, and even with two thirds of the book being mostly 18+ jokes, this incarnation of trickster god(dess?) was cheeky enough to make me like the book. Also, the twist at the end was quite unexpected and cute.

I am always on the lookout for new, fun paranormal books, and yay for me it looks like I hit the jackpot on this one! Runed was fantastically hilarious. If you love the funny, foul-mouthed, hilarious paranormal exploits of any of the Shelly Laurenston/ G.A. Aiken books, you'll love this!

Loki wakes naked and frozen in a snowdrift with his last memories of fighting in Ragnarok. Did he die? Did he win? Why was he so cold? And naked? And a woman... with giant...lady pillows? And where are his runes? As Loki searches for answers he is constantly saved by the delicious knight-in-shining gigantic metal horse. Odin and his deranged chicken are behind all this and by gods, he will find his previous rune babies.

I enjoyed the Hel out of this book. I mean seriously, Norse gods being reincarnated (and sometimes not back to their traditional gender or species), a strange television show, sentient artifacts, and more... Umm, yep! Sign me all the way up. I will warn that Runed seems to be a continued journey type deal. But, I'm so all about it. More, please!

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Nope. I wanted to like this, I REALLY wanted to like this because the synopsis was SO good. Instead I got what felt like nothing but a set up for a sequel, with nothing really making me look forward TO the sequel .Weak world and character building, tho I DID enjoy the humor. It needs a solid edit and just more to flesh it out.

Loki's sarcasm was the best part of this book, not to mention finally showcasing Loki's gender fluidity. Sure Loki could get annoying at times, but hey, that's Loki. I did mostly enjoy it, kinda felt like there was some taking advantage of the love interest though. To be fair, that is well within Loki's repertoire.

Runed is a disaster of a narrative that literally goes nowhere and only exists to setup a sequel. With series, you have to answer questions while posing new question continually. Runed spends most of the narrative talking about the perks of being a female and giving snarky commentary on the modern world. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

I really wanted to love this...the premise was exciting and being familiar with Kendall Grey I knew to expect it to be on the dirty side. But I didn't expect the teenage-boy feel of the book. The character was under-developed and not altogether likable. The story missing some excitement and action I expect in the genre as well.

I was given a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The story is an enjoyable gender switching tale. Anyone familiar with the legend of Loki, the trickster, will enjoy seeing the god portrayed as a strong but untrustworthy woman with a dark sense of humor.

My first book by Kendall Grey, but definitely not my last. This book was HILARIOUS. The idea of Loki being the opposite gender wasn't a stretch for me, because in the version of mythology that I'm familiar with he's been known to shapeshift between the two as he pleases. I really like how it wasn't forced, and they explored the idea of having the physical identity of one gender and the mindset of another. The chicken in this story is hilarious and without question one of the best characters in the book. Anyone on an adventure like Loki's definitely needs a chicken on their team. 10/10 would recommend.

The plot twists are both unexpected and attention-grabbing. I'm really interested to see how the story plays out in the next books in the series, Gilded (Book 2) and Dragged (Book 3).

I wanted so badly to like this book. Loki is a fascinating character from mythology that could be explored in so many ways. Unfortunately, the author chose to explore the character through the lens of a guy obsessed with his...parts. There's no delicate way to get around how often Loki, even as a woman, mentions male genitalia. The books opens with a mention on literally every page.

And it doesn't get any better from there. Loki tries to be funny, but he/she comes across as an adult trying to mimic the slang of a teenager and sound cool. Is he 1,000 or 15? I was bored through most of it and only finished due to having to write a review.

This was one of my favorite reads this year. I was slow getting into it since I was not previously familiar with Viking mythology but I fell into the rhythm of the characters and the gripping romantic comedy of the plot the more I read. I was hooked a quarter of the way through. Loki is not only clever but very relatable as a character. I was hestitant to like her at first as the first chapter felt like it was focused on her missing testivles but the more she connected with her female qualities the more I felt I could imagine myself as her. There were definitely a few scenes where I burst out laughing, like when her stolen skull suitcase full of vibrators burst open and came to life in front of Gunnar and Freddie. I was pleasantly surprised by the author’s humor and knowledge of appropriate moments when the humor would be acceptable. Some authors stick funny scenes in nonstop and drown out the sex appeal and adventure. This was not the case here. I thoroughly look forward to this being a series with character development and a meaty plot. One thing I would like to see is for this kick-ass female to grow more into her job title by becoming a truly powerful God/Goddess. I loved this book and look forward to the next.

This first book in the Asgard Awakening series is such a fun, queer and totally hilarious retelling of the Norse mythology set in the 21st century. Waking up about a thousand years after Ragnarok, Loki can’t feel his balls... because, it turns out, he’s been reborn as a woman.

But not only has Loki been reborn as a woman, he’s also lost his runes and is no longer a God. With the help of Icelandic archeology student Gunnar Magnusson he sets off on a journey to the west (America) to retrieve them. In their wake they have a chicken spy. Yes, chicken spy! It’s Odin’s raven Huginn who has been reincarnated as a chicken and commanded by Odin to spy on Loki and stop them from getting the runes back. Huginn was such a wonderful side kick, and the banter between Loki and Huginn made me laugh out loud at times. I also loved the sweet, strong and handsome Viking Gunnar Magnusson and how he followed Loki on the crazy adventures even though he was sure that she wasn’t playing with a full deck of cards… There’s also a great secondary character in Gunnar Magnusson’s queer friend Freddie, a lot of twists and surprises, and a cliffhanger that will make you crave for the second book.

Starting to read this book I had no idea what to expect, but it really blew me off. The story is a completely unique urban fantasy comedy. It’s well-written and very fast-paced (I read the whole book in just a couple of hours!) and the humor is hilarious.

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook copy and the opportunity to find this new author and unforgettable book!

Highly recommended to anyone, also those who don’t normally enjoy fantasy books!

A very funny twist on Asgard personalities as Loki wakes up to find himself a woman and in modern times. With some unexpected help he tries to find his runes to return his powers and immortality but Odin has other ideas...

Loki is a very funny narrator. I loved the interaction with the chicken. One drawback was too much attention to his male parts (before he even realizes that they are missing). It just felt forced. Another drawback was I didn't buy Loki's somewhat abrupt change from malicious chaos bringer to a softer version who still likes chaos but isn't so murderous just because he is now a woman. I like where it is going but it seemed too abrupt for me.

There are a lot of whacky adventures and more to come in further books. We need more laughs in our lives at the present moment and this delivers. Hail Loki and more books in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a free copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Review posted to Goodreads]

My main issue with RUNED was that it was advertised in the LGBT+ genre. I can’t speak for the other books in its series, but I don’t think this book counts as queer at all.

(In this book) Loki is not genderfluid. He thinks himself to be a man who is merely stuck in a female body temporarily. Female Loki begins to be attracted to men, but this attraction is always connected to her body. There is a weird emphasis on a female urge to procreate whenever she thinks Gunnar is hot, which few queer people would appreciate. Do not be mistaken: this is the story of a female-presenting reincarnation falling in love with an explicitly-stated, straight man.

(And as for trans rep: There’s a scene in a bathroom where a short man’s feminine physical features are described. Due to the trans topic discussed in that scene, I can only assume him to be a stereotypically written trans man…)

Overall: The writing style was strange, in my opinion. Kendall Grey showed promise of witty humor, but the majority of the comedy was too try-hard. Several of the plot points were unrealistic, so if you want to enjoy this book, plan on really suspending your disbelief. However, I did learn a nice few things about Loki mythology, so I am giving this book 2 stars. It would’ve fared significantly better had it not been advertised as an LGBT book.

TRIGGER WARNINGS (not a complete list): assault attempt (foiled, but explicitly depicted), police encounter with an emphasis on weapons, plenty of female objectification.

This was fairly enjoyable. It starts off pretty entertaining, but I did somewhat struggle to get through the book at times. The general premise and incorporation of Norse mythology was fantastic though! I also enjoyed the inclusion of a convention for a show based on Norse mythology.

There were some extremely funny moments, but there were others where the humor just didn't quite land for me. In some cases, it felt a bit like it was trying too hard to be funny (but that could just a personal taste thing).

I loved seeing Huginn as a chicken. The relationship between Loki and Huginn was by far my favorite aspect of the book. You can really see how Loki grows as a person by the interactions with Huginn. The romance felt more like general attraction, but I did enjoy it. I also liked the general message of a soul being a soul, no matter the body. There was a bit of a transphobic scene in a bathroom, but it was great to see some side characters stand up and be supportive here.

I received a copy of this for review from the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.

My video review can be seen on my channel (around minutes 8:35-11:03 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0fJwOSAKYo

The book had a really good premise. Norse Mythology, a gender bender Loki and a quest for runes.
But sad to say it failed miserably in execution. Most of the time the book had a lot of voice but no plot.
If I lower a standards, this book is almost funny but there is a distinct lack of the flare, magic and subtleties that an urban fantasy should have.
Of positives , the book was slightly funny.
But the execution of the book did not work out well enough as expected.
The MC had no development at all through out the book and that was quite sad.