Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this due to my love of mythology and Odin’s Child did not disappoint. Being the first book in a trilogy, we spend a lot of time world-building and I’m thrilled at it. Whilst the length of this did daunt me to begin with, I felt like I flew through this, and I really enjoyed getting to know Hirka more.
Personally, I want to tag this as New Adult rather than YA just due to the expansiveness of the world-building, the epic grandeur and the sense of history woven throughout. It is still a bildungsroman which leans into the YA category, however, I feel that adults will enjoy this just as much as older teens.
Some areas I relied on just vibing my way through as I did get a little lost, and I think it could have been slightly shorter to avoid this as much, but this isn’t an uncommon experience for me and I could enjoy the vibes rather than feeling confused and frustrated. I do also feel that Rime could have used some further character development in the period that we got to know them and he did lean into the stereotype MLI.
I am curious to continue on with the rest of the series and see where our characters get up to.

What a stunning start to a series! I was completely swept up in Hirka’s journey—she’s fierce, flawed, and so easy to connect with. The Norse-inspired world feels alive on every page, and the mix of raw emotion and high-stakes twists made it impossible to put down. I’m already desperate for the next book!

A Nordic fantasy debut with deep roots in myth and a unique take on magic, Pettersen crafts a story both fresh and compelling.

Four stars for atmospheric and intriguing world building.

I absolutely loved this book. The translation seemed to be done wonderfully. I felt like this story had me hooked pretty quickly and then I couldn’t put it down. I am remaining hopeful that the rest of the series will give answers and be just as great as the first.

It's definitely a YA. Predictable but it was fun.
The cover is what drew me to this book and while it too me a while to get to it I will still check out the next book as well

This was actually recommended to me by a Swedish friend, and I'm so glad she did. I really enjoyed this, and can't wait to dive into the rest of the series. I always enjoy books around myths and this was no different.

I liked Hirka, even though her "othering" felt fairly expected in the start. The relationships in it were great. Basically, bring on book 2!

I really wanted to like this one as a lot of my Norwegian friends have recommended it but the writing style just didn’t work for me. I also found the main character to be a little flat & the story line & tropes to be a bit clichéd. Unfortunately I think my expectations were just too high for this one. I might revisit it later when I’m able to approach it for what it is. It’s definitely geared for younger YA in spite of some of the horror adjacent elements.

I really liked this novel because it became kind of nostalgic to me. It reminded me of when I was younger and enjoyed reading a fantasy novel now and again.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Being very interested in fantasy and mythology books, this seemed right up my street! It took a bit of getting into but I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to fans of John Gwynne and Joanne M Harris

It was interesting. However I do not think that this book was for me. I found it that I struggled to get into the story.

I’m always apprehensive about reading a translated work. Based on first-hand experience, I know that things usually get lost in translation, and that a bad or even mediocre translation can really ruin an excellent book. This is the first book in a widely popular Norwegian fantasy trilogy. And I have to say, I’m so impressed with the translation! It didn’t feel odd or stunted at all and flowed very naturally. This is quite a big book, and it’s not exactly a page-turner, but for some reason I still couldn’t put it down. I got really sucked into the world and the characters and simply had to see what happened to Hirka and Rime. The Norwegian folklore inspiration is definitely present but the world-building also feels completely fresh. The novel doesn’t feel like your typical American or UK fantasy either. The author brings a truly unique Norwegian/European take on it that is different and fascinating. While lots of questions remain unanswered, I’m really excited about the second book coming out (in translation) later this year. I’m very curious to see where the author takes this story next.

I apologize but I was not able to finish this book. I was in a different headspace at the time of requesting / recieving this book and the time I got it.

I love mythology retellings, and I have just started getting into more Norse retellings. I was definitely intrigued and would check out the future books.

The concept was good, but the execution was not. I really wanted to like this book, but it seemed like the more I read it the less I enjoyed any of it. The writing is necessarily bad, but it is endlessly detailed with things that are pointless. We get details about the most insignificant things and not enough about the important things. It was never explained about the magic system or why having a tail was so incredibly important other than our MC was the only one without it.

The main character Hirka wasn't relatable. She's 15, acts like a child most of the time, is snobbish, looking down on others and all but demands special treatment because she's not like everyone else. Then she'll switch to belittling herself over Rime, saying she's not worth it, he'll forget her, etc....her personality switches became annoying and just irritated me with her. And Rime? This is the definition of a drama king, and one that has this emoish edge to him that doesn't work for him. The way he handled everything and his constant whining instead of doing something grated on my nerves.

The book just didn't work in any aspect for me, and was disappointed I couldn't enjoy it more.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, I’m a big fan of all mythology books in general and I loved the portrayal of it in this book. The main character Hikra has good character development and I love how her story is getting started, can’t wait to continue the series.

The fact that this book is a norse mythology inspired medieval world setting had me so excited to read this book. However, it was a mess and I was simply let down. It was hard to get through. It was sooooo slow. I wish I could have enjoyed this one as mythology is normally one of my favorite things but I simply couldn’t.

This book was AMAZING! I love myth retellings and this one was such a pleasure to read! Highly recommend it

Odin's Child by Siri Pettersen was a struggle to get through. It fell victim to typical teenage drama and played out tropes that weren't even done well. The dialogue was very clunky and I couldn't bring myself to care about the plot. I will not be reading more of this series.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

ABSOLUTELY LOVELY.
I loved it from the first pages and Hirka and Rime is just so interesting and lovable, i want to hug them both.