I struggled with this book. I could not finish it. I think it was just too deep for my tastes. There was a lot of dense world building, but I'm used to books that are easier to understand/delve into.

The book sounded interesting. However, it was very confusing and disjointed. The characters seemed bland and were hard to connect to. I did like the mythological aspects of this novel. I recommend this for fans of Norse Mythology.

Thank you Netgalley for the early copy! I loved this book! It was so interesting and such a quick and easy read! I would highly recommend this! Such an interesting concept!

Firstly, a huge thank you to Arctis and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

CW: suicide, sexual assault, abelism, murder, graphic violence

I adore Norse mythology and anything related to it, so I was particularly intrigued by how mythology would influence this story - particularly because of how 'the children of Odin' are viewed as 'the rot', which isn't something I've come across before.

The Child of Odin in question is thirteen-year-old, Hirka, who I loved. We first get to see her personality as a young girl as she desperately tries to save her friend - I loved how fierce she was and how she would always do her best to be, or at least appear to be, fearless. Even as Hirka grows into a young woman of 15, we still see these qualities develop depth within her character as well as see other sides of her too. She begins to acknowledge her fear and uncertainty but still tries to work beyond that, to prove herself no matter the court. Her internal monologues were fascinating and allowed you to see her subtly alternate between being a woman and a child. I also particularly enjoyed her quick and witty retorts - regardless of who she was speaking to. The relationship between time and her father was also incredibly touching and I thought it was great to open the novel from his perspective, very quickly demonstrating how much she meant to him.

Hirka is also incredibly close to Rime, the grandson of one of the most revered Council members, heir to her seat at the table... one which he rejected after completing The Rite. Rime was such a brilliant companion/contrast to Hirka. He is more quiet and contemplative and he is constantly fighting an internal battle as he struggles between what he has been taught his entire life, to the truth he is suddenly exposed to. I really enjoyed seeing how Rime and Hirka would view the same situation and how they would interchangeably be a source of strength for the other. They worked brilliantly together and alone as they are crafted expertly as individual characters.

It isn't just the protagonists and the antagonist (who was so unsettling and creepy, I couldn't help but be drawn in by him) but the minor characters as well. Each one of them has such a unique personality and are incredibly detailed which I really appreciated as it made the characters feel more believable and it also helped build the world around them too. There were clear differences in attitudes and mannerisms between people from different places which shows you how much careful consideration Pettersen has put into this world.

The balance between fantastical action and concepts with politics and religion was wonderfully done. There are so many large ideas and systems to get your head around but it isn't daunting or difficult in the slightest. However, if you are struggling to keep up there is a very helpful glossary at the back of the book summarising the different concepts that you learn about during the novel. In addition to concepts, there are also helpful one-liner biographies to stop you from getting in a muddle with the major players too. Personally, I found that were were all clearly explored and explained in the novel itself, however I do really appreciate having that included - especially as this will be incredibly helpful as a refresher before getting stuck into the sequel which is due to be released Winter 2021.

Overall, this was a brilliant start to a trilogy that I am thrilled is being translated into English as Pettersen in an author who deserves to be read the world over! This is definitely a must read for any fantasy fan!

I NEED to read the next book, 'The Rot' (available October 5, 2021)! I loved the world building and politics of this book. The characters were great, especially Hirka and Rime of course. The emotions I felt while going on this terrifying journey and learning secrets with Hirka were immensely strong. The descriptions were beautiful, and the character development was wonderful. The ending made my heart ache and had me tearing up. If you want to be immersed into a dark, epic fantasy about secrets, magic, love, and questioning everything you've ever known then I highly recommend this book to you! Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge fan of Norse mythology, but sadly this book wasn’t my cup of tea.
I was expecting something a little different, but I think that there will also be a lot of readers who would appreciate this read.

I was surprised to reach to an understanding, a story that is made by someone that is very familiar with the customs and culture, the end story is beautiful! i loved this so much and hope the other books are translated

I have always enjoyed fantasy stories, especially those that are grounded in real world mythology. I especially have a special affinity to the Norse pantheon, with their dark symbology and mystical connection to their gods. So, finding a book like Odin’s Child, which takes a rich cultural mythos and weaves a dynamic and compelling world of characters, is a glittering gem of a treasure.
The story is a classic tale of an outsider looking for their place in the world. The protagonist, Hirka, has spent her entire life ridiculed and ostracized for the simple fact that she has no tail. She has few friends, and finds herself facing off against a world order that is built on the foundation that people like her are to be shunned and reviled, lest the infamous “rot” overtake anyone who interacts with a tailless one. And through all of her personal challenges, she must face the looming Rite, the ceremony that every child must go through to determine their affinity for using the Might, their version of magic. Except, there is one problem-Hirka has no Might. She is “unearthed”. A Child of Odin. A monster. Originally told to have lost her tail as a baby, this revelation spurs Hirka to undertake a journey of self discovery, one where she finds herself at the center of political unrest and an ever growing threat from rumors of the monstrous Blind threatening the kingdom.
The characters and their interactions with each other are what truly makes the story memorable. Hirka is particularly compelling, deservedly so seeing as she is the primary protagonist. She is a strong, scrappy character, one who is self-reliant through circumstance and is damn good at finding a way to survive. And, she’s not one to shy away from a fight. Too many times in fantasy, I have had to endure female characters who fit into either the naive damsel who slowly discovers her potential, or the spurned, dangerous girl who wields a sword with terrible, sometimes misguided vengeance. Hirka is a refreshingly simple alternative. She is simply a girl who knows how to take care of herself, yet finds herself up against a seemingly unbeatable enemy. Despite this, she has agency in spades, and takes it upon herself to solve her own problems, even when she has absolutely no idea what she is doing or how she plans to accomplish her goals.
Other characters of import include Rime, Hirka’s friend who is the son of a great house and the grandson of one of the world leaders, though he has renounced his birthright and has chosen the way of the sword, and Urd, the antagonist who has plans to use Hirka’s existence as a Child of Odin for his grand scheme to increase his own standing in the world, while struggling with the price of the actions he took to get where he is.
One of the most intriguing and compelling aspects of the novel is the characters’ differing viewpoints in regards to their world. Their world’s ultimate power is the all powerful Seer, an enigmatic, powerful leader shrouded in mystery and an impenetrable cloak of rumor. Rime is steadfast in his loyalty, despite the fact that he has never even heard the words of the Seer except through the mouthpiece of the Council. Hirka meanwhile, is filled with conflicting emotions, raging from anger to desperation, constantly asking why she doesn’t fit into the Seer’s. It is a beautiful representation on the dangers of blind faith and the price of political and social stability, which is often through suppression and deceit.
Readers will not be disappointed by the many questions they will ask and have answered throughout the book. For anyone who has ever felt as though they don’t belong, they will find a kindred spirit with Odin’s Child.

The beginning is perhaps a bit slow and some things are understood in retrospect, but the more it goes on the more intriguing this story becomes, because of a protagonist who is absolutely not predictable and characters whose true nature is revealed to the reader in a measured but compelling pace. A fascinating, well-described world that incorporates well the quotations from major works of the same genre and pays worthy homage to the Nordic myths, and a writing style that makes you want to know what will happen in the following episodes.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

i really, REALLY disliked this book. it was a badly written mess, needlessly descriptive just for more pages i guess? more word count? it was annoying to read, the characters dislikable and not in an interesting way. i couldn't care what happened with the plot or these characters. i just really hated this book even tho i was so excited for it. i had to dnf at some point.

This book was a bit tough for me to get into - however, it was well worth the perseverance. The world building, the character development, and the entwinement with Norse mythology all made this book quite the delight to read.

The story for this title is good. The plot is interesting and the characters make the journey enjoyable. I struggled with the writing, possibly due to the translation into English and overall the book is longer than it needs to be. I felt like the story could've been told much more precisely, which would have made the overall reading experience more enjoyable.

I enjoyed reading this book. I found I couldn’t put it down and read from start to finish in one sitting. Thank you.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the first book of a trilogy inspired by Norse mythology. I found the book to be well written and the premise very interesting but for me, something was missing. The beginning of the book is very heavy and tend to drain my energy to read it the whole set-up was good but very intense that made me lose a bit of interest while reading it. Since is original written in Norwegian some things could be lost in translation to English and result in a poor result of the book, I felt that in the start I was missing some very important information that I needed to fully understand the story.
The book was filled with every single YA trope out there, and they weren't particularly well-done, however not bad either just made the book feel that was full of cliche!

The plot for this book starts quickly with a dark and intriguing prologue, showing Hirka’s origins. And things do not really slow down. The tension of Hirka and her father’s secrets loom over the entire story. It’s an exciting element that makes the reading go quickly but also made me feel a bit exhausted by the end.

Hirka is a decent protagonist. She has the interesting dilemma of wanting to be just like everyone else, rather than in many YA novels where the character is struggling to find something unique about themselves. There was also great chemistry between characters but I found that Hirka, outside of the plot, was not exceptionally memorable.

I had a difficult time getting settled into this world. We’re thrown into Hirka’s life and it takes a while to get explanations for the traditions, religions, and lore. This left me struggling to understand what characters were referring to and it did slow down the pacing of the novel somewhat. Luckily the quick and high-intensity plot pulled me along.

Odin’s Child is an epic fantasy trilogy originally published in Norway and it is now making its English debut! The plot definitely lives up to the hype. It’s an exciting, tension-filled novel that you will read through quickly. The setting is complex and it takes some time for the author to explain the world and rules. I highly recommend this book to high fantasy fans!

I feel like this is a very underrated book. It’s fantastic but I think maybe the delay of world wide publishing may have made promotion harder. I’m very glad this book came to the US and I hope the rest of the books will be too. I will definitely be recommending it. First, I liked that the world building was simple yet interesting. It’s nice when some things are easy to understand. They’re still people but they have tails. And the MC is basically like us but it turns out she’s special. The MC wasn’t always likable but it’s easy to root for her. I think we’ve all felt like outsiders at one point. We’ve all felt afraid of growing up and surviving being on our own so it was easy to relate to Hirka and her fear of the ritual and search for herself. I do think people should be aware there are some definite dark parts and possible triggers.

A lot of people really like this book but I found it really long and boring.
To be honest I skimmed through it so I can't really give a good review about it

Interesting book based on Norse mythology but with a twist. The monster in this tale is actually a human girl thrust into a world of ymlings who are like humans but have a tail. They also wield the “might” which is like a magic system that lets them have powers.

Hirka is 15 and about to undergo the coming of age rite when she discovers she’s actually what is known as an Odin’s child - a portent of doom that draws the blind ones (monsters that thirst for the might and will kill ymlings to get it). She also apparently brings the rot - a disease that makes people rot from then inside out. She was found abandoned in a stone circle and her father maimed her and claimed she was attacked by wolves hence why she’s been known as the tail-less girl all her life. Hirka is smart, sharp, honest and she’s fearless. She helps people, acts as a healer and she protects the weak. She has a complicated rivalry/friendship with Rime (a son of a noble family), which evolves into something else as they start to work together.

The book started off well and I liked the world building. The ymlings are a superstitious and religious lot and they follow tradition/bow to the Seer. They are ruled by an inner circle of councillors who have created a corrupt system of ruling. A lot of the book deals with exposing this layer of corruption and revealing thousand year old secrets. There’s a lot of politics and religious intrigue with bits of mythology woven in. It’s interesting for about 2/3rds of the book when it revolves into a very complicated mess and it becomes hard to follow what is going on. The characters are likeable - Hirka and Rime (and maybe Ilume) are the only fully fleshed out ones. The others all seem slightly 2 dimensional. Even the “villain” is 2 dimensional and I never quite got a full grasp of his actions or motivations. The ending is also a bit lacklustre until I realised this is book 1 of a trilogy, so there is more to come. I also realised that this book has been translated into English, so maybe there are some elements that we’re lost in translation.

All in - it was quite interesting and I would read the rest of series to see what happens next.

I was disappointed with this book. I had really high hopes for the book, particularly when so many people had reviewed it so highly. I found the beginning of the book painfully slow. I understand that it was necessary to establish the story but I felt like I was forcing myself to keep reading which isn't something I like to do. I still finished the book but it definitely wasn't something I enjoyed.

I'm so happy to see another type of mythology represented besides Greek! I love Norse mythology and this book was an excellent story, a great retelling.