I am fascinated with Norse Mythology. However, I felt that this was very disjointed and the writing was choppy! I thought many of the characters were very stereotypical! However, I did like the strong heroine and the setting! This novel will definitely appeal to fans of Loki!

This review was originally published on NetGalley.com. I was given an ebook freely by NetGalley and the book’s publisher in return for a voluntary and honest review.

Thyra is a fantasy set in Norse Mythology. It starts with a husband and wife escaping genocide. Someone is out to exterminate all the dark elves. They find a peaceful life living next to a human family for generations. Then soon after welcoming their daughter, Thyra. The danger from their past comes back. Thyra is left alone to discover her people’s history and her place in two different worlds.

Steven Grier Williams does a wonderful job of engaging the reader almost immediately. The writing is good a little clunky in parts but that could also be the ARC edition.

I’d recommend this one for anyone interested in Norse Mythology, heroes born from normally evil races and strong female characters.

Questo è un libro acerbo. Aveva del potenziale, ma l'ha sfruttato male. L'idea di base era buona, ma il libro sembra un lungo riassunto di un libro che avrebbe avuto bisogno di un intreccio meglio sviluppato, meno personaggi secondari creati e poi abbandonati al nulla, di descrizioni più dettagliate (sia per quanto riguarda la costruzione del mondo narrativo, che per quanto riguarda le azioni dei personaggi, del loro sviluppo emotivo e fisico, ma soprattutto dei movimenti durante le varie scene della storia). Sembra di leggere la bozza di un libro, lo scheletro della storia senza tutte le rifiniture e dettagli che lo renderebbero davvero una buona lettura.
Inoltre se fino a metà ho ben sperato che la storia si sviluppasse in maniera interessante e intelligente, le scene finali nel villaggio degli elfi oscuri, mi hanno dato davvero sui nervi. Non solo la protagonista si è rivelata davvero noiosa, ma è stato un mob qualsiasi a risolvere i suoi dubbi amletici sul fare del male alle persone! Per non parlare di che fine han fatto le valchirie.
E il personaggio di Helga? Forse è quello più intelligente, ma anche il più inutile dato che non ha dato alcun contributo alla storia (a parte un pugno ben piazzato e l'ottima scelta finale che ha fatto).
L'epilogo poi non l'ho capito. Nemmeno mi ricordavo se i personaggi di quelle scene li conoscevo già o se fossero altri nuovi personaggi mai incontrati.
Insomma mi ha dato davvero fastidio il fatto che tutta la storia fosse abbozzata e senza dettagli.
Anche Thyra avrebbe dovuto avere modo di sviluppare e capire i suoi poteri in maniera diversa, invece di diventare onnipotente da un giorno all'altro e sopratutto senza alcun sacrificio o sforzo.
Spero che l'autore ci rimetta mano o che il seguito di questa storia diventi più interessante e dettagliato.

Grazie a Netgalley per avermi permesso di leggerlo in anteprima.

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This is an unripe book. It had potential, but it misused it. The basic idea was good, but the book seems like a long summary of a book that would have needed a better developed plot, fewer secondary characters created and then forgotten, more detailed descriptions (both as the construction of the narrative world, as the actions of the characters, their emotional and physical development, but above all the movements during the various scenes of the story). It feels like reading the draft of a book, the skeleton of the story without all the polish and details that would have made it a really good read.
Furthermore, if up to the middle I hoped that the story would develop in an interesting and intelligent way, the final scenes in the village of the dark elves really got on my nerves. Not only did the protagonist turn out to be really boring, but it was a mob to solve her Hamletic doubts about hurting people! Not to mention what happened to the Valkyries.
And the character of Helga? Perhaps she's the smarter one, but also the more useless one since she made no contribution to the story (aside from a well-placed punch and the great final choice she made).
I didn't understand the epilogue. I didn't even remember if I already knew the characters in those scenes or if they were other new characters I'd never met.
In short, it really bothered me that the whole story was sketchy and without details.
Even Thyra should have been able to develop and understand her powers in a different way, instead of becoming omnipotent overnight and above all without any sacrifice or effort.
I hope the author will go back on the book or that the continuation of this story becomes more interesting and detailed.

Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read the preview of the book.

I enjoyed this book, but some of the dialogue was very modern or ham-fisted/cheesy and it kept taking me out of it...but I did like the characters and the world. Not mad I read it, especially as I really enjoy Norse mythology, but I probably won't think about this book too much.

I absolutely love Norse mythology and I enjoyed the way it was used throughout this story. My main issues were the dialogue which felt almost too modern for the setting. There was a lot of telling rather than showing and a lot of info dumping in the dialogue instead of letting Thyra discover things at a natural pace. I liked the way the jumped between Thyra’s parents timeline and Thyra’s. I personally feel as though this story could have benefited from a little more fleshing out.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc for this book in exchange for an open and honest review

Received Thyra as an ARC ebook from NetGalley. Any fans of The witch’s heart by Genevieve Gornichec will love this book! There are some honorable mentions of characters from the witch’s heart in this book. But this focus more on the MC (Thyra) and rogue (evil) Valkyries, and light/dark elves as well. I enjoyed reading this book, it’s so action-packed with wars and sword fighting! Brief mentions of Ragnarok as well. Edit: My view was posted on GoodReads on September 11th here's the link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4975705652
As of 11/8/22, this review has also been posted on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2VWDHYTYFK0EA/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv
Thank you again so much to Sunbury Press for letting me read this book!

Received arc from Sunbury Press Inc and Netgalley for honest read and review,and this view is my own.
This story centres around Thyra,a dark elf and her life with a human Dad.This was quite a good story, but seemed to be over rather quick, and the story was over.
I will definitely read some more from Steven as he has a way with drawing you into a character.
References to Thor, Odin and Ragnarok and also with Valkyries was quite good as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed Thyra. I flew through this book and really loved the main character and the elements of magic and Norse Mythology. I did not read Skadi (book 1) prior to reading Thyra, but I don’t think it was necessary. Would definitely recommend to others who appreciate a strong female MC and Norse Mythology.

Thyra is an outsider. She is a dark elf among the bigoted humans and has never known her secular people who have survived a genocide and wish to live in peace away from further marginalisation and oppression. On a trip to town, Thrya is forced to make a rash decision that has dire consequences. This is about a journey that tests what Thyra believes in and how far she will go to do what's right.

Unfortunately, this book also test me and whether I would dnf it or stick it out.

The exposition is dumped into the dialogue, but instead of feeling fluid and smooth, it's clunky and jarring. There is very important life saving and universe shaking information that is withheld from Thyra until well after people have suffered and lives have been changed. It makes no sense to spring this information after events. Her father has sheltered Thyra to the detriment of her and her people who need protection. It was infuritating to read about but also infuriating to read when Thyra made a dumb decision with this new information in mind. The red flags were waving, and she kept powering through, ignoring the potential far-reaching consequences of her actions.

What I did find interesting was the villains. The Valkyries, the light elves and ominous presence of the Æsir (the Norse Gods). All crucial and complex in their motives, intermeshing and contradicting. Using and being used. Villains can be lost in the cliche and the broad idea 'evil for the sake of evil'. They all have goals that trample and destroy others. The Valkyries understand their deeds but believe its necessary for their lives to be spared. The light elves do immoral things at first for the gain, a promise of godhood by the gods themselves, and later they are indentured servants who act because their loved ones will suffer if they resist. The Gods are never present in this story but are such a big factor in the actions of others because of the wars they have started, the promises they have not kept and the lives they have sacrificed.

I would have loved more of a presence of the giants and the goodest boy in the universe Fenrir. I wanted Thyra to break Fenrir out of his captivity because he didn't even do anything and you know what they say about the enemy of my enemy is a potential ally.

Norse mythology is skewed in my head. Its a mixture of Marvel knowledge, with American Gods and maybe even the viking books I have read like Sky in the Deep and Warrior of the Wild. Hell, even Assassin's Creed Valhalla has influenced my knowledge of Norse Myth. What I am saying is I am unsure how faithful this retelling is or how it diverges into something new.

It's always unfortunate when I dont enjoy the book and doubly unfortunate when I don't enjoy the experience of reading the book. Ultimately, I struggled with the dialogue, the exposition, caring about any of the characters, and the overarching story. My mind kept wondering, and I was very tempted to dnf and simply pick up a different book that I was more interested.

I did like the floating head that knew things. It reminded me of that one doctor who episode where the guys head was in a box but with the wisdom of the face of boe (yes I know, doctor who lore is very nerdy but how is that surprising?).

This book just wasn't for me but I trust there are readers out there that would love this retelling of a young dark elf with new powers going against immoral Valkyries and beings with immense powers. Either way this book is criminally unknown and deserves to find its reader base wherever they may be.

Would I recommend this book?
Unfortunately, I wouldn't.

Will I re-read this book?
No.

The writing pulled me out of the story. I really couldn't get over Thyra calling Calder "Dad" all the time instead of father. The language just wasn't appropriate for a Norse mythology story. The characters had no description to them and the world building was the bare minimum.
The plot was only okay, nothing original. It felt unfinished, like the author needed more time to flesh out the whole book.

Sadly I didn't really enjoy this book.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Thyra" by Steven Willaims follows dark elf Thyra on her journey to save her home and confront her personal issues.

I would give "Thyra" by Steven Willaims a one-star review because, 1; I hated everything about this novel.

Thankyou to netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
The cover definitely drew me in and as soon as I read the description I knew this would be a book for me!
Norse mythology- check
Fantasy-check
Great characters - check.

It's so well paced too as I hate slow paced books and get bored easily. This kept my attention the whole way through

An enjoyable world and a well realized concept in a genre that is thirsty for new material. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a little more Wonder Woman out of their Circe.

Thank you Sunbury Press Inc for my copy of Thyra via Netgalley! The book is an action-packed perfectly paced fantasy story, imbued with references to Norse mythology (Valkyries, light/dark elves, norse gods). As I said, the pacing was really well done, without any lagging, which I find can affect fantasy novels, which have a propensity to get bogged down in world building. That being said, there was heavy expository dialogue and, while I wouldn’t necessarily call it info-dumping, because the author uses dialogue (thank goodness!) to reveal his world rather than a lengthy monologue, it still feels awkward and forced. The dialogue feels more like the characters are speaking as the author’s puppets rather than organically, staying true to how people would really speak.
This sense of forced dialogue continued throughout the book and was one of the few qualms I had with it. It unfortunately made the characters seem slightly robotic mouthpieces rather than three-dimensional beings. Additionally, at times it felt very deadpan, given the circumstance in which the dialogue was spoken. There were some scenes where I felt the character should have been shocked/upset/distressed, but the emotions weren’t properly conveyed through the dialogue. This sort of problematic characterisation carried over into the way characters presented their back stories. They were all very forthcoming with their painful memories when talking to complete strangers, which seemed unrealistic. It also meant that, rather than learning about the characters organically, I was slightly jarred with info-dumping of the characters’ lives prior to the book.
Thyra definitely delivered some elements of a great fantasy book, but unfortunately the inorganic characters really impacted my overall enjoyment of the read. I think because I’m the type of reader who reads for the characters more than the plot, the lack of connection to any of them, the inability to empathise because of the slightly flat characterisation, meant I didn’t walk away loving the book.