The Immortal

The Immortal was a little book that should have been a big book. It was full of great characters and great locations with an intriguing plot (immortal Vikings running a tropical resort). Unfortunately, because of the length of the book, character development took a back seat to action and what could have been an amazing story instead became nothing more than an amusing little palate cleanser. My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

I felt kind of deceived by this book. I was expecting something scary(the horror tag) with a lot of fantast and adventure but it fell really flat and was, frankly kind of boring. I find history fascinating but this was just not *it*. It had a slow flow to it but interesting characters.

From its description I was under the impression that The Immortal would tell us the story of how forty-year-old Emma, who has lived a quiet and ultimately lonely life, tries to escape an island after surviving a mass murder and immortal vikings who need to eat human hearts.

Emma escapes these vikings, only to be found by them again and taken in/protected by one of the vikings named Bjorn. What actually ensues is a romance story, I think? Despite witnessing her fellow vacationers demise, Emma very willingly accepts her new life, becoming a poster child for Stockholm Syndrome as she falls in love with one of her captors.

There's definitely an audience for this book- it's just not me. I didn't find the story to be action-packed, and at no point does Emma try to make a break for it after that first attempt in the very beginning. It's too short for its characters to show any depth beyond their surface levels, and to the story's detriment. Everything feels rushed and shallow.

Emma is on vacation in French Polynesia and runs across ancient Vikings. The Vikings are immortal and take Emma along with themEmma discovers none of the Vikings wishes to be immortal. I enjoyed the book.

I received a copy as an ARC and have provided an honest review.

It was a good read. The author develop his characters well, the storyline was short but it tied most things off. Some of the details he provided felt rushed and not completely finish before the next chapter had begun.

The concept of this story was what drew me in. Viking lore set in modern day, on a tropical island? Yes please! I stayed for the characters, but to be honest, was left wanting with their development and motivations. Feeling underwhelmed by the 50% mark and then the turnaround ending felt unfinished and rushed.
All this to say, there is certainly an audience for this book; readers that are looking for a palate cleanser perhaps, or those who want to have the air of mythology stirred in while not becoming invested in character arcs.

Much gratitude to NetGalley and the author for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting story! I enjoyed the development of the main character as well as all the other characters. Such a fun, quick read!

This dealt with immortality worked well with this universe. The characters were everything that I needed from this story and felt like people that dealt with immortality. I enjoyed the way E. G. Creel wrote this and am excited to read more from them.

I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of the book drew me in, and I went in without any idea of where the story would take me. Creel has written a truly unique story - a blend of tropical resort life, Vikings, immortality, a quick adventure to different corners of the globe, and the overarching question of whether immortality could ever be a benefit to society, or simply a curse.

This book was short and easy to read in a weekend. The pacing was good and it never felt like it dragged or lingered too long on certain details. If anything, I would have liked if some aspects of the story had been expanded upon, such as character backstories or perhaps an insight into the function of the resort for the Viking group - Vikings in a tropical paradise is not the imagery that first springs to mind when I think of ancient Norse history, so it would have been great to know more about how they came to be there and why.

The characters were unique and well-developed, they felt real and lived-in with distinct personalities. As mentioned before, I would love to know more about some of the Viking characters and it would be cool to even have spin-off stories about other characters and their many different lives.

While there were a few grammatical and spelling errors throughout, I found the writing style to be engaging. Creel did a fantastic job of creating tension right off the bat and I found myself on the edge of my seat as Emma tried to escape the resort and uncovered dark secrets. Tension was maintained throughout the story and I found myself never really sure of what the characters would say or do next. The ending was satisfying for Emma, though it was tinged with melancholy as I couldn't help but think of the life she had left behind.

Overall this was an enjoyable and entertaining read.

I really wanted to love this book. However, I feel like the character development was not really present and was mostly plot and action movement. I believe there was a bit of romance? Although I don't think I'm a part of the audience that this book is for. I enjoy Historical, fantasy, romances but this isn't what I believed was promised from the description.

I enjoyed reading your book but I think you could have done a lot more with the plot. By the description I was expecting a 500 pages book with lots of plot twists and I didn't got that. It is a great book though... and if you have in mind a book about Emma, I will totally read it.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

I wanted to like this more than I did. Unfortunately it felt a little too rushed and just overall flat to me, although I enjoyed the bit at the end!

This was an interesting and different take on the idea of immortality and immortal beings. The origin of how these humans became immortal was intriguing. Our protagonist quite literally stumbled into a world and reality she had never imagined before. The action was fast-paced from the very beginning. After we were introduced to the immortals and their way of life, we slowly began to empathise with them. The ending was quite well done. I enjoyed this.

(I received a free review copy from NetGalley.)

This was a quick and fun read. Not what I expected at all. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This book was delightfully weird. After luckily escaping a mass murder (sacrifice!), Emma becomes entwined in the lives of immortal Vikings. No longer wishing to remain immortal, Emma helps them navigate their path to mortality.
I really enjoyed this book, the different characters and the banter between them all. It could have done with being a bit longer to provide a bit more character development, but as is it was a quick fun read!

Book received feee in exchange for an honest review, Thank you to E,G Creel and NetGalley.

Overall this book was quite intriguing. The story follows Emma a forty something women on vacation who just happens to be in the presence of immoral Vikings. The story goes from there. Book was well written short novel with a great original story line. However it seemed rushed and I wished we could have seen more into the previous lives of Emma and the Vikings, however that is not what this book is about, that is just my own wishful thinking wanting more. It was fascinating to watch it unfold, if unbelievable at time, but as is most fantasy. Some ideas were hard to believe, like the fact Emma just was cool with everything that just transpired, she is one strong leading lady. As mentioned the story line in itself felt rushed but also well put together. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a fun quick fantasy read. I really hope the author makes a sequel so we can see what happens next, because I’m kinda invested now and can see a whole series about her, maybe even bring some of the Vikings along…