By some miracle, I managed to call every single plot twist in this book, and I have no idea how.

A Fate Inked in Blood has been on my Netgalley TBR since October, but I'm glad I finally got around to it because I just got the biggest unnecessary ego rush. I don't know much about Norse mythology, so the worldbuilding was pretty unique to me, and it definitely gave Beowulf vibes too.
The story follows Freya, a shield maiden prophesized to unite the world, as she leaves her home and enters a world of politics and war. There were a fair amount of action scenes that kept me entertained, but I can safely say I was more invested in calling the plot twists...and I did. I was unreasonably proud of myself for solving them, and I think that's why I enjoyed the book as much as I did. My only issue with the plot was that there were several instances of Freya and Bjorn picking fights with each other, making out, and then going back to being cold toward each other. I'm not a fan of will they/won't they romances, so it just got on my nerves at times.
I wasn't super invested in any of the characters, probably because I was convinced that half of them were evil. I liked Freya's personality and I think she has an interesting background, especially with info revealed at the end. However, her monologues about her lust got on my nerves, and I was tired of her fawning over Bjorn at times. I went back and forth between hating and liking Bjorn because his dirty jokes annoyed me, but I like tragic backstories, so I thought he was cool, too (although the Leo Valdez meets Rhysand personality was a bit much for me). The rest of the characters aren't really likable, but I think that's kind of the point...even if I wish there were more than two decent characters.
A Fate Inked in Blood is a Norse mythology-inspired romantasy story that I think would appeal to fantasy fans of all kinds.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.75