I received an eARC through NetGalley

This book hovers between a 3.5 and 3.75 for me.

I absolutely love this cover however...I feel like it's darker than the actual book was.

Now I feel like this is going to sound like a harsh review but I really did enjoy the book! I got through it in like a day and a half and I will definitely read the companion novel!

I enjoyed how the small combat scenes were written but I found myself a little let down with how the ending fight was written. I was holding my breathe and then...I realized that was it...I was so confused. I turned the page back a few times to make sure I didn't accidentally skip a page.

I really struggled with the romances in this book. While I enjoyed them and who they were between...I don't know that they were all necessary. I even found myself annoyed with how one ended in particularly (it was too clean. This is a viking novel! I didn't come here for that!). Also, can we please stop having books in YA that go into graphic detail of battle, violence and killing...then have every romance scene be "and fade to black." I just read about you decapitating someone in a battle...I can handle you having a consensual romantic relationship!

The world building, politics and spiritual aspects were under done. I hope more of this will be done in the companion. There wasn't enough definition given to show how the two sides were different. They believe in a different central god but that's all I got!

The main conflict with Iri...ugh, I just didn't buy it! There's been several generations of conflict based on religion! Families were massacred! You're rivals...the Iri story didn't really make sense. Either down play the religious/political rivalry or put more time into story and relationship development--not just Iri's story but also what evolves with Iri's father in the last 1/4 of the book.

But like I said, I DID ENJOY THIS BOOK!

Thank you for the eARC!