This retelling humanizes the mythological characters like never before. Angrboda's tragedy is universally understood: A woman used, vilified after she was victimized, who then struggled to reclaim her power, and found herself and her strength through acts of mercy. It was refreshing, and empowering, to hear the spitefully dubbed "mother of monsters" reimagined with such empathy. This gorgeous book cover ought to be adopted as the new #MeToo badge.

HOWEVER, anybody who, like me, picked this book up thinking, "I love the Marvel Loki, and so WOULD LOVE to read a Loki romance novel!" is going to be veeeeeery disappointed by this book. In fact, this book is VERY triggering with all of its relationship dramas, violence against women, child abuse and deaths, and graphic deaths in general. Make no mistake, this book is a drama and a tragedy, not a romance.

The book had some beautiful things to say about the importance of myth and history, and how we carry stories - and the influence of our ancestors - everywhere. And the book reads like a love story to myths, it has that same "This happened, this happened, and this happened, and all was well, for a time. But it would not last. One day..." that epics like Beowulf or The Odyssey tended to have. I saw what the author was doing, stylistically, but personally I found the lack of break for a METAPHOR or anything poetic, now and again, to be tedious, like I was reading the world's longest, saddest, children's book. That's just a matter of preference, though, not a reflection on this author or this book.

But this book isn't really /for/ myth lovers, either. It's not about Angrboda's amazing magical exploits, those are sort of glossed over. It is, at its core, the study of a woman, or even womanhood, and how women survive trauma and derive purpose in a world that seems destined for violence. If you read for escapism and were hoping this book would provide a fantastical brain-vacation, do NOT read this book! There are very REAL traumas in it, and you will just make yourself sad. If you want a cathartic cry, this is the book for you. And if you read to pick books apart on their literary merit, go nuts! There is a lot to dissect and discuss in this book.