My curiosity towards this book really peaked with that cover design, which really draws in the eye well with the contrast of a dark blue with the firey red of a sunset and wolf silhouette. Gets you in the mood for an intense read, which here is a reinterpretation of Beowulf. It seems to be a fairly loose interpretation to my knowledge, just a group going off to fight against a monster, which sure seems to be Beowulfy enough. There was some imagination put behind some of the worldbuilding, except when it came to the setting, as it seems to be some Scandinavian-adjacent place with a lot of real world words all jumbled around. Norse becomes Vorse, Valhalla becomes Holhalla, Odin is Obin. It's not really my favorite kind of setting, basically something familiar with just maybe a few letters off, as it just seems less creative. 

The Mercies themselves seem like a very bleak, but interesting concept, what with their entire purpose being assisted suicide. Immediately we can sympathize with the main character Frey, who has had enough of death and longs to make her mark on the world. Unfortunately, out of all the main leads, she's probably the least engaging. The other girls, Runa, Juniper, and Ovie, have way more compelling backstories and motivations that would make them fine POV characters that, in comparison, just make Frey look quite dull. Her quest for glory seems so hollow compared to what they've been through and want to achieve.

It wasn't a terrible book. The action flowed well, the stakes were high, and there were some effective emotional moments. It just didn't feel as strong as it could have been, like it could have used one more draft to get all the kinks out. I wanted to like it, but, overall, I just left the story feeling fairly neutral.