⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 3 stars

Hall of Smoke is a Vikings inspired fantasy story set in a world where gods rule and directly influence their followers.

The book was well written and relies more on religion and gods and less on the fantasy tropes. It was nice that it was a bit different like that. The world was vividly described and it was easy to picture it all, the map at the beginning also helped with the layout.

Most of the book is about Hessa travelling from one location to another and meeting a lot of people on the way. We meet many people from other nations and worshippers of other gods. The way the relations between these different nations were created where really interesting to read.

Hessa was a fierce, head strong female with a strong sense of purpose but very vulnerable at the same time. I really enjoyed seeing her grow more into herself instead of blindly following what she was thought to do. The gods have very important roles in this book and are constantly present, which was interesting. The many character names where sometimes a bit confusing and I did confuse some characters for others.

I also appreciate how the focus was on Hessa’s journey. There wasn’t any romance in it and Hessa was depending and surviving by herself. She didn’t need a lover for that. I did get a bit of love interest vibes from one of the characters, but nothing happened.

The reason I can’t give the book more stars is because I couldn’t connect with the characters. I felt a bit like looking at the characters from far away instead of living with them. I was also surprised seeing the book will have a sequel. It felt like a solid stand alone and it also felt like the end of the story when the book ended.

Overall, it was a good debut but it didn’t really feel like anything special. I greatly enjoyed the world that was created, but didn’t really feel for the characters.