I found this book at a book sale conducted by my local Friends of the Library group. It sounded interesting. And it is interesting, for most of the story. The author has a solid grasp on motivating emotion and develops it well. It is a pity that this doesn't carry into the final act.
First,
This story has good emotional torque. What I mean by that is that it is very much driven by character emotion and the decisions they make based on those emotions. It is very clear that running away from home is an objectively bad idea that could lead to a lot of trouble, but it makes sense why Freya would do this, nonetheless. The loneliness she feels, the disconnection from other valkyries, and how long this has been going on (centuries), are well-established, and so the compulsion that Freya feels to leave Asgard and then stay on Midgard are understandable, even relatable.
The author unscores this with Orus, Freya's raven advisor. He is basically a flying lampshade hanging, constantly pointing out the ill-considered nature of Freya's actions and pointing out their consequences, such as defying the Angels of Death, risking Odin's wrath, or exposing her true identity to humanity. If she sees someone in trouble, then she will help them, and if she makes a promise, then she will keep it. Other considerations are irrelevant. Orus's role makes clear the fact that Freya is not stupid, she just has an extreme case of Honor Before Reason.
Although I do wonder how she was going to explain the whole "cut her hair short and dyed it crimson red" thing to her mother when she returned.
Second,
This story is like a reverse Isekai. Seriously, it is. We have a de-facto teenager who feels unhappy, out-of-place, lonely and listless in her home world. Then she runs away to a different world, (different realm) entirely. Suddenly, everything gets better for her. She makes friends. She gets to be "special", both in terms of being this beautiful, popular, transfer student with a raven "service animal", and also as a superhero. She finds fullfillment she never had before. The only box that isn't checked is a harem of love interests, but she does create this group of people who admire her platonically, because she improves their lives through confidence-building self-defense and group solidarity.
Seriously, the majority of the book is how much better Freya's life becomes when she leaves for another world. That is the Isekai genre in a nutshell. She just happens to be a supernatural creature entering a mundane world instead of the opposite.
To be clear, this is NOT a mark against the story. I actually found it fun.
Third,
The final act has a lot of trouble. Until now, everything has been guided by character motivations. It all makes sense as constructed, a natural outcome of character actions. Even Loki's seemingly contradictory actions make sense if you assume that he is doing all this For the Evulz / It Amused Me. Then we get to the final act and everything crumbles.
I don't want to go through every little plothole, because there are too many to list. I will just say that JP transforms from a legit character to a plot device to prop up the climax that the author wanted to write. It's not even necessary for him to be in that last scene. If he were to vanish in his prior scene, or the one before that, then the story could still proceed more or les as written but with fewer plotholes.
This problem-riddled third act is the main reason for the grade. If, at the very least, there was an explanation for Loki's actions, then I would consider a higher grade. As it is, Loki feels like JP, not a real character but a plot prop.
The author resolves everything well enough in the falling action. It feels like the resolution is held together with duct tape, but it is sufficient.
Trickster Eric Novels gives "Valkyrie" by Katie O'Hearn, a C+
Click here for my next book review: The Gamemaster's Book of Non-Player characters (read for fun)
Click here for my previous book review: So I'm a Spider, So What? volume 6 (read for fun)
Brian Wilkerson is an independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor's degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
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