The Witch's Heart
When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive national bestselling debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.
Angrboda’s story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.
Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin’s all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.
With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she’s foreseen for her beloved family...or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.
Angrboda’s story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.
Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin’s all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.
With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she’s foreseen for her beloved family...or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.
BUY THE BOOK
These clubs recently read this book...
Community Reviews
This was DNF. I got to about 20% when I realized it was not going to get any better.
The book started a little slow and I donât mind that. The writing is simple and straightforward, you are not going to find pulitzer lines in this one, and it is okay. I have 2-3 major complains. The first is the lack of world building, although there is some there isnât much. I had trouble visualizing the places and people, and the witch spends her entire time in the cave?? When Skadi takes her to her home to spend the winter, we get literally zero world building. I thought we would but yeah nope. We just got a few brief passages about the women laying around by the fire
The first half of this book was difficult to get through, but part two kept me reading until the end. If you have patience and like Norse mythology, I would recommend this book.
I was all excited to read Norse mythology, however, this was very depressing and very slow. There were no happy endings until the end when the heart is given to the daughter Hel to save her life. Its sad to think these Gods were so selfish and conniving and only had greed on their minds, stepping on all those that were less then them or different.
EXCELLENT! A Norse Myth retelling from an unusual angle. Riveting characters and world building is interesting. A haunting story of ultimate sacrifice and the love of a mother and family
Dare I say it aloud? I'm on a roll! Another really good listen. I LOVED this. I'm sure I'll read this again in future. You can read the description to see if this might be for you. But from my perspective, it's worth the listen/read. Well done Ms. Gornichec. Well done!
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.