I’ve decided to start posting these once a month as I’m pretty certain I have a good amount of books to talk about. I’m constantly stumbling across debuts so I’m sure I’ll be able to keep this series going for quite some time.
Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
I read this book quite some time ago now, but it’s definitely one of the better Viking books I’ve come across. This was during the time when Vikings were taking over all types of media so it fit perfectly into what I was watching at the time. Sky in the Deep was different though because this book has a female main character and she’s very cool.
The world of Sky in the Deep is rich in lore and the characters are fairly complex. It’s a very impressive debut.
Synopsis: Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.
Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbour is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.
She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
I was obsessed with siren and mermaid books back when I read this, and I do still quite like them. This is loosely based on the Little Mermaid but more from the perspective of Ursula. I really loved this book and again, you couldn’t tell that this is a debut novel. The world is very well fleshed out and the romance was great.
Synopsis: Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.
The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Organising My Goodreads #12