Reviewer: Jen The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston
Series: Call of Crows #2
Also in this series: The Unyielding
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: March 29, 2016
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating:
A risk worth taking…
No one would ever accuse Jace Berisha of having an easy life—considering her husband…you know…killed her. But that was then! Now she fights for mighty Viking gods with the spectacular and vicious Crows.
But things are turning very bad, very quickly because a vengeful, ancient goddess has come into the world with just one thing on her mind—ending it. And the only way they can hope to stop her is if the Crows join forces with their one-time enemies, the Protectors. A Viking Clan created to do nothing but kill every Crow they see.
Thankfully, Protector Ski Eriksen is a peace loving kind of guy. Because the woman he is desperately trying to get close to is the beautiful and not-very-chatty Jace. Battling Nordic clans? Unkillable goddesses? Jace’s mean-spirited dog? None of these things would ever get in the way of a true Viking!
The second in the Call of Crows series, The Undoing, was as much fun as I was hoping it would be!
This book takes us back to the world of the Crows, an all-female bunch of murderous assassins brought back to life to serve the goddess Skuld. The heroine this time is Jace, the Crows’ resident berserker who becomes uncontrollable when a rage takes hold, but is painfully quiet and introverted the rest of the time. When Danski “Ski” Eriksen hires her for some translation work, it’s no hardship as he is intrigued by and attracted to her. Ski is from the Viking Protector clan. The Protectors are basically the librarians and archivists and nerdy weirdos of the Nordic world, and Jace is totally down with that! Unlike her sister Crows, the Protectors are quiet and revere books and learning (though they can still kick ass in a fight!). Jace and her puppy immediately fit in with the Protectors, and the job gives Jace a new purpose. Unfortunately, strange things start happening in the world, and it becomes clear that the evil Gullveig the Crows thought they defeated in Book 1 is still there and plotting to end the world. It looks like the clans are going to have to work together to end the threat.
Jace is such a great heroine. She HATES commotion and constant chatter, so living in a giant house full of the loudest, chatteriest women around is not easy for her. It was so adorable to see her fit in with the Protectors, who could happily sit reading all day long in silence. During one scene that had me cry-laughing, Jace actually jumps out of a moving car just to avoid small talk with Ski! Now THAT’S introverted. When she opens up to Ski about her life before the Crows, you realize how horrible her history is and why it would make her the way she is, though. She has a hidden strength that even her sister Crows don’t all recognize.
And let’s talk about Ski, because he’s pretty yummy too. Unlike his fellow Protectors, he actually has to get out of the house and deal with others, so he’s developed way more people and life skills than any of them. But he still can comfortably communicate with his introverted, quiet, nerdy brothers, which is what makes him the perfect match for Jace. He doesn’t talk down to her or patronize her–he too loves talking about books and history and all kinds of trivia, and he uses that as a bridge to make her more comfortable. Plus he wears glasses and has hot Viking sexxxing abilities. What’s not to love? As in Book 1, the romance is not the focus–it shares billing with a bunch of other storylines. Because of Jace’s past and because of her introversion, she and Ski move a little slow at first, but once they get together they are such a lovely team.
The larger story arc about Gullveig and her attempts to bring Ragnarok are exciting and I am 100% hooked. (There’s no cliffhanger, but the larger storyline is not resolved yet.) We actually get to meet some of the gods here and it’s hilarious, like Odin (who has a thing for strippers with huge boobs) and Thor (who is a whiny, insecure manchild). I love Laurenston’s take on these familiar characters.
This was a very funny and very enjoyable read.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
The Unleashing
The Undoing
Leave a Reply