Series: Call of Crows

Guest Review: The Unyielding by Shelly Laurenston

Posted March 30, 2017 by Jen in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Unyielding by Shelly LaurenstonReviewer: Jen
The Unyielding by Shelly Laurenston
Series: Call of Crows #3
Also in this series: The Undoing
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: March 28th 2017
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Stieg Engstrom, Angriest Viking Ever, has got big problems. The human Viking Clans of earth are in danger of being obliterated—along with the rest of the world—and the only one who may be able to save them is a super pain-in-the-ass Crow. Most people annoy Stieg, but this is the one woman he really can’t stand…

Erin Amsel loves being a Crow! Why wouldn’t she when the other Viking Clans are so hilariously arrogant and humorless? She’s not about to let all that come to an end! She just didn’t expect to be shoulder to shoulder in battle with Stieg. Then again, he’s so easy to torment—and also kind of cute.

With the future of the world riding on them, Stieg knows he’ll have to put aside his desperate need to kiss the smirk right off Erin’s face. Wait. What? He didn’t mean that—did he? No! They have one goal: To conquer the idiots. Because nothing bugs Stieg more than when idiots win. If only he can keep himself from suddenly acting like one….

Another Call of Crows book, and another review from me gushing about how much I love this series!

We finally get Erin Amsel’s book! For those who’ve haven’t been reading along I won’t waste time with too much summary, but the very abbreviated version is that the Viking Clans, who are each in service to a different Nordic god/goddess, have to work together to stop the rogue goddess Gullveig from bringing about Ragnarok (the Viking end of the world). It turns out that the only one who even might be able to stop her is Erin, and she has to go on a quest to get the tools she needs to do it. She’s aided by Stieg Engstrom, a grumpy, fierce Viking who REALLY doesn’t like Erin (or at least that’s what he thinks). Erin and Stieg have to journey to the very edge of hell while the Crows and the rest of the Clans have to prepare for a battle to save the world.

Erin, as we are repeatedly told by literally everyone in this series including Erin herself, is a dick. She loves to stir the pot, never hesitates to speak her mind, and has basically little filter between her brain and her mouth. She isn’t  exactly malicious, but nor does she particularly care if what she says or does hurts anyone’s feelings. It has ensured nearly every other Clan can’t stand Erin, and even her Sister Crows want to murder her more often than not. (Don’t be alarmed though–pretty much everyone wants to, or explicitly tries to, murder someone else in these books at some point! These are violent, crazy fairytales!) I have totally enjoyed Erin right from the start, and it was great to see her own story. She is just so damn hilarious.

The things that I loved about the first two books in the series were what I loved most about this one, too. First and foremost, the female friendships are SO AWESOME. These women have each other’s backs no matter what. I especially liked that it’s clear by this book that the three heroines of the series (Kera, Jace, and Erin) have a particular bond, and watching them try to protect and support each other was so great. I also love the Norse mythology of the series. Probably my favorite is when we get to “meet” the gods and goddesses, like Odin and Tyr. They are so self-absorbed and ridiculous–Laurenston has taken all the outrageous behaviors from the myths and imagined the kind of being that would do such things. It is a total riot and so clever. The secondary cast of characters is also pretty amazing and add so much richness and comedy to the story.

And yet…there were a few things that bothered me. First, I wanted to learn a bit more about Erin. I wanted to know WHY she’s such a dick. We hear a little about her family and her death, but there’s just not much explanation. I know, it’s probably unfair of me to start wishing for more depth, because that’s not what this series is about. I just found Erin so fascinating and fun that it was hard not to want more. I also didn’t really understand Stieg. Frankly he was kind of forgettable even in the earlier books, and I still felt that way about him by the end of this one. Erin does certainly soften towards him in her own Erin-way, but I wanted a touch more to the romance, even though I know that’s not really what these books do.

Despite wanting a bit more from this book, I still had an amazingly good time reading it. It is funny, clever, and exciting, and I never regret spending time in the world of the Crows.

Grade: 4 out of 5

*I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

four-stars

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Guest Review: The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston

Posted April 7, 2016 by Jen in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: The Undoing by Shelly LaurenstonReviewer: 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
four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

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

Reading Order:

The Unleashing
The Undoing

four-half-stars

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