Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson

Release Date: October 9

Series: Valkyrie Rising (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Norse mythology, mythology, supernatural, Norway, Valkyries, magic, warriors, love

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 345 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Nothing ever happens in Norway. But at least Ellie knows what to expect when she visits her grandmother: a tranquil fishing village and long, slow summer days. And maybe she’ll finally get out from under the shadow of her way-too-perfect big brother, Graham, while she’s there.
What Ellie doesn’t anticipate is Graham’s infuriating best friend, Tuck, tagging along for the trip. Nor did she imagine boys going missing amid rumors of impossible kidnappings. Least of all does she expect something powerful and ancient to awaken in her and that strange whispers would urge Ellie to claim her place among mythological warriors. Instead of peace and quiet, there’s suddenly a lot for a girl from L.A. to handle on a summer sojourn in Norway! And when Graham vanishes, it’s up to Ellie—and the ever-sarcastic, if undeniably alluring Tuck—to uncover the truth about all the disappearances and thwart the nefarious plan behind them.
Deadly legends, hidden identities, and tentative romance swirl together in one girl’s unexpectedly-epic coming of age.”

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: This is the best new mythology book (series) of the year for me. I loved this! There’s only a few YA paranormal romance series that feature Norse Mythology (Need series, Stork series). Also, very few with Valkyries (Need series, Mythos Academy series). This is probably the first YA book that I’ve seen with a Valkyrie as the main character. Talk about a unique story, Valkyrie Rising was amazing!!!

Ellie (Elsa) has always lived in the shadow of her athletic, over protective older brother Graham. She feels overly strained and stressed about this, so when she found out she was Valkyrie, she learned how to be strong and not get pushed around. As other reviews said, this book is about “Girl Power”! Be a strong female character, not a meek doormat.

I also love Tucker. This is 2^nd Tucker YA character that I fell in love with (The one in Unearthly is a hot and sexy cowboy). Tucker is funny. He and Ellie bicker in the cutest most ridiculous way. I can’t help loving their relationship. And he takes he being a Valkyrie so well. He’s awesome, and not pushy as her brother. He’s a great guy.

Some other characters I want to mention. Hilda, Ellie’s grandmother, so is one tough lady! She’s also a Valkyrie and she is no old, feeble lady. Loki is probably my favorite good-but-bad character. He’s not like Loki from the Thor movie. This Loki is a shape shifter and he’s pretty funny. He’s also manipulative, but seems to be helping Ellie (for his own gain). Kjell is an okay character. You may think he’s the love interest, but he kind of get kidnapped by Valkyries, as well as Graham, and a ton of other boys 18 and up. This main plot is about saving the kidnapped boys, and I won’t spoil anything else.

My other favorite thing about this book is the setting. I’ve never been to Norway (or out of the USA) and never thought about going there because it’s just so far up north and cold. But after reading this book it may have made my list of countries I’d love to visit. This author did a guest blog post on PitchDark.com and talked about the setting with pictures of places you should see should you ever visit Norway. She also said that Skavopoll is based off of Maloy and she had to change the name last minute because Maloy is apparently more populated and developed now than it was when she visited. I GoogleEarth-ed this area and looked at pictures as I was reading. I found Selje too and the fjords are amazing and beautiful!

I recommend this if you liked: Need by Carrie Jones, Stork by Wendy Delsol, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, Sirens by Tricia Rayburn, Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, and Unearthly by Cynthia Hand.

Cover Art Review: Love the landscape and fog. The creepy guy. The sparkly top makes the model looks like Taylor Swift, but a more Scandinavian Taylor Swift. (Is Taylor of Scandinavian descent? She is tall and blond….) Not sure how I feel about the bevel emboss on the title. It looks more German than Norwegian, but what do I know? The red swirls are pretty, and the border.

 And checkout the exclusive prequel to this book that was posted on the PitchDark.com blog
 Valkyrie Symptoms by Ingrid Paulson

~Haley G