Sadly, I dnf-ed this book. It was not at all what I was hoping for going in. I wanted a great story centered around Vikings (something that is all too rare in fiction) but it never reached the momentum I wanted it to. Especially given the potential it had regarding its synopsis, I really thought it was going to be my cup of tea. Unfortunately, I did not find the writing up to par and the pages were littered with modern language, something that always jerks me out of historical fiction. I also found much of the characterization to be strange. I hate to say it but this was a miss for me.

A unique voice telling a Viking inspired fantasy story. An emotional rollercoaster that keeps you entertained. However, there is a problem with lots of characters being introduced at once, which did feel overwhelming at the time.

I'm afraid I was unable to finish this book. The writing style is not to my taste, although the story and characters hold enough appeal that I tried to finish it.
Apologies.

Who is Bera? Why is she summoned? Who has summoned her? What is the time frame and location that this story takes place in? What is a skern? Who are what are the Drorghers? Who are Hefnir, Thorvald, and Heggis? When Hefnir takes Bera with him, they meet Egill. Who is Egill? Where does this person live? What is so special about Egill's black bowl? Where did it come from? How did Egill get it? Who is the Serpent King? Is he truly as bad as we are made to believe he is? When the boats try to leave their settlement, what happens? Where are they trying to get to? Do they reach their destination? Read and see what happens on the journey.

RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.

The writing and the characters just didn't do it for me.

I started this book, but had a hard time following it and eventually put it down.

I actually desperately wanted to love this book. On to the quick reasons of why I couldn't get into this book: I couldn't connect with the main character, maybe this had to do with the narration style, but I couldn't get her; I didn't see her perspective and there was a lack of introspection or her own thoughts; I was lacking a gripping hook about why I needed to keep reading. There were events, but they didn't seem monumental because I couldn't get inside the MC's head; and I wasn't sure the direction of where the book was going, unless you count revenge and I have read enough books about that to know that it has to be done really well.

Many thanks to publisher and NetGalley as I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I was excited to read this book due to the intriguing and dramatic premise: a mix of Vikings, the Sight, battle and revenge. While this book certainly did supply these things in small sprinkles, it’s a strange tale with a writing style that may cause some readers to give it a pass.

The story follows a young Viking woman named Bera who is the daughter of a prominent figure. After a complicated incident, Bera’s close childhood friend is killed and she is torn between her guilt and the desire to commit revenge. While most readers might assume that her revenge will be a key focus of the story, unfortunately it is barely mentioned again, pushed aside for other events and subplots. In a swift arrangement, Bera is later forced by her father to marry the chieftain of a rival clan, whose second-in-command is responsible for her late friend’s death.

There’s also some vaguely explained fantasy element of Bera wanting to develop her inherited gift of Sight, and her ongoing visions which show inevitable disaster. Without the latter additions, I doubt that the story overall would really be missing out on anything.

The majority of the story focuses on Bera’s marriage with the rival clan’s leader, and how she must adapt to becoming the mother of his child. For some reason, Bera and the son are immediately hostile to each other, and while this makes for an interesting contrast as they later get to know each other, it isn’t very well explained why they should hate each other so intimately, especially on Bera’s side. Relationships are also strangely developed in other parts of the novel, particularly with a love-hate inconsistency with Bera’s husband. She initially wants revenge, and then love, and sometimes within the same page there is a shift from love to hate to desire and then back to hate again. While a difficult relationship can be interesting to read about, in this case it distracted me from the rest of the story and ended up being confusing to my understanding of their marriage. However, a satisfying ending clarifies the way they feel about each other in a way that does not leave Bera a weak female character.

The main criticism I have for the book is the writing style, which is insanely fast. Many passages I had to quickly read again, having missed out on important plot points. Setting is barely explained, making the events (as dramatic as they were) harder to vividly imagine. The fact that the reader is initially plunged into the story without sufficient description, and with characters we know very little about, makes it harder for the reader to become fully invested in the story to care about what happens to the characters. Although some of the side characters do eventually become more interesting and complex as the novel progresses, there are some modern words which slip into the dialogue which makes the story sound less authentic for its historical time period (“crap” particularly stood out).

Additionally, I also found Bera to be largely unlikable as a protagonist. While many things happen to her, she barely reacts to them. The premise promised me a strong character out for revenge, and yet the majority of the story barely delivers on this, instead giving us an unlikable lead with an immediate hatred for those around her – especially shown by her strained relationship with her stepson. She does get less tiresome as the story develops, but a satisfying ending does not make up for the rest of the novel.

Even the Goodreads community seems divided on this one, with many glowing reviews and many less impressed one too. For me, this was a tumultuous read and I found myself unable to be entertained due to a lack of character to root for. Bera didn’t quite hook my interest, and I didn’t think the world-building was enough to immerse me into the story. However, other reviewers seem to enjoy the character shift in Bera as well as the unusual setting. With such mixed reviews, I would recommend checking out the book for yourself to see if it might be your cup of tea. Released earlier this year, there still remains to be a general readership consensus, but I hope that you may find it more enjoyable than I did.

I could not finish this book. From page one the writing seemed odd. Although a little clunky, the introductory chapter was intriguing. But, after that chapter, the writing became horrible. There was no development or world building. The story itself was silly and unbelievable and the characters one-dimensional.

I was so excited to see a fantasy book about vikings, but I was sorely disappointed. These characters are not vikings! It's like the author did no research on vikings and Scandinavia. Yes, this is a YA novel, but that is still no excuse for inaccurate naming conventions and language usage. If I could, I would give this book zero stars.

An intriguing read that kept me hooked but soon left my mind once I finished.
Wilde writes in a captivating manner and I already have people in mind who will devour this book.

The Book Of Bera was a wonderful read and I couldn't put it down until the end! Lovely work by Suzie! I highly recommend this one!

I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been intrigued by the Vikings and I was super excited when I heard that this book would be a Viking fantasy novel. I had no idea what that meant but I was eager to try it and see what it would be like!

This novel was a mess from beginning to end. And the entire blame falls on the main character, Bera. She is by far the most hated protagonist I have ever read about. Bera is an impulsive character that is very inconsistent in her behaviour and thought processes. For instance, before Bjorn died, she acted like she couldn't stand him. But as soon as he died, he was suddenly the most kind person and she adored him. It made no sense, and this trend continues throughout the book. She vacillates between childishness and acting like a grown woman and it makes it hard to get a sense of who she is. Bera is also an extremely immature and annoying character. Perhaps her vicious behavior was supposed to emphasize her "Viking-ness" but all it did was make me not want to read this book. She literally has no redeeming qualities and it was a mission to get through this book. Suffice to say, I hated her every second.

The other problem with this book was that there wasn't a proper buildup for certain events. Bjorn's death, for example, was a bit out of the blue and it wasn't presented in a way that felt complete. This was how I felt for most of the novel. There were also loads of things that just defied logic and made no sense whatsoever... but I won't say what since I don't like spoiling things.

In all, this was a very disappointing Viking-based story and I would probably not recommend this to anyone.

Happy reading ~I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been intrigued by the Vikings and I was super excited when I heard that this book would be a Viking fantasy novel. I had no idea what that meant but I was eager to try it and see what it would be like!

When Bera journeys to protect her village from disease, an ensuing battle kills her childhood friend, Bjorn. The shame of her defeat causes her fatehr to wed her to the chieftain of a rival clan. But Bera soon realizes that her new husband's second-in-command is responsible for her friend's death. Though she must now take on the role of wife and stepmother, Bera vows to take revenge and begins her journey to power by honing her skills in the rough clan into which she has been sold. As her gifts continue to grow, she receives visions of looming disaster that will finally lead to the ultimate choice: revenge or safety for all? 

This novel was a mess from beginning to end. And the entire blame falls on the main character, Bera. She is by far the most hated protagonist I have ever read about. Bera is an impulsive character that is very inconsistent in her behaviour and thought processes. For instance, before Bjorn died, she acted like she couldn't stand him. But as soon as he died, he was suddenly the most kind person and she adored him. It made no sense, and this trend continues throughout the book. She vacillates between childishness and acting like a grown woman and it makes it hard to get a sense of who she is. Bera is also an extremely immature and annoying character. Perhaps her vicious behavior was supposed to emphasize her "Viking-ness" but all it did was make me not want to read this book. She literally has no redeeming qualities and it was a mission to get through this book. Suffice to say, I hated her every second.

The other problem with this book was that there wasn't a proper buildup for certain events. Bjorn's death, for example, was a bit out of the blue and it wasn't presented in a way that felt complete. This was how I felt for most of the novel. There were also loads of things that just defied logic and made no sense whatsoever... but I won't say what since I don't like spoiling things.

In all, this was a very disappointing Viking-based story and I would probably not recommend this to anyone.

DNFing at 30%

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

So...

I didn't like this book, and couldn't finish it. We follow the story of Bera, a Viking girl who is a Valla and has the gift of Sight passed down to her from her mother. The problem is that she is unable to get her skern, or twin spirit, to cooperate with her and help. Because of this, she is held accountable for not foreseeing the death of her friend. She is sold off to become the wife of a rival chieftain to settle the blood debt. Against her will, Bera is forced into a marriage, life, and motherhood that she didn't ask for.

With the stage being set, let's discuss Bera.

I found Bera's character to be very inconsistent. In the beginning of the story she is sailing with fellow clansmen to hunt Narwal to get a horn for medicinal use. Her friend Bjorn, is among them. During the sail, Bera continually tells the reader how Bjorn's attentions toward her annoy her. Then, quite suddenly, Bjorn is killed and Bera's heart is turned upside down. Death is painful, no matter if the deceased is an acquaintance, friend, or loved one. But the amount of remorse Bera had for Bjorn wasn't comparable to her reactions after hearing her inner monologues about him shortly before.

Bjorn's death, was an area of trepidation for me. His death was prematurely cast. There was very little time given to building his character before he is killed off, so the remorse I would normally have for a character wasn't as present here. There was no time to build any real connection with him, or truly understand his and Bera's relationship to expect a realistic reaction from Bera.

The second point about Bera's character was her waging war between a childish mentality and womanhood. She rehashes the fact that she is young, perhaps too young to be a wife. She has no idea what happens in the marital bed, yet she knows what a menstrual cycle means, and is a healer of woman who have given birth? She has to know something. I only bring this up because she mulls over it repeatedly.

Thirdly, Bera was ridiculous towards Hefnir, her husband. Between her self-pity and loathing of everyone around her, she is downright nasty towards him, even though he is kind to her. But somehow, she's caught between utterly hating the man, and falling in love with him!?

Here is an account to emphasize my point:

In a conversation, Bera spits, "I hate you!" and tries to throw a rock at Hefnir's head, intending to kill him, and even remarks that she refuses to feel guilty if she had. Then the next page Hefnir smiles at her and "makes her glow," and it's explained to be "like a flame being lit." Suddenly she is confused.

"Riling him about other women had started a flicker of jealousy and then, despite herself, desire. Was that love?...She wanted to matter to him and star edat his back, this stranger, her husband, willing him to speak, all the way home."

I don't know. It was a lot of back and forth. I realize Bera is young, but I think her mentality is also not realistic. If one lives in a culture where girls marry young, then it shouldn't be an utter shock---where nothing is divulged to her about her role as a wife and mother. There are just a lot of instances like these that don't add up between the action and reaction. It's a lot of throwing words around without having any care.

Lastly, Bera's relationships with others is completely unjustifiable. There is no reason for her to hate Hefnir's son so much! Also, her cruelty to Bjorn's mother makes my skin crawl.

I pushed through until 30% After an attempted rape scene (that Bera schemes to use as bragging rights---SERIOUSLY GIRL, STOP), and witnessing Bera's character degrading further into someone completely unlikable, I had to call it quits. She's cruel, crude, abusive, and as I stated before, just plain nasty. There wasn't anything left to hold my interest in following more of her story.

Please note that these are my observations. Because I may not have liked the characters and premise, doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the time and effort that went into creating this story! If you have a completely different opinion, that's totally fine. This book simply didn't tickle my fancy.

1.5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

As I am writing this I am wondering what in the world made me want to read this book? This was such a mess. The writing was very flat and the characters had no personality. Also the lingo felt a little too modern to be in Viking's times.. I will not be buying a hardcopy of this book, nor will I read anything else about Bera.

The writing is flat which makes reading a struggle. On top of that it is hard to connect with the main character, she’s not the nicest person around to say it nicely. I was wondering which group the writer is aiming at. Young adults? The story is to violent and dark for that. Adults? The writing is to childish. I really do not know!

Things happen after each other instead of flowing into each other. Although the idea behind the story is great Wilde failed to make a great story out of it, the writing style and the choice to make it dark and the main character unlikable.

There’s worse books around but not a lot, sorry to say.

I have a rule - I have to finish at least 30% of the book before I declare it a DNF. This is a DNF for me at 30%.

The set up had EVERYTHING: great setting, awesome mythology, the dead coming back to life, I mean it could have been such a great novel.

But it had Bera as the main protagonist and the only thing that I learned about this character is that I would very much like to slap the self-pity and childishness out of her. I get it - her mother dies and her father hates her, her best friend is murdered and she is sold off in a marriage. HOWEVER, her new husband treats her so well and all she does is chirp at him. Her small stepson gets nothing from her bust scorn and abuse. She is even nasty to the mother of her dead best friend. I just don't care what happens to Bera, nor do I care about the rest of the story since Bera's character is one of the worst I have read about.

I hate writing bad reviews, I know the author worked hard on the novel, but I have to say - the author could have developed the character more, and from the other reviews that I read I hear that Bera doesn't change at all.

wonderful story with a strong willed female protagonist who is still learning who she is.

really enjoyed this book.

The Book of Bera is mostly memorable for featuring the most loathsome protagonist I've come across in 30 years of avid reading. It's true that the titular Bera is having a tough time; her best friend Bjorn has just been killed, her Valla (witch) powers are unreliable, her skern (sentient soul spirit) is downright useless, and she's been sold off in marriage to the leader of a hostile neighbouring village, who's also the best friend of Bjorn's murderer. There are threats all around from disease, Drorghers (zombies) and the ominous Serpent King. Bera must try and find a way to adjust to her new life, seek revenge for her friend's death, and save the village from a threat only she can perceive.

Unfortunately, she's hampered in this by being a massive dick.

Reading this book involves massive dissonance because we're meant to essentially sympathise with Bera as the lead character and sole narrator, but everything she does is childish, pathetic, and repellent. She uses physical violence towards a young boy who's in her care. She has temper tantrums when she doesn't get her own way. She's riven with jealousy and can't stand anyone other than herself getting any attention or affection. Her grand plan to get revenge involves openly asking the village smith for a sword which she doesn't know how to use so she can go murder the village leader's best friend, and then she's surprised when this doesn't pay off.

Her second grand plan is to poison him and hope the poisoning gets blamed on one of the household slaves. She has no thought of the probable consequences for the slaves. She describes them thus, 'the thralls quickly became unthreatening tools, like boat parts.' She discovers that zombies are lurking around the village and inexplicably doesn't tell anyone about the danger. Her third grand plan is hide in a toilet for a while waiting to commit murder, until she gets bored.

She's sour and mercurial. She's horrifically cruel and unkind to an older woman who was her mother's friend, for no other reason than the other woman is a bit fussy. She develops an instant hatred for Asa, the wife of a man she has a bit of a crush on. These are her thoughts the first time they meet (Asa has literally done nothing other than walk through the door and begin breastfeeding her baby.)

"Bera hated the woman's smugness and the way she took a breast out so that everyone could marvel at how much milk she had. Well, so did house cows."

Yes, she's that awful, and I just had to spend 320 pages inside her head. She's not even really redeemed by the end, although she does eventually stop slapping her stepson in the face and decide that she cares about him.

In addition, the story features a genderqueer character whose characterisation and depiction is somewhat less than progressive. They're shown as being extremely emotionally damaged and, although they say they don't feel either male or female and don't want to wear women's clothes, Bera makes them put on a dress, because she's Bera.

The plotting throughout is tension-free. At one point Bera is locked in a rapidly flooding cellar with a zombie; there's no real sense of danger and the situation is easily resolved in three pages. What should be a massive emotional revelation about the former identity of the zombie is also completely thrown away.

The book only really comes alive in fleeting moments when it's describing the sea, nature and animals (for whom Bera has much more affection than the humans in the story.)

"It was a howling night of total darkness. Wave-cloaked monsters swarmed invisibly towards their tiny vessel. At the last, there would be a crackle of white foam and the sea beasts could be seen for an instant, gnashing at the hull or sweeping them off course with glowing claws. The boat shivered with each assault."

Finally, the formatting of this eARC is a mess. Different characters' dialogue is smushed together in the same paragraph and then there are paragraph breaks where there shouldn't be. It made for a frustrating reading experience and will hopefully be urgently sorted out if this is going to be published as an ebook.

I don't think I have ever read a Viking fantasy novel up until now, so I was intrigued to see how the author, Suzie Wilde would portray this period of history and whether I would actually enjoy it.

On a long winter night, Bera is left to defend her stark village alone, and in the ensuing battle, her dear childhood friend, Bjorn, is killed. When soon after her father weds her to the chieftain of a rival clan, Bera realises the unthinkable: his second-in-command is responsible for her friend’s death. Though she must now learn how to be a wife and a stepmother to a hostile boy, Bera vows her revenge and sets off on a path to grow in power and hone her skills in the rough, macho clan into which she has been sold.

As her gifts continue to grow, her visions of looming disaster become more and more ominous until she has to make the ultimate choice: Will she choose revenge? Or will she succeed in leading her people to safety before it’s too late?

For the first fifteen or so pages, I was completely confused. Wilde introduced so many characters in the beginning that I had to keep a note of who was who and which character was related to another. It was exhausting and slightly put me off reading the rest of the book.

However, I knew that I couldn't just read the first fifteen pages and then give up, so I carried on reading and I found that I related a lot to the character of Bera: she's strong and tries to be a leader and she also cares deeply for her family and close friends and would do anything to protect them, but she's also stubborn and moody. She's an amazing protagonist who goes through so much character development. She goes from a timid young woman who wants to get revenge for her best friend's death, to someone who is forced into a family she does not want to be part of, to a fearless leader. I loved her.

I fell in love with all of the characters apart from one; I hated them right up until the very end. They were selfish, self-centered and just plain awful. There were times where I just had to stop reading for a bit and literally think about what they had just said or done because it was terrible.

I found Wilde's writing to be very descriptive but not too descriptive to the point where you're bored; she described things in a way that painted a beautiful, vivid picture of the setting. I especially loved the bit near the end where Bera is swimming under water and she can see all the ice and fish.



“My love will last until I'm old
And even dead it won't grow cold.”
― Suzie Wilde, The Book of Bera



There were parts of The Book of Bera that made me want to scream, cry and stop reading altogether. I felt emotionally attached to many of the characters - and even the animals - so I was so upset when any of them went through turmoil.

The ending was absolutely brilliant and I do hope that there will be another book as I want to see how Bera continues on her journey and how she keeps growing. This is an amazing book that tackles loss, death, destruction, love, family and hope and I recommend that as soon as this book comes out, you order it, you buy it, whatever. Just make sure that you get your hands on!



Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Unbound publishing.

The Book of Bera is released 23rd March 2017.