Synopsis: 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.
Oh man, I do not even know where to begin with this book. I have always been deeply interested in mythology, mainly Greek mythology ever since Aimeé Carter's The Goddess Test series came out. I have been writing a paper on this, about how the term 'mythology' should be abandoned because it allows us to write things off as fictional. Well the problem with that is that all of mythology originated somewhere at sometime and eventually people came to terms that it would be used as their religion. As the cultures began to die off, so did their religion and unfortunately, the term has now allowed us to write these as irrelevant.
So after that rant, onto the book. I didn't even think of Norse folklore before and this is where the book takes place. Little ol' Ellie just wants to fit in, like her brother who seemed to naturally fit in with his good looks, charming personality, protective demeanor, and captain of both the soccer and lacrosse team. Who wouldn't be popular if they were the triple threat? Well Ellie has been stuck in his shadow and the only people who seem to notice her are her brother, for a good five seconds or so, and his flirtatious man-whore best friend who seems to have his eyes on a new prize.
Summer is coming up and Ellie/Elsa goes to Norway to visit her grandmother and to brush up on her heritage. As you can tell as you read the book that she takes on the side of her dad's side or her grandmother's side. Not even for a day there, she meets a boy on the pier, without her protective brother's watchful eye, who says yes to the boy when he asks her out. College boy that is handsome, smart, funny, and nice just spells trouble, right? Well after she goes out with him, she feels a little strange since he almost got kidnapped and it was right in front of her eyes. Why didn't anyone else see it except her? Graham comes to Norway with Tuck, the best friend, for two weeks. Second day there and not only is Graham gone missing but so has Kjell after a couple more dates with her and she is the number one suspect since she was the last to see them. What happens next?
Read the book and you'll find out. I'll rate this a solid 3.5 stars out of 5 because I felt like the author developed the book plot way to fast although it was quite amusing. Paulson did an awesome job of capturing my interest with the Valkyries and Norse folklore.
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