Friday, January 22, 2016

Book Review: Secrets of Valhalla

Title - Secrets of Valhalla
Author - Jasmine Richards
Genre - Middle Grade Fantasy
Published - January 19th 2016
Publisher - HarperCollins
Format - Kindle review copy
(Goodreads)(Amazon)

Two friends awaken a world of myth and magic in this clever middle grade fantasy perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Anne Ursu.

It’s not every day that you find a famous weatherwoman bound by magic to a tree deep in the woods. Or discover that the weatherwoman is in fact Sunna, the Norse Goddess of the Sun, and one of the seven day guardians who keep time in order. But that’s just what happens to new friends Buzz and Mary—and it’s only the start of their adventure.

Now, as the people of Earth are forced to repeat the same Saturday over and over again, Buzz and Mary must journey to collect the Runes of Valhalla and awaken the other day guardians, before vengeful god Loki can get to them first. 

Review
I received Secrets of Valhalla in return for an honest review from the publisher HarperCollins. Buzz and Mary find the missing weatherwoman in the woods freeing her and finding out that she’s not just the weather woman but a Norse Goddess. After the encounter with Sunna things start to get a little odd like the same Saturday replays over and over for them but something is a little off with each day after the first. The only way to fix everything is to free the day guardians by collecting all the runes and to stop Loki before it’s too late.

Buzz with the help of Mary set out to collect the runes but are quickly joined by Theo one of the boys in school who’s caused trouble for Buzz in the past. They are also joined by Buzz’s Uncle Mark who happened to have a couple of the runes that had ended up at the police station. They learn that Mark and Theo are hosts for the day guardians but without the correct rune the guardian is suppressed. They travel the different worlds searching for the runes before Loki can get them. Do they have what it takes to beat Loki or will they be too late?

I like Buzz and Mary they work well together even when you add in Theo as well as Uncle Mark. It’s been a while since I’ve read a middle grade book but the characters felt more mature than I had expected but I really like it. I felt that I was really able to connect with Buzz as well as Mary. I wasn’t sure about Theo because he started out not a nice guy but at the book progressed he redeemed himself. It’s interesting seeing how the day guardian’s took over their host bodies when the time came.

My husband happened to be looking over my shoulder while I was checking out the new books on Edelweiss when I happened to land on this one. He instantly said he wanted to read it which is code for I’ll read and it and when he has time he’ll read it too. I typically don’t read a lot of Middle grade novels because sometimes they feel very immature but this one worked out better than I expected. The concept for the day guardians with the runes is very interesting and I enjoyed reading about the Norse gods because I don’t know much about them. I also liked that it’s not so much Thor is the main god but the other’s all have an important role in the story. While I haven’t read a Rick Riordan novel I am familiar with them and would suggest Secrets of Valhalla for any fans. This is my first novel by the author but I think she did a great job creating a captivating story kids as well as adults will enjoy. 

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