Sadly ,I had to dnf, I couldn't really get into this one as much as I thought I would but I think the writing was very good. I would still recommend this to people I know would love this type of story.

I found this historical fantasy book to be thrilling and humorous, following Valour and Petrichor in a Scandinavian setting. I found it to be an entertaining read, although did feel a bit long in places, it had a good story, and was good for a debut standalone novel.

A fun read with an immersive world!

I just wish the pacing was a little faster, otherwise a fun story with a gorgeous coverr. I also enjoyed the writing, Thanks to Netgalley for the arc!

Great premise to the novel and great setting, but the characterisation for me felt a little lacking and the pacing felt off... such a shame as a robusg editting could have made it great.

An enjoyable romp with an unexpected twist.

Two rival assassins are forced to team up when they’re assigned to the same assassination, and hijinks ensue.

I thoroughly enjoyed Snowblooded - it was fast paced and full of witty banter, with a fun hunt at its centre.

(Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

The premise and plot sounded so good and everything I would love in a book, but it just ended up being all over the place. The pacing was really inconsistent; some chapters flew by so fast that I had to reread them just to figure out what was happening. The fight scenes, especially, were hard to follow because everything happened so quickly with barely any explanation so that's difficult to picture what is actually happening. On the flip side, other chapters dragged on for so long that I found myself getting bored.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the two main characters—they felt pretty two-dimensional, and their constant bickering started to get on my nerves by the end. On top of that, nothing was really explained well. By the time I finished the book, I still didn’t know much about the characters' backgrounds or how the politics of the world even worked. I really don’t like being negative in reviews, but I just think this book could have done with a little more editing and time spent actually fleshing out the characters and the plot.

Sadly I'm gonna have to DNF this. As a norwegian, I was excited for a fantasy in a Scandinavian setting, but this was disappointing sadly. The setting itself is fun (historical with a modern flair), but I had a hard time caring about the characters or the plot itself. It kind of all felt juvenile to me? And the tone of the writing kind of clashed with the dark undertones of the world and characters. Not for me sadly, but I think those that are on the lookout for a fun story about Swedish assassins should give this a go!

I DNF'd at the 20% mark. I was struggling with the writing style and just how slow this was moving. The character dynamics seemed promising and I'm sure there's an audience for it, just not for me.

Assassin stories have a special place in my heart which, along with the setting and queer rep made me excited to try this. While I connected with the characters to an extent, I was hoping for a little more, as the narrative at times felt so focused on their exchanging harsh words that it was difficult to suspend disbelief. The queernormative setting was also a great idea but I would have liked a slighlty stronger sense of place and a little bit more exploration of the book's paranormal elements. All in all, I enjoyed this, but it was slightly too long took a little while for the plot to pick up.

The Princess Bride meets Six of Crows is a great description for this comedic adventure story that will grab the attention of all ages.

This was not a book for me.

Whilst there were elements that I did enjoy and it was well written, I never quite fell in love with the writing style, or with the juvenile name-calling of the main characters.

I struggled with this book - part Norse mythology, part fantasy sounded great but unfortunately it left me quite confused and I had to give up after a few chapters. I've since read other reviews have said similar things do maybe this was partly an editing issue as there's good content out just doesn't hang together.

I picked up this book as a sapphic The Princess Bride meets Six of Crows. It was definitely sapphic and I got the The Princess Bride vibes, but I don’t think I got the Six of Crows comparison.
I liked how folklore and magic was weaved into this story. I think it was really interesting how magic was used as a commodity, a drug, to be sold.
Reading it, it felt more young adult than the 20-somethings the main characters are meant to be. They bickered like children - which is fine, begrudging siblings was their dynamic - but their conversations felt really stilted and, given it’s mostly only those two together for the whole book, it made it difficult to read sometimes. One insulted like a child, whilst the other used ‘thou’ and ‘thine’ which felt a bit try-hard.
The YA-feel to it also made the very horny on-the-page characters feel out of place. I think the book might have read better had it been marketed as YA and had none of the sex.
I loved the world building of this and the premise, but something just didn’t quite knock it on the head for me. I found I enjoyed it when I read it, but I never wanted to read more than a chapter at a time.

An unfortunate very early DNF. I loved the concept and had heard very good things, but the prose is a huge mismatch for my tastes to the extent I don't think I'd be able to fairly review it if I pushed through. I will likely still recommend this book to others for whom I think it will hit right, but it's sadly not one for me.

Valour and Petrichor are rival assassins, working under the assassin’s guild in charge of keeping order in the city of Vinterstock. When they’re both given the job of killing the leader of the city’s illegal magic trade, it’s a recipe for disaster. To add to the problem, Valour is tasked with protecting an aristocrat, Ingrid Rytterdahl. The pair of assassins must complete their mission and keep Ingrid alive, all without killing each other in the process.

I selected this book the instant I saw the comparison to The Princess Bride which is one of my favourite stories ever. It has not lived up to this comparison at all.

The premise and general plot of Snowblooded are both good. Two assassins attempting to take down a drug lord and persistently arguing while a flirtatious aristocrat tries to keep them in check – nothing to complain about there. However, it’s trying too hard. The language used is clunky and doesn’t flow well, while Valour and Petrichor’s constant bickering becomes repetitive and old very quickly. On top of that, the romance between Valour and Ingrid takes up too many pages and is unnecessarily explicit for an adventure novel. The arguing and the flirting slow the plot down massively and left me pretty bored.

Unlike The Princess Bride which is fast-paced and exciting throughout, this book had me skim-reading to get to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Solaris/Rebellion for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at 30%. Although I loved the idea it dragged too much and there was little compelling me to keep reading.

A charming YA fantasy in the vein of Naomi Novik and Margaret Owen, Snowblooded is just about the sum of its parts - namely multiple protagonists, thrilling plots, some queer romance to boot, and a pleasing found family trope. While not original, it will delight the seeking reader.

Set in a Scandinavian inspired city of Vinterstock, with intertwined Norse mythology, Valor and Petrichor are Assassins for the Order of Axsten. Raised there from when they were children and both have known little else

The two are rivals, after always pitted against each other to deter the kids from forming connections, they are now tasked with the same job.... assassinating the leader of the cities biggest magic/drug trade

Both try to work together to complete this massive job, but they are so different and don't know how to deal with the other without sniping and putting the other down. Also, add in the added tension of Valors current charge, protecting an Aristocrats daughter, Ingrid

However, they all can accept that the others have skills that would be useful in catching Brandquist and putting an end to the cities drug trade, whilst also maybe allowing Valor and Petrichor the chance of a new life outside the order... but can they work together with a common goal....

I really enjoyed this book, I found some of the plot points a little predictable but am never sure in my guesses sometimes and it was fun to keep reading to find out and shout 'I knew it' at the book when I was right

Thanks to NetGalley and Solaris books for the review copy, was out in May so you can pick this up now!

I persevered through 20 chapters of this book before finally caving in and calling it quits. I think the biggest problem for me was that it felt as though the author wasn't 100% sure what they wanted the book to be. I couldn't connect with either of the two main protagonists as the female assassin seemed to spend an awful lot of time flirting with her landlord's daughter (with all the supposedly threatening minions of the top drug dealer attacking them constantly you would have thought she might have been a little more focused on the task in hand) and I couldn't work out whether the male protagonist was indeed supposed to be in love with the guy running the assassin's guild or genuinely not interested in sex (though in that case I am not sure why we had to have an explanation of his previous sexual exploits?). The fact that he lived at the top of a tower in a university smacked of trying to tap into the dark academia market without any actual academia. I may be misremembering but I think there was a bit where it said he lived on the top floor but later goes into a room on a lower floor to talk to some students which is an observatory. If I am correct then why would the observatory not have been built into the top floor? The constant bickering between the two protagonists felt juvenile and to be honest I just lost any interest in what was going to happen. I have given it one star as NetGalley requires a rating to post the review but I normally wouldn't rate a book that I have not completed.

I DNF’d this at 19%

Sadly the writing style just really didn’t work for me. It felt like it was trying too hard to be clever and different. The random additions of old English words like ‘tis didn’t work for me either when the rest of the writing style felt quite a bit more modern. Overall, everything just felt too forced for me. Not my cup of tea unfortunately.

Thank you to Solaris and NetGalley for the eARC. This is my honest review.