Some things were good but some deserved to be more edited to truly reach their full potential. The writing was just too clunky at times to be enjoyable, I wished the characters had done something other than bantering throughout this whole book, don't you have a plot to go through? It was quite slow, with not a lot of action, and too much dialogue in my opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley for sending me an advanced digital copy. This was a wonderful debut novel! I loved the complex characters and the world they lived in.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! I decided to wait for winter to read this one and it was definitely the right choice because the vibes were so good.

I didn't love Six of Crows but I do love the concept, so I was excited to pick this one up for that reason.
And while the book had some issues, I did enjoy the plot and the characters.
I thought the character dynamics were really fun, and they elevated the plot.

The worldbuilding was good too, as well as the writing.

Overall, I had a good time and I definitely recommend this one.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, as I was really interested by the description. Unfortunately I found this book hard to get through, it felt very long winded and I felt I had to force myself to read it any finish it. I really liked the story of the premise but I felt there were a lot of chapters that weren't needed as they didn't add anything to the story. Thank you to the publisher for am ARC of this book on exchange for an honest review.

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.