*******SPOILERS*******

In The Weight of a Soul by Elizabeth Tammi, the Freding clan has suffered the unexpected death of one of the younger women. Fressa, Lena’s sister, has been taken, with no signs as to the cause of death. Unable to accept this, Lena seeks answers in the runes, and ends up visiting Helheim. The answers she finds there are not what she expects.

I wanted to like this. I really, really did. The synopsis held such promise, especially the use of Norse mythology. That was the most enjoyable part of the story for me. The hel-horse, visiting Helheim, Loki and Hela. Sadly it was also the only enjoyable part. I’m Rokkatru, and Loki is my main patron deity. However, I’m used to stories that tend to portray him as ‘evil’. This story tended toward that direction, while still allowing that perhaps there is a good reason for Loki to spur Ragnarok. In fact, it was only the chance to see Hela again, or some of the other gods, that kept me from DNFing the book. 

The rest of the story was epically infuriating. Lena was angry almost the entire time. She had bursts of irrational rage. Lena is supposed to have been training for years to be an apothecary. A healer. Yet, she doesn’t even hesitate to start killing to try and bring back a dead person! She needs to find someone worthy of Valhalla, yet the first two people she straight up murders are either not at all worthy, or would never fit in. Neither would another potential victim. A final potential might’ve been worthy, yet I am pretty sure that Odin would, ya know, notice. The soul to be replaced was one ordered there by Odin himself. 

The soul supposedly ‘worthy’ this whole time was Lena herself. No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. She was a selfish brat turned serial killer. One of the people she killed was someone very close to her. She just turned on this person without a second thought, pissed because that person had a part in Lena’s arranged marriage. Marriages were political, and Lena was the eldest daughter of the chief. Yet, she cared nothing for duty towards the safety and health of her clan either.

Not only was Lena an unlikable character, but many of the others didn’t engage me either. They all seemed kinda flat. My favourite human was Nana, an elder of the clan. Loki and Hela were the most interesting to me. I loved the descriptions of the ceremony before the wedding, and of the wedding ceremony itself. 

***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Flux for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.