Review: Fun Norse mythology!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 9, 2014
****Review copy received through Netgalley for an honest review. Release date April 1, 2014****Mythology buff. That's me. Mixing my urban fantasy/paranormal romance with Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Celtic, Welsh, Native American, Norse . . .so on. However, I haven't gotten what I wanted out of Norse mixer uppers yet. The Loki's have been interesting for sure. Foretold was my golden ticket. A fresh new idea about the end of the world featuring three girls possessed by The Norns (Norse Fates) to herald in Ragnarök. AKA the end of the world!Right up front it was clear this book was not going to give me what I wanted. However, it was also clear I was going to have a blast! Clearly Elliot knows her mythology and it flavors this read nicely. Every time a legend or God(dess) I knew was mentioned I felt like an eager student with my hand in the air! The best part is the magic wasn't too far stretched, and it's magic with laws. So no crazy wild cheat-magic. Where some miraculous magical thing is pulled out of a character’s bottom to save the day!The use of the legends of Ragnarök was really well done. Amping things up is the sudden mystery as to why the time table for the end of the world seems to be speeding up and going all kinds of crazy. People die and the mayhem that ensues touches on some realistic points of a society falling apart. Maybe not as much as I would like, but the attempt is there. The fear that Raven's Norn might take over her body or bust out “alien style from her chest” is a real fear. It's interesting watching fear turn into acceptance as Raven finally decides to deal with the role she has to play. There's a lot of mystery going on here with the other possessed warriors, the triplets conception and truth of who their father might be, and what's going on with the other girls while readers are junky out on Raven's tale.Elliot does a great job of building up Raven and Vanir. The romance doesn't make me want to roll my eyes and vomit. The characters even comment on their instant attraction to each other. It's fun watching them fall for each other. Though Raven talking about checking in her V-card after one kiss was lame. Lame. Vanir is a great guy with the perfect mixture of modern white knight, without being too old school. Raven. Well I was hoping that the sisters would be more . . . warrior. It's clear that that job is for the men. Even though the girls are supposedly supposed to protect them. It's more like they're there to be soul mates. Sure Raven does some pretty awesome things and saves Vanir a lot, which was really cool. Raven spends a vast majority of her time being the damsel. It's OK. Diversity in the type of girls in this genre is a good thing. In the end Raven saves the day with Vanir. Partnerships are a good thing.Foretold is a very easy and light read. It's a YA paranormal romance that's going to follow each sister and their chosen guy with each book. Which is standard for adult titles, but not for YA PNR. The light read aspect doesn't allow for true character building. It's a fast read and any even faster story. Which works well for Foretold.Foretold is a great paranormal romance Norse mythology YA read! It's fun and feeds that happy giggly side of my soul. With just a tiny-dash enough death and adrenaline to appease the dark side. The Loki character here may not be the most intriguing Loki I've read, but there is definitely room to grow. Better yet there is no love triangle. Sure some girl has a crush on Vanir, but it worked. Raven didn't get jealous and she was OK with someone having a crush on him. Yeah! This leaves more time for Raven and Vanir to get to know each other, which means readers can become more invested in them. The plot is ambitious and twisty enough readers should have plenty of fun with it. Whether or not you're good at predicting plots. In the end all the matters is that the mythology was grand and I had fun! My mind is making “give-me give-me” hands as I wait for Forecast!Sexual Content: Sexual humor, make outs, kissing, and talk about a past rape.3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.