Blog Tour: The Weight of a Soul

Hi everyone. It’s my stop at the Blog Tour for The Weight of a Soul by Elizabeth Tammi hosted by FFBC. I have the book trailer, my review and a giveaway for you, so buckle up!

Title: The Weight of a Soul
Author: Elizabeth Tammi

Publisher: Flux
Release Date: December 3rd 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Length: 320 pages

BOOK LINKS

When Lena’s younger sister Fressa is found dead, their whole Viking clan mourns—but it is Lena alone who never recovers. Fressa is the sister that should’ve lived, and Lena cannot rest until she knows exactly what killed Fressa and why—and how to bring her back. She strikes a dark deal with Hela, the Norse goddess of death, and begins a new double life to save her sister.
But as Lena gets closer to bringing Fressa back, she dredges up dangerous discoveries about her own family and finds herself in the middle of a devastating plan to spur Ragnarök –a deadly chain of events leading to total world destruction. Still, with her sister’s life in the balance, Lena is willing to risk it all. She’s willing to kill. How far will she go before the darkness consumes her?

I love Mythology. If you’ve read some of my latest posts you know this. But you also know that I’ve been very disappointed with, actually most, of the books I read. I’m still trying though. And Norse Mythology is also a topic I’m very interested in. But in contrast to Greek Mythology I didn’t grow up with these stories, so I hoped that it might be easier to like for me.

I actually also read and reviewed Elizabeth Tammi’s debut novel Outrun the Wind and was disappointed. But I said that I would give her a second chance since I could see the potential. And here we are.

I’m glad to say that I enjoyed The Weight of a Soul a lot more than Outrun the Wind. I don’t think it’s only the fact that I’m less familiar with the Norse Mythology and therefore can’t tell how accurately the gods are portrayed but it might have played a role. Just fyi.

What I liked so much about this book though is how much we get to see inside Lena. We are with her the entire time, we get her reasoning, her feelings. I think it works really well for the story Tammi wanted to tell here.

To be honest, I expected a more fast-paced novel where more stuff … happens … but I’m actually glad it’s slow-paced and more focused on how Lena is dealing with everything. I love these kinds of deep looks into a character.

I still think I would have liked … more but overall I’m very satisfied with this. Lena is a complex and interesting character and I love how she does what she does, what her reasons are and that she is uncomfortable. It’s a little like those reluctant hero stories. Only that she’s not the hero here. And I loved that!

Lena goes through a lot of different emotions but I loved how real and collected she always was. It fit so well and was very realistic with her being raised as the chief’s daughter. Prepared for leading alongside her husband one day.

She understands people and power very well, sometimes better than those around her and I liked how aware she was of those things and how she tried to preserve that. Especially when in contrast to her sister.
Their relationship was also really heartwarming to read about. I especially loved a sentence that comes a bit after Fressa dies. Lena talks about how Fressa just knows her without Lena ever having to explain herself or her reasons. She just naturally does, even though they are quite different.
Or the quote about how the very things that Fressa excelled at and that defined her was also the thing isolating her … uff!

Another thing I think is done very well here is the world-building. You can really see the Viking-inspired village in the cold north without the author really shoving everything in your face. It’s effortless and I loved how normal it felt that the gods are involved in Lena’s life.

And although this may sound weird … I actually liked that the mythology side kinda took a backseat to Lena dealing with her grief. I mean, yes, it’s what propelled Lena to do what she does, but it’s still more in the background and I appreciated that.

That being said, I sometimes had trouble really connecting with the characters. Lena is great, has good traits and flaws and I really grew to like her but the others stayed a little flat for me. I feel like that is always a possibility if you write in 3rd person but focus only on one person (Lena). I always felt a bit distanced. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed my time reading.

The book was also a little predictable but I didn’t care all too much because I liked following Lena and her realizing stuff. But I thought you should know.

I think The Weight of a Soul is definitely worth checking out, especially if you like character-focused stories that deal a lot with the emotions of the main character.
The Norse myths were incorporated really well and I had a great time reading this. Glad I gave Elizabeth Tammi a second chance!

Click here to win 1 of 5 finished copies of The Weight of a Soul (INT!)

Starts: 3^rd December 2019 – Ends: 17^th December 2019

Elizabeth Tammi was born in California and grew up in Florida, but is currently double-majoring in Creative Writing and Journalism as an undergraduate at Mercer University in Georgia. When she’s not writing, you can probably find Elizabeth at work for her university’s newspaper and literary magazine. Her other interests include travelling, caffeinated beverages, and mythology. You can find Elizabeth online on Tumblr at (annabethisterrified), Twitter at (@ElizabethTammi), Instagram at (elizabeth_tammi), and at elizabethtammi.com.