The Witch's Heart [May 1, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec starting on May 1, 2023.


Happy Reading!

[Mei ☽︎]

Going to be late as I finish up some April BRs! Will try for this weekend 😊

[Alexis]

Mei ☽︎ wrote: "Going to be late as I finish up some April BRs! Will try for this weekend 😊"

You and me both.

[Mel]

I read this one a couple years ago. I don't think I'm up for a reread, but curious to see what you think.

[Tonari no Emily]

Read this one pretty quickly! I really liked it :) Spoilers for the book (view spoiler)[ I really liked the progression of Angrboda and Loki's relationship. It was very sweet at first, grew serious with the kids coming in, and soured sooo much by the end... And Angrboda was right all along that Loki would break the heart he gave back to her... I still liked Loki as a character though and seeing how hard he tried when he went back to Asgard and was still not accepted was heartbreaking too. But I was still soooo angry when he came back with some of the gods to take Angrboda's children! That scene when Angrboda removed her hair covering and her hair was wild and free symbolizing the end of their marraige was so good! I like that she learned to forgive Loki, but still not let him back into her life romantically. Although by the time that was possible it was literally the end of the world lol

I also loved Angrboda and Skadi's relationship... I could tell Skadi had an interest in Angrboda romantically... And towards the end Angrboda couldn't tell if Skadi liked her or not when they were literally sleeping in the same bed!!! That made me laugh honestly lol

I liked the writing style, and the retelling of some of the norse mythology. I recognized some of the stories from my very limited knowledge. I also liked how it ended with Hel surviving and everyone left was human. The gods moved on, but they're still there! (hide spoiler)]

[Mel]

Nice! Glad you liked it!
I remember really liking the beginning. Being broken down, and retreating to a safe refuge was a vicarious comfort.

I had... conflicting thoughts on Loki, as his character undoubtedly deserves. But the details have faded too much for me to weigh in.

I had forgotten about the bit where (view spoiler)[Angrboda removes her head scarf, but I'm glad she got her moments of feminine rage and empowerment. (hide spoiler)]

I remember at the time I read this, having conversations about the different reactions to stress, pain, or confrontation, and how we feminise or masculinise them. And also attach a moral quality to them, usually with "feminine" passive defense mechanisms of Fawning, Freezing, or Fleeing being seen as lesser, weak, and cowardly. Whereas the "masculine" defensive mechanism of responding with aggression is commendable. (At least when men are the aggressors.) Instead of, you know, picking your battles like any sane person does.

I remember really liking Skadi, but I think I had the same complaint in this book as in another I recently read, where (view spoiler)[the Sapphic relationship felt "tacked on" to the end. Doing it just to go there. Not quite so egregious in this book I think, but when you run into the same trope of an FF relationship being secondary, or not as fulfilling as a hetero one, or in some cases merely a narrative ticked box, it stands out. (hide spoiler)]

[Alexis]

Mel wrote: "Nice! Glad you liked it!
I remember really liking the beginning. Being broken down, and retreating to a safe refuge was a vicarious comfort.

I had... conflicting thoughts on Loki, as his character..."

I like that bit you said about gender-ized reactions to pain or stress. Food for thought, for sure.

After about 50 pages, I ended up taking a hiatus to try and track down some of the source material, because I was familiar with Angrboda in terms of her relationship with Loki and her children, but Gornichec was describing a character with a lot more mythological background than I knew about (view spoiler)[ Angrboda as a witch that Odin burned three times for denying him knowledge, for instance. (hide spoiler)].

So I set off to discover if that's based in mythology, or if it was artistic licence that Gornichec added to equate her to other women screwed over by powerful gods.

As it turns out...there is basis, but it's kind of obscure.

Spoilers for the first 50 pages (and the myth in general): (view spoiler)[ Apparently there is a common school of thought that equates Angrboda with a witch called Gullvieg or Heid, who was the cause of the war between the Vanir and Aesir, in the way that Gornichec describes (And also Frey's mother in law, apparently).
(Sources:
https://jillian.rootaction.net/~jilli...
http://www.germanicmythology.com/work...)

And, apparently, this is linked to a version of the story she was the one who impregnated Loki, because every time that Gullvieg was burned and speared, Loki would eat her "half-burned" heart and that would get him pregnant.

The more you know. (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Mel wrote: "Nice! Glad you liked it!
I remember really liking the beginning. Being broken down, and retreating to a safe refuge was a vicarious comfort.

I had... conflicting thoughts on Loki, as his character..."

Yeah, I do understand your complaints about (view spoiler)[the F/F relationship here, but I think I still "felt" the beginnings of it before the F/M relationship, but one of them was just too stupid to realize.. lol
But it wasn't given enough page time for sure! (hide spoiler)]

[Mei ☽︎]

I'm starting this and glad you made your comment at 50 pages, Alexis, because I also am pausing to look things up around the same time too. 😂 Really enjoying this so far, and I can't wait to click on the other spoiler tags!!

[Alexis]

About a third of the way through now. I’m enjoying it, but I’d be kind of curious to see how other people like it if they don’t know the most common Norse myths. Because I think some of my enjoyment is coming from getting a new POV on some of the stories that I’d only heard from the Aesir’s perspective before (view spoiler)[ like when Loki, in a last-ditch effort to keep the wall builder from completing the project on time, turns into a mare. Every version I’ve come across, you see him disappear and then show up months later with the foal. Here, you suddenly get a story of where, in this version, he disappeared to. (hide spoiler)].

But I also feel like, at least in the first bit, some of those myths are coming fast and furious, and I wondered if people who can’t enjoy the secondary POV thing might feel like the pacing is off.

[Alexis]

I ended up loving this, especially the back half. I like how Gornichec treated the kids like actual characters with actual motivations, not just as tools doing things because that's how the grand story goes. Honestly, I can't say I would make different choices if similar stuff had happened to me.

[Mei ☽︎]

I'm finally picking this back up again and definitely enjoying the pacing and the writing so far. Gornichec's doing a great job with Loki here with his personality and snark and I love the exchanges with Angrboda, who I'm really loving already too. I'm looking forward to see it progress further!!

I also appreciate her writing style a lot. Retellings can feel heavy sometimes in the diction and this one's not!

[Mei ☽︎]

Alexis wrote: "I ended up loving this, especially the back half. I like how Gornichec treated the kids like actual characters with actual motivations, not just as tools doing things because that's how the grand s..."

I'm about 41% in, but I also agree about the kids already so that's great that this theme continues in the back half! The last retelling I read, Clytemnestra which also touches a LOT on motherhood and raising children was missing this (which is unfortunate as the author doesn't get around to really exploring Elektra's motivation there), so it's really great to see the characters more fleshed out here. I really do adore Hel and Fenrir as they're growing up, etc. and also liking the buildup in Boda's on what's to come! Especially as Jormungand is now introduced here.

I think Gornichec did a great job with the ups and downs of this relationship with Loki too, and I definitely feel the frustration on Boda's part.

[Mei ☽︎]

51% in, starting part 2 now AND GODS THE ANGER I AM FEELING ON BEHALF OF ANGRBODA WITH ALL THAT JUST HAPPENED.

I like the buildup of the events, and felt pretty in-tune with the kind of like a slow creeping of happiness then frustration the anger with Boda. I feel like I can tell a bit of the direction of where this is going to go romance-wise and I'm totally on board for it. 😂

[Mei ☽︎]

I finally finished!!! I must say I liked the potential of (view spoiler)[Skadi and Boda, but in the end I agree it felt tacked on/rushed. I could've believed that Skadi had a pining toward Boda, but it could've been much better if it just had morenpages as mentioned before!! (hide spoiler)].

I really really enjoyed the ending and I also loved the trajectory of the characters. This was a really fun read and my favorite parts definitely had to do with the payoffs for all the (view spoiler)[reunions in the third act. I teared up when we saw Fenrir and Jormungand!! I felt pretty intune with Boda as a character too throughout the whole novel so again, felt like Gornichec did a great job overall. (hide spoiler)] Really enjoyed Loki too!!

[Alexis]

Apparently she has another book coming out later this summer. This one looks like it’s a little more historical fiction than fantasy, but I’m still intrigued.

[Alexis]

Mei ☽︎ wrote: "I finally finished!!! I must say I liked the potential of [spoilers removed].

I really really enjoyed the ending and I also loved the trajectory of the characters. This was a really fun read and m..."

(view spoiler)[ I agree, but I think I'm going more for "rushed," I didn't dislike that it happened. I actually believed that the two of them might end up in that position and I loved how it stemmed from this base of strong friendship and genuine respect for each other. I just wished it lasted longer so that she could have explored the relationship. (hide spoiler)]