When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.
Angrboda’s story begins where most witches’ tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.
Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin’s all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.
With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she’s foreseen for her beloved family…or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age
I remember when this book was on one of my anticipated lists, and I distinctly remember thinking the theme and the cover were really good and that I ought to read it. And finally I did! The cover still speaks to me, and after having read the book, the title and the artwork are definitely very appropriate. I always love a good myth-based retelling, even if I’m not too familiar with Norse mythology. It was a good read though, and I can definitely recommend this. If you enjoyed The Song of Achilles, I think you would enjoy this one too.
The Witch’s Heart revolves around our protagonist, Angrboda, who is a witch who survives three burnings. As she tries to turn her life around living in isolation instead, she meets the Trickster, Loki, and together they make a life and bear children that will change the destiny of the entire world. This is simultaneously an adventure where Angrboda must learn to navigate the world without the full memories of her past, and a story of how the new world came to be after the fall of the gods and giants.
For me, the book had a little bit of a slow start, and the writing style (shorter sentences, in my opinion) were at first a little bit off-putting. However, as with many fantasies, I soon found myself enraptured and reading page after page. This book doesn’t really have chapters, and so it’s very easy to see no end and just keep reading and reading. As soon as the stage was set up for the myths to be told and retold, I was hooked—even though I hadn’t heard most of these Norse tales before!
The characters were all, well, characters. They were exactly as you’d expect of any myth, with the fickle and capricious gods and those that they uncaringly affect. However, the great thing about a retelling is that you can also really humanize them, and pull you in with your empathy and guide you through a story for which the ending you know. I think the author here did a great job of that. It was a good balance of being able to pull us into the story, yet keep that mythological retelling aspect and feel to the story.
As with most myths, the tale is usually about some sort of romance, and even more tragedies. And that it was. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew the base mythology from which it came. However, even so, I was able to keep up with the general themes, even when the names were sometimes harder to remember due to my not being accustomed to the old names for gods. I would say it wasn’t confusing, but sometimes I would need a moment to reorient what I thought I knew about the story. I think if you were already familiar with the myth this wouldn’t be an issue at all.
The story covers simultaneously a lot and not a lot at the same time. I believe it covers a lot of what is essentially a creation story, and also Angrboda’s role in all of it. However, the circular nature of a lot of stories (and I think myths in general too) made it so that a lot of the mini-stories and subplots felt very similar. That didn’t stop me from rushing through it more for the overall plot, but I expect that is a classic weakness of myth retellings that I am not familiar with.
My favourite part was definitely the love story. Not the romance in and of itself, but the themes of family and duty that are portrayed, as they often are in myth stories. the human portrayal of these powerful witches/gods/giants facing their ‘human’ problems was a theme that I liked to see explored. Angrboda was definitely a relatable character, albeit being a powerful and ancient witch, living in a fantasy world. The world-building itself was decent, though like most myths, the story revolved much more around the characters and their complicated relationships, rather than the world they lived in.
Overall Recommendations
The Witch’s Heart is a touching story about an ancient witch who was thrice burned for her powerful abilities to see into the future. Hiding herself at the edge of the world after her final escape, she runs into Loki, who offers her heart back in exchange for so much more. As the two build a life (somewhat) together, with the end of worlds on the horizon. Find out where each characters’ loyalties lie when it all come down to it. Or maybe you already know, since this is Norse Mythology retelling!
Down the Rabbit Hole 