Berserker by Emmy Laybourne
My rating: 4/5 cats
oh, to have been a fly on the wall during the author’s pitch for this book series:
“so, it’s like x-men in the wild west, only the x-men are a family of norwegian teenagers on the run in the american west in the late 1800s after some regrettably bloodbathy berserking back home and there’s only a few different kindsa powers you can have, so it won’t be like ‘shit, it’s book three and i’m out of ideas – meet jubilee and her sparkleworks’ or something.”
“huh. that’s certainly an unusual mashup.”
“oh, and there’s also a love story. and a heartwarming tale of orphaned siblings sticking together. and there’s a cross-country pursuit by like monster hunter types. and a dog.”
“a dog?”
“a really really great dog.”
“oh, god, does the dog die?”
“LALALAALALALAA i’m not telling!”
so, yeah – there’s a lot happening here, but i swear it all works. it shouldn’t work, but somehow, laybourne makes it into this awesome jigsaw puzzle, where the powers of the nytte have unexpectedly useful application in the inhospitable climes of the american west. i am a big fan of westerns and man v. nature survival stuff, and there was plenty on that front for me to chew on, with or without the magical safety nets, and while i am not into love stories, this one at least didn’t make me queasy.
the focus on a teengirl berserker is also pretty awesome. it’s not something i’ve read before, and i love both the mental image of her kicking butt and also the humanity of this particular character, as she wrestles with her “gift,” seeing only its downside.
i went into this book thinking it was a standalone, but i’m really excited to know that there’s more to come. i await them with great anticipation!
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review to come, but i’m so glad i won this one!
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Congratulations karen!
You are one of our Giveaways lucky winners! You will soon receive a free copy of Berserker (Berserker #1) in the mail. Please allow a few weeks for shipping.
wooooHOOOOOO!!!!
1) i love that my lowercase k was honored.
2) i have entered a number of giveaways for this book and i am so glad that persistence pays off!
MY LOVE FOR YOU IS LIKE A TRUCK!
