I'm not a big blurb reader, although I did of course read this one a while before I started reading it. I love Norse mythology and knew it was going to have a lot of Norse in there, but I didn't realise it would also have such a big focus on Yafeu's religion and I loved that so much! Being agnostic myself, I do love learning about other religions, especially old ones and more obscure ones (or at least less well-known in the Western world). I was a little apprehensive about how long the book was because long books do scare me a little bit, and there were some times where I did think it seemed a little bit slow but actually having now finished I do think it needed all of those pages to get across everything it needed to say. Missing out any of those bits of the story would definitely detract from the book. I loved both Yafeu and Freydis! Both excellent characters, very different lives and very different people but both so strong in their own way and it was excellent to read from both their POVs and see the others' POV of them. The side characters were perfectly infuriating as they were meant to be. There was one though who I did spend a lot of the book disliking before finding out that actually, they really were a great person, but I won't say who. The ending was a lovely ending, and especially the very end. A small cliffhanger very for book 2, but not the kind of annoying cliffhanger that leaves you with unanswered questions, just the kind of cliffhanger that hints at what will be coming in the next book which I'm excited to read.

I'm a bit torn about this review, so I'll split this into two, try and make it a bit easier for myself. The first element is the book itself. The world building, the characters and the plot itself, was fantastic. Some of the most beautiful descriptive wording I've read in a long time. One of those books which you find yourself being completely lost in. The character arcs and the way the story unravels is sublime. The three main characters and their respective POVs were great, and the change in tone and phrasing were so different you could really hear their separate voices. Their stories so similar but yet so different. I absolutely loved this, I really didn't want to put this down, and couldn't wait to get lost in this book again when I had to. The second is in relation to the controversy around the representation of certain cultures. I've read a lot about this on various social media/reviews etc. and I understand how and why this has caused a lot of debate. Yes, some of the descriptions and the effective stereotypes are very clunky, the start of this is written from a very young woman's point of view. Raised in her culture and spoken from the way she has been taught to view the world. However, throughout the novel, it is, in my opinion, a starting point which leads into the theme that regardless of race/religion, everyone wants the same thing. To live in peace and to have the freedom to be who they want to be, to make their choices and to learn from each other. I took the positive message that, despite being raised with certain biased opinions and perceptions, we can work together to break down those barriers and judge people on who they are, their hearts and strength and give each other the respect to be who they want to be. In any form that takes. This is my personal opinion and take away from this book.

Content warnings for slavery, rape, miscarriages, and microaggressions (both racism and misogyny). I loved this. The book follows three protagonists: Yafeu, Freydis, and Alvtir, each of them just as splendid and strong as the other. From Yafeu's perspective, we are given the perspective of a woman who wants to be a warrior, yet is forced again and again to be subserviant and beneath others. Her arc is beautiful, and by the end of the story you really see her grow. From Freydis's perspective, we see even more growth. She starts out as a woman set aside by all others, with no real support, until she meets Yafeu. Even her own family shuns her, and in turn she shuns others, but by the end of the book she's a force to be reckoned with. From Alvtir's perspective, we see a woman with all the strength and skill Yafeu wants to have, yet how she's treated by the men in her life, especially her own brother, motivates her to look out for any woman she can help. By the end of the book, she's an inspiration for those around her, curse or not. As a white person, I do not have the knowledge or personal experience to comment on the subject of race. I do believe that race is dealt with authentically here, with as much attention and detail as it addresses misogyny. In particular, religion and the nuances between the beliefs of Yafeu and Freydis are addressed, and so is the language. My only criticism around language is in the editing of this novel with words in Soninke. Presumably because the words could not be translated, there's a couple of occasions where a word in English is italicised and is meant to fill the role of having a Soninke word there. The same use is used for actual Norse words (such as hird), but the editing here felt really off, and I wish they'd found an alternative way of 'translating' these missing words. Thank you to Cornerstone for the ARC via NetGalley.

like you don't even understand

Thank you to the authors and publisher for the opportunity to read Black Shield Maiden, in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed the book, I thought it was gripping, action packed and very emotional.