Review: Berserker by Emmy Laybourne

Berserker
by Emmy Laybourne

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Feiwel Friends
Publication date: October 10, 2017
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fantasy, western, Norse mythology



First in the Berserker series. From Goodreads:

"Are Hanne's powers a gift from the old Norse gods, or a curse?

Her brother Stieg swears their powers are a gift from the old gods, but Hanne Hemstad knows she is truly cursed. It's not Stieg's fault that their father is dead, their mother has left, and their brother Knut has been accused of a crime he didn't commit.

No, the fault lies with Hanne and her inability to control her murderous "gift"--she is a Berserker. When someone she loves is threatened, she flies into a killing state. The siblings must leave Norway for the American frontier or risk being brought to justice.

Aided by a young cowboy who agrees to be their guide, Hanne and her siblings use their powers to survive the perilous trail, where blizzards, wild animals, and vicious bounty hunters await.

Will they be able to reach their uncle, the one man Hanne believes may be able to teach her how to control her drive to kill? With Berserker, Emmy Laybourne, the author of Monument 14, presents her vision of an American west studded with Viking glory."

I mean, I was sold at "American west studded with Viking glory," but I loved this one! Really well done historical fiction, making the small frontier American towns come alive with all their dust and dirt and hard-scrabbleness. (...is that a word? meh, I like it, I'm keeping it.) There's also a lot of wild west type stuff - shootouts! saloons! loyal horses! dog companions! And with Norse mythology mixed in! I loved it all!!

It was so interesting to see how the siblings used their "gifts" and how they felt about them. There's just enough romance between Hanne and the "young cowboy," Owen - I was more into the siblings' story and their adventures traveling from Norway towards their uncle in Montana, but Owen's appearance in the story added to rather than distracted from their storyline, for me. Hanne truly was on her own adventure and just happened to find a guy she liked along the way, rather than being a character who only existed to have a romance, and I loved that.

The *only* small tiny thing that bothered me a bit was the author sometimes did just a liiiittle too much telling rather than showing for my taste - she would kind of spell out how a character was thinking or feeling rather than writing it in a way that let us learn it on our own, or feel it along with the character. But that didn't keep me from enjoying the book, just something that stood out to me here and there... Because when she did let us feel things with the characters, it was so powerful. Man, the regret and shame Hanne feels when her powers get away from her and she realizes what terrible violent things she's done... I really felt it along with her, and I love when an author can do that. 

All in all, I really enjoyed my first western historical fantasy! It sounded awesome but I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did, and I can't wait to get my hands on the second book in the duology, Ransacker, published in January 2019, where Hanne's sister Sissel discovers she has a gift too. (Not-so-spoiler alert: she's a Ransacker, which means she has a gift for finding precious metals... and here she is, right in the middle of Gold Rush era America, surrounded by some new characters who *shocker* may not have her best interests at heart... Yessss dramaaaaa I am here for it...)



Final verdict: I loved it! I thought this book was great! I might buy it for myself and I would definitely recommend it to others.

{ I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }