I have to say a big thank you to Shelly Laurenston for writing this book, I have been wanting to read a good urban fantasy for a while now. Urban fantasy is really what got me back into reading and to launching review site, but I have been so romance focused lately I feel like I have been missing out. But when I try out new authors in the UF field I feel like they have been missing the mark. I picked The Unleashing for a couple of reasons, first I looked it up on a couple of review websites t...

I have to say a big thank you to Shelly Laurenston for writing this book, I have been wanting to read a good urban fantasy for a while now. Urban fantasy is really what got me back into reading and to launching review site, but I have been so romance focused lately I feel like I have been missing out. But when I try out new authors in the UF field I feel like they have been missing the mark. I picked The Unleashing for a couple of reasons, first I looked it up on a couple of review websites that I trust and they seemed to enjoy it, and secondly because I don’t think I have read a good Norse mythology book that I’ve totally fallen for before. I am so glad I picked this book. I loved it from beginning to end, and more than that it reminded me why I loved the genre in the first place. I really can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

So to begin the book starts off really strong in my opinion. Ker has just died and woken up in a house she doesn’t know and the action just starts right off the bat. Normally I don’t like action to start right away because I feel like I am missing out on something, but in this case the confusion of what was going on was shared by both the reader and the character. And at the beginning of it all was this seriously awesome dog, Brodie, I loved that dog so much! I will admit that there is a lot of information in the beginning of the book, like a lot, and it takes a little while for you to get on your feet in this new world, but it helps that Kera is just as clueless as you are, and there are so many hilarious moments when you are getting all this information that it really never feels like an info-dump, its just really enjoyable.

So I loved Kera. I loved how she handled meeting everyone for the first time and becoming a Crow. I loved the clipboards, even if her new sisters weren’t such a huge fan of it, it made for some seriously funny confrontations. I love how much she loves her dog, because let’s face it I love my dogs the same way she loved Brodie, I can’t imagine a second life without any of them. She’s strong, and she wants to learn. And one of the things I loved the most about her is that she isn’t willing to really follow anyone blindly, she always has to know the why, she wants to know why they are killing (the Crow Clan is basically a bunch of mercenaries for the Gods).

I totally loved Vig too. I loved that he was so nervous about going up to Kera and asking her out that he missed his chance before she died. I love how he pled for her to live, and how he is so patient with Kera learning everything and wanting to be there for her and teach her what she wants to know. They are really just so great together, they compliment each other so much. They have fantastic chemistry together. I love they way both of them interact with their clans, and how the two clans interact together. They really are just one big dysfunctional family, but a great one.

Without a doubt I completely loved this book. It was a fantastic urban fantasy. I loved the world building. I loved the humor. I loved the suspense and the plot, the whole thing was just exactly what I was looking for. Highly recommend this book, and I seriously can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Kera Watson has been discharged from the Marines and working at a coffee shop, just waiting for her chance to re-enlist. Unfortunately, Kera doesn’t get that chance. When she sees a girl being abused by a since she’s killed. Horribly. However, the Goddess Skuld brings her back to life as a Crow, her harbingers of death. She does this at the request of Vig Lundstrom, a Raven. There’s some romance, but this urban fantasy is much more about Kera adjusting to life after death.

The Good, The Ba...

Kera Watson has been discharged from the Marines and working at a coffee shop, just waiting for her chance to re-enlist. Unfortunately, Kera doesn’t get that chance. When she sees a girl being abused by a since she’s killed. Horribly. However, the Goddess Skuld brings her back to life as a Crow, her harbingers of death. She does this at the request of Vig Lundstrom, a Raven. There’s some romance, but this urban fantasy is much more about Kera adjusting to life after death.

The Good, The Bad and Everything In Between

-Trademark Laurenston humor: Shelly Laurenston is an auto-buy for me. Even my least favorite book has moments that make me laugh out loud. The relationships and the banter between her characters are always witty and snarky, sometimes on the edge of mean and never dull. Kera’s relationship with her fellow Crows, and her attempt to whip them into shape when they thrived on chaos was pretty freakin’ funny. Their conversations were contentious, angry and ultimately fascinating to see all these women learn to put aside their differences and have each other’s backs no matter what.

-Worldbuilding is complex: The world that Ms. Laurenston’s setting up is all about the details. And the devil is in them. Ok, not literally, though a few characters come close. What I’m saying is, when you choose to use Viking/Norse mythology as a basis for an entire universe of Gods and beings that are being used by them for their own purposes to possibly bring about Ragnarok? Well, you need to settle in and pay attention. There’s no glossary, but the backstory for many of the characters is given to the reader as you go along, and I enjoyed getting to know the Crows and some of the Ravens. But….

-There’s ALOT to get familiar with: Having said that, there may have been too many to get familiar with. It was overwhelming at times to have so many factions thrown into the mix and I know I’ll have to re-read this before the next one comes out just to refresh my memory. As a consequence of this intricate setup...

-Romance isn’t as big a part of the story: My favorite Laurenston books are the ones that have the romance as the heart of the story. It grounds the tale for me, and allows me to enjoy the introduction of fantastical characters and situations in a way that straight urban fantasies usually don’t. So, I was a little disappointed that Kera and Vig’s romance was given short shrift. I would have liked to have seen them interacting before she died, if only to give a foundation to Vig’s love for her. Vig and Kera’s relationship felt incidental to the real deal involving ...

-Overarching storyline that will unfold over the series: The theft of a necklace belonging to Skuld and a Goddess determined to bring about the end of the world is the real “A” story and that is not completed in this installment. There is a feeling of resolution through Vig and Hera’s HEA, so I was left satisfied on that front. But there’s alot left to happen and I’m wondering how it’s going to work. Kera certainly seems as if she’s the star of it all, so I’m not sure how it’s going to work feature a different relationship in each book. Either way, it will be interesting to read.

The Bottom Line (3.5 stars)
Rich, complex mythology set up for a long series. Loved it even if I wanted more romance. Eager to read the next one.

**ARC provided by publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review**