Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

*Spoiler free*

How do you kill a god? As her father’s chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: To win back her honor, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.

I thoroughly enjoyed Tricia Levenseller’s other books, so I was pumped when I heard she was coming out with another and a Viking-inspired one at that! Her books are always fast, fun reads for me and I was looking forward to seeing what this one held.

The wild was incredible. I loved the creatures that lived there and I loved the scenery. I loved the danger it held. It was almost like a creepy woods, but more mythical and more magic and more Viking. It was so easy for me to imagine and so well written.

Though I loved that aspect, it felt that went on a steady decline as book the went on. I’m not sure if it was because of the survival aspect or if worldbuilding simply tapered off.

The main characters are supposed to be 18 and 19, but they read like 16 year olds. They dialogue was cheesy. It was trying to powerful, but it didn’t even come close. There were parts where events were supposed project strong female characters, finding yourself, and accepting who you are, but they came out of nowhere without any lead up. It felt like they were just thrown in there because it would sound good.

This leads me to the romance. Oh, boy the romance. It was cringey, plain and simple. It seemed like it was going for a relationship based on respect and trusting each other and letting your partner grow and do what they need to do. But the male character did not do that. It was the typical YA love interest who hovers over the girl because ‘he doesn’t want to lose her’. I get the sentiment, but it’s done badly. It seems like he thinks she can’t handle herself when she specifically tells him she can and she wants to.

There is also some stalking going on. I don’t think I can say too much other than that without spoiling stuff. Again, I think it was going for something good, but it ended up looking creepy.

I’m pretty sure that I like Rasmira. She is strong, can handle herself, and she cares. There was a small theme about her wanting to be a warrior, but also wanting to be woman that I wish was explored more.

I honestly had a lot of issues with this book, but what saved it for me is the wild and the battle scenes. Especially the battle scenes in the wild. They were so good that I’m able to like this book even with it’s lacking characters and themes.

This one is also a standalone! I’m a huge fan of them, but this world seems like it could be expanded on so much. I don’t think a sequel would work and maybe not even a companion. Just another story set in the world. I would love to see more of the wild and what it holds!

Warrior of the Wild comes out February 26th, 2019. You can add it on Goodreads and pre-order in the meantime!

Thank you for reading!