Warrior of the Wild

Publication date: February 26, 2019

Description:

An eighteen-year-old chieftain's daughter must find a way to kill her village’s oppressive deity if she ever wants to return home in Warrior of the Wild, the Viking-inspired YA standalone fantasy from Tricia Levenseller, author of Daughter of the Pirate King. 

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.

My Thoughts:

I put this on my TBR list because I like reading this kind of fantasy-ish (no magic), Viking-ish (not really Vikings but it seems cold and they like to fight), girl power Clan of the Cave Bear ish wilderness feminism, survivalist adventure with a bit of YA rated romance. 

It does not disappoint. It has enough relationship angst to appeal to the girls, enough blood, gore and action for the boys and enough disappointing, clueless, rigid adult characters that make up most YA stories.  With these types of books, there is just so much pressure on the young main characters to basically save the world or die trying. Enter strangers who become friends and allies, including the first LGBTQ character in this type of genre. **Note - the fact that here is an LGBTQ character has nothing to do with the story and it does not add any kind of contemporary agenda which is how it should always be. 

Having said that, this book is not original, but it is still entertaining in its familiarity. Like the Hunger Games' Primrose "Prim" Everdeen who is the healer to her older sister Katniss' warrior, Rasmira in this book has her older sister Irrenia who is the nurturer and healer of the family.  The landscape reminds me of the also fantasyish girl power book Sky in the Deep, and finally, like Kagawa's Iron Fey series, Rasmira, like Meghan, seems to be the main person to save the day for everyone else. If readers devoured any of these, they will devour this too. 

Closing Words:

I am Rasmira Bendrauggo. . . I am both a woman and a warrior. . . And I will not let anyone cause me to forget.

An advanced copy provided by Net Galley for an honest review

Black Storm Comin' by Diane Lee Wilson

"On the morning of September 16, 1860, my pa shot me."

And so begins the story of 12 year old Colton Westcott, son of a white man and a black woman. Colton is left to care for his family after his father accidentally shoots him, then runs off in horror. Without his white father, the fellow covered wagon travelers heading west eventually abandoned Colton, his mother, his two sisters and new baby brother. Wilson's story weaves in historical facts as well as the difficulties of being a mixed race child in America.