4/5

For fans of: Vikings, quests, found families, Arthurian legends, King Arthur, Laini Taylor, Erin Morgenstern

The Big Questions:

• What genre is this in? Retelling, adventure, fantasy

• Are there any swoon-worthy characters? Oh yes, you’ve got the shy, rugged shepherd Viggo and the brave, sensitive bard Madoc

• Is it spicy? Nope, but there is romance

• Is it violent or gory? There are some great action sequences, but. nothing gory

• Should I buy, borrow, or pass on this book? Borrow it.

Synopsis: After a horrific plague takes the lives of so many close to her, Torvi’s sister is taken from her by a roving band of wolf-priests on the hunt for a fabled sword-in-a-stone. To get her sister back, Torvi must band together with a druid girl and a bard on a journey that will take her far away from her home to lands she never could have imagined and meet people that will inspire her to become more than she ever thought she could be.

Review: After falling head over heels for the world established in The Boneless Mercies, I was so excited to see that April Tucholke created another story set within it. Seven Endless Forests takes place at least several generations after Frey and her gang’s adventure which has been immortalized in song and saga just as they wanted. Their adventure inspires Torvi’s journey, which is such a lovely way to close out their story. But I still hope we get at least one more book about them in the future. Torvi’s journey is definitely a different one and, to me, more heartbreaking. I love Torvi’s character for her humble beginnings as a young woman just wanting to be left in peace to mourn her losses, but fate had other plans. A qualm I have with “saving a sibling” tropes is the near-constant reminder of the MC’s goal by having them verbally reiterate their need to save their sibling. It gets so tedious and, quite frankly, annoying to the point where you don’t even care. Not here. Yes, she has her goal in mind, but as she opens herself to those helping her, she makes their quests part of her own and vice versa. They create a true found family.

A qualm I do have with this book is, surprisingly, a lack of world building. We meet so many different groups and figures with very little to no backstory or explanation that I really had to use my imagination to flesh out their history or culture. If more stories are written in this world, and I do hope there will be, I hope there will be more explanation. But going back to what I loved about the story, the relationships and the quests were so much fun and great twists to classic quests from Arthurian legends to Lord of the Rings. Grief is a major theme here and it shines as Torvi continues to mourn the loss of her mother as well as her lover, Viggo, while slowly opening herself to new relationships and the possibility of a life fully lived. This is a stand-alone, but open-ended enough to hope that we get more adventures with Torvi and her found family.