Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Shield Maiden

Before you ask: Yes, this is a kissing book. It also has a brave maiden, true friends, lecherous royals, malicious intentions, a king of legend, a dragon with a treasure, a curse, magic, battle scenes, betrayal, and true love.

I’m surprised this wasn’t marketed as a YA book, because it definitely could’ve found a great niche in that market. Our FMC, Fryda, is the daughter of her clan’s chieftain and kin to King Beowulf. Even though she is about twenty and should have been married by the time the book starts in earnest, she remains unmarried because seven years prior to the present-day events of the book she fell into a chasm in the earth and mangled one of her hands, which caused her intended to break off their engagement. She’s been deemed unmarriageable ever since. Not that she really wants to be married off, considering she holds a deep affection for one of the clan’s slaves, Theow, a Celt who was stolen from his homeland as a child.

This is Sharon Emmerichs’ debut novel, and as debuts go it was a terrific effort. The characters may be tried-and-true formulaic, but they are vibrant and have flaws and vulnerabilities. There are surprises hidden in some of the characters, both good and bad. Emmerichs’ definitely did her due diligence in the research department, even if some liberties have been taken with linguistics for the time period (I’m not an expert on 6th century Sweden demographics, though). To this day there is academic debate as to whether or not Beowulf originated as an oral tradition with pagan roots, a tale written by Christians, or if the truth is a happy medium. Emmerichs’ seems content to go with the happy medium route and not to try to deviate and for the purposes of Shield Maiden that seems to fit just fine.

The book really is enjoyable, with multiple POVs (but not so many that you go dizzy with them). The pacing is nice and brisk without any filler material. The only true downfall to this book, in my opinion, is that it’s rather shallow. It’s so fast-paced and determined not to be slow that none of the emotions invoked by the book have time to settle in and be processed by either the reader or the characters before all of a sudden we’re off to do something else. As a result, the highs don’t get to shimmer as much and the lows don’t get to sink so much. You don’t get a chance to feel any of it.

It is an enjoyable read though, especially for the YA set. I liked it a lot.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All opinions, thoughts, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Coming of Age/Epic Fantasy/Fairy Tale/Folklore/Historical Fantasy/Mythological Retelling