The Valkyrie's Daughter by Tiana Warner
Published by Entangled Publishing
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Animal Companion Characters, Magic Users, Royalty Characters, Epic Fantasy, Lesbian Characters, Sapphic Characters, LGBTQIA+ Authors, LGBTQIA+ Romance, Mythological Creatures, Pegasi, Valkyrie, Norse, Various Magic
Series: Sigrid and The Valkyries #1
My Rating:
Published on: 26th July 2022
Pages: 400
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / BookBeat Audio
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From the time she was born, Sigrid has only ever been ordinary. Being paired at birth with a plain horse—instead of the powerful winged mare of a valkyrie—meant there would be no warrior path for her. No riding the skies, no glory among the nine worlds. Just the simple, unremarkable life of a stable hand.

Everything changes when a terrible enemy ambushes Vanaheim and Sigrid sees a vision of herself atop a mythical stallion, leading the valkyries into a harrowing battle. Finally, she can grab her future with her own two hands and become the hero of her own story...if she dares.

But her destiny is tied up with Mariam, a fallen valkyrie who’s allied herself with the very enemy Sigrid is trying to stop.

Now Sigrid has left ordinary behind as she begins a journey with the beautiful—if treacherous—valkyrie, each step bringing her closer to answers...and to awakened feelings for Mariam.

But the life Sigrid left behind is starting to look a lot like paradise...especially when her destiny lies in the one place no mortal should tread: the gates of Hel.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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I have always been drawn to books based on mythology and folklore, and the gorgeous cover for The Valkyrie’s Daughter drew me in just as much as the title did. I’ve become quite familiar with the goddess Hel and Helheim through various fictional interpretations, and I was curious to see what this one was like!

I wanted to like this book more than I did because it has a beautiful sapphic love story, some great characters, and wonderful Norse world-building, but the sad reality is that it is chock-full of YA tropes. The first problem straight out of the gate is that the title of the ARC (this book was previously released as ‘The Helheim Princess‘) and the synopsis give the plot away immediately.

You’re probably thinking, Hold on a second, The Valkyrie’s Daughter is for teen readers, and you’re a thirty-something-year-old woman. Of course, it seems obvious to you! Sorry, but teenagers aren’t idiots. This novel is listed as being for 12 to 17-year-olds on Amazon, and while I can see readers of the younger end of that age bracket not piecing things together, I can tell you from experience that older teens definitely will.

Despite the predictable plot, The Valkyrie’s Daughter was an enjoyable read. I feel that it suffered from what I call ‘first book syndrome’, where the author sticks to a very basic plot to get the protagonist’s original story out and get them in position for book two. In this book, Sigrid finds out who she is, follows her destiny and decides who she wants to be, while falling in love, making friends and learning a few hard lessons along the way. It is a very typical coming-of-age story, so what made The Valkyrie’s Daughter different enough for me to give it a decent rating? Well, that would be the world-building.

Warner has created a unique and magical interpretation of Norse mythology and the nine worlds, and offers an insight into her creative process at the end of the book. It was interesting to see where her path took her from original sources and academic texts as she explained how one of the few two sources we have of Norse folklore was written by a Christian, and the other, a primary source, is filled with gaps.

The world she has created in The Valkyrie’s Daughter is her interpretation of these sources and an attempt to fill in some of the gaps, creatively. The result is a fantastic world where baby Valkyries are born at the exact same time as a winged mare, rather than them being the traditional “chooser of the slain”. Instead, they are guardians, warriors who protect the nine realms. For the most part, the nine realms are the same, with a few changes here and there.

This is also a book for horse lovers. Warner is a lifelong rider, and it shows in every scene. She brings all that experience to provide authentic, fast-paced action scenes with the horses, and they are probably the best I’ve seen in a fantasy novel.

An easy read with lovely characters and a great romance, The Valkyrie’s Daughter might not have scored high for me as an individual book; however, it definitely put this series, and its author Tiana Warner, on my radar. I’ll certainly be keeping my eye out for book two because I want to see where Sigrid and Mariam’s story goes, and spend more time in the world Warner has created.

About Tiana Warner

Tiana Warner is an LGBTQ+ author from British Columbia, Canada, best known for her critically acclaimed “Mermaids of Eriana Kwai” trilogy and its comic adaptation. Tiana is a lifelong horseback rider, a former programmer with a Computer Science degree, and an outdoor enthusiast who loves to explore nature with her musician boyfriend and their hyperactive rescue mutt, Joey.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Tiktok

Thanks for reading my review for The Valkyrie’s Daughter. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book, so let me know what you think about The Valkyrie’s Daughter in the comments 🙂

The Valkyrie’s Daughter by Tiana Warner is due to be released on January 4th 2022, and is currently available for pre-order from any of the links in this post!

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