The Lost Sun (The United States of Asgard #1) by Tessa Gratton

First, let me say that I got this ARC for free at the RT Convention Teen Day party at the beginning of May.  And second, let me say that if you are looking for an original teen book, I think this fits the bill.  Now, this book is quite a change from the other books I've read by this author, Blood Magic, and The Blood Keeper. While those were pretty much about magic, as you'd guess from their titles, this book is about viking mythology.  With the new Viking show on the History channel, that I hear is pretty good, this is the right time to bring out a book like this.
The main character is Soren Bearskin, and he was born to be a berserker like his father.  His father is famous for when he berserked in a crowded mall.  Soren doesn't know what set him off, and never will, because his father immediately ran into the guns of the police that were there when it happened and died.  So Soren tries to do what he can to keep the beserking from ever actually taking hold in himself.  Exercises, meditation, etc.  Even though he is now marked with a tattoo on his face so that everyone knows who he may become, he still wants to fight it.  A new girl comes to his boarding school, her name is Astrid Glyn and she is able to see the future, thanks to her gift from the goddess Freya.  And for some reason, she immediately connects with Soren.  Tragedy strikes their country when Baldur the beautiful, one of their gods, does not resurrect from his ashes as he is supposed to do every year.  But Astrid has a feeling, actually a dream that night, that made her believe he is alive somewhere.  And when the scientists find the evidence that those ashes were not Baldur's, a search begins.  And so Astrid takes Soren with her, to help ground her as she seeks the lost god.
I loved the take on this country that is basically America, but I'm guessing it is a bit of history retold, with the Vikings settling here and being more of the majority of people.  The names and sayings that are changed to fit the theme.  For example, the days of the week named after their gods, Tyrsday, Thorsday, Freyasday.  Instead of English, it is called Anglish.  And the names of places, South Lakota, Kansa, the White Hall instead of the White House.  Some of these were so clever I chuckled to myself as I read them.  There was even Christianity snuck in to the story/society in what was a very believable way in my opinion.  But along with the basic changes, there were still magical things.  The berserking, and future telling, and the fact that the gods were kind of real people, as well as that there are trolls in this world, those things kept it a magical new type of place to be, and kept the story interesting.
The only thing I kind of didn't like, is something I will agree with others on Goodreads about.  The cover.  I'm not a fan.  I'd rather see it more like the author's other cover for The Blood Keeper.  Maybe some kind of viking symbol or something.  But hey, the cover isn't horrible, just not what I'd pick first.  And even though I saw the author at the RT Convention, and got my book signed, I don't have a picture from then.  So I'll just share the picture of the autograph.

The Blood Keeper (The Blood Journals #2) by Tessa Gratton

The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First I have to say thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children's Books for letting me read the e-galley of this. Thinking back to the book, I had to go back and upgrade my rating from 3 to 4 stars. I have to say for some reason I liked this one a lot better than the first one. Not sure why. I did like the first one, but this one had me more on the edge of my seat and wanting to pick it back up when I had to put it down. While it is the "sequel" to Blood Magic, it doesn't really include the main characters from that book, Silla and Nick. They do factor in, and are part of the background story. And actually Silla's brother Reese who turned into crows in the last book, is a big part of the book. He has become Mab Prowd's familiar. He stays with her instead of staying with Silla, and helps her with her magic. The book starts off with Nick dropping off a young boy named Lukas who has a black candle rune carved into his back by his father, who we find out has cursed him and pulls on his magic. We also start with Mab trying to find out why the roses around the house were so hard to get rid of, yet her grandmother really wanted them gone. To find out more about them, Mab's spell creates a humunculus so that she can hopefully get it to talk about what is going on. This creature is able to escape from the protective circle and takes off running. It runs into Nick, and attacks him, so Nick has to destroy it with the help of his dogs. But it turns out Nick is now connected to Mab and will need Mab to help him figure out what is going on. Nick's life is not great to start with. One of his older brothers died about a year ago, and his family has been changed ever since. Again the diary entries/letters are mixed into the story. At first you don't quite understand what they really have to do with the story, other than they talk about Arthur, who was the Deacon of magic before he was ready to go join his wife and pass on the title of Deacon to Mab. We do learn about Mab's mother also. Soon as the story goes on, I began to try to figure out on my own the roses and the relationships between all these people in the past. It all gets a lot worse, right after it seems things are getting better, and has a lot of suspense at the end.
I really liked the characters in this one. There was still a lot of blood, but it seemed less for shock, and more as a part of the story. There were sometimes at the beginning that it drug a little bit, but mostly the story kept me really involved and as I said, wanting to pick it back up when I had to put it down. Definitely a good, and pretty original story in my opinion.

Tessa Gratton, Breanna Yovanoff, and Maggie Stiefvater

It also was exciting to get to talk to Tessa Gratton, the author of this book, at BEA.

Make sure you're checking back a lot this month, as my Blogoversary comes up, I plan to spend the whole month with special posts, and there will be a really big giveaway starting on August 9th, the actual blogoversary day, and going the rest of the month, along with some smaller giveaways throughout.

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