The Book of Bera: Sea Paths

The Book of Bera #1

by Suzie Wilde

Born and raised in a stark, coastal village on the shore of the Ice-Rimmed Sea, Bera is the daughter of a Valla, the Vikings’ most powerful seers. But her mother died when she was young, leaving Bera alone with her gift, unable to control her feckless twin spirit or understand her visions of the future.When this inability leads to the death of her childhood friend at the hands of a rival clan, Bera vows revenge. And learning that her father has sold her into marriage with the murderous enemy’s chieftain, she is presented with an opportunity even sooner than she had hoped...As her powers grow stronger, her visions of looming disaster become more and more ominous until she is faced with the ultimate will she exact vengeance? Or can she lead her people to safety before it’s too late?

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult

355 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 23, 2017

About the author

Suzie Wilde isn’t your average writer; with a personal history that could supply story to any novelist, it is only fitting that Suzie went on to study creative writing and craft intimately detailed, can’t-put-it-down narratives of her own.

Lifetime companion to Labradors, Suzie spends much of her time walking the challenging countryside of the South Downs. Born an inner-city girl, this has become a place she feels intimately connected and where her themes of home and belonging were formed. Trying to give something back, she contributes podcasts to the new local radio station, runs a writing critique and book group.

An active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and Society of Authors, Suzie has has given talks at some U.K. universities and literary festivals, including the Borders and Chipping Norton. Hot topics for discussion with Suzie are; How to find your Story and keep it on the rails; Viking traditions in plot and character development (apart from rape & pillage); How to succeed at sixty and other motivational themes.

Reviews

[Kitty G Books]

DNF-ed this book

Writing was terrible from page one with no development or background built up. The story was so fast-paced and silly it was completely unbelievable. The characters felt very one-dimensional. These are supposed to be Vikings...yet they say things like 'crap'......uhhhh....no.

Maybe other people would like this more than I did, for me, it just isn't worth continuing with as it was just such a poorly executed book in all areas but the cover - which is sadly far superior to the content.

0*s

[The Nerd Daily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on The Nerd Daily | Review by Salima

Many thanks to publisher and NetGalley as I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I was excited to read this book due to the intriguing and dramatic premise: a mix of Vikings, the Sight, battle and revenge. While this book certainly did supply these things in small sprinkles, it’s a strange tale with a writing style that may cause some readers to give it a pass.

The story follows a young Viking woman named Bera who is the daughter of a prominent figure. After a complicated incident, Bera’s close childhood friend is killed and she is torn between her guilt and the desire to commit revenge. While most readers might assume that her revenge will be a key focus of the story, unfortunately it is barely mentioned again, pushed aside for other events and subplots. In a swift arrangement, Bera is later forced by her father to marry the chieftain of a rival clan, whose second-in-command is responsible for her late friend’s death.

There’s also some vaguely explained fantasy element of Bera wanting to develop her inherited gift of Sight, and her ongoing visions which show inevitable disaster. Without the latter additions, I doubt that the story overall would really be missing out on anything.

The majority of the story focuses on Bera’s marriage with the rival clan’s leader, and how she must adapt to becoming the mother of his child. For some reason, Bera and the son are immediately hostile to each other, and while this makes for an interesting contrast as they later get to know each other, it isn’t very well explained why they should hate each other so intimately, especially on Bera’s side. Relationships are also strangely developed in other parts of the novel, particularly with a love-hate inconsistency with Bera’s husband. She initially wants revenge, and then love, and sometimes within the same page there is a shift from love to hate to desire and then back to hate again. While a difficult relationship can be interesting to read about, in this case it distracted me from the rest of the story and ended up being confusing to my understanding of their marriage. However, a satisfying ending clarifies the way they feel about each other in a way that does not leave Bera a weak female character.

The main criticism I have for the book is the writing style, which is insanely fast. Many passages I had to quickly read again, having missed out on important plot points. Setting is barely explained, making the events (as dramatic as they were) harder to vividly imagine. The fact that the reader is initially plunged into the story without sufficient description, and with characters we know very little about, makes it harder for the reader to become fully invested in the story to care about what happens to the characters. Although some of the side characters do eventually become more interesting and complex as the novel progresses, there are some modern words which slip into the dialogue which makes the story sound less authentic for its historical time period (“crap” particularly stood out).

Additionally, I also found Bera to be largely unlikable as a protagonist. While many things happen to her, she barely reacts to them. The premise promised me a strong character out for revenge, and yet the majority of the story barely delivers on this, instead giving us an unlikable lead with an immediate hatred for those around her – especially shown by her strained relationship with her stepson. She does get less tiresome as the story develops, but a satisfying ending does not make up for the rest of the novel.

Even the Goodreads community seems divided on this one, with many glowing reviews and many less impressed one too. For me, this was a tumultuous read and I found myself unable to be entertained due to a lack of character to root for. Bera didn’t quite hook my interest, and I didn’t think the world-building was enough to immerse me into the story. However, other reviewers seem to enjoy the character shift in Bera as well as the unusual setting. With such mixed reviews, I would recommend checking out the book for yourself to see if it might be your cup of tea. Released earlier this year, there still remains to be a general readership consensus, but I hope that you may find it more enjoyable than I did.

[Sheila G]

DNFing at 30%

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

So...

I didn't like this book, and couldn't finish it. We follow the story of Bera, a Viking girl who is a Valla and has the gift of Sight passed down to her from her mother. The problem is that she is unable to get her skern, or twin spirit, to cooperate with her and help. Because of this, she is held accountable for not foreseeing the death of her friend. She is sold off to become the wife of a rival chieftain to settle the blood debt. Against her will, Bera is forced into a marriage, life, and motherhood that she didn't ask for. 

With the stage being set, let's discuss Bera.   

I found Bera's character to be very inconsistent. In the beginning of the story she is sailing with fellow clansmen to hunt Narwal to get a horn for medicinal use. Her friend Bjorn, is among them. During the sail, Bera continually tells the reader how Bjorn's attentions toward her annoy her. Then, quite suddenly, Bjorn is killed and Bera's heart is turned upside down. Death is painful, no matter if the deceased is an acquaintance, friend, or loved one. But the amount of remorse Bera had for Bjorn wasn't comparable to her reactions after hearing her inner monologues about him shortly before.

Bjorn's death, was an area of trepidation for me. His death was prematurely cast. There was very little time given to building his character before he is killed off, so the remorse I would normally have for a character wasn't as present here. There was no time to build any real connection with him, or truly understand his and Bera's relationship to expect a realistic reaction from Bera. 

The second point about Bera's character was her waging war between a childish mentality and womanhood. She rehashes the fact that she is young, perhaps too young to be a wife. She has no idea what happens in the marital bed, yet she knows what a menstrual cycle means, and is a healer of woman who have given birth? She has to know something. I only bring this up because she mulls over it repeatedly. 

Thirdly, Bera was ridiculous towards Hefnir, her husband. Between her self-pity and loathing of everyone around her, she is downright nasty towards him, even though he is kind to her. But somehow, she's caught between utterly hating the man, and falling in love with him!?

Here is an account to emphasize my point:

In a conversation, Bera spits, "I hate you!" and tries to throw a rock at Hefnir's head, intending to kill him, and even remarks that she refuses to feel guilty if she had. Then the next page Hefnir smiles at her and "makes her glow," and it's explained to be "like a flame being lit." Suddenly she is confused. 

Riling him about other women had started a flicker of jealousy and then, despite herself, desire. Was that love?...She wanted to matter to him and star edat his back, this stranger, her husband, willing him to speak, all the way home.

I don't know. It was a lot of back and forth. I realize Bera is young, but I think her mentality is also not realistic. If one lives in a culture where girls marry young, then it shouldn't be an utter shock---where nothing is divulged to her about her role as a wife and mother. There are just a lot of instances like these that don't add up between the action and reaction. It's a lot of throwing words around without having any care. 

Lastly, Bera's relationships with others is completely unjustifiable. There is no reason for her to hate Hefnir's son so much! Also, her cruelty to Bjorn's mother makes my skin crawl. 



I pushed through until 30% After an attempted rape scene (that Bera schemes to use as bragging rights---SERIOUSLY GIRL, STOP), and witnessing Bera's character degrading further into someone completely unlikable, I had to call it quits. She's cruel, crude, abusive, and as I stated before, just plain nasty. There wasn't anything left to hold my interest in following more of her story.

Please note that these are my observations. Because I may not have liked the characters and premise, doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the time and effort that went into creating this story! If you have a completely different opinion, that's totally fine. This book simply didn't tickle my fancy. 

1.5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

[Kirsty Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I have ever read a Viking fantasy novel up until now, so I was intrigued to see how the author, Suzie Wilde would portray this period of history and whether I would actually enjoy it.

On a long winter night, Bera is left to defend her stark village alone, and in the ensuing battle, her dear childhood friend, Bjorn, is killed. When soon after her father weds her to the chieftain of a rival clan, Bera realises the unthinkable: his second-in-command is responsible for her friend’s death. Though she must now learn how to be a wife and a stepmother to a hostile boy, Bera vows her revenge and sets off on a path to grow in power and hone her skills in the rough, macho clan into which she has been sold.

As her gifts continue to grow, her visions of looming disaster become more and more ominous until she has to make the ultimate choice: Will she choose revenge? Or will she succeed in leading her people to safety before it’s too late?

For the first fifteen or so pages, I was completely confused. Wilde introduced so many characters in the beginning that I had to keep a note of who was who and which character was related to another. It was exhausting and slightly put me off reading the rest of the book.

However, I knew that I couldn't just read the first fifteen pages and then give up, so I carried on reading and I found that I related a lot to the character of Bera: she's strong and tries to be a leader and she also cares deeply for her family and close friends and would do anything to protect them, but she's also stubborn and moody. She's an amazing protagonist who goes through so much character development. She goes from a timid young woman who wants to get revenge for her best friend's death, to someone who is forced into a family she does not want to be part of, to a fearless leader. I loved her.

I fell in love with all of the characters apart from one; I hated them right up until the very end. They were selfish, self-centered and just plain awful. There were times where I just had to stop reading for a bit and literally think about what they had just said or done because it was terrible.

I found Wilde's writing to be very descriptive but not too descriptive to the point where you're bored; she described things in a way that painted a beautiful, vivid picture of the setting. I especially loved the bit near the end where Bera is swimming under water and she can see all the ice and fish.

“My love will last until I'm old
And even dead it won't grow cold.”
― Suzie Wilde, The Book of Bera

There were parts of The Book of Bera that made me want to scream, cry and stop reading altogether. I felt emotionally attached to many of the characters - and even the animals - so I was so upset when any of them went through turmoil.

The ending was absolutely brilliant and I do hope that there will be another book as I want to see how Bera continues on her journey and how she keeps growing. This is an amazing book that tackles loss, death, destruction, love, family and hope and I recommend that as soon as this book comes out, you order it, you buy it, whatever. Just make sure that you get your hands on!



Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Unbound publishing.

The Book of Bera is released 23rd March 2017.

Pre-order here

[Vee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been intrigued by the Vikings and I was super excited when I heard that this book would be a Viking fantasy novel. I had no idea what that meant but I was eager to try it and see what it would be like!

This novel was a mess from beginning to end. And the entire blame falls on the main character, Bera. She is by far the most hated protagonist I have ever read about. Bera is an impulsive character that is very inconsistent in her behaviour and thought processes. For instance, before Bjorn died, she acted like she couldn't stand him. But as soon as he died, he was suddenly the most kind person and she adored him. It made no sense, and this trend continues throughout the book. She vacillates between childishness and acting like a grown woman and it makes it hard to get a sense of who she is. Bera is also an extremely immature and annoying character. Perhaps her vicious behavior was supposed to emphasize her "Viking-ness" but all it did was make me not want to read this book. She literally has no redeeming qualities and it was a mission to get through this book. Suffice to say, I hated her every second.

The other problem with this book was that there wasn't a proper buildup for certain events. Bjorn's death, for example, was a bit out of the blue and it wasn't presented in a way that felt complete. This was how I felt for most of the novel. There were also loads of things that just defied logic and made no sense whatsoever... but I won't say what since I don't like spoiling things.

In all, this was a very disappointing Viking-based story and I would probably not recommend this to anyone.

For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com

[SB · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Originally posted on The Nerd Daily)

Many thanks to the kind publisher and to the help of Net Galley. Thanks to them, I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I was excited to read this book due to the intriguing and dramatic premise: a mix of Vikings, the Sight, battle and revenge. While this book certainly did supply these things in small sprinkles, it's a strange tale with a writing style that may cause some readers to give it a pass.

The story follows a young Viking woman named Bera who is the daughter of a prominent figure. After a complicated incident, Bera's close childhood friend is killed and she is torn between her guilt and the desire to commit revenge. While most readers might assume that her revenge will be a key focus of the story, unfortunately it is barely mentioned again, pushed aside for other events and subplots. In a swift arrangement, Bera is later forced by her father to marry the chieftain of a rival clan, whose second-in-command is responsible for her late friend's death. There's also some vaguely explained fantasy element of Bera wanting to develop her inherited gift of Sight, and her ongoing visions which show inevitable disaster. Without the latter additions, I doubt that the story overall would really be missing out on anything.

The majority of the story focuses on Bera's marriage with the rival clan's leader, and how she must adapt to becoming the mother of his child. For some reason, Bera and the son are immediately hostile to each other, and while this makes for an interesting contrast as they later get to know each other, it isn't very well explained why they should hate each other so intimately, especially on Bera's side. Relationships are also strangely developed in other parts of the novel, particularly with a love-hate inconsistency with Bera's husband. She initially wants revenge, and then love, and sometimes within the same page there is a shift from love to hate to desire and then back to hate again. While a difficult relationship can be interesting to read about, in this case it distracted me from the rest of the story and ended up being confusing to my understanding of their marriage. However, a satisfying ending clarifies the way they feel about each other in a way that does not leave Bera a weak female character.

The main criticism I have for the book is the writing style, which is insanely fast. Many passages I had to quickly read again, having missed out on important plot points. Setting is barely explained, making the events (as dramatic as they were) harder to vividly imagine. The fact that the reader is initially plunged into the story without sufficient description, and with characters we know very little about, makes it harder for the reader to become fully invested in the story to care about what happens to the characters. Although some of the side characters do eventually become more interesting and complex as the novel progresses, there are some modern words which slip into the dialogue which makes the story sound less authentic for its historical time period ("crap" particularly stood out).

Additionally, I also found Bera to be largely unlikable as a protagonist. While many things happen to her, she barely reacts to them. The premise promised me a strong character out for revenge, and yet the majority of the story barely delivers on this, instead giving us an unlikable lead with an immediate hatred for those around her - especially shown by her strained relationship with her stepson. She does get less tiresome as the story develops, but a satisfying ending does not make up for the rest of the novel.

Even the Goodreads community seems divided on this one, with many glowing reviews and many less impressed one too. For me, this was a tumultuous read and I found myself unable to be entertained due to a lack of character to root for. Bera didn't quite hook my interest, and I didn't think the world-building was enough to immerse me into the story. However, other reviewers seem to enjoy the character shift in Bera as well as the unusual setting. With such mixed reviews, I would recommend checking out the book for yourself to see if it might be your cup of tea. Released earlier this year, there still remains to be a general readership consensus, but I hope that you may find it more enjoyable than I did.

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Two Stars

◆ Thanks to Unbound for this proof copy for review ◆

A fantasy adventure following a Viking protagonist was an intriguing prospect filled with a lot of potential. Which, as so many books end up being, wasn't used as well as it could have been. The downfall for The Book of Bera for me was that it was trying to be something it wasn't, and missed its mark as a result. Unfortunately, I didn't reach the end of this book, but I reached my 100-page limit for giving books a try.

I'm quite frustrated with this book in general because it could've been so good and enjoyable had the story been allowed to play out naturally. It is, by nature, quite an exciting adventure story, and Wilde's endearing writing makes it feel childish - and childish should in no way be a criticism as long as it's used properly. The problem that I found was that Wilde was determined to push darker issues to make a point about the tone she wanted, but that tone didn't fit the story I was reading. Had I not come across a rape scene (which I wasn't completely happy with, let alone with of the lack of sensitivity on it involving a child) I would've been happy calling this a kids book whether it was aimed at young adults or not. I think it's a bit of a shame because addressing those issues doesn't really have any wider significance, and meant that Wilde couldn't follow what I felt was the naturally adventurous side of the story.
Following on from that, I so desperately wanted the fantasy element to be pushed more. Is it fantasy? Is it magical realism? It wasn't particularly clear because it wasn't at the forefront of the narrative, which I personally think it should have been. We get a lot of daily Viking activities but I wanted to know about the folklore and traditions as well - but the extent of that was pretty much the skerns talking to Bera. Which was great, if a little sparse through the story. Wilde seemed to focus on other things and didn't let the part of the book that felt more unique pay off.

The Book of Bera throws you into the story pretty quickly, and things escalate almost immediately. Almost too fast since events don't feel like they flow into one another - they more follow one another in unrelated bursts and poor Bera is battered around in the meantime. While I felt some sympathy for our protagonist (when she wasn't annoying me) I got very frustrated at the book expecting me to get emotional over characters and things that have been given no development. One of the keys events that kicks off this book is the death of someone close to Bera, but it happens with so little build up - of both tension and character development - that when I was expected to mourn I just sort of shook my head. This happened a couple of times in the amount I read of this book and it started to get on my nerves that the story was depending on your emotional reactions to things that had no emotional effort behind them.
What interested me about this book was the opportunity to learn about Viking culture and see that utilised in a story. I've never read anything like that before and I think the reason why a lot of people are looking at it is because of that very point. The folklore element, as I've already discussed, feels like it's glossed over, but the everyday culture itself is an integral part of the story. Which is wonderful - if I knew what all these words and references meant. As a reader, I felt thrown into the deep end of the world without any explanation or background. I didn't felt like I was given a chance to understand the verbiage before it was being used as a big part of the story, so I started missing key points pretty quickly. This is probably a big reason as to why I couldn't follow this book through to the end and is a real shame because it was what I was so intrigued by that ended up losing me.

There aren't a great deal of characters we're encouraged to attach to in this book (apart from the ones we know for two seconds), so ultimately our whole engagement with the story lies heavily on Bera's shoulders. This could've been great in getting across that idea of loneliness but power in independence. Could've been. Now I can't claim to know what Bera is like at the end of the book, but from what I read she played a very passive part in the story. I appreciate that she's a child and doesn't understand a lot of the horrible things that are happening a lot of the time but a) it isn't the most engaging perspective to read from and b) it doesn't mean the bad things that do happen can just be dismissed because she can't understand them. Now, to be fair, I've read far worst protagonists, but it just drew me back to the idea that Wilde was trying to push in a direction the story didn't want to go in, to the point where it was disjointed.

There's nothing wrong with a fun fantasy adventure exploring a culture, but The Book of Bera felt like it was trying too hard to push itself into a tone it wasn't meant for. Writing this for children and exaggerating the magic and adventure could've made it a very good book, but for me the off-tone story that didn't properly delve into the Viking culture led by a passive character didn't retain my interest.

[USOM · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I didin't finish this for a few reasons.
-I could not connect with the main character, like barely at all
-I think this is related to the first, but there was a lack of introspection that made it difficult to know what she felt or what her thoughts were
-There was a lack of a real hook
-I wasn't sure the direction this was going in

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[Barbara Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like some of the other readers, it took me a while to really warm to Bera, the main character, but Wilde's fantasy Viking world is so compelling and consistent with itself that this will be a book that lingers in the memory for a long time. You know when you stay up well into the small hours on a work night to finish a book because you simply have to? That.

[the Kent cryptid · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Book of Bera is mostly memorable for featuring the most loathsome protagonist I've come across in 30 years of avid reading. It's true that the titular Bera is having a tough time; her best friend Bjorn has just been killed, her Valla (witch) powers are unreliable, her skern (sentient soul spirit) is downright useless, and she's been sold off in marriage to the leader of a hostile neighbouring village, who's also the best friend of Bjorn's murderer. There are threats all around from disease, Drorghers (zombies) and the ominous Serpent King. Bera must try and find a way to adjust to her new life, seek revenge for her friend's death, and save the village from a threat only she can perceive.

Unfortunately, she's hampered in this by being a massive dick.

Reading this book involves enormous dissonance because we're meant to essentially sympathise with Bera as the lead character and sole narrator, but everything she does is childish, pathetic, and repellent. She uses physical violence towards a young boy who's in her care. She has temper tantrums when she doesn't get her own way. She's riven with jealousy and can't stand anyone other than herself getting any attention or affection. Her grand plan to get revenge involves openly asking the village smith for a sword which she doesn't know how to use so she can go murder the village leader's best friend, and then she's surprised when this doesn't pay off.

Her second grand plan is to poison him and hope the poisoning gets blamed on one of the household slaves. She has no thought of the probable consequences for the slaves. She describes them thus, 'the thralls quickly became unthreatening tools, like boat parts.' She discovers that zombies are lurking around the village and inexplicably doesn't tell anyone about the danger. Her third grand plan is hide in a toilet for a while waiting to commit murder, until she gets bored.

She's sour and mercurial. She's horrifically cruel and unkind to an older woman who was her mother's friend, for no other reason than the other woman is a bit fussy. She develops an instant hatred for Asa, the wife of a man she has a bit of a crush on. These are her thoughts the first time they meet (Asa has literally done nothing other than walk through the door and begin breastfeeding her baby.)

Bera hated the woman's smugness and the way she took a breast out so that everyone could marvel at how much milk she had. Well, so did house cows.

Yes, she's that awful, and I just had to spend 320 pages inside her head. She's not even really redeemed by the end, although she does eventually stop slapping her stepson in the face and decide that she cares about him.

In addition, the story features a genderqueer character whose characterisation and depiction is somewhat less than progressive. They're shown as being extremely emotionally damaged and, although they say they don't feel either male or female and don't want to wear women's clothes, Bera makes them put on a dress, because she's Bera.

The plotting throughout is tension-free. At one point Bera is locked in a rapidly flooding cellar with a zombie; there's no real sense of danger and the situation is easily resolved in three pages. What should be a massive emotional revelation about the former identity of the zombie is also completely thrown away.

The book only really comes alive in fleeting moments when it's describing the sea, nature and animals (for whom Bera has much more affection than the humans in the story.)

It was a howling night of total darkness. Wave-cloaked monsters swarmed invisibly towards their tiny vessel. At the last, there would be a crackle of white foam and the sea beasts could be seen for an instant, gnashing at the hull or sweeping them off course with glowing claws. The boat shivered with each assault.

Finally, the formatting of this eARC is a mess. Different characters' dialogue is smushed together in the same paragraph and then there are paragraph breaks where there shouldn't be. It made for a frustrating reading experience and will hopefully be urgently sorted out if this is going to be published as an ebook.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edible, carve out a chunk of time if you can to immerse yourself in Bera’s world. You race through the story, yet are caught in the emotional and psychological inner world of Bera, entangled in her thought processes. By the end, when you emerge, the world feels changed.

[Sam Law · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first Viking fantasy book I’ve ever read. I’d like to think I have a good grasp of the mythology, and have read a few Viking historical non-fiction books, so this was a little leap into the unknown.

Summary:

Bera is a young girl, whose seer mother died when she was young. She has inherited some of her gifts, as well as an obsidian necklace. Her dad has an issue with her that she can’t fathom.  She is the only one who can defend against the undead (Drorghers). In pursuit of a narwhal bone, which is a powerful weapon against them, her inability to control her powers gets her best friend Bjorn killed, and she swears revenge. Upon returning to the village, She is then forced into an arranged marriage with the jarl (leader) of a faraway clan, who second-in-command is Bjorn’s murderer. where she becomes aware of, and has to defeat, a threat which only she can see. She also has to adapt to becoming a wife and step-mother, while scheming to kill her enemy.

Main Characters:

Bera – self-absorbed, surly, childish, and irrational to the point of farce. Easily the least likeable protagonist I’ve ever come across.

Hefnir – the husband. He starts off all knowledgeable, a real leader, but degenerates into a drunken cowardly lout. It’s hard to see the qualities of an Ivar the Boneless (see Viking Britain review), and how he continues to lead a village.

The Serpent King: He is the leader of a war-band (?) that threatens Bera’s new home, and to whom her husband is indebted. He is very lecherous, and tries to rape Bera. He aims to destroy Hefnir, for reasons discovered at the end.

Thorvald: Hefnir’s second-in-command, he kills Bjorn early on and his relationship with Bera is fraught, until the latter chapters when she realises he is more of a leader than her husband, and he reveals the truth behind how Heggi’s mother dies.

Minor Characters:

Heggi: Hefnir’s son, initially hostile to Bera, but really a lost and confused boy who misses his own mother.

Dellingr: The local (married) blacksmith, on whom Bera develops a girlish crush.

A skern: Bera’s personal guardian angel, and as much use as a chocolate teacup)

What I Liked:

The premise was very good.
The ending was interesting.

What I Didn’t Like:

Almost everything.
The novel did not deliver on its premise.
Bera was inconsistent as a character, and extremely irritating. I just could not sympathise or empathise with her or her situation. She doesn’t tell anyone about the Drorgher that infest her new village. She’s extremely mean to an older woman, for apparently no reason. She takes an instant dislike to her stepson, and again treats him disgracefully. She treated Bjorn appallingly, but eulogised him after his death. She vacillates between an immature childish mentality, to emerging womanhood.

Overall:
I was really hoping for a feisty warrior queen to emerge. Instead, I got a weak, miserable, tiresome child, who relies on others to feel validated. It is difficult to see how a Viking tribe would follow this woman to the edge of town, let alone to remote islands to get away from the Serpent King.

The story does clip along, and has a good cast of supporting characters. However, Bera was the reason it took me so long to finish, and I won’t be back for more.

[Amorina Carlton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad I grabbed this one because I loved it! And I think I realized that I do much better with fantasy when I listen instead of read. Possibly the level of complexity somehow works better with listening. Who knows!

I adored Bera! Maybe not from the first page, but her character growth and arc are amazing. I can’t wait for the next book to see her grow even more. She’s pretty kick-ass from the beginning, but the Bera at the end of the book is a force to be reckoned with and I was here for it. She is an amazing character, and she alone is enough to recommend this book. But, of course, there are other things that make the book stand out.

Like any great heroine, Bera isn’t perfect. She is vengeful, she makes bad decisions, and she is on occasion unkind. But she does learn from her mistakes. The relationships she builds in this book, as well as the ones she has in her memories and recalls throughout the book, are strong and beautiful. She builds a found family that stands behind her when she needs them and helps her achieve her full potential, and then some probably.

Without giving anything away, the complexity of some of the characters is just mind-blowing. The growth, as well as the revelations of just how beautifully complex they were all along, is just wonderful. Twists that reveal things Bera didn’t know, and thus we didn’t know, made the book purely brilliant.

This beautifully complex and magical world seems well-researched. I believe it is an alternate reality/fantasy version of history, but it could very well be based on the religions and beliefs of historical people. I really couldn’t tell you. Either way, the setting seems rather accurate to a world during a similar time period. The author painted a rich tapestry of tradition and culture, even within a somewhat primitive environment. It is sometimes easy for us to imagine that because people didn’t have the same technologies or advancement they were somehow less cultured, and in some ways these people were. But this book showed clearly how they loved, celebrated, fought, and hurt, just like we do today.

Like so many young girls in a fantasy setting, the main character is strong beyond what is expected of her. She is sold in marriage as property, but the outcome is amazing. She is fierce and strong. These are the kind of characters that I want my daughter to read about, the sort of strong examples our daughters need in the world of literature. I am so excited to have read this book, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

The audiobook was an amazing experience. The author narrated it herself, and I always enjoy that. I believe that the author knows better than anyone how the characters are meant to express their thoughts and such. It was especially nice that the author has experience with podcasts so she was expressive and narrated beautifully.

Who’s It For?
If you like Vikings, you’ll love this book. Also, if you love strong female characters and strong familial, especially found family, stories, this is the book for you. The main character is a young woman, but I don’t think this is a young adult novel. While I would love for my daughter to see Bera’s strength, there are quite a few situations within the pages that seem inappropriate for a child/young adult.

Content Warning: Adult Situations, Adult Language, Violence, Graphic Death, Kidnapping, Slavery, Child Abuse

[Siobhain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a copy to review for a book tour. My reviews are always honest and all opinions are my own. #TheBookOfBera #SuzieWilde #LoveBookTours #BookTourReview #Thriller #LBTCrew #BookReview #gifted #ad

I should start this by saying that the Vikings, including what little we know of their mythology, legends and mysticism is something that has interested me for years. It is tied with my love of Ancient Egypt, Cryptozoology and Dinosaurs, an interesting mix I know! So I was more than a little excited to be accepted on the tour for this book.

The Book of Bera focuses on the character of the same name. She is born and raised in a coastal village she is the daughter of a Valla, a powerful seeker, but unfortunately her mother died when she was still young leaving Bera alone and with no one to guide her to use her gift. Despite being unable to control her gifts she does try to use them for the best of her village. Unfortunately her inability to use it properly leads to the death of a childhood friend at the hands of a rival clan. Her plan for revenge is put on hold when she learns her father has arranged a marriage with the murderous enemy’s chief.

Planning to use this terrible fate to exact her revenge her powers begin to grow stronger and her visions show nothing but disaster. Bera is faced with the choice of either getting her revenge or leading her people to safety before it is too late.

Now as I said above I love Norse and Viking history and while I went into this book with high expectations. I do actually have to say I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. It did have elements of the historical Vikings in there but some parts were just so jarring. Some of our modern words were indeed inspired by the Norsemen and while I understand that it would be silly to write using all old style words I found some of the mannerisms and words used by the characters completely jarring to the supposed Viking setting. It broke my immersion when they spoke as people would in modern day and used mannerism you’d find today. I also found some of the characters were rather flat in characterisation and motivation. While not every character needs to be interesting and fully fleshed out I did find that I wasn’t really able to find much to like about any of them. The plot was fast paced and did keep me interested with sprinklings of historical and mythology in there but again it did feel a little lacking. I am aware this may be more on myself for expecting more and being an avid fan of the time period.

I still give it a solid 3.5 stars which I have rounded up to four. It is by no means a bad book but just missed a few boxes for me as a reader. If someone is a little less well versed with Viking culture and can ignore the use of modern language/mannerisms that were very likely not used in the period it would no doubt be an easy five star but for me it just falls a little short.

[Alisa Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What has a bad beginning will have a bad ending."

I understand that nowadays myths and legends, as they came from our past, are not in our favor. But there were times we've explored them more we ever thought we could. Especially for me, as it was my first introduction to fantasy and fiction. Even now we don't realize how important they are because their influence has made us what we are. Myths are not just fairy tales from our past, but they are our history with more heroic narration.

While I was reading "The Book of Bera" I felt like I was ushered with a kind of legend but in modern-day storytelling. Suzie Wilde created an extraordinary modern myth. She surrounded the reader with the world fulfilled with traditions of Vikings, complicated relations inside the community and intriguing secrets. She invented the false leader, offbeat hero, and villain-with-honor, to keep the reader in suspense and don't let go reader's attention. Of course, as every fiction story, this one includes a little bit of magic.

Bera (MC) is a young but very confident and willful girl. She inherited magical Valla skills from her ancestors, as seeing pictures of future and getting wise advice from her skern (twin-soul). Due to her age, inexperience and, let's call this, juvenile maximalism, she has no control over her powers. This leads to tragic consequences resulting in her best friend's death. To punish Bera and to pay blood depth, as it is a tradition of their society, her father marries her to a stranger, whose Second self-turns out Bera's best friend's killer.

“My love will last until I'm old
And even dead it won't grow cold.”
Fragment of song

If you think you know who's gonna hate who, you're mistaken. Relations between characters change very fast, so there is no strict line between trust and confrontation. In this book enemies become friends, and lovers turn out the killers, so, it's up to a reader, to leave the story ambiguous or think through own opinion.

It was my delight to watch how Bera-girl has grown up into a Bera-woman and how her skills have increased as a result of difficult decisions, and how the consequences of her decisions influenced Bera.

“She felt excluded, unappreciated and unloved. Never had been loved.”

Suzie Wilde created complicated and strong characters; exciting, but cruel, plot; and, with the grace of an artist, she intertwined fates of the characters, so the story has justified my expectations.

Nice to know that this book was funded directly by readers, and it received significant support from them, and now it has my support too.

[Sonja Charters · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in The Book of Bera series and what a great opener for this new fantasy trilogy.

We follow Bera, the young daughter of Valla, the Vikings' most powerful seer - who died when Bera was young. Taking after her mother, Bera now has to come to terms with having such powers and having nobody around to help teach and support her.

Bera lives in a small coastal town and the descriptive writing transports us beautifully to this stark and icy setting. This fits my vision of the Viking life perfectly.

Whilst still honing her powers, Bera's friend is killed by a rival clan and she vows to seek revenge, but as she begins to get clearer visions, all she sees is the destruction of her village and has to make the difficult decision of whether to save her people or follow her need for vengeance.

I really felt for Bera. Losing her mother and her friend, dealing with so much grief, discovering her abilities and then finding out that her father had arranged a marriage for her too. It was a lot to deal with already.
But then to learn to live in a new place with those very rivals, a new husband and step-son and trying to fit into the family and the village.

Bera developed so much and it was great to see her grow from the young girl she was at the start to a young woman, mother, friend and developing seer helping to save her people.
I can't wait to see how she develops over the rest of the series and can already feel that she is going to be a super strong character and inspiration.

I absolutely love mythology but haven't started delving into the Viking myths yet (although I do know some snippets) and so I found this fascinating. There was so much detail in here that it's totally whetted my appetite and I can't wait to explore more.

I loved Suzie's writing style and I was completely immersed from the beginning. I've been so lucky to be able to get spots on the tours for all 3 books in this series and I'm already obsessed and ready to dive into book 2 ....


**I also listened to this on audio book.

It was amazing to listen to this again and narrated by the author herself really adds a new dimension to the story.

The emotions and intonations during speech being exactly as they were meant when written which also allows you to see more into the characters personality and the way their mind is working at the time.

[The Difference Engine · Rating 4 out of 5]

🇬🇧📚 Book Review 📚🇬🇧

Thank you for my ARC 😍

#️⃣ 2023 Books Read: 31
🌟 Rating: 📓📙📘📓(4/5⭐)
🔲 Book Title: THE BOOK of BERA I Sea Paths
🖋️ Author: Suzie Wilde  @suziewilde 
🎭 Genre: Fantasy
📖 Pages: 320
🖨 Publisher: Unbound @unbounders
📖 Format: 🎧 audiobook
📢 Tour: @lovebookstours @lbt.crew
📅 Tour Dates: 31st July - 8th August 2023
📅 Review date:  1st August 2023
Please excuse the delayed posting,  this is no reflection on the book or the tour company

#LBTCrew #lovebooktours
.
#bookstagram #bookblog #bookreview #ukbookblog #ukbookstagram #bookworm #readersofinstagram #booktour #lovebooks #lovereading #2023books #bookstoread #bookstoread #BookTourReview #ad #adpr #blogtour #TDEPReviews

💻📖🎧 Book format & quality 💻📖🎧
Audiobook through Audible. Great narration and ready to follow.  Easy to dip in and out of,  although I binge listened in two sittings.

✒️ Details 📉
I really enjoyed hearing Bera's story.  The trials and tribulations,  the challenges she faced and overcome.  How she is trying to understand the person she is and wants to be.  Forced in to a life unexpected and trying to understand how she fits in and what she should do. It's interesting to see her powers develop and how mishaps along the way affect her future.

📖 Read more 📖
Absolutely,  I want to know what happens next.

🤓 Author Synopsis 🤓
Born and raised in a stark, coastal village on the shore of the Ice-Rimmed Sea, Bera is the daughter of a Valla, the Vikings’ most powerful seers. But her mother died when she was young, leaving Bera alone with her gift, unable to control her feckless twin spirit or understand her visions of the future.


When this inability leads to the death of her childhood friend at the hands of a rival clan, Bera vows revenge. And learning that her father has sold her into marriage with the murderous enemy’s chieftain, she is presented with an opportunity even sooner than she had hoped...

As her powers grow stronger, her visions of looming disaster become more and more ominous until she is faced with the ultimate choice: will she exact vengeance? Or can she lead her people to safety before it’s too late?


🛒🛍️ Buy Links 🛒🛍️
https://amzn.to/410goTu

[Julia Lee Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been aware of this book for a long time, being acquainted with the writer and being among those listed as supporters at the back of the book. However, if you think that means I’m giving a good review out of bias, please think again. No amount of “we’re all in this together” makes writers hand out five-star reviews to other writers. We’re just too insecure (we can’t all be the next Victor Hugo, for goodness sake!)

I am giving this book five stars simply because it started well and got better and better. The characters are well drawn and believable, the story is interesting and then darkens enticingly. The threat is there from the start; the book opens with a death and follows almost immediately with a murder, and then there’s the Droghers. No novelist-created being has held me in so much dread since Tolkein’s Dark Riders and yet, even here there’s pathos. They were human once.

The characters, and our understanding of them, develops with the story. Bera is not immediately likable; at first she’s all sharp edges and her behaviour towards her step-son is as spiteful and petty as his towards her. At first it’s off-putting but then realisation dawns; of course, she is a child herself. Bera is an unloved and insecure child, grief-stricken from the loss of her friend and then forced into a situation not of her choosing. Her conduct towards her step-son and her behaviour in general noticeably improves as she grows into maturity and confidence in her own powers.

However, for me the strongest part of Wilde’s writing, where her talent truly takes flight, is in her descriptive writing. The passages at sea, in particular, are exquisite and terrifying by turns. And this is a book of turns; in a world of skerns and Droghers nothing is quite as it seems and, by the end, I loved a character I hadn’t even liked at the beginning.

Wonderful stuff. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

[Jessica Juby | jesshidesinbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a coming of age story where Bera is forced to grow up pretty quickly when control over her life is taken out of her hands. Bera is ripped from life as she knows it. She’s forced into a relationship she doesn’t want, which escalates to taking on responsibilities she didn’t want either, ultimately because the men in her community make the decisions. Using her Valla power, she tries to show that she deserves respect and is capable of making her own decisions. Throughout, she shows her immaturity and naivety but slowly develops in her new role towards the end of the story. I really resonated with her as she struggles with questions that only her mother can answer, but without her mother around to guide her and teach her, she’s left floundering in the dark.

The fantasy element of ‘skerns’ reminded me of dæmons from His Dark Materials, with a few exceptions, including that only those with the gift can see them and commune with them, and those without them are reunited with them ahead of death. The Nordic vibes are easily convened by the descriptions of the environment and give a really immersive experience. There was something cosy about the chill emanating from the pages that compelled me to read.

This is #1 of a trilogy but it could be read as a standalone. I made the mistake of checking the front matter in the next books, because #3 has a great list of definitions and I accidentally clocked the first line of narrative which was a huge spoiler 🙈 so don’t make the same mistake as me and be too eager! 😂

I’m hooked by Bera’s adventures and looking forward to progressing.

[Ewan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that's been on my to-read pile for some time. I can say it has been worth the wait. Suzie Wilde evokes a harsh and bitter Viking world as visceral and believable as that of the popular TV series The Vikings. The mythology and beliefs are woven through the book using authentic vocabulary without rendering the book impenetrable. Indeed, it is in the choice of keeping the dialogue modern in the main that keeps the story rattling along like a ship with a strong following wind. Some might argue that the use of some words like "bint"* is an anachronism too far, however my own opinion is that if we don't allow some leeway, the author may as well write in Old Norse. Who can read that apart from a few scholars? Not me.

"Sea Paths" wears its research lightly and any turgid exposition is evaded by believable dialogue between characters showing the reader this very different world and time. Some of the description of the sea voyages is deliciously pellucid. The drama and peril escape the page and into the imagination in vivid style.


Bera herself is a teenager becoming a woman and though you may wish to give her a good shaking from time-to-time (I'm told teenagers can provoke this reaction) her journey to acceptance of herself and her Valla† powers is an entirely believable one.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Wilde's book and am looking forward to reading the sequel "Obsidian" .

Highly recommended.

∗bint Arabic loan word made popular from 19th Century onwards by returning soldiers who had served in the Middle East
†Valla Viking seer

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting cultural inaccuracies, or a reliance on 'biker gang viking' tropes, to be the thing that ruined my enjoyment of this, but the writing style was what did it for me in the end.

This is...chaotic, at best. More often than not I just lost track of what the hell was going on. Scenes bounced around without much basic description to help the reader keep track of what people are doing. I had to reread the actual scene where Bera learns she's being sent off for marriage at least twice just to figure out what was going on. Once I got used to it, it became easier to keep track of things but it still never felt entirely complete. I always had the feeling that parts of the text and story were missing until the last third when things became more concrete.

Which meant that I never really understood who any of the characters were. Bera as the main focus is reduced to one single drive for vengeance even when it's obviously stupid, and in doing so it felt like we lost any insight into the culture/people around her. I don't mind selfish characters, but this bordered on the ridiculous and detrimental to the narrative. I found I had to fill in the blanks with what I thought the others were like.

All that said, the writing style is very quick and drove the story along rather well, the action was well described, and I really liked the moments we got to explore Bera's valla nature. If you like more literary writing styles that focus on emotion rather than action or plot, then I think this might be one you enjoy more than me.

[Geoffrey Gudgion · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sold on this by the back cover, which led me to think it was historical fiction about the Viking era. I was initially thrown to find it was historical fantasy, but read on and was hooked. The world Wilde paints so vividly is Viking-like; a coastal, seafaring community, but with differences that add to the story once the reader is past the initial disconnect. The heroine, Bera, is a 'Valla', a seeress and healer akin to a Norse Völva, who she is both guided and irritated by her spirit guide, a 'stern'. Bera is a child-woman sold into marriage by her father to the head of a neighbouring tribe, just after he new husband's right hand man kills her childhood friend. That triangular tension is woven throughout the book.

Wilde's writing style is vivid and polished, drawing you into the moment. I would have liked more of that lyrical description; there are moments when the dialogue leaves the reader to infer feelings that could be explicitly stated, but it's a great debut. It is also very much the first episode in a series, with an ending that sets up the sequel rather than fully resolving the plot, but it's done so well that I reached immediately for the next book, Obsidian.

Bera's age in Sea Paths probably puts this more into the Young Adult segment, but I sense her character arc is going to develop. I look forward to following her adventures.

[Dana Busenbark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who is Bera? Why is she summoned? Who has summoned her? What is the time frame and location that this story takes place in? What is a skern? Who are what are the Drorghers? Who are Hefnir, Thorvald, and Heggis? When Hefnir takes Bera with him, they meet Egill. Who is Egill? Where does this person live? What is so special about Egill's black bowl? Where did it come from? How did Egill get it? Who is the Serpent King? Is he truly as bad as we are made to believe he is? When the boats try to leave their settlement, what happens? Where are they trying to get to? Do they reach their destination? Read and see what happens on the journey.

RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.

[Robyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the audio book! Sea Paths is narrated by Suzie Wilde herself and this review is going to focus mostly on the narration itself, as it is an audio book!

Suzie has a beautiful voice and listening to her narrate Sea Paths is most soothing while she’s describing the scene and setting the stage for our characters. I could listen to her talk all day.

I personally do not like how Bera sounds during her narrative portrayals and I don’t prefer female voices reading male character parts. When Suzie speaks as Bera, she sounds like young, spoiled, and immature and it made me cringe and dislike Bera.

The book and story itself is well written and if you enjoy Viking tales, this will be up your alley. The language is easy to understand as Suzie narrates, and you can imagine yourself as part of the story.

[Nick Sayce · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never have I read a book with a protagonist who have I so quickly grown to dislike. Bera is like a selfish spoiled child on one hand, and a grown spiteful woman on the other. It is almost like her character flips from one persona to the next, yet neither persona is one I want to spend any time with.

She bemoans that her father hates her, but if I am honest I don’t blame him. She quips and moans about her husband and how he treats her, yet treats her step son like crap.

Add to this the fact the prose just doesn’t scan right. No tension, no depth. It reads like a script from a play that was pasted into ChatGpt with the instructions to turn it onto a book.

The setting has the potential to be something new and special, unfortunately the characters make we want to bury my kindle in the garden and never read again.

[Kimberly]

0/5 stars

I could not finish this book. I do not believe I even made it past 5%. From page one the writing seemed odd. Although a little clunky, the introductory chapter was intriguing. But, after that chapter, the writing became horrible. There was no development or world building. The story itself was silly and unbelievable and the characters one-dimensional.

I was so excited to see a fantasy book about vikings, but I was sorely disappointed. These characters are not vikings! It's like the author did no research on vikings and Scandinavia. Yes, this is a YA novel, but that is still no excuse for inaccurate naming conventions and language usage.

Thank you to Unbound for providing an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Gemma Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book I didn’t like the main character of Bera very much. I thought she was childish, selfish and quick tempered. I wondered how I would enjoy a series where I couldn’t warm to the main character.

But then as the novel progressed my feelings began to change. Bera is a child at the beginning of this story. A child with rare and unique powers and no one to help her or guide her to control them. People don’t listen to her or respect her and this causes her to lash out. Once I started to understand Bera a bit more I really started to enjoy the story and the world that Suzie Wilde creates. I can’t wait to read book two and see what happens next.

I received a gifted copy of this novel. This review is my honest opinion and written voluntarily.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

The author does a great job developing the rough, primitive setting of the book. I could almost feel the cold seeping into my bones as I read. I'm not quite half-way through the book. Bera is a determined woman that was hard for me to warm up to. But maybe that's the point. She's cold, calculating and is on a mission. So far, the men in the book are despicable, but perhaps one of them is redeemed as the book progresses. If you like fantasy mixed with historical fiction this is for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Love Books Tours. All opinions are my own.

[Naturalbri (Bri Wignall) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series, and as soon as I saw it had an audiobook coming out I made sure to get it, as I hoped the listening would live up to the excellent story. I was definitely not let down, as the narrating was absolutely brilliant. I felt it added a certain flow to the story. I also thought it felt realistic to the times, as the Vikings will have enjoyed spoken stories and myths to entertain them and their lives.
I still love Bera and her strength and honour. She does what she believes and hopes is best for her clan and the memory of her friend. She has a courage that is brilliant and worth reading about, especially as the series progresses.
I highly recommend listening to this lovely book and enjoying all the excellent details.

[Booktalk · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is flat which makes reading a struggle. On top of that it is hard to connect with the main character, she’s not the nicest person around to say it nicely. I was wondering which group the writer is aiming at. Young adults? The story is to violent and dark for that. Adults? The writing is to childish. I really do not know!

Things happen after each other instead of flowing into each other. Although the idea behind the story is great Wilde failed to make a great story out of it, the writing style and the choice to make it dark and the main character unlikable.

There’s worse books around but not a lot, sorry to say.