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A review by sauvageloup
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
this wasn't what i'd been hoping for. basically i only picked up this whole series bc i accidentally got bk4 from the library and thought it'd be good enough to be worth reading the other three. i shouldn't have bothered >.<
pros:
- some of the turns of phrase were nice.
- it was neat to recognise some of the stories and phrasing from the Poetic Edda in there, Harris clearly drew from the "original" Old Norse.
- i liked seeing how some things that happened in Runemark and Runelight came about, the links in plot were clever.
- i guess it did a good job of making me sympathetic towards Loki. sure, he never helps himself but he's doomed from the start, victimised and trapped. Odin betrayed him first.
cons:
- it was just kind of sad. the whole time. it felt inevitable, like Maggie's story, and i hated that. i don't want an underdog who just gets trodden on all the time. Loki tries to fight back but it's pointless, he has nothing but guile and it never gets him anywhere
- i still don't like the whole loki/sigyn thing. loki gets trapped into the marriage, why should he play nice or be faithful?
- the gods were all 100% dislikeable, except for the passive ones like Idun and Hodur who did nothing to help. no wonder Loki lashed out.
- it was far too exposition-y. the parts i'd love about Loki in Runemark and Runelight were gone, it was all just storytelling. and Harris kept saying what would happen next and then 'but that's a story for another day' and it was annoying.
- OH and there was some off-colour bits i didn't like at all, like how it was taken for granted that Thor dressing up as a woman was funny and humiliating and he had every right to slaughter every man, woman and child in the hall. which was kinda disgusting. i get why Thor would've acted like that with all his toxic masculinity but Loki nor anyone else calls him on it. then there was a remark about xenophobia and how 'people who are mixed race are most sensitive' or something felt distinctly Not Okay.
just didn't click with it. i wanted it to be over while i was reading it so...
pros:
- some of the turns of phrase were nice.
- it was neat to recognise some of the stories and phrasing from the Poetic Edda in there, Harris clearly drew from the "original" Old Norse.
- i liked seeing how some things that happened in Runemark and Runelight came about, the links in plot were clever.
- i guess it did a good job of making me sympathetic towards Loki. sure, he never helps himself but he's doomed from the start, victimised and trapped. Odin betrayed him first.
cons:
- it was just kind of sad. the whole time. it felt inevitable, like Maggie's story, and i hated that. i don't want an underdog who just gets trodden on all the time. Loki tries to fight back but it's pointless, he has nothing but guile and it never gets him anywhere
- i still don't like the whole loki/sigyn thing. loki gets trapped into the marriage, why should he play nice or be faithful?
- the gods were all 100% dislikeable, except for the passive ones like Idun and Hodur who did nothing to help. no wonder Loki lashed out.
- it was far too exposition-y. the parts i'd love about Loki in Runemark and Runelight were gone, it was all just storytelling. and Harris kept saying what would happen next and then 'but that's a story for another day' and it was annoying.
- OH and there was some off-colour bits i didn't like at all, like how it was taken for granted that Thor dressing up as a woman was funny and humiliating and he had every right to slaughter every man, woman and child in the hall. which was kinda disgusting. i get why Thor would've acted like that with all his toxic masculinity but Loki nor anyone else calls him on it. then there was a remark about xenophobia and how 'people who are mixed race are most sensitive' or something felt distinctly Not Okay.
just didn't click with it. i wanted it to be over while i was reading it so...