Berserker (Berserker #1) by Emmy Layborne *ARC #Bookreview

Title: Berserker
Series: Berserker #1
Author: Emmy Layborne
Publisher: Macmillan Children's
Published Date: October 10th 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mythology, YA
Page Count:288
Format:  Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 
Are Hanne's powers a gift from the old Norse gods, or a curse?

Her brother Stieg swears their powers are a gift from the old gods, but Hanne Hemstad knows she is truly cursed. It's not Stieg's fault that their father is dead, their mother has left, and their brother Knut has been accused of a crime he didn't commit.

No, the fault lies with Hanne and her inability to control her murderous "gift"--she is a Berserker. When someone she loves is threatened, she flies into a killing state. The siblings must leave Norway for the American frontier or risk being brought to justice.

Aided by a young cowboy who agrees to be their guide, Hanne and her siblings use their powers to survive the perilous trail, where blizzards, wild animals, and vicious bounty hunters await.

Will they be able to reach their uncle, the one man Hanne believes may be able to teach her how to control her drive to kill? With Berserker, Emmy Laybourne, the author of Monument 14, presents her vision of an American west studded with Viking glory.

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 My Review:

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

Warning this book does contain violence toward both humans and some animals. 

"All the gifts besides mine make something... A Berserker kills. A Berserker takes life and crushes it out."

I'm also a part of the street team for this book so make sure to check out my other social media as well to see some exclusives.

Hanne along with her siblings (Sissel, Knut, Stieg) are Nyette meaning they have a gift or a curse that was given to their ancestors by the Norse Gods in Viking times. Hanne is known as a Berserker meaning that she will do anything to protect those she loves if she thinks they are being attacked. We have older brother Stieg who can control the weather. Younger brother Knut who is super strong and then baby sister Sissel who has yet to have the Nyette gift.
Their father also has the gift and made beautiful ships before his gift turned into a curse the older he got. As for their mother she had no idea about it until they started showing that they had gifts, and then after a horrible tragedy happened to Sissel she left because she just couldn't handle it.
This left them to fend for themselves due to their father having a drinking problem. Stieg and Hanne had to handle all of the responsibilities and tried to care for their younger siblings as best as they could. But it's now time for Stieg to go to America and he'll send for them when he has enough money to.

It all changes one night though when Hanne goes Berserker and they all must flee. This is when things got good. Not only did we see the siblings work together from this point on we also get to know more about why their ancestors were given these gifts and how they were supposed to be used.
Once they make it to America it's time to find an uncle who is supposed to be able to help them. But getting to him might just lead them all to their deaths.

"You got family and they love you,... You belong to them, and them to you. That's something worth defending, Hanne."

I have nothing but good things to say about this book. It held my interest from start to finish. By the end of it I loved all of the siblings and Owen who I was a little unsure of at first.

I'll be the first to admit I don't really know much about Mythology or anything like that. I know the basics of  Olympus, etc but anything outside of that I am completely clueless on. So this book while not only really interesting because of learning about the Norse gods and the gifts they gave their people to help them thrive. It was also interesting how it was worked into the old west and how now maybe even people here were going to start having it as well because of them immigrating away from where they were originally from.

Four siblings trying to start a new life in America.Three of them with super abilities. Two people hunting them, and one helpful cowboy this book was packed full of history and adventure.

I already want to read the next one in this series!

"It was a life so simple and so lovely she could have dreamed it for herself. Hanne would fight for it, for she meant now to live and live fully."