MIST by Susan Krinard

Mist
Susan Krinard

Rating: F
Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Susan Krinard launches her first urban fantasy series

Centuries ago, all was lost in the Last Battle when the Norse gods and goddesses went to war. The elves, the giants, and the gods and goddesses themselves were all destroyed, leaving the Valkyrie Mist one of the only survivors.

Or so she thought.

When a snowy winter descends upon modern-day San Francisco in June, Mist’s quiet existence starts to feel all too familiar. In quick succession, Mist is attacked by a frost giant in a public park and runs into an elf disguised as a homeless person on the streets…and then the man Mist believed was her mortal boyfriend reveals himself to be the trickster god, Loki, alive and well after all these years.

Loki has big plans for the modern world, and he’s been hanging around Mist for access to a staff that once belonged to the great god Odin. Mist is certain of one thing: Loki must be stopped if there is to be any hope for Earth. But the fight is even bigger than she knows….

Because Loki wasn’t the only god to survive.

My thoughts on the book:
I wasn't sure what to expect with Mist, but I felt like the concept was unique and was willing to give it a try. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it very much. The writing was subpar at best and terribly bland at worst. The characters are not well-developed, and come across more as cookie-cutter characters instead of real beings. The pacing is slow as molasses, and the plot is a lot more dull than the synopsis lets on. The mythology is unclear, and it seems as if the author expects her readers to be Norse experts already. I just really did not like this book at all.

Mist is a boring and unlikable character. I really didn't care what happened to her in the least. She was apparently perfect, because the way she was written, she had no faults, and she knew it. So yes, she was conceited, too, which to me is a fault, but apparently to the author that's a wonderful quality. Whatever. Gabi, the Latina character, is a bit of a racial stereotype, and I did not like that either. It's never okay to stereotype people, and any time I read a book that does that to a character, I automatically don't like it. In short, the characterization was terrible. I'm just going to stop talking about it now so that I'm not irritated about it all over again.

The plot was so boring. The mythology was correct, I guess. I'm no expert, even though it seemed that Krinard expected me to be. I had to constantly Google references. When working with an obscure branch of mythology, it's best to explain things a bit better. This also extends into the world-building (obviously), so I felt lost quite a few times. The pacing was so slow, and I had to force myself to finish this book. The only reason I did force myself to read this is because it was sent to me for a review, and I refuse to review a book that I haven't read. Also, I really did not like the writing. It was bland. Furthermore, if I had lower self-esteem, this book may have actually made me feel bad about myself because of its delusions of grandeur that tried to make me feel stupid for not being a Norse expert and/or perfect like Mist. As it stands, I just got irritated at an inanimate object for talking down to me, haha.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I didn't like it, and if it's a series, I certainly won't continue it.