When We Were Vikings – Book Review

Title: When We Were Vikings

Author: Andrew David MacDonald

Number of Pages: 336 pages

Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press

Publication Date: January 28, 2020

Purchase: Thriftbooks//Amazon//Book Depository

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A heart-swelling debut for fans of The Silver Linings Playbook and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Sometimes life isn’t as simple as heroes and villains.

For Zelda, a twenty-one-year-old Viking enthusiast who lives with her older brother, Gert, life is best lived with some basic rules:

1. A smile means “thank you for doing something small that I liked.”
2. Fist bumps and dabs = respect.
3. Strange people are not appreciated in her home.
4. Tomatoes must go in the middle of the sandwich and not get the bread wet.
5. Sometimes the most important things don’t fit on lists.

But when Zelda finds out that Gert has resorted to some questionable—and dangerous—methods to make enough money to keep them afloat, Zelda decides to launch her own quest. Her mission: to be legendary. It isn’t long before Zelda finds herself in a battle that tests the reach of her heroism, her love for her brother, and the depth of her Viking strength.

When We Were Vikings is an uplifting debut about an unlikely heroine whose journey will leave you wanting to embark on a quest of your own, because after all…

We are all legends of our own making.

My Thoughts:

It took me a few chapters to fully get into and enjoy this story. The pacing and plot picked up once the story was set.

I picked this up because Zelda has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and lives her life in accordance with the rules of Vikings. How could you possibly turn that down?

Zelda is an amazing character. She lives by the code of vikings and will not hesitate to fight you if you are a villain. She uses logic to solve problems. She can admit to her mistakes and change herself. She is always learning and improving in her failures. Zelda is a unique character who will not be forgotten.

I love the relationship she has with her brother. It’s a very supportive relationship with her brother making sure they can get by and getting a guy to play a viking for Zelda’s birthday because he knew it would make her extremely happy.

It was interesting with the influence Zelda had on the other characters. There was some that were the villain but others changed for the better with her in their lives. They wanted to be better.

This is a fantastic debut with a powerful message. This book is about inner strength, finding yourself, and staying true to who you are. Zelda makes her story and that is also important for everyone to know.

I highly recommend reading this.

Have you read this? If so, what were your thoughts?

Lets talk about it in the comments.