The Second Blind Son by Amy Harmon

Kind of nitpicky moment here, but I think the name of the book failed this series big time. He's not the second son, nor is this really a sequel. The timeline takes place concurrently to The First Girl Child. This is definitely a companion novel. Both could be read completely independently or enjoyed together for a fuller view of the world Amy Harmon created. For round two, the author was inspired by the rather stark Viking myth of Hod and Bayr. She fleshed it out and created her own world for the myth to develop. 

Because this shares the same timeline as The First Girl Child, there are several scenes lifted straight out and placed in The Second Blind Son word for word. Since I had just finished The First Girl Child, these repeated scenes was a little jarring.

This is another love story and gets a little racier than the first, so not a big fan of that. I liked the balance in the first novel better. But I respect that this is a different group of people with different motivations to their lives. Hod and Ghisla are broken people. I'm glad that we get to see their story. 

While the tone is much darker, the story remains one of good growth. Ghisla is a beautifully flawed character that has a lot of development to draw the story through another dozen years. There is plenty of tension and dramatic turns to keep the plot going. Very solid 4 stars. There was just some charisma missing that kept me from saying 5 stars, but I can't put my finger on it.

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