The Hunger of the Gods is an emotionally and action packed story that will leave you on the edge of your seat wanting more.

The Hunger of the Gods picks right up where The Shadow of the Gods ended and I am grateful for that because I was left a crying mess at the end of the first book. And you know what? Gwynne was like, "I know I made you cry at the end of the first book, but I am also going to make you cry at the beginning of this one" because that is what happened to me. First chapter into this book and I was being flooded with memories of Mord, and Lif was breaking my heart and yah I was crying. I have never read a book that made me cry in the first chapter and from that point I KNEW this was going to be amazing. One of the bits I loved bout this book was that Gwynne added in a "What Happened Last" synopsis, a character list, and a pronunciation guide for the Norse letters, and this was such a brilliant addition! Adding the pronunciations made it so much easier for me to immerse myself in the language. I was properly pronouncing names in my head, and reading the Seðior-Witch spells was a million times easier, and I found myself not willingly skipping over them like I was in the first book, although a few of the longer ones I will admit to just looking at them and not trying to read them, I give Gwynne all the credit for really committing to creating the spells.

Now as for the structure of this installment we are not only blessed with our returning POV characters Orka, Varg and Elvar, we are given 2 new ones Biórr and Guðvarr. I'll admit I was initially not looking forward to seeing that they had chapters as frankly they were not two characters I was to happy with, but Gwynne proved to me that their povs actually helped give more depth to the overall story. Being able to see what was going on through the lens of the villains side was actually quite intriguing. It also allowed for us to see first hand the plans unfold with Lik-Rifa and her followers. Without them that just wouldn't have been possible.

Now while Guðvarr is not my favorite character I actually found myself enjoying his chapters a lot, and its due to the approach that Gwynne took. The internal monologue that this man had going on was hilarious! He is the literal definition of a coward, who thinks he is a warrior but also knows deep down that he is not a warrior. His constant "stick it to them attitude" in his head is far different from what he continuously shows on the outside, that it is hilarious. I found myself laughing way more then was probably necessary in his chapters. I still want him dead, but he at least brings a lot of laughter to the table. Meanwhile Biórr's pov was honestly the ones I looked forward to the least, he spends a lot of time dwelling on his past and his actions and frankly I don't feel any remorse for this man, he betrayed people and I am not here to give him my sympathy. But what I did like with his chapters was that it allowed us access to the children and to see Lik-Rifa's plans first hand. It also allowed for more opportunity to learn more about Lik-Rifa herself and her past.

The action in this is top notch again and towards the end when the action really starts to pick up, more often than not I was sitting there freaking out, hoping and praying someone wasn't going to die, and just when I thought I was safe and everyone was good, Gwynne turned around and RIPPED them from my hands and left me devastated and crying. I had not realized how over the course of this book the small interactions between all the characters really carved their way into my heart (in Orka and Vargs portions of the story mind you, I am extremely attached to all of them....and Grend) So I was very devastated during the final parts of this book. No one is safe and I know I will be crying more come the 3rd book. There is a lot of traveling in this story but I feel it was necessary since everyone is on the move, either hunting someone down or making way to start a war, and so for me I didn't mind the traveling. There is also a lot of low moments where we get to see certain characters get more training (Lif my darling boy), we get some softer character moments that clearly point to deeper feelings forming (so sweet) and we learn more about Orka's past and let me just say, she has always had that mother bear trait and I am living for it. There are also countless moments that left me dazed and shocked, expecially at the end, things were happening that I was not even dreaming would happen and then I was left with the biggest cliffhanger possible and I don't know what to do with myself now.

One of the biggest aspects of this story that is hitting me deeply is the attention to mothers. Gwynne is really digging deep into this part of the story and seeing as mothers usually get shafted in fantasy stories this is just everything I could want. And it's not just him giving us Orka the strong battle mother who will kill literally anyone who gets in her way, or Uspa the Seðior-Witch who will literally tie a group by a blóð-svario to get her boy back, its the way that some of the children act as well in regards to their moms. Take this small interaction between Bjarn and another character

"I want to go back with my momma," he said, a fat tear rolling down his cheek.
"She cannot protect you like we can"
"But, she is my mama"

This small interaction ripped into my heart and had me sobbing. Not because I feared for this boy but because for me this scene portrayed how in his mind no matter the situation, his mama is his protector and he is safest with her, and I have never seen a mother in fantasy treated like this. And maybe it's because I'm a mom myself and I want nothing more than to not be treated as an annoying side character who gets forgotten or dies, that all of this attention that Gwynne is putting on the mothers in this story is hitting me deeper than it might be for others, but I love the care and detail he puts into it and I look forward to seeing more in the next book.

Another aspect that I love seeing is the inspiration that flows through the story. As a fan of Norse mythology myself I can see where the gods have inspired certain gods in this world, and it's thrilling to see how Gwynne pulls from real sources but reimagnes them in a whole new way. The myths, legends and gods he has created in his world are so intriguing and I want more. He expands on what he had already given us in the first book and I am living for it, there are so many gods and once again I absolutely love how their skeletons play into the world around them, but what I love most is that Gwynne expands his myth creations beyond Vigrid and I want all the details now!

I am once again flabbergasted at Gwynne's writing and was thoroughly pleased with this installment. I am so looking forward to the 3rd book!