ARC Review: Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

Warrior of the Wild
By Tricia Levenseller
Standalone
ARC: 326 pages
Feiwel Friends
Feb 26, 2019
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |5/5|
Categories: Fantasy, Mythology, Vikings
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How do you kill a god?

As her father's chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: to win back her honour, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.

**This is a Spoiler Free Review**

Tricia Levenseller's Warrior of the Wild is a highly unputdownable adventure full of badass Vikings and mythological monsters! I fell so deeply into this world that the author creates, I finished the book in less than 24 hours.

Rasmira is our main character, born and raised in a small Viking village. From the moment she declared herself a warrior at the age of 10, she faced nothing but ridicule and bullying from her peers. Her mentors provided her with conflicting behavior, giving her praise while ignoring others. Rasmira will be the ruler of her village, inheriting her father's legacy as leader. She just has to pass the warrior test. Every 18 year old in the village declares their profession and performs a test in front of everyone. She knows she is ready. She has trained for this moment for 8 years, and she couldn't be more prepared. Until the day for the trial comes and she is sabotaged.

Suddenly, everything and everyone she has ever known and loved turn on her. In the blink of an eye, Rasmira is no longer a warrior. She is exiled from her home, her family, and the boy she thought she loved. Sent into the dangerous wild surrounding her village, she is given one task to complete before she is allowed to return. One single task. Kill the God that plagues the villages. Peruxolo is a powerful immortal, and each of the seven villages pay him tribute once a year. The God claims their meat, their gems, and their women; he possesses the power to strike down a man without touching him. How can she kill an immortal God?

I fell completely in love with our main character. Rasmira is a strong-willed, powerful woman. Warrior of the Wild is the story of a lost girl trying to find herself in a world she no longer understands. I loved being able to witness her growth; the years of constant ridicule because she is different both hurting her and helping her to become the warrior she is meant to be. Destined to rule, her ability to change herself because she wants to, not because people tell her she should is admirable.

I was pleasantly surprised that bullying was a huge theme in this story. The way that the author addresses it was wonderful. She is able to show the character grow from a damaged girl into a woman that believes in herself. I cannot say enough about the importance of this theme in YA. It is rarely acknowledged, yet is a huge issue in a lot of young lives. Thank you Miss Levenseller for creating a beautiful, strong female character that is flawed and damaged. She is the hero of this story in more ways than one.

All in all-- I LOVED this adventure! It was a heart-touching, epic ride into the wilds of Viking territory, rife with horrifying mythological monsters, as well as monsters that end up being human. I highly recommend preordering this one-- you will not want to miss it!

*Thank you to the author, Tricia Levenseller and the publisher, MacMillan for sending me an ARC to review!