Loki's Wolves by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr

Loki's Wolves by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr
Series: The Blackwell Pages, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publication Date: May

"The runes have spoken. We have our champion...Matthew Thorsen."

Matt hears the words, but he can't believe them. He's Thor's representative? Destined to fight trolls, monstrous wolves and giant serpents...or the world ends? He's only thirteen.

While Matt knew he was a modern-day descendant of Thor, he's always lived a normal kid's life. In fact, most people in the small town of Blackwell, South Dakota, are direct descendants of either Thor or Loki, including Matt's classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke. No big deal.

But now Ragnarok is coming, and it's up to the champions to fight in the place of the long-dead gods. Matt, Laurie, and Fen's lives will never be the same as they race to put together an unstoppable team, find Thor's hammer and shield, and prevent the end of the world.

In their middle grade debut, K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr begin the epic Blackwell Pages series with this action-packed adventure, filled with larger-than-life legends, gripping battles, and an engaging cast of characters who bring the myths to life.

Loki's Wolves was just one of those books that I picked up because it was a middle grade. It looked interesting enough, and it was really just a place filler. I hadn't heard anything special about it, so I didn't know what to expect when coming into it. Turns out that was alright, though, because I really enjoyed it.

The Norse god's element was a fun break from the norm, and as a huge fan of Thor and Loki, it was a big hit for me. It was very interesting, but as I read it, well, it can also be a tad confusing. Keeping up with all of the happenings and different kinds of creatures was just hard. Not that it was interesting, but you know, maybe a little less information would have been nice. But then I probably would've complained about that too. ;)

Alternating points of view can be such a hit or miss for me-- I'm happy to report that this one was a hit. Each of the characters had their own unique personalities, and it was obvious whenever points of view changed. I feel like Laurie should have been my favorite character (because she's a girl), but Matt was actually my favorite. I don't know why I liked the golden boy so much, but it might just be that I'm supposed to. He is, after all, the hero, Thor's replacement, right? Maybe that's why. But I also really enjoyed the characters of Fen and Laurie...but I am so upset about Baldwin. Who knows what's going to happen there, though, so fingers crossed!

For whatever reason, I absolutely could not stand Astrid. She put off a bad vibe from the beginning, and I just can't figure out who she's supposed to be! I'm not exactly a huge fan of the twins either. But they were the only characters that I didn't care for, so I'd say we're doing good.

The illustrations were pretty good-- that might be my new addiction in MG-- why don't more YA books have illustrations? They are so much fun! Anyway, I noticed that the illustrations were slightly anime looking-- did anyone else notice that? All in all, Loki's Wolves was a good read, but hopefully the next book comes out soon because we're kind of in an awkward spot ending wise...

Also, happy birthday, Daddy!