The Weight of a Soul

Written by Elizabeth Tammi

Narrated by Taylor Meskimen

When Lena's younger sister Fressa is found dead, their whole Viking clan mourns—but it is Lena alone who never recovers. Fressa is the sister that should've lived, and Lena cannot rest until she knows exactly what killed Fressa and why—and how to bring her back. She strikes a dark deal with Hela, the Norse goddess of death, and begins a new double life to save her sister.

But as Lena gets closer to bringing Fressa back, she dredges up dangerous discoveries about her own family and finds herself in the middle of a devastating plan to spur Ragnarök –a deadly chain of events leading to total world destruction.

Still, with her sister's life in the balance, Lena is willing to risk it all. She's even willing to kill. How far will she go before the darkness consumes her?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094442587

Elizabeth Tammi

Elizabeth Tammi was born in California and grew up in Florida, but she is currently double-majoring in Creative Writing and Journalism as an undergraduate at Mercer University in Georgia. When she's not writing, you can probably find Elizabeth at rehearsal for one of her vocal ensembles, or at work for her university's newspaper and literary magazine. Her other interests include traveling, caffeinated beverages, and mythology. Outrun the Wind is her debut novel. You can find Elizabeth online on Tumblr at annabethisterrified, Twitter at @ElizabethTammi, Instagram at elizabeth_tammi, and at elizabethtammi.com.

Reviews for The Weight of a Soul

[smorgan8806 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It's half-baked at best. It's like a pan of brownies that your friend made you, and it looks great, but then you cut into it and it's raw inside and the friend insists they like it better that way.

[Alexandra Raou · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While the way the book is ending, it is disappointing, i enjoy listening this book, and questions being arise in me about Scandinavian mythology. I like the writing and the way the story was build up my curiosity.
This sould be the first of a book series and not just one book with a tragic character.

[Erin Sledd · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Badly needs a good editor. Characters aren’t believable. At all. Basic story details are inconsistent. Couldn’t finish.

[Jenna Vaughn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A little slow and meandering in the story line. This was an okay read but not one I'd likely revisit. I didn't feel like the characters really came alive for me. ?‍♀️
Lena's sister Fressa runs into the woods after being told she cannot marry Amal, the man she loves, as he is promised to marry Lena. Lena find her sister dead in their favorite thicket of the woods with no discernable injury. Although it is the middle of summer, dark winter descends. Lena refuses to accept her sister is gone and finds herself transported to Helheim and makes a deal with Hella. There is a twist at the end but honestly it was a slug through the middle portion of the book.

[pardamustang · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

*******SPOILERS*******In The Weight of a Soul by Elizabeth Tammi, the Freding clan has suffered the unexpected death of one of the younger women. Fressa, Lena's sister, has been taken, with no signs as to the cause of death. Unable to accept this, Lena seeks answers in the runes, and ends up visiting Helheim. The answers she finds there are not what she expects.I wanted to like this. I really, really did. The synopsis held such promise, especially the use of Norse mythology. That was the most enjoyable part of the story for me. The hel-horse, visiting Helheim, Loki and Hela. Sadly it was also the only enjoyable part. I'm Rokkatru, and Loki is my main patron deity. However, I'm used to stories that tend to portray him as 'evil'. This story tended toward that direction, while still allowing that perhaps there is a good reason for Loki to spur Ragnarok. In fact, it was only the chance to see Hela again, or some of the other gods, that kept me from DNFing the book. The rest of the story was epically infuriating. Lena was angry almost the entire time. She had bursts of irrational rage. Lena is supposed to have been training for years to be an apothecary. A healer. Yet, she doesn't even hesitate to start killing to try and bring back a dead person! She needs to find someone worthy of Valhalla, yet the first two people she straight up murders are either not at all worthy, or would never fit in. Neither would another potential victim. A final potential might've been worthy, yet I am pretty sure that Odin would, ya know, notice. The soul to be replaced was one ordered there by Odin himself.The soul supposedly 'worthy' this whole time was Lena herself. No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. She was a selfish brat turned serial killer. One of the people she killed was someone very close to her. She just turned on this person without a second thought, pissed because that person had a part in Lena's arranged marriage. Marriages were political, and Lena was the eldest daughter of the chief. Yet, she cared nothing for duty towards the safety and health of her clan either. Not only was Lena an unlikable character, but many of the others didn't engage me either. They all seemed kinda flat. My favourite human was Nana, an elder of the clan. Loki and Hela were the most interesting to me. I loved the descriptions of the ceremony before the wedding, and of the wedding ceremony itself. ***Many thanks to the Netgalley & Flux for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.