ARC Review: The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon

Recommended Read!

“Amy Harmon once again shows masterful storytelling.”
~ Under the Covers

There are a few things that I know for sure going into an Amy Harmon book.  The writing will be captivating and the story will transport me to another place and time.  No matter the genre she always manages to do this!  And I’ve enjoyed her take on fantasy romance so I was beyond excited when I started this book.  But I will say one thing.  I was expecting a story that felt full of political intrigue in this fantasy setting and that it focused on this romantic relationship between Bayr and Alba.  I quickly realized that the way we were going to see this story unfold was different than that expectation and although it wasn’t what I had originally thought, it was so beautiful and exactly the way it had to be done.

In THE FIRST GIRL CHILD we are following a group of characters through a span of 20+ years (more than that actually).  First of all with Dagmar.  The son of a warrior that had the soul of a keeper.  He knew his path was not one with a sword in hand but one where his life would be of sacrifice and spirituality.  He felt a connection to the Gods, he had a gift and he felt compelled to dedicate his life to that, much to his fathers’ disappointment.  Years later his path and priorities again reshaped.  There was something subdued and yet powerful about his presence throughout this story and I slowly fell in love with his character.

Then there’s Bayr of course.  Dagmars’ nephew and a boy he raised as his own.  He’s incredibly strong but as much physical strength as he has, his weakness is that he stutters.  This is coming from a curse when he was born.  The same curse that said he would be the salvation of the land and that from the day of his birth there would be no more girls born of the kingdom of Saylok.  There are so many qualities about Bayr to admire.  The strength of his love, his determination, the way he didn’t let others’ opinions of him affect him, his loyalty.  He’s a fierce warrior without needing to be intimidating.  I think his character was another one of the highlights of this story for me.

And of course we have the females.  Alba, the first girl child born in Saylok after the curse that nobody knew about.  Raised as a princess with her fierce protector from birth by her side, Bayr.  The relationship between Bayr and Saylok was just beautiful and innocent.  I loved every second of how their slow burn and understated romance developed.  There’s also Ghost, that I don’t want to say much about because it would be spoilery.  But another fierce female that you can’t help but admire in her sacrifice and devotion.

The world building and the Norse mythology that makes up this world made it so interesting.  This is not a book with a flash story or attention grabbing characters.  There’s an inner strength to all of them and they weave themselves slowly into your heart as they are letting you into their world.  Amy Harmon once again shows masterful storytelling.  I couldn’t look away, I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters, or wondering what would happen to them next.  THE FIRST GIRL CHILD paints a vivid picture that played out in front of me like a movie.  I am seriously hoping that we get more stories set in this world.

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[about-author author=”Amy Harmon”]

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