The Fantasy Review’s review of A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen, book one in the Sage of the Unfated.
A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen is a Norse mythology-inspired romantasy book with Gods who like to hop into beds with married couples so they can make a damigod with a threesome. It’s fun, it’s mad, and you can’t blame me for reading this.
I, however, can blame myself for finishing it.
Spoiler-Free Review of A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen
This is a romance-focused romantasy book that is not ashamed of that fact, and it shouldn’t be. It’s what we signed up for and it’s what we got.
But, that’s not what we got, is it?
The “romance” between these characters is dead. It was never alive in the first place. They meet, then they want to get right down to business.
I was so annoyed when they started saying “I love you” because it was rubbish! Sure, they spent a lot of time together, training, fighting, traveling, etc, but we didn’t see their relationship develop on the page.
Love in this book comes from nowhere, and means nothing to the reader. It looks like it’s all lust, and fair play – have at it! But don’t call it love when there’s no spark of romance at all. They’re both hot and they want to bang – just be honest about it.
Moving away from that frustrating part of A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen, let’s take a peek at the plot forced around the supposed romance…
The premise is very cool. The warring factions of these “vikings”, their culture, and the changing power dynamics of the region are awesome.
Do they get explored in any depth? Nope.
I understand that this book wanted to focus on the romance, but with no romance to be seen, all I wanted was for more plot, but the more we got, the shallower it became.
Someone might lie to you and say there were twists – there were not. You’ll be able to call every “twist” after reading 30% of the book, I promise.
The frustrating part is, as derivative as the setting and the plot are, the set-up and premise are so good I can only be sad that it was such a wasted opportunity for an epic tale.
And the magic. Oh, this is the strongest part of A Fate Inked in Blood by far! I loved the demigods and the powers they were born with because they received a drop of a God’s blood upon conception.
It is a badass idea, and made for some pretty exciting battle scenes. However, again, when it came to relating their powers with the rest of the worldbuilding, it felt a bit shallow.
I wanted to see more of how these powerful individuals fit into the hierarchies of their countries. I wanted to know if any in the past had caused rebellions so that they might lead, or if some were hunted for fear of their power… (I know the latter is the plot of this book, but it’s just one).
Look, maybe I’m asking too much of this book, but to be honest, when you get given all this potential and leave feeling hollow, there’s a reason. I don’t think I’ll be reading any more books in this series.
