Magnus Chase and The Ship of The Dead by Rick Riordan | Spoiler Gushy Book Review

Magnus Chase and The Ship of The Dead by Rick Riordan | Spoiler Gushy Book Review

Heyo Bookaholics!

Can this series get any better???

The Ship of The Dead is the third and final book in the Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard series! It is an epic ending to an epic series starring a dead Magnus Chase who is sent to the Viking afterlife Valhalla, where he trains, makes friends and anxiously awaits the world ending event, Ragnarok.

magnus chase and the ship of the dead book cover - Magnus Chase and The Ship of The Dead by Rick Riordan | Spoiler Gushy Book ReviewBlurb:

Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin's chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn't naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus and his crew must sail to the farthest borders of Jotunheim and Niflheim in pursuit of Asgard's greatest threat. Will they succeed in their perilous journey, or is Ragnarok lurking on the horizon?


Goodreads Choice Winner 2017

Review!

I’m keeping this review very spoilery, so if you’d like to indulge in my previous reviews for this series, before reading this one, you can read them by clicking on the following links:

–  Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer Book Review

–  Magnus Chase and The Hammer of Thor Spoiler Book Review

OH MY, WHERE DO I START????!!!

Let’s go from the beginning, all the way back to when I bought this book and did a crazy happy dance about having another book where I (a supposed adult) could learn about the Norse Myths in a fun entertaining way. I don’t know if it’s just me, but there don’t seem to be many books based off of Norse mythology which is, in my opinion, the most fascinating religion.

This novel is the best book in the series. In saying this, I mean that the first two books were brilliant but the third book is more entertaining and really elevates the story, leaving me begging for more and not wanting to travel back into the past.

In this instalment of The Adventures of Magnus and Floor 19 as I am now calling it, we open with Percy and Annabeth assisting Magnus in training for his epic adventure across the ocean to face Loki on his ship Naglfar to stop the world ending event Ragnarok from ever happening. We learn how Magnus feels about his role in the quest, knowing that the entirety of the lives in the world rests on the success of him and his friends in this mission.

Alex Fierro, a gender fluid character who is always wearing combinations of pink and green – my new favourite character *grabby hands* – is by Magnus’ side in nearly everything he does (even this opening scene), and he by their side. It has become quite obvious that their relationship has become tighter since their introduction in the second book, The Hammer of Thor. It continues to grow over the course of the book as we see feelings for his green and pink fashioned friend become part of the conflict inside Magnus’ head.

The reader is also further introduced to Samirah’s Ramadam routine. We learn about the month-long ‘event’ as Magnus does and I appreciate how this is mentioned more than once and not at all ignored, it really shows how attentive of a friend Magnus is but also the way in which Riordan has made all his readers feel included and shown that people of all religions can work in harmony and be friends.

Samirah, another of Loki’s many children has always been ashamed of her Norse heritage especially since Loki has control over all of his children; though as Alex has shown, this control can be competed with if the child resists. Samirah learns that she can still be her own person whilst acknowledging and accepting her heritage. This proves beneficial in the final battle where she successfully resists Loki’s attempts to control her.

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I don’t believe I should disregard the kiss. As I previously mentioned, the relationship between Magnus and Alex was growing throughout the novel and was by no means forced, rather portrayed as a usual clueless boy with confused feelings for his sarcastic best friend. Alex’s gender (and its changes) is always acknowledged by Magnus who makes the most effort to notice the changes sometimes guessing before Alex announces it. This had me gushing #soulmates! It was in the near-death situation when they were practically freezing to death in Jotunheim, where Magnus was literally freaking out from being huddled so close to his crush (Alex 😉 and she kissed him! It was so unexpected and from what we knew of her from Magnus’ point of view, it was very out of character too. I probably screamed while reading it.

Now I’m really only here to discuss the plot and the main characters because there are so many appearances from various Norse deities that it’s hard to keep up within a small review. If you’d like to hear me talk about the Norse Gods and the Myths, especially the ones present in this series I can do so on my channel.

We have now made it to the final battle on the Ship of Nails, like human nails of dead people (ewie); better known as The Ship of the Dead, the namesake of this book. This is where the final battle takes place, but not the final event of the book. Magnus has to beat Loki in a flighting, which is a competition of insults; which Magnus drinks a mead made of – hear me out here – the blood of a man made of spit, mixed with honey. I am seriously not joking, this mead is legit in the Norse myths and is referred to in this book as spit-man’s-blood. But of course this mead doesn’t help him, rather Magnus beats Loki’s insults by giving praise.

Loki is a lonely man, only working on his own self-interest and using others for the same reason. He doesn’t have friends to praise give or take praise from but Magnus does and he dishes it all. All the love and appreciation he has for his rag-tag group of friends from Level 19 especially Alex. Of course they win, a battle ensues IT’S EPIC; and they meet all the God’s delivering Loki to his doom, Odin gives a big speech which no one can argue against because he’s Odin, and what Odin says goes.

The best part of the novel (don’t get me wrong, all the fight scenes and the unexpected kiss, the pottery giant fighting, Alex’s snarky comebacks – I could go on forever – are all really amazing but this is the best part) is when they reveal what Magnus and Alex have done with Uncle Randolf’s old home. The new open house for homeless children is wonderful and such a happy ending to an epic adventure novel with Magnus, Alex, Hearthstone and Blitzen giving the youth what they needed when they were younger.

★ Rating ★

Obviously, I rated this novel ★★★★★ (5/5 stars)! If there is anything higher than 5 stars I would give this book that and more because it is one of the most amazing, diverse and relatable middle-grade novels that I have read. It’s funny, witty and oh-so educational.

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Have you read the Magnus Chase novels? (If not, what are you doing? Go read them now!)

What’s your favourite mythology to read about? I really love Norse Mythology! It’s so interesting and wacky, the stories are wild and very unpredictable with the side of unnecessary battle.

Leave your opinions in the comments or alternatively on my social media channels!
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With Love Bree xx

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