Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking (review)

Under the guidance of her fierce Valkyrie mother, eighteen-year-old Malin has trained her entire life to also become one of the Valkyries, mortals that slay supernatural creatures per order of the gods. In Malin's eyes, her mother has always been an emotionless, stubborn warrior, so she's shocked to learn that her mom purposely failed an assignment to kill an angel in hope that he would bring good to the world. It was a choice that unfortunately led to the possible unleashing of the underworld's creatures, and now Malin, in between college courses and lovers' spats, must make her way to the gates of what is essentially hell, knock off the angel her mother couldn't, and save the world. The setting is a smartly crafted mash-up of sci-fi, fantasy, and mythology, with hovercrafts souped up by incubi who need to make a living and ancient spiders glamored as clubgoers. Overwrought descriptions of wardrobe and hair, however, overwhelm and add awkwardness to Mal's narration, and a pretty cool world is sacrificed for details of leggings and makeup. There are some lusty moments as Mal chooses between her ex-girlfriend and her maybe-future-boyfriend, though, and she's got humorous self-awareness as she recognizes that staring at her ex's décolletage is not going to stop the apocalypse. Despite its unevenness, this still hits some satisfying notes of adventure and romantic drama. KQG