Liesmith (The Wyrd #1)

Liesmith by Alis Franklin

Age: Adult / Young Adult
Category: Fantasy / LGBTQIA+
Rating: 4 stars

Rosie Thinks: This story is such a mish-mash of genres that I think Franklin wrote exactly what she was passionate about, and it worked perfectly for her! There's a bit of horror, mixed with huge amounts of urban fantasy, Norse mythology, action, and a m/m romance that was adorable and stayed interesting. I've found it harder and harder recently to stay interested in romance books all the way to the end (mainly, after the couple gets together), but I didn't lose interest once in this!

Sigmund Sussman works in a dead-end IT job, pretty much just telling people to restart their computers all day. His world is shook up when newcomer Lain [unpronounceable last name] is placed at the desk next to him. Lain is everything Sigmund isn't - charismatic, good-looking, and a liar. With Sigmund’s peculiar ability to see lies, he quickly realises there's something very strange about Lain, not the least being his near-constant flirting with Sigmund.

This starts off as just a sweet romance, albeit one you don't see often in books - while Lain has the usual supermodel good looks, Sigmund is described with a pot-belly, big nose, and rather plain. I LOVED that. But it didn't take long for Franklin's creativity to take off, and the rest of the story moved at breakneck speed. As I mentioned earlier, this story contains a lot of Norse mythology, particularly surrounding Loki. I found Franklin's writing beautiful, as well as the way she seemed to mix-and-match tones at times. It all made for a unique and enthralling read!