Medieval Book Review: Of Flaw and Scorn

I’m honored to be sharing my review on Vera Bell’s Christian Viking Historical Fiction novel, Of Flaw and Scorn. Upon seeing that JustReads Tours was hosting a bookstagram tour for it and reading the synopsis, I knew I had to be a part of this.

The Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads):

Irish coast, 795 A.D. Caught between two clashing worlds, a Christian slave and a Viking raider must crush their forbidden love before it imperils her faith and destroys his claim to the jarl’s seat—but God’s plan is greater than either can imagine.

While gathering wild strawberries near her fishing village, thirteen-year-old Brigit stumbles into the path of a young Viking warrior, Reidar. A night terror come alive, the heathen boy is part of a Norse horde descended on Ireland beneath the cover of night. Eager for conquest and glory on his first raid, Reidar takes Brigit captive. But when her terror stirs an overwhelming compassion, he defies his father and saves her from his own people as they raze her village. This unexpected act of mercy sears Brigit’s memory into his soul and becomes his Great Flaw.

Seven years later, the Vikings storm the Irish keep where Brigit is trapped in a loveless marriage. Amid the raid, their young warlord sets his sights on Brigit. Her faith, once her anchor, has withered under years of loss and hardship, and her Great Scorn for Norsemen and all who wronged her has become her only armor. Yet her defenses crumble as she wrestles with a dangerous attraction to her enemy. Bound to her captor’s will and surrounded by savagery, Brigit fights to preserve her dignity and fading faith as she clings to the memory of the boy who once spared her. But the man Reidar has become a hardened warrior, sworn to vengeance and shackled by blood feud. 

Both are doomed to ruin unless they open their hearts to the one power greater than the Flaw and Scorn that bind them.

My Review:

Of Flaw and Scorn introduces us to Brigit and Reidar as children–Brigit as a simple Irish girl gathering strawberries and Reidar, the son of a Viking warlord on his first raid. Reidar runs into Brigit and intends to take her as his “thrall” (or captive/slave) but she pleads to go home and he relents, feeling an odd compassion for her. Neither of the two ever forget this event–or each other, even as the years go past.

The two main characters, Brigit and Reidar, were both very strong characters, though I felt Brigit’s character could be a bit schizophrenic at times. Reidar was portrayed as a strong, stubborn, commanding Viking with both a propensity to be cruel and yet surprisingly compassionate, too. His titular “flaw” was clear, and I thought his conversion to Christianity was believable, if a bit swift.

I liked Brigit as well, but as mentioned before, she felt a bit schizophrenic at times. Sometimes it felt like she hated Reidar for leaving her behind in their first raid (she literally asked him to? He saved her from a life of slavery, why would she be so angry at that?) other times she loved Reidar (even before the events of the book fully took place). Her titular issue, her “scorn” struck me as the same way. Sometimes it felt like a scorn against all Norsemen, sometimes against all Norsemen but Reidar, sometimes against Reidar solely for abandoning her on his first raid, and sometimes against herself. Outside of those unclear feelings, however, I did enjoy her character and admired her faith.

Outside of those two, only one other character got a decent amount of book time, the semi-antagonist, a Viking Shield-Maiden named Astrid who wants to marry Reidar. Ms. Bell did an excellent job of writing her, making me first dislike her, then slowly make me feel bad for her and see things from her perspective. I’m excited to know she will be getting her own story, as I’d love to see her redemption!

Of the other side characters, I enjoyed Gyda, an older Viking woman who had a gruff outer edge, but was quite sweet and loving on the inside.

The dialogue was well-written, with nice touches of viking names for people and things, making the world feel real. I also love the setting; the medieval lifestyle of both Irish chieftains and Viking warlords was wonderfully researched and none of it felt info-dumpy or unnecessary. I truly loved how Ms. Bell made the world come alive!

Now, for the romance. The hardest part of any book for me to like. So I’ll be honest. The romance in this book makes me sound a bit schizophrenic, because I both enjoyed it and struggled with it. Let me break it down for you.

I loved Brigit and Reidar as a couple and I wanted them to be together. I rooted for them throughout the book, and was glad that *possible spoilers?* they got to be together in the end. So from that aspect, this romance earned a 5/5 stars from me.

But I still struggled with it, due to the plausibility and frankly, a little bit morally questionable nature of it. As mentioned above, Reidar and Brigit meet once as children (twelve and thirteen, I think), when Reidar’s father is leading a viking raid in Brigit’s Irish town. Some very traumatic things also happen to Brigit (her father is murdered, mother taken captive, and she’s essentially left there to die) and the whole episode maybe takes six hours, if that. Then, they don’t see each other for seven whole years.

And yet, during that entire time, both are still obsessing over each other. With Reidar, it makes a little more sense–he IS a viking and has no Christian values and he also did not live through the trauma that Brigit did. But with Brigit especially–she supposedly hates all Norsemen, especially Reidar, and yet dreams about him and wants him and (most morally concerning to me) when she’s in her loveless first marriage, she thinks about Reidar instead of her husband when she must be with her husband? Isn’t that technically committing adultery, according to Matthew 5:28? And she’s supposed to be a Christian?

Not to mention, why would someone crush for seven years over someone they knew for maybe six hours on the worst day of their life, who helped cause the trauma? Why wouldn’t she instead crush on the kind boy she knew well in her hometown who she mentions once in her memories?

So while I enjoyed the characters and wanted them to be together, I do wish that the infatuation of seven years before they reunite had been left out, despite that being much of the basis for why the story goes the way it does.

The Christian aspect of the book was very well done, however. Other than the hiccup mentioned above, Brigit is very moral, though she struggles with bitterness and hate towards the Norse people, and she clings to her faith when there is nothing else to cling to, bringing Reidar to Christ by her witness. She even forgives Astrid, who causes her great harm in the book, and multiple times, her faith in God rescues her from dangerous situations.

Reidar’s conversion, too, is pretty believable, albeit slightly rushed. He sees the power of Christ at work in Brigit’s life, and how God answers prayer, and, in comparison with his Norse gods, how powerful Christ really is. I especially liked the fact that Reidar thought he had to sacrifice something to Christ just like the Norse gods required, but found out that Christ Himself is the sacrifice, and we just have to accept Him.

One bit I found somewhat contrived, however, was something which happened midway through the book. Without spoiling anything, basically, it’s implied that God miraculously gives Brigit the ability to both speak and understand Norse perfectly. It felt a bit too Deus ex machina to me. But outside of that, even the miraculous event which happens beforehand makes sense and is tied well into the plot.

The pace was pretty good for the story–sometimes it felt like more time passed than really had in the book, but it never pulled me out of the story. There were several times I wanted to keep reading when I absolutely had to put down the book, especially in the middle, so it’s quite engaging and kept my attention well!

In all, I have to give Of Flaw and Scorn a solid four stars! I love the world-building, Christian messages, and even found myself rooting for the romance, which is always a tossup for me! I highly recommend this novel for readers of clean, Christian historical romances, medieval lovers, and those interested in viking romances!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Content Warning: This IS a clean novel, however, there are a few closed door scenes, as well as multiple mentions of Reidar’s love-life and lovers before becoming a Christian. Little is described, all are portrayed negatively, and it accurately portrays the life of a pagan viking, but this may be of note for some readers. I would probably recommend this for 16+ audiences as well because of it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and a positive review was not required. All views expressed are my honest opinions.

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