The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2)
by  Rick Riordan

Magnus and his friends are tasked with finding Thor’s missing hammer, but as usual, Loki has his own mysterious plans for them. They receive a tip that the hammer might be buried in a Viking barrow, so they decide to track it down. Loki is up to his old tricks and it will take all of Magnus’ courage and resourcefulness to retrieve the hammer and hopefully not get killed by giants.

I have mixed feelings about this second book in the series. I like the characters and the fun magical adventures! You get all the sass and wit that I love in Riordan’s books. But there were a few things that really annoyed me and it was hard to get past that.

Magnus is learning more about his new friends and realizing that they each have their own burdens to bear, their own past trauma to deal with, and he tries his best to support them, but ultimately feels helpless in the face of their pain. I loved seeing his compassionate heart and how protective he is over his friends!

Magnus is also very confused about his own family story. His uncle is in league with Loki, and Magnus doesn’t know who to trust. As a demigod, Magnus also has to deal with his godly family connections and all the millennia of history behind that. It was very interesting to see Magnus trying to come to grips with his own heritage and his own place in that long history.

This book introduces Alex, a gender fluid character. He/She is a child of Loki, so they can shapeshift, but they say that they can’t control what gender they are from day to day or even minute to minute. There are many scenes where other characters have a conversation with Alex about being gender fluid. Because this topic is thoroughly canvased over and over, it felt like the author was getting on a soapbox and preaching at the reader. It slowed down the plot and didn’t really fit in with the rest of the story. I think it was poor storytelling, and could have been handled in a better way.

I loved learning about all the Norse legends, the ancient gods, and the Nine Worlds! I recognized some of the more well-known characters like Thor, Odin, and Loki, and a few of the lesser-known like Hel and Freya. But a lot of the legendary characters were new to me and it was so delightful to discover them for the first time. It was also a lot of fun to see how Thor and Odin and Freya are reimagined in the most irreverent and hilarious ways! It’s so clever and imaginative!

To see the violence and other sensitive content in this book, check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/the-hammer-of-thor-magnus-chase-and-the-gods-of-asgard-2-1690473