As a big fan of mythology in school, primarily Greek, I instantly jump at the chance to read a novel with mythology roots. What had me excited for Starling is the Norse mythology, which I must admit I do not have much knowledge of. I've had a hard time gathering my thoughts on this one, for some reason, but I will do my best to break it down. 
 Starling doesn't waste any time to dive into the action and continues to have some great sequences throughout. There was a bit of a lull at a few points in between where we start to gather information about what is going on, though it doesn't all come together until the end. And I still have many questions that I am hoping will be cleared up in the follow-up. But I did find that the author did a great job making the novel understandable to those who are not familiar with the mythology.