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What: Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee

Who: Scholastic Australia

When: April 2021

How: A copy of this novel was provided by Scholastic Australia for review.

Before the days of going toe-to-toe with the Avengers, a younger Loki is desperate to prove himself heroic and capable, while it seems everyone around him suspects him of inevitable villainy and depravity . . . except for Amora. Asgard’s resident sorceress-in-training feels like a kindred spirit-someone who values magic and knowledge, who might even see the best in him.

But when Loki and Amora cause the destruction of one of Asgard’s most prized possessions, Amora is banished to Earth, where her powers will slowly and excruciatingly fade to nothing. Without the only person who ever looked at his magic as a gift instead of a threat, Loki slips further into anguish and the shadow of his universally adored brother, Thor.

When Asgardian magic is detected in relation to a string of mysterious murders on Earth, Odin sends Loki to investigate. As he descends upon nineteenth-century London, Loki embarks on a journey that leads him to more than just a murder suspect, putting him on a path to discover the source of his power-and who he’s meant to be.

Loki is pretty much my favourite character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so you can bet I was extremely excited about the release of a young adult novel about him! Before reading Loki: Where Mischief Lies I didn’t know much about the book at all, besides what the blurb had told me, so everything was a surprise.

The best thing about Loki: Where Mischief Lies is Loki’s queerness. It is so casual and yet so present, and I absolutely adored it. There were no labels used and in a way I guess that makes sense since Asgardians probably don’t use the same terms we do. But based on the information readers were given I’d say Loki in Loki: Where Mischief Lies is bisexual and bigender/genderqueer. I would have loved a little more exploration of his queerness but overall I was happy with what I got, and I stan queer Loki so hard.

Loki’s age was never really inferred in Loki: Where Mischief Lies and that did somewhat irk me. Since the book is targeted at a young adult audience I assumed it would be about teen!Loki but it definitely wasn’t. There was one throwaway line about how Asgardians age and how, compared to a human timeline, Loki was in his adolescent stage but I would have loved a little more specificity here just so I could have a clearer picture in my head. As it was I kind of imagined him to be early twenties.

The blurb of the book, in my opinion, gives far too much away. Loki: Where Mischief Lies is divided into two parts: the first on Asgard, and the second on Earth. The second part doesn’t happen until a significant portion of the book has passed, and I think it would have been more interesting for Loki’s banishment to Earth to be a surprise, and for readers to experience the shock and mystery along with Loki. As it was it felt like it took too long to get to that part because the blurb made it sound like the whole book would be about Loki on Earth when it most certainly was not.

In terms of whether Loki felt like MCU Loki I think he did. Of course, he was slightly different because he was younger, and it was the author’s interpretation of the character at this different point in his life, but I never felt like this Loki wasn’t Loki, if that makes sense. I have read books about TV show characters before and felt utterly disconnected to them so I’m glad this wasn’t the case in Loki: Where Mischief Lies.

Even though there were a few elements that slightly annoyed me, I had a lot of fun reading Loki: Where Mischief Lies and read the last 200 or so pages in one sitting. Whenever I wasn’t reading the book I wanted to go back and see what would happen to Loki next. This is always an indication of how much I’m enjoying a book, and I enjoyed Loki: Where Mischief Lies quite a bit. All in all, I think if you’re a fan of Loki in the MCU you’ll be a fan of Loki: Where Mischief Lies.

© 2021, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

trigger warning

outing, queerphobia, blood and gore, multiple murders, physical fights, death themes

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Posted on: April 20, 2021 • By: Chiara

2 Responses to Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee: A Look at Young Loki

  1. I love Loki in the films so that’s great that you felt like he was that some person, just younger. And yay for Queer Loki. I’m all for that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about what did and did not work for you. This book has been on my wish list for awhile now.

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