1.85k reviews for:

The North Wind

Alexandria Warwick

3.58 AVERAGE

medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was apparently an indie published book first and I think some of the weaknesses
Mostlyeverything to do with Elora's character is boring and doesn't progress the plot well
show that
adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 
THE NORTH WING 
๐Ÿ†๐Ÿ…ด๐Ÿ†…๐Ÿ…ธ๐Ÿ…ด๐Ÿ†† 
๐“ก๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ: โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ/๐Ÿง 
๐“ข๐“น๐“ฒ๐“ฌ๐“ฎ ๐“›๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ๐“ต: ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ/5 
๐“•๐“ช๐“ฟ๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ ๐“ ๐“พ๐“ธ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ: โ€œSomething this perfect canโ€™t be happenstance,โ€ I say confidently. 
๐“ฃ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ฐ๐“ฑ๐“ฝ๐“ผ: 
Taking the traditional tale of Hades and Persephone, this retelling focuses more on the struggles of Wren (the FMC) and how she must overcome personal struggles both of self worth and alcoholism. Set in a medieval setting with a castle, ghost servants and a mystery underlining the plot, this retelling really pulled on the head strings. 
 
Boreas is presented as a cold hearted God with no need for feelings or connections, but as we know there is always more under the surface. 
 
The character development and their connection was probably my favourite part. At times I struggled with picking it back up, as I didnโ€™t want it to go back, but when it did, it didnโ€™t linger and it was resolved. 
 
๐“ฃ๐“ป๐“ธ๐“น๐“ฎ๐“ผ: touch her and die, enemies to lovers, slow burn, god and human, beauty and the beast, romance reader.  
 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The North Wind is the first book in the Four Winds series, an interconnected standalone set of books about four immortal brothers about to meet their match. Alexandria Warwick's writing is mesmerising, and engrossing storytelling will keep you on the edge of your seat, flipping those pages until an ungodly hour in the morning. The North Wind's twisty plot spins a magical, perilous tale depicted against the backdrop of a wintry world with wonderous world-building shared by the living and dead.

Let's talk characters for a second. I adored all the secondary characters who were rich, full of quirks and made me smile (except Wren's sister is a brat!) in The North Wind. Alexandria Warwick is brilliant at making all her characters unique and stand out, but she's good at making you have a love-hate with her main characters, Wren and Boreas. Wren's a very coarse protagonistโ€“ her flaw list is a mile long; suffering from alcohol addiction, she's bolshy, stubborn, and has a massive attitude problem with everyone hiding her inner wounds! Boreas โ€“ he's brutal, cold, and, at times, you want to kneel him where it hurts because of how he treats his people, mortals, and Wren. Getting under that icy heart to see his good side and understand him as a complicated, emotionally scarred character is an uphill struggle.

As their character journeys and relationship develops, you get to know these characters and love them warts and all. Life hasn't been kind to this mortal or God โ€“ they have chips on their shoulders the size of glaciers and so much emotional baggage to unpack. It's only through challenging one another with sniping, bickering, and high-handedness that they can process the emotions and trauma they have hidden under the rug for far too long to find respect, companionship, and love with each other.

An exquisite, enchanting enemies-to-lovers retelling with dark romance, a vicious enemies-to-lovers trope at its core, incredible fantasy world-building, and frosty winter atmospheric descriptions that give you chills. It's the book-baby of Beauty and the Beast and the Greek legends of Hades and Persephone, forming the most delicious reads. If you love a real enemies-to-lovers with the bitterness etched on the page, fierce animosity, and a struggle to find common ground, acceptance, and trust on the path to love โ€“ this is the one romantasy I'll recommend again and again to you without fail every time.

skyeash_'s review

3.0

Liked the writing style but felt like there needed to be more world building. Loved the side characters and would have liked to have seen more about how everything works.

The "antagonist" didn't really feel like the villain but a victim of his brother being stubborn. Especially if
Spoilereverything he said was true about his lands being affected and if the previous wife did want to escape from Boreas with their child. If it did turn out it was just an unfortunate incident with bandits.


The romance wasn't horrible and I did like Wren and Boreas together but some of the descriptions of the spice scenes made me laugh.

Overall I enjoyed the book well enough and will be picking up the next one about the brother.

cxitlinlov3sbooks's review

4.75
adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Canโ€™t wait to read the next one in the series loved the mmc and fmc and the little bits of banta we got between them ๐Ÿค

sc3chang's review

4.0
adventurous emotional funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

โญ๏ธ4.5 rating

Wฬถiฬถnฬถtฬถeฬถrฬถ The North Wind is Coming. The Frost King is like The Night King from GOT, but hotter.

Essentially this book was a GOT meets Beauty and the Beast meets Hades x Persephone enemies to lovers. With a looong slow burn. But it was worth it.

Wren felt like a mix between Feyre, Nesta and a little Poppy. Boreas was definitely all Hades.

While I know this is a standalone, Iโ€™m curious if Wren and Boreas will make an appearance at all in the next book.

Tropes:
- Enemies to lovers
- Who Hurt You
- Dominant Alpha
- Badass Heroine
- Forced Marriage
- One Horse
- One Bed
- Slow Burn
Spice: