Reviews - The West Wind | The StoryGraph

360 reviews for:

The West Wind

Alexandria Warwick

3.59 AVERAGE

betweentwobookends's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

laurenryan's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

aanzie's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

booksemmahasread's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kaite's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring tense 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

I found this book at an airport bookstore. That doesn’t always mean it’s going to be good, but whoever stocks the Midway airport book store, we could be friends because they had so many books that I wanted to walk away with. I was only going to walk away with the demon romance with beautiful sprayed edges, but this one kept calling to me so I decided both were fine. I was definitely correct on that front.

I really enjoyed this twisty windy tale. I am going to caveat that I know it will not be everyone’s favorite. It is much more old time fairy tale, giving Russian folklore and Brothers Grimm vibes. There’s a lot of wandering within needing to finish the next side quests, to turn and advance on in our journey. However the writing is completely modern and well done, but it’s not so much a streamlined fantasy as is generally popular but I truly, truly enjoyed it.

For folks who enjoyed the religious aspects of Vespertine, then you will also enjoy this as Brielle is an acolyte (and a blacksmith!) at an abbey looking to finally be chosen by the head Mother to be the next to say her final vows. In a world that is similar to ours, yet seemingly where all myths are real, Brielle is surrounded not only by the fae, but also greek gods as we get to meet in the form of Zephyrus, the West Wind. By saving him, Brielle’s kind heart sets her down a path that will lead her to the woman she has always been capable of becoming.

I loved getting to see her growth, but the aspect of her faith and how it bolstered her at the same time that it felt like a cage and seeing her growth in that area was beautiful. I think this spoke to me especially as someone who has always loved God, and her religion, but had to learn the place that it had in my life to move past the hurst of the church and to love it again as an adult. The nuance and growth here was wonderful, and easily accessible for anyone reading who has gone through similar challenges—hopefully without getting stuck in the Under or having the threat of death by… oops spoilers.

The relationships that Brielle has are fascinating as well, the introverted girl who has gone through so much pain and yet has unfailing kindness. Her kind heart is both a strength and a weakness, and then you get to see her paired with her bully at the abbey—truly a tedious and well done mapping of dealing with bullies and frustrating people—plus how she treats and is received by the fae… It was a great showing of kindness is not weakness. Which is not a common occurrence in the Under with the fae. All in all Brielle’s kindness plus getting to see how her outer strength lead to inner strength was a beautiful journey and she is a complex and flawed heroine that I was still cheering for at every turn.

I will say that at times the story did feel potentially a touch overly long to me, but that was the point of the old myths coming to play, so I pushed through while I was traveling to finish it and I’m so glad that I did. It was a lovely coming of age story with some of my favorite easter eggs that you like to see in fantasy (magic swords, fae / god deals, temptation incarnate, sirens and kelpies, dangerous rivers) while teaching the beauty of loving yourself, your body, and that others can love you as well.

I did not realize that this was an overlapping standalone in the Four Winds world by Alexandria Warwick. I am already planning to go back and read the North Wind—which has been very well received—and I am already excited that the South Wind just released! I may have already swung by the local indie by my offie to grab both of them! I enjoyed the story telling and will be excited to see some of the characters that I learned about or briefly met in this book and how their own stories play out.