Reviews

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick

blackangel18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

chellesofbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

2.5 stars
TW; Alcoholism

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

This wasn't the read for me. Most of my issues with The North Wind were surrounding Wren and her overall character. Since she is the main narrator of this piece, I found it challenging to be stuck inside her erratic and inconsistent mind. Her dramatics and treatment of all characters often resulted in tantrum-like reactions, and I didn't enjoy when she would dither back and forth with her responses. She would put up a big fight and then like a switch, submit to the situation or person and I spent a lot of time exasperated by this.

Inconsistencies riddled the world-building from the beginning too. Most were small issues,

such as claiming no animals could thrive in the current world and they had no livestock or animals to farm from, and then in the next paragraph mentioning about Miss Millie's horse,

but they racked up quickly and diminished the author's attempts in creating a world of interest to me. The imagery thus was shallow at best, and often times I felt like I was reading directly from other worlds in fantasy novels. The start feels exactly like the beginning of ACOTAR, and I'm not one to make comparisons with books in reviews where possible, but it was really hard to shake off the feeling that I was reading a fanfic for the Sarah J Maas series.

The use of Greek mythology in the storyline kept my interest for a little while, but I admit, I didn't vibe with the romance or storyline involving Boreas when there were so many loopholes.

Overall, I didn't have a great time reading The North Wind. For transparency, I didn't realise this was a new edition release of a book originally released in 2022, and I wish I had looked at reviews before accepting the invitation from the publisher to read this.

dea080020's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thorn_n_thistle_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

johnsnowwasright's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga press for this eARC! 

I have to say that this book was fairly frustrating because it was so close to being great. 

I thought that both Wren and the North Wind were complex and flawed characters that I really enjoyed getting to know. Their romance was well developed, and I appreciated that they helped to heal one another. 
 
(Things get spoilery beyond this point!)

However.

I felt that a lot of the conflict of this book could have been resolved by Wren either asking questions or just engaging in conversations with either the North Wind or West Wind. I also didn't understand why she went from trying to convince the North Wind about the importance of context for someone's actions to completely agreeing with his point of view even when it was wrong. Like she acknowledges that his forcing forever winter on her world resulted in her parents dying and her people struggling. But she's later fighting for him to keep his power because she wanted his dick? I was so confused. Why was she so convinced that Zephyrus was evil when he was fighting for his realm, the same way that Boreas was fighting for his? She didn't think to go investigate his claims of winter invading the spring realm before passing judgement on him? It was just so hypocritical and really kept me from giving this book a full endorsement. 

readwithacapricorn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’m a sucker for Hades & Persephone retellings and this one hit the spot

It’s basically ACOTAR, with lower stakes and an FMC that is kind of unlikeable but Wren grows on you

This is a standalone so it ends of well and leaves it open for spinoffs which I’m very interested to see how they redeem the antagonist 👀

Thank you S&S for an ARC! 

bookshelvesandtealeaves's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

This book was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because, at the start, and in fact for almost the whole first half, I couldn’t help but compare it to A Court of Thorns and Roses and find it just a little lacking.

Don’t get me wrong, the first half was still good. We get to know Wren, we learn about The North Wind and the Deadlands through Wren’s eyes, we get some really great character moments and some interesting dynamics as well as a vibrant new fantasy world. But it is VERY similar to ACOTAR.

The second half is where this book really felt like it came into its own. The plot felt better developed and felt like it was actually telling its own story, the characters blossomed and changed and grew and their relationship bloomed alongside all this.

I loved both Wren and The North Wind. I loved watching them soften towards each other, learn to see each other in a new light, learn to see things from each other’s perspectives. They really help each other grow and become better versions of themselves and their more tender moments made my heart feel so full.

I absolutely could have done without chapter 43 though, just saying. That definition of “love” is just…nah. Nahhhh that ain’t it, thanks.

That aside, I did really enjoy this book from start to finish and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a new fantasy world!

katieo156's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I think the strength of the story came from the side characters and the action playing at the edges of the character's awareness throughout- Orla and Pallas were standouts in that respect. I couldn't really pin Wren down, as she went so hot and cold that her characterization felt inconsistent. She was constantly backtracking in her actions and feelings, because the "enemies" portion of this romance would have been too short-lived otherwise. The North Wind/Frost King/Boreas (not a slam, we're drawing on a lot of mythology here and I thought that was fun!) was an inoffensive love interest with a character arc we're used to. I think the part of the story I struggled with most was the writing quality. I'm pretty sure this story has been around in different forms for a while, and there are some glaring errors (like an entire repeated paragraph) that pulled me out of the story. The writing also relies very heavily on clichés to explain the character's thoughts and their romance, which made this feel very YA- they both read as being about 16, not 23 and immortal.
Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the ARC 

rowanhill's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Features:

• Explores themes of addiction, sacrifice, and trauma informed relationship building
• Slow burn, enemies-to-lovers (captor/captured) romance
• Blended retelling of Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Pespehone with other influences mixed in

A tale as old as time but with some interesting new twists! This book is a blended retelling of both Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone. The mix of these stories works really well and there are definitely influences from other fantasy stories as well. However, everything fits together very cohesively in this slow burn romance. The romance between main character Wren and Boreas (The North Wind) is definitely the focus of this story and it takes time for things to start to thaw between them. There was enough going on with the plot that I was able to stay interested even when their relationship seemed at a standstill and ultimately, the whole evolution of these characters was worth sticking around for. There are occasionally some inconsistencies in the story and world building that can be a little confusing, but it still manages to have a strong identity overall. This is definitely one romantasy lovers will enjoy as long as you don’t mind waiting for things to heat up.

Pro: Slow but satisfying

Every few decades, the immortal known as The North Wind descends upon Wren’s village and selects a young woman as a ‘sacrifice’. Nobody knows what happens to the women who are selected, only that they are never seen again. Convinced that nothing but the purest of evil awaits those chosen by the being responsible for the cold, Wren is thrown into a state of panic when her twin sister, Elora, is chosen. In a last bid to protect Elora, Wren tricks The North Wind into taking her instead. Given these circumstances, it is little wonder that things are off to a rocky start. 

Wren spends the better part of the book plotting The North Wind’s (Boreas’s) demise, even as they start to warm up to each other a little more. Both characters are selfish and hard headed in their own ways, but there are also reasons behind their behavior that make it understandable even if it can get a little annoying. A lot of their journey as a couple is just as much about growing past their trauma-informed behaviors as it is about connecting with each other and I found the way they do so very enjoyable. We don’t get a lot of Elora after the beginning of the story, but the way she is woven into the later parts of the story is very well done and supports the growth of the other characters in a meaningful way. It takes a little longer than I would like to start seeing these shifts, but it is worth the wait!

The Breakdown: What story are we in now?

From the first few moments of this story, I was drawn into this world of ice and the characters trying to survive within it. However, if you look closer, you start to see all of the little cracks under the surface. To me, it feels like Warwick has a clear idea of what the world and characters look like as well as how they want to represent the key elements they are drawing from the source material. However, they don’t always know how to connect these ideas or what things should be at a more micro level and it leads to small inconsistencies throughout. A very good example of this is early in the book when Wren makes an off comment about a three headed dog guarding the river/entrance to the Deadlands (Underworld). Where the parallels to Greek myth are clear at this point, this comment felt out of touch with the world being established. Nothing else from Greek myth has been so directly mentioned to this point and the concept of a traditional Cerberus in a wintery world plagued by Deadwalkers feels almost comically out of place. Even if the intent was to reveal Wren’s lack of knowledge, there were a lot of other options that would feel more cohesive.

This moment and others are quite small, but world building is all in the details. Though I appreciate the story took its time, there are definitely moments where things stalled and became repetitive in a ‘loading screen’ like fashion while we transitioned into the next big ‘scene’. Most of the inconsistencies happen in these off moments. Perhaps what I am missing most is a clear cultural touchstone in this world. There is definitely a history and lore guiding the events unfolding, but we never get a real sense of how this history has seeped into culture in consistent and meaningful ways. This might have helped make the broader plot clearer and more compelling while also giving Wren more clear and powerful motives. Overall, I was very immersed in this world but found myself a little lost in the woods at times. 

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Sexual content

mz_teacher_lady's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.75

This book is definitely a Beauty and the Beast meets Hades/Persephone retelling. I enjoyed this book for the most part. It is a verrryyyy ssllooowwwww burn romantasy. The main characters can be too stubborn and cause so many problems for themselves because of it. Our FMC Wren is an alcoholic due to the problems of her past and her trying to forget/torture herself/justify her behavior. I still enjoyed the book despite these issues. I liked the side characters and the eventual character growth of our main characters. And I like the ending. Tropes associated with this book captor/captive, enemies to lovers, one bed.