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elclark15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book is an excellent representation of accepting the love we think we deserve. Wren loves her sister more than anything, enough to go in her place when her twin is chosen as the bride for the North Wind/Frost King, a cold and unforgiving God responsible for the death of the realm and a 300+ year long winter that threatens everything Wren holds dear. While Wren’s sister is kind and beautiful, Wren has a facial scar, suffers from alcoholism, and is “too brash, too headstrong.” She tricks the god into marrying her instead, and seeks to reverse his hold on winter. While she is moved to the land of the dead, with the Frost King’s power weakening and an increase of Darkwalkers, shadow-demon like creatures, Wren has no idea who she can trust. If she wants to protect her sister and her village, she may just have to figure out how to kill a god
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Death, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Rape and Child death
becky_j_small's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.5
noemi1010's review against another edition
4.0
In a fantasy world where gods exits, Wren lives with her twin sister in the lands ruled by the North Wind, the King of Frost. For centuries the land has been covered by ice and snow. However, once in a while, the king makes his way to her village to pick a woman to sacrifice, or so everyone believes. When the king chooses Wren's sister, Wren disguises herself and ends up married to the king. While the two don't get along, the more time Wren spends with the King, aka Boreas, the more she gets to know him and the truth behind the way he behaves.
This is a perfect book for fans of romantasy and enemy-to-lovers. I loved how badass Wren is and how she's not afraid to speak her mind. I also hurt for her and for what she had to go through growing up. I'm glad she realised it and how she worked to heal herself. I didn't like Boreas at the beginning. He wouldn't listen to anyone and he his heart was frozen. It was thanks to Wren's bravery (or stubbornness?) that he opened up and find a reason to live. I can't wait for the next book in the series...I need to see the West Wind suffer after what he has done in this book!
This is a perfect book for fans of romantasy and enemy-to-lovers. I loved how badass Wren is and how she's not afraid to speak her mind. I also hurt for her and for what she had to go through growing up. I'm glad she realised it and how she worked to heal herself. I didn't like Boreas at the beginning. He wouldn't listen to anyone and he his heart was frozen. It was thanks to Wren's bravery (or stubbornness?) that he opened up and find a reason to live. I can't wait for the next book in the series...I need to see the West Wind suffer after what he has done in this book!
emilyrainsford's review against another edition
3.5
Given I've DNF'd two popular and anticipated new releases recently, I did not have high expectations for this one. I think that worked in its favour tbh. I ended up enjoying it more than I expected to, which doesn't necessarily mean it's "good", but it's definitely readable, and better than "bad".
Feyre- I mean Wren opens the book hunting to support her vapid and too-pure-for-this-world-but-also-quietly-kind-of-a-bitch sister Elain- ah, I mean Elora. Then the big bad North Wind god-dude comes to take precious Elora away and Katniss-Feyre-Wren sneakily volunteers as tribute.
Now I know that them being twins facilitates the swap situation, but it makes no sense that they're the same age. Why does Wren act like Elora is a baby when they're literally twins? At one point she even described disguising a spicy book on the bookshelf so that Elora doesn't pick it up - girl, what, she's literally the same age as you?? There is a feeble attempt to explain it away as "our parents created these roles for us as protector and protected" but it's hard to buy that because again, they're twins and that makes no sense. I think Elora should have been a younger sister and they just bore a strong family resemblance and the whole thing would have been less weird.
Most of the book takes place in the Darklands where the North Wind lives and definitely is a meshing of Beauty and the Beast and the Hades and Persephone myth. It was honestly pretty engaging. I think the world had huge potential.
Unfortunately the world building did not stand up to much scrutiny. I would have loved it to have been more carefully fleshed out. There are a lot of points where you're left with questions, or where things make don't really make sense, or are contradictory. Once again I'm left asking myself whether trad pubs make use of editors, like, at all??
One example is the nearby town of spectres who are apparently sentenced to servitude as a kind of pergatory. The North Wind literally says that most children are sent to The Good Place. So why, when Wren was in the town, were there families with children?? Can the spectres in pergatory procreate? Tell me how that makes any fucking sense??
Not to mention at the end where the need to judge the dead seems to be completely forgotten about, even though it seemed like a fairly major plot point. Who is judging the dead now??
Solid worldbuilding seems to have been forgone to focus on the romance aspect, but honestly I found the romance the most *meh* aspect of the book. Tell me why there's an entire scene where she mostly just dry humps his leg?? Is this a thing? Am I doing sex wrong??
It kind of felt like the whole story just petered out. The resolution just felt like the author was like - okay, I'm kind of over this story now, let's wrap it up. Once again, plot resolution was sped through to get to the romance - but the romance was not the part of this book that held the most interest and potential.
Call me crazy but I also thought the North Wind was a bit autism-coded (specific emphasis put on him not liking his food to touch on his plate, repeated mention of him not being good at social interactions, coming across cold despite actually being empathetic) and I just found this an odd choice.
Oh I should also mention, the main character is extremely unlikeable. And don't give me that "maybe you're just a misogynist and expect female characters to act a certain way" BS. No, I just thought she was a dick on a human level.
Overall this honestly had a lot of issues, but it was somehow also just pretty easy and enjoyable to read, so it's a 3.5/5 for me.
Feyre- I mean Wren opens the book hunting to support her vapid and too-pure-for-this-world-but-also-quietly-kind-of-a-bitch sister Elain- ah, I mean Elora. Then the big bad North Wind god-dude comes to take precious Elora away and Katniss-Feyre-Wren sneakily volunteers as tribute.
Now I know that them being twins facilitates the swap situation, but it makes no sense that they're the same age. Why does Wren act like Elora is a baby when they're literally twins? At one point she even described disguising a spicy book on the bookshelf so that Elora doesn't pick it up - girl, what, she's literally the same age as you?? There is a feeble attempt to explain it away as "our parents created these roles for us as protector and protected" but it's hard to buy that because again, they're twins and that makes no sense. I think Elora should have been a younger sister and they just bore a strong family resemblance and the whole thing would have been less weird.
Most of the book takes place in the Darklands where the North Wind lives and definitely is a meshing of Beauty and the Beast and the Hades and Persephone myth. It was honestly pretty engaging. I think the world had huge potential.
Unfortunately the world building did not stand up to much scrutiny. I would have loved it to have been more carefully fleshed out. There are a lot of points where you're left with questions, or where things make don't really make sense, or are contradictory. Once again I'm left asking myself whether trad pubs make use of editors, like, at all??
One example is the nearby town of spectres who are apparently sentenced to servitude as a kind of pergatory. The North Wind literally says that most children are sent to The Good Place. So why, when Wren was in the town, were there families with children?? Can the spectres in pergatory procreate? Tell me how that makes any fucking sense??
Not to mention at the end where the need to judge the dead seems to be completely forgotten about, even though it seemed like a fairly major plot point. Who is judging the dead now??
Solid worldbuilding seems to have been forgone to focus on the romance aspect, but honestly I found the romance the most *meh* aspect of the book. Tell me why there's an entire scene where she mostly just dry humps his leg?? Is this a thing? Am I doing sex wrong??
It kind of felt like the whole story just petered out. The resolution just felt like the author was like - okay, I'm kind of over this story now, let's wrap it up. Once again, plot resolution was sped through to get to the romance - but the romance was not the part of this book that held the most interest and potential.
Call me crazy but I also thought the North Wind was a bit autism-coded (specific emphasis put on him not liking his food to touch on his plate, repeated mention of him not being good at social interactions, coming across cold despite actually being empathetic) and I just found this an odd choice.
Oh I should also mention, the main character is extremely unlikeable. And don't give me that "maybe you're just a misogynist and expect female characters to act a certain way" BS. No, I just thought she was a dick on a human level.
Overall this honestly had a lot of issues, but it was somehow also just pretty easy and enjoyable to read, so it's a 3.5/5 for me.
melsbookspace's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
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
3.5
Heavy on the Beauty and the Beast vibes. Like quite literally just felt like I was reading Beauty and the Beast with a slight Hades/Persephone twist.
It was enjoyable enough but just didn't feel very original? Like there's "Beauty and the Beast inspired" and then there's this.
There were original aspects to the story don't get me wrong but those parts seemed kind of glossed over and not explained very clearly- and the ending just kind of came out of nowhere and everything was quickly wrapped up in a neat bow.
The chemistry between the main characters was on and off- would've liked more tension/banter.
Still an enjoyable enough read I'd recommend giving it a go if you like Beauty and the Beast!
It was enjoyable enough but just didn't feel very original? Like there's "Beauty and the Beast inspired" and then there's this.
There were original aspects to the story don't get me wrong but those parts seemed kind of glossed over and not explained very clearly- and the ending just kind of came out of nowhere and everything was quickly wrapped up in a neat bow.
The chemistry between the main characters was on and off- would've liked more tension/banter.
Still an enjoyable enough read I'd recommend giving it a go if you like Beauty and the Beast!
tiaaislin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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
3.5
littleowlette's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The book felt a little rushed in some places, and slow in others. I almost DNF'd on several occasions, however I pushed through.
It felt very much like it was trying to be the next ACOTAR, down to feeling like certain characters had been copy/pasted. I found myself rereading parts to try and understand why certain things happened, or how A lead to B. There was an entire chapter about an event that was made out to be a big deal, but was never elaborated on, nor had any further substance. There was an entire part about X equaling to Y that wasn't explained and it too me far too long to understand how two previously unlinked things were now linked and held great importance. We only see a very important, must occur often event happen twice within the book, then we see characters becoming confused as to why the consequences of the inaction are occurring.
The plot twist at the end was a little unexpected (though I admit I didn't think far into the book), and I quite enjoyed it. The enemies to lovers was well written, as well as the slow burn.
All in all, whilst perhaps not my cup of tea, it may be someone else's.
It felt very much like it was trying to be the next ACOTAR, down to feeling like certain characters had been copy/pasted. I found myself rereading parts to try and understand why certain things happened, or how A lead to B. There was an entire chapter about an event that was made out to be a big deal, but was never elaborated on, nor had any further substance. There was an entire part about X equaling to Y that wasn't explained and it too me far too long to understand how two previously unlinked things were now linked and held great importance. We only see a very important, must occur often event happen twice within the book, then we see characters becoming confused as to why the consequences of the inaction are occurring.
The plot twist at the end was a little unexpected (though I admit I didn't think far into the book), and I quite enjoyed it. The enemies to lovers was well written, as well as the slow burn.
All in all, whilst perhaps not my cup of tea, it may be someone else's.
raylovesya's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
This was a really enjoyable standalone Romantasy with a rewarding slow burn romance!
teeganlee17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
akiikomori's review against another edition
3.0
**read and listened to the audiobook from Audible**
I was super excited about this book which sat on my TBR for a while before I got a chance to read it.
As excited as I was for it - Beauty and the Beast, Taking of Persephone inspired - I found it sort of... all over the place... maybe it was too long, maybe it could have been cut down more, maybe it could have gone through some more edits?
And then I found out that this was the author's NANOWRIMO for 2020 and I went OHHHH THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
I'm an aspiring writer though I don't take the hobby seriously. I've started many things (novels/stories) but am much better writing shorter pieces or having a writing partner to bounce ideas off of.
I've finished one nanowrimo book that remains unpublished in my drawer.
To me writing is VERY PERSONAL and I feel like people can see right through me with my writing, and the author even admitted that their writing was also personal to them and I felt myself relating to this journey a lot.
It might not be the most polished story (IMHO though others may say other wise) but to be brave enough to write something this long, to put it out there into the world - mad respect.
Definitely more beats in line with Beauty and the Beast than The Taking of Persephone.
I don't know if I will read the others - if the author decides to write more;
But again, mad respect.
I was super excited about this book which sat on my TBR for a while before I got a chance to read it.
As excited as I was for it - Beauty and the Beast, Taking of Persephone inspired - I found it sort of... all over the place... maybe it was too long, maybe it could have been cut down more, maybe it could have gone through some more edits?
And then I found out that this was the author's NANOWRIMO for 2020 and I went OHHHH THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
I'm an aspiring writer though I don't take the hobby seriously. I've started many things (novels/stories) but am much better writing shorter pieces or having a writing partner to bounce ideas off of.
I've finished one nanowrimo book that remains unpublished in my drawer.
To me writing is VERY PERSONAL and I feel like people can see right through me with my writing, and the author even admitted that their writing was also personal to them and I felt myself relating to this journey a lot.
It might not be the most polished story (IMHO though others may say other wise) but to be brave enough to write something this long, to put it out there into the world - mad respect.
Definitely more beats in line with Beauty and the Beast than The Taking of Persephone.
I don't know if I will read the others - if the author decides to write more;
But again, mad respect.