I was unable to complete this book. I ended up losing interest in it. I found it to be to close to the mythology with all the same names and everything that I was turned off by it. I understand it was meant to be a reimagining but I just didn’t feel like there was much.

I was enjoying reading this book, but sadly I din't get enough time to read much. Nevertheless the few chapter that I read, I like it.
It is magic and I like the hunting scenes

Hello,
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review !

So, This was a ride.
I would like to start off by saying this was on my list of books to read when I heard what the story was going to be about.
LGBT, FANTASY, MYTHOLOGY with Badass women characters. (with an impossible love story)
It had everything going right for it to become one of my favourite reads,
Unfortunately it didn't.
While it took me a while to get into the story, I loved Kahina and her sassy personality, the world was confusing at first and made the overall experience not as enjoyable as it could"ve been.
It was a weird concept to have Apollo, be the protagonist into the book, it just didn't fit what we know about him from Greek mythology. The world was underdeveloped and for anyone without a good understanding of mythology, for them it would've come off as plainly weird and bad, the plot wouldn"t have made much sense, not that it did to those like me with a good knowledge of Greek myths.
I however liked the romance aspect between Kahina and Atalanta, while it was enjoyable I was disappointed to not have more information about what would happen in their future.
Overall, this story had a great potential, but was unfortunately, not as great as it could"ve been.
I ultimately gave it : 2.75/5 stars
-Bookarina

A lovely sapphic retelling of the myth of Atalanta, in the vein of The Song of Achilles and Percy Jackson. Atalanta's story is different from a lot of other Greek heroines; she's one of the few whose skills come from their physical abilities first, a very male trait. I enjoyed that this book addressed the harsh realities of Ancient Greek womanhood, while also giving the protagonists a happy ending. There isn't any shaming of women who aren't as physically capable of Atalanta, which was a breath of fresh air. There were some times when I got confused what point of view it is, which is the danger with alternating first person point of views. It's also a very slow burn romance, that only is realized in the last quarter of the book. Overall I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to gay people and Greek myth nerds.

My Rating : 3.75🌟
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When a routine mission goes awry, huntress Kahina breaks the 1st rule to save Atalanta. When the connection between them grows, she fears breaking the second rule. While Kahina is proving her loyalty to Artemis, two men responsible for Kahina & Atalanta's past arrives, and the game turns deadly!
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First of all, the setting of the book was really good. The way the characters started off was amazing. Second, this has a female-female relationship portrayed quite well, and I really enjoyed it !
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Coming to the actual plot-structure, I felt the continuity was missing and a lot of things happened just out of the blue!! Few scenes could have been rearranged for a better flow of the story. Now the characters were good! There was depth to few of them, and few we just don't read about much after the introduction! Which was disappointing🙄 .
The book was a 3star, but the relationship between the 2 main characters were really nice, and I liked the the tension between then and the strain in the relationship, and how they grow to improve as a character! So it gets a .75 extra
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Overall, if you are a fan of good writing, pretty nice characters, intriguing plot, you will definitely enjoy the ending!! Kind of got me in the end! .

So I really love Greek mythology, but sometimes, especially in the YA genre, it can be a little derivative and mundane. But that is not the case here! Elizabeth Tammi weaves a unique tale of classic characters that we all know, presenting them in a way we as readers maybe had not considered.

Great writing, great characters, however I wish there had been a little MORE to the overall storyline.

Outrun the Wind has to be one of the most interesting books I've read this year. I love all things mythology, and it's clear that this author is as well. I found Atalanta and Kahina to be fantastic main characters, and I loved reading about their stories. I wish I could read even more about them. I just loved this story from start to finish. There was a nice simplicity to it that made the story fly by. It was definitely a quick read. My only real issue with this book is that at some point, Atalanta and Kahina became too similar. Their voices blended together, and, when I was reading late at night, I was having trouble distinguishing who was narrating which chapter. I honestly couldn't tell until whichever of them would identify/acknowledge the other. They were both strong, distinct women in the beginning, so I don't know how their different voices were lost along the way. We just never got to see enough of each girl. Despite that, the story was still fantastic, and I would recommend giving it a read.

Growing up, I was a huge Greek mythology nerd, so I have a bit of a background, you could call it, on how the original myth goes. Basically, Atalanta, having participated in the Calydonian boar hunt, was rediscovered by her king father. He wanted to marry her off, but Atalanta doesn't want to get married so she challenges her suitors to a footrace promising to marry any man who beats her. All goes well, with Atalanta remaining unbeaten until, lo and behold, Hippomenes, aided by Aphrodite (I swear these gods have nothing better to do other than meddle with humans) comes along, tricks her with some shiny golden apples, wins and marries her. The end. (Well, not really. The two go on and offend some other god, then are turned into a pair of lions as punishment. But you you don't need to know that, so I'll just stop there.)

This sticks to that storyline. Well, for the most part at least.

Outrun the Wind is more like a reconstruction of Atalanta's myth with an ending that, personally speaking, makes more sense than the original story. Adding her own original characters and twists while still using the old Greek legend as foundation, debut author Elizabeth Tammi did not compromise her main characters' - Atalanta's and Kahina's - core desires, and this is one of the things I appreciate the most in this story.

However, there were just a few points this book missed hitting.

The story mainly follows Atalanta and Kahina, a huntress of the goddess Artemis. Both character are easy to relate with, their struggles - being limited by the binds of convention - still resonating to many other young women in the real, modern world. As relatable as the two characters are though, I felt that they could have been explored more. It was hard to understand how they felt, what they're thinking when they are so closed off. There was also this major shift in Atalanta's character around the first third of the story. Gone was the fierce girl who wanted to prove herself, replaced by a defeated cut-out of her. It was an understandable change, but it just felt abrupt for me.

Another issue I had with this book is pacing. The opening chapter was awesome! The fight with the Calydonian Boar - the classic Greek hero quest - just draws you in, but the pace starts sagging right after Meleager's death. It doesn't pick up until the final showdown between the twin gods Apollo and Artemis, which is almost to the end of the story. I just kept on waiting for something to happen in between Atalanta's escape from Artemis and her huntresses, and the footrace for her hand in marriage, but nothing. It just dragged on, with only a few bits thrown here and there to keep readers' interest from completely waning.

The writing also took me out of the story. There was so much telling and not enough showing. It was so hard to get into when, on top of the story moving at a snail's pace, you have to try so hard to make the world pop out of the words of the author. This frustrated me so much that by the time I finally finished all I felt was relief - relief that I'm finally done with it - which is, for me, not a good sign.

That said, I did enjoy Kahina and Atalanta's relationship. It was slowburn, from enemies to reluctant allies to friends to lovers. It was obvious from the very start of the story that the two characters had a connection, but it was especially satisfying to read their progress and watch them grow closer and closer.

I can't say the same for the rest of the book though.

Outrun the Wind was a promising story, but, sadly, that's just what it is. Fans of re-tellings and Greek mythology may still find this enjoying. This was just wasn't for me.

This story started out promising, but it quickly dwindled. There was not much going on in the novel. Still, I recommend this for for fans of Greek mythology.

I loved the idea behind this, and of course I’m always down to read a Greek mythology retelling, but there were some things that this book could have done better.
One big thing is the amount of backstory we don’t get, so that every time something surprising like a blast from the past or some other twist happens, it feels anticlimactic.
The alternating points of view didn’t quite work for me either, because both POVs were so similar to each other that I was constantly forgetting whose chapter I was on.
But overall, I enjoyed this book. I love that it’s about two women who love each other, and there was a lot of uniqueness to it, and it is definitely worth the read.

An interesting retelling of Greek mythology. Some of the characters could've used some fleshing out in certain areas, but overall it was a quick easy read.

I have a major love for any books with Greek mythology woven into them. It's my favorite obsession, learning more about Greek culture and history through fictional books and stories.

While the plot initially seems quite simple, there is a subtle intricacy to the writing, that interweaves the different characters and their journeys, showing just how easily paths can cross and people can influence the paths of others with small and big repercussions.

The use of Greek mythology adds to the richness of the story.

The writing itself is straight-forward and matter-of-fact. There is no necessity for the reader to pull a dictionary forward or have to struggle with any difficult ideas. This is an easy read, with some slower parts that give history, background and a build-up to a beautiful ending you will enjoy. The touch on an LGBT romance is great, not overshadowing the plot or putting so much emphasis on this that the story being told is lost.

This was an enjoyable read. Easy to follow, with characters that will crawl deep into your heart and stay there for a while. You will want to yell at some, and curl up with some - others you will want to protect with all your might.

OUTRUN THE WIND is a Greek mythology retelling featuring women falling in love with each other while trying to survive in a world ran by men. The description was extremely promising--women warriors, gods and goddesses, and women saving themselves.

The romance between Atalanta and Kahina is nicely paced and given plenty of time to develop, but the focus of the book is on keeping Atalanta from being forced into marriage. Additionally, the setting of OUTRUN THE WIND doesn't feel lived in. These are characters that could exist in any fantasy novel.

Told in both Atalanta and Kahina's point-of-view, OUTRUN THE WIND is a fun, light read. Character motivations are often unclear even to the characters, but readers looking for a quick, mythology-inspired tale will enjoy Atalanta and Kahina's story.

The book is young adult fantasy with a greek myths inspired and I loved this type of book.
The book starts with huge promises but then seems to get lost a bit.

3.5 stars

So this is a YA fantasy novel with elements of Greek mythology. The novel begins with Atalanta and some men hunting a beast of Artemis, Atalanta lies and says and she killed the beast however it is actually Kahina who is hiding in the shadows. It turns out that Atalanta is actually a lost princess but then it is revealed that she was abandoned on purpose. Kahina and Atalanta end up in a relationship at the end of the novel and they are super cute.

Personally I really enjoyed the plot and the writing although the writing could be a little repetitive sometimes. I’m not normally a fan of tropes like the lost princess trope but the fact it was turned on it’s head which was interesting. I also really enjoyed the romance between Kahina and Atalanta. I didn’t really connect with the main character Atalanta that well , I much preferred Kahina so that’s why I’m glad that the story was told from both characters POV’S.

Overall I enjoyed the plot of this especially that there was Greek mythology incorporated into it however I didn’t really connect with the main character Atalanta however I really loved Kahina, I found her character fascinating.

This book was so dang good. I love mythology and this was sort of a prequel of things I learned about in high school. I feel like the heroines were strong characters that never overshadowed each other and weren't overly cocky.

"I made it here. I will show them what my name means.”

Outrun the Wind begin on the premise of a hunt; it is fast paced, intense and is positively exciting. However, it shortly looses this momentum following the first couple of chapters and falls into a sluggish narrative, largely driven by prose and the woes of palace life.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find a lot enjoyable about this book. Namely because it was really lacking in excitement, tension and romance. More importantly the characters, plot and world were seriously unimaginative. After a promising opening scene what follows is a slow paced, unimaginative fantasy novel that is quite frankly boring.

➳ PLOT
The plot seems to be the most integral aspect to my dislike for this story. Both main females characters are instantly pitched as being warriors, yet they then go on to do essentially nothing. This because Atalanta and Kahina both get stuck idling by in a castle for majority of this story. I think this had ramifications on other aspects – characters, romance and the world building.

I love where we meet the characters at the beginning, like I said the opening sequence was really promising. It was what came after that was ultimately a let down. Which in actuality, wasn’t a whole lot. (Which is the problem) Without any significant events occurring, this book lacked the tension and thrill to get me excited about it. As well as events that help the characters arc advance or that help their connections with one another deepen. I also feel like there were a myriad of hidden strengths each girl had that could’ve been illustrated with a more innovative plot.

The most that happens in this novel is that Atalanta participates in a series of races to avoid marrying a man, it often feels glossed over;

“The next morning’s race is fairly standard. No surprises, no wild excitement.”

and,

“Five more races pass without a hitch.”

This whole novel feels like it can be really summed up with these two quotes; no surprise, no wild excitement.

➳ WRITING
Unfortunately the writing does nothing to help elevate the story or grab the reader’s attention. The writing heavily relies on telling. Telling , telling, telling.

For example, there is a painful memory from Kahina’s past that is obviously significant to her character. It is reference a lot, and so as the reader you are expecting a big reveal or explanation of her past. However, when this is eventually revealed, it is told from Atalanta’s perspective and is largely told without dialogue and feels really glossed over. A consequence of this was that it lacks whatever intending affect the author is reaching for. I truly could’ve have cared less about Kahina because this is how her “painful” backstory was delivered to me:

- “She’d told me her father is a successful merchant who’d seen every corner of our world. He’d met her mother while trading in northern Africa.”
- “I lean forward, elbows on knees, and run my hands through my hair as she tells me how her cousin brought her to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.”
- “She tells me that the god’s priests and priestesses had all been affected by Apollo somehow.”

In short: “She told me…”,”as she tells me…” and “she tells me…”. This is not how I want to experience a story.

Secondly, this novel is also very prose heavy and I’m a reader that loves dialogue. Not necessarily in favour of prose, but I definitely like prose and dialogue to be at least balanced. That was not that case with this book.

➳ WORLD
The lack of innovation also extends to the world. It’s so incredibly vague, as is any existing magic system. Which is relevant only slightly, but it appears as though some magic is performed. The fantastical aspects are also considerably missing.

Considering how popular Greek mythology is, I can’t see this book as doing anything to even try to stand out in the crowd. The extent to which this can be considered Greek mythology is that the characters have the names of mythological gods, goddesses etc. and their relationships were perhaps transposed. (I say perhaps, because I’m not 100% familiar with this mythology.) Nevertheless the political aspects and relationships of this world never really felt explored and is again, really vague

➳ CHARACTERS
There was definitely thought put into Kahina and Atalanta’s back stories, but I think it was at times convoluted and not thoroughly explain well (as mentioned above in the writing section of this review). I don’t really have a good understanding of how the characters got to the place where we meet them. Some aspects of the characters are also confusing too. Early on, Kahina throws an arrow that makes the killing blow to an animal, as such she appears to be a good warrior. This is also supported by the fact that she’s one of Artemis’ huntresses. This definitely positions Kahina as a warrior to me (the reader). Yet there is a direct line that opposes this later on;

“C’mon, Kahina! You can do it. You’re a huntress, after all!” “Not really!” I hear her yell after me.

What?! This is such a let down… but also slightly true. Kahina doesn’t appear to have skills that support she’s a competent huntress as well (aside from in the beginning), mainly because the plot doesn’t let her show us what she’s capable of. Also why make her a huntress if she’s not going to be or become a good one?!

➳ ROMANCE
The F/F romance felt non-existent here. I don’t think a romance was necessarily promised, but I implied it where the blurb briefly mentions Kahina’s ‘connection to Atalanta deepens.’ If you’re like me and implied that as well, their relationship doesn’t show signs of being one until roughly 60%.

Whilst it could be argued that their relationship progresses through friendship to something more romantic (which appears to be the intention) I would’ve liked to have seen more subtleties of attraction between the two main characters shown earlier on. Because if they were there, they went over my head. More banter, angst, dialogue etc. please!

Ultimately, I’m slightly upset I didn’t like this book because it was on my TBR for months. I’m really grateful I was able to receive an e-arc from NetGalley, but unfortunately this is not a book I’d recommend, largely based on the fact it’s severely lacking in imagination.

I love Greek and Roman mythology so much and Artemis is one of my favorites cause she's so badass and a huntress so I loved this book a lot.

Outrun the Wild has the amazing Greek mythology a person like me would want. From legendary characters to new characters that are lovable, empowering, and relatable.

There are many great characters, especially Kahina, but Atalanta was my favorite. Atalanta was a strong female lead who bowed to no man, who wanted to be seen as equal. She embodies the amazing spirit from Greek mythology.

The story itself is very fast pace and really takes you through a lot of Greek Mythology which makes you want more. From the world building to the characters, it was a great read and I’d love to see more in the series.

While a well-written story, and one I'm sure will appeal to many, it didn't quite hold my interest as I hoped it would. It delves into Greek mythology, rewrites some of the stories in a compelling way, but it does sometimes feel like it dragged. Still, it is worth giving a chance if Greek mythology and the plot are of interest.