Hughes' prose is both lyrical and thought-provoking, weaving together engaging dialogue and vivid imagery. The character development is strong, making the journey feel personal and relatable. With a unique narrative style and a blend of action and introspection, this novel invites readers to ponder deeper questions while enjoying an entertaining ride.

What the Wind Brings is a great adventure novel. I was a little unsure about it at first, but I was soon wrapped up in the plot and did not want to put it down. Part history, part fantasy, and enough adventure to keep the reader engaged and guessing, What the Wind Brings can attract a diverse audience.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy!

I usually dont pick up historical fiction but this one sounded so different and I was intrigued. Unfortunately this book didnt work for me. I just felt uncomfortable with the writing style most of the time. We follow multiple characters and some of them are written in third person and another character in first person. I found this really jarring and it bothered me so much that it took me out of the story sometimes.

However, this book has a really interesting premise and if it intrigues you, I do recommend checking it out!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I made it about 30% of the way in and then realized that I just wasn't going to make a connection with this book...

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

What the Wind brings is a beautiful book about a small group of slaves that escape from a ship when it crashes along the coast of South America. It is there that they figure out to assimilate with the local indigenous tribe. Through all this the reader discovers how these tribes are exploited by other countries to work as slaves or be enslaved. An intelligent read. Special thanks to NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

Out of the fires of Caribbean revolution, shipwrecked onto the shores and jungles of Ecuador, a slave, a captive, and a shaman fight Inquisition-era Spain for freedom.

As exciting and action filled as the blurb sounds, it was a struggle to keep my attention on the story. I even considering ditching it several times.

2.5 stars

I decided to chose something different to read from my normal women's style genre and I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. It was extremely well researched but the author didn't bog the book down in all the historical facts, they let the characters and scenery lead the story. The on,y thing the author couldn't get to grips with was time. Once they had set up camp I believe many years were passing but it wasn't communicated particularly well and none of the main characters seem to age although children were being born around them and growing up.
The ending was very abrupt too. Just like this review!

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book in advance.

I was very intrigued and excited to read this book. It is historical fiction/fantasy with three different main characters, a slave, a captive and a shaman fighting for freedom during the Spanish Inquisition.

There is enough adventure and action to keep the reader entertained as we journey along with this group of misfits. I have not read much about this time in history so I always like a book that takes me somewhere new.

I found this a difficult read. It's beautifully immersive and the historical details are incredibly well drawn; the amount of research that went into this is evident on every page. Sadly, I also found it dense and dry, and some of the structural choices (e.g. intertwining narratives) made it a little hard to follow. I would perhaps recommend it for people who enjoy complex narratives a little more than I do - it's not a bad book by any means at all, just not necessarily one I'd pick up myself. As a work of historical fiction, it's engrossing and enlightening. The author has a lot of talent and I'm interested in seeing what he does next.

What a journey you will take reading this book. You will literally feel like your there back in ancient Peru, and living out the brutal existence, portrayed. I found myself fearing for my life. Take this journey back in time and find out how difficult and dangerous life was then. I know you will find the spine tingling, edge of your seat story line will keep up hooked, line and sinker.

Interesting historical saga involving a group of escaped slaves, the indigenous people they are permitted to join up with and the Spanish invaders who are attempting to convert natives and recapture the slaves. This is set in the northern part of South American and the 3 maior storytellers are the escaped slave, a shaman and a monk.
Thanks to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for the ARC. I really enjoyed it.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy. I love historical fiction but I have to admit that I didn't read more than the first five chapters. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the book because of how the story developed. Why is it that some character is written in first while others are in third person? As I said, I love reading good books and especially some with a historical background. But this was not my kind of book at all. Other readers might disagree.

Thank you as always to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

I'm sorry, but I had to check out at 40%. I hate doing this because I do love historical fiction, but I could never get engaged into the story or the characters. After a while I felt like I was forcing myself to keep going, and I don't like doing that. Maybe it's just because I'm unfamiliar with the cultures and the moment in history this is referencing. On the plus side, this book has made me curious about the actual history and events. I realize that there are certain artistic liberties taken when writing a novel about a historical event, but I can't help feeling like a lot more were taken with this one.

I think one of my bigger issues is with how this book was written. I don't mind it focusing on various characters, but why was one of them in first person and the others in third person? I always find that distracting whenever it comes up in novels. Either have them all be third person limited or all first person. I know there's probably a reason the author chose to present the story this way, but it just wasn't my taste.

Other ARC receivers seem to have enjoyed this, so I would still suggest reading it yourself. If nothing else, you will be introduced to a moment in history you might not have known about before.

We begin with shaman.

We are next lifted into the eyes of a great eagle and we lay eyes on a Spanish ship known as La Virgen. And finally, we meet the eyes of a man named Alonso Illescas. He, along with the Shaman (called Expectation) will take us along with them on a journey. And for the most part, it is enjoyable.

We see how their civilizations intertwine and inevitably change. We see how people rise, and inevitably fall. We did not need the threat of a massive army to make things tense. These situations rose naturally through the interactions between the people. And I love that.

However, it is near the end that things begin to fall apart. Alonso has a role thrust onto him, but we do not see him grow into that role. Or even grow into the man he becomes at the end. We are introduced to a new character, but we never see him adjust to his new situation. Worse, is that all the plot lines and subplots he introduces end up falling flat. Then there are the supporting characters who inevitably fall into the background.

Yet, I enjoyed this journey itself. There were characters with likeable personalities. And I was sad when I had to finish.

I would recommend this book because of the journey. I did not dislike the ending enough that I would say it ruined the journey.

What the Wind Brings by Matthew Hughes – 2 Stars
Publisher: BrPulp Literature Press
ISBN: 9781988865171

If you want some Afro-Equatorial native history beginning around a Spanish slave ship that was stranded off the shore of Equator in 1533, this book brings it home by accounting for it in a story of Anton (the real African leader of the slaves aboard that ship), Alonzo (real Hispanic-Afro) who had the responsibility delivering the slaves to Lima, Peru, and a Shaman representing the original natives at the shipwrecked location. The history presented is real and meaningful depicting the Spanish discrimination in those times and the hardships facing the slaves as slaves and then as liberated founders of their future. Their strategies to form a mixed race embellished a strong loyalty and following to neutralize continuous Spanish invasions and dominance. The history was the Pro in this book.

How the history was presented was, in my opinion, a bit too elementary. I found it hard to come up with an adjective other than “elementary” and will stick to it to document the somewhat naïve and totally backward nature of the natives who were already advanced enough that some understood rudimentary Spanish, knew about the Spanish soldiers and their weapons, and already endured many encounters with the Spanish and forced to do slave work for them. Yet, they were so simple they knew no number system and could only converse about Spanish weapons via “simple-talk” words. I was not impressed with the story that wasn’t written to more adult-fiction standards. For me, the story was an enormously difficult read and dissatisfying.

So, I have two parts to consider to rate this book. If I couldn’t acquire the knowledge of Esmeraldas, Ecuador via the internet so completely including the history of the shipwreck in 1533, along with Anton and Alonso, I’d shout Bravo. But, what I read on the Internet in less than 10 minutes gave me more than I could retrieve from this book. As a matter of fact, I had to go to the Internet to determine real history versus fictional story. Thus, a good try in reporting history part of the book which deserves a 3 if you want history. However, I was immediately turned off by the Shaman hermaphrodite and his major role as a reliable “physician” and his mind trips with the spirits. This part of the book did not meet my expectations as an Adult fiction class novel. Since the events were logically contiguous and complete, I’ll push it’s rating to 2.

Would I recommend this? No. I’ll rate this as a 2 overall.


Reviewer: Rich

What the Wind Brings by Matthew Hughes is a historical fiction epic about slaves, Ecuadorian natives, and Spanish invaders that combines colonization with religion and the fight for life and death. While there wasn’t the great showdown at the end that I was expecting, I was surprisingly happy with the calm ending. It was a fun read that kept me interested all the way through to the end.