This was a good fantasy romance and I enjoyed it. If you like retellings this is inspired by Beauty and the Beast retelling/hades and Persophene one. The fmc Wren is a strong protective sister who sacrifices herself to save her sister by marrying the immortal and dangerous Frost King. The Frost King finds out that he's married and they immediately hate each other. I liked the banter after the slow beginning and when the Frost King stopped being a broody silent mmc tbh.

The worldbuilding in this book was very confusing and I had no idea why the stakes were so high but it added tension to the romance. I thought the fmc was very interesting and annoying at times but I appreciated that the author explored her substance use disorder and how it affected her. The romance was the highlight to me, it was a very slow burn but I think it paid off once they got together. There were some spicy scenes that were done well and I liked the relationship development once they got together. Overall this was a good read that had lots of angst and a strong no-nonsense fmc. Thank you Saga Press for this arc for an honest review.

Read if you like:
- Retellings
- One Bed
- Slow burn
- Enemies to lovers
- Grumpy sunshine
- Forced marriage

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an e-ARC of North Wind!

Alexandria Warwick has talent as an author, Her writing style is captivating, she was able to have me invested very early on, and was able to build a world quickly and keep the reader immersed - for the most part with an exception listed below. The characters are palpable and the romance unfolding made my heart pump. It's very raw and you can see her talent and I'd be interested in more from her. I wanted to give 3 stars, but I just couldn't. I see her potential and I see this being a huge hit to others, it just didn't hit me the way I wanted.

My issue with The North Wind however is that it fell flat with originality. While the world building was unique and felt more thought out, the main plot did not. Initially, it starts like ACOTAR which annoyed me - Wren is hunting to keep her and her sister alive. With a bow and arrow... It’s one thing to read and be inspired by, it’s another to catch the attention of the audience using the same start. I wanted a bit more lushness, and less internal thoughts from Wren. When there's a Beauty and the Beast mixed with Hades and Persephone, I want to feel like I've fallen on a velvet chaise, enticed into eating the pomegranate even though I know I shouldn't. I want to be drawn to the Hades/Beast even when I try not to. Instead we have enemies to lovers, or insta-hate, which felt once more like ACOTAR, and less Hades and Persephone than I hoped.

It’s a tad meta, but I don't think this was intentional - there’s a point where she asks where’s the three headed dog, and he is confused. Since this is based on Hades and Persephone, I found this cheap… if you don’t want Cerberus in it, don’t mention him. This is your own world, don’t reference our views of myths unless it is part of the story, and since it’s not, this was just a throwaway comment to prove she has heard too many false rumors, which we already know given she thought all the girls were sacrificed.

The North Wind
By Alexandria Warwick
US Release Date: May 21 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️.5

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚. 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩. 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚.”

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
I really enjoyed this book, it kept me intrigued from the very beginning! I’m a sucker for a good retelling and this is a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Hades/Persephone. I absolutely LOVE the FMC, Wren (If you’re a Nesta hater you probably won’t like her.) From the start she doesn't take any crap from the Frost King and I love that. She’s fierce, reckless, and very stubborn and I found myself relating to her, but I also wanted throttle her at times. The MMC, Boreas, is initially super cold and grumpy (for good reason), but he's really just a big teddy bear and I love him!!

This is a SLOW slow burn, but so worth it!
I cannot wait for the next book in this series!

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
❄️ Slow burn

❄️ Enemies to lovers
❄️ Forced marriage
❄️ Grumpy MMC
❄️ “My wife”
❄️ One bed/one horse

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: alcoholism

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and S&S/Saga for early access to this eARC. I really enjoyed this retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a Hades and Persephone twist!! Our FMC Wren is complex, compelling, and quite the match for her new husband, the Frost King. At first, this story is slow to start, but it soon warms with layers of banter, angst, and attraction. We are awarded with tropes such as: one bed, threats of stabbing, and “who hurt you?”I really enjoyed how Warwick approached this retelling and I’m rather looking forward to hearing the other Wind’s stories in the future.

💭 BOOK THOUGHTS: The North Wind is inspired by Beauty and The Beast & Hades and Persephone, but I loved that it was a fresh story in what can be considered a saturated ‘retelling’ genre. There was so much to love about the book that made it hard to put down. I ate up the slow burn tension and was especially obsessed with the feisty FMC! For my UK, Aussie and NZ book besties, you can already read this one, but it releases May 21st here in the US, so save this as your reminder to add The North Wind to your TBR.

You will love this if you enjoy:
🖤 Enemies to Lovers
🖤 “I was supposed to 💀 you but fell instead”
🖤 One bed/one ‘horse’
🖤 Marriage of convenience
🖤 ‘My wife’
🖤 Slow burn fantasy retellings

Cool magic!

I rounded up to a 4 but overall I think this is accurately rated at a 3.71. There are a lot of things that I liked: the seasonal magic of the four winds, the doors of realms, the banter, the powerful but obtuse god paired with a fiery complicated gal.

I was pretty into it until the last 2o-30%. There was so much build up for everything to be resolved VERY quickly. The magic elements were not totally thought out, the main "crisis" was fixed without much ado. The only things that felt fleshed out were the characters but everything else was too loose. The doors of realms while being one of my favorite elements, was not really utilized? There could have been so much more to play with there, I wish she saved it for another book. After a disappointing ending, I am not in a hurry to read the the next ones, but I will keep them in mind for when I need a romantasy fix.

I received a copy of The North Winds from Netgalley (thanks NG!) in exchange for my honest opinion.

“The North Wind” is a standalone classic enemies-to-lovers \ Beauty and The Beast/Hades and Persephone retelling . The magic system was interesting and I loved The Frost King (MMC) who is a dark god and Wren (MFC)who is a strong and stubborn mortal. The banter between the two was pretty entertaining too.
I really enjoyed reading this book it was a bit long but the storyline was interesting and I really wanted to know how it ended. It does end with a HEA. This story had a very slowwwwww burn romance but it was worth the wait because it was perfectly executed 🥵
Overall I enjoyed reading this fantasy retelling .
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌶️🔥

Thank you to NetGally and Saga Press for proving a digital copy of The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick in exchange for an honest review.
A stand alone, fantasy romance, slow-burn, enemies to lovers that had been completely transfixed - YES, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!
This was a really great Beauty and the Beast retelling with some Greek mythology. Our FMC Wren would do anything for her beloved sister including giving herself to the North Wind, man with a heart of ice, in her place. The Library scene…. truly every romance readers fantasy come to life. I cannot wait to read more within the interconnected series.

I really enjoyed this book overall, and thought that the FMCs struggles with addiction and self worth felt very authentic and relatable, and I absolutely loved her personality and the banter that she shared with the MMC. This definitely lived up to the Beauty and Beast + Hades and Persephone retelling that was described, which was really fun to read. My biggest issue with this book is that I had a hard time really understanding the magic – I didn't really understand the magic and rules around the sacrifices that had to be given to the barrier, and the ending made me question a lot of the magic that had been previously set up and made me ask, "what now?". I felt that the magic could have either been simplified OR expanded upon to be given more detail – instead, it felt like I didn't get enough to really feel immersed in this world and was left with a lot of questions.

This was a great beauty and the beast retelling. And it was still very unique. It was a little slow at first. But it picks up a lot as you go through the book.

The North Wind was a slow start for me, but once I hit 40% into the book I FLEW through it!! So good, and cannot wait to see what happens next!

Although this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it didn’t make the story boring or predictable. I liked the heroine Wren; she was strong and smart and stubborn. The beginning gave me Hunger Games vibes as it opens with her bow hunting and escaping an attack from a darkwalker. She then takes the place of her sister after the North Wind chooses her sister Elora to take back with him to the Deadlands. There is a romance and spice but there is an interesting plot and well developed supporting characters, too. If you like romantasy, you will enjoy this book. I will definitely read the next book in the series.

Writing - 4 stars
There were a lot of moments that I enjoyed Warwick’s writing, and it was mainly in her descriptive sections. She has some clear skill in use of imagery and figurative language, but I felt like the writing lacked some umphh (for lack of a better word) in say, the action scenes.
Ex. “The chill in his tone crystallizes, and I swear I feel it scrape against my skin.”

World Building - 3 stars
I got the gist of the world and that dark walkers were bad. Can I picture a dark walker in my mind? Absolutely not.
I appreciated the references to Greek mythology with the Four Winds but other than that, the Deadlands and the Shift and the world itself felt like it pulled from a lot of vague, general fantasy tropes.

Character Development - 3.5 stars
Wren was laugh-out-loud hilarious (honestly) but Boreas was either frosty or warm… he lacked a true “warming up” to Wren. It also felt like their “romance” went from zero to sixty real fast. Honestly, I think with Bóreas being the Frost King, a true slow burn as opposed to random graphic sex scenes may have been more true to his character, but that’s just me. It did not read as romance, it read as desire and not Boreas ever truly wanting Wren as a person, just her loving him and him being there willing to accept sexual advances.

Example of Wren cracking me up: “Truly, he bears every marking of perfection. What a shame he has an intolerable personality.”

Overall Impact - 4 stars
I enjoyed the book and I felt like the beginning of it moved along at a good clip, but the pace seem to slow in the middle. I enjoyed seeing Wren’s personal growth, but I struggled with what felt were missing pieces for me in the Wren-Boreas love story.

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5/5
Pub Date (US): 5/21/24
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Trigger warning for alcoholism

I loved every second of this enemies to lovers hate to love slow burn romantasy. The slow burn was slooooow but it was so worth it. If you relate to the survivor type, you’ll love Wren. I absolutely loved her fire, headstrongness, stubbornness, and banter with the frost king. The spice was great, so well done, and so worth the wait (with no spice until about the 75% mark), not to mention the one bed trope that added to the angst. And the frost king what’s not to love sexy, brooding, and loved his vulnerable gentle side. This book was perfection, I couldn’t put it down and never wanted it to end. Easily my favorite book I’ve read this year and will likely reread many times in the future. Pre-order this book ASAP you won’t regret it.

If you love enemies to lovers, hades and Persephone or beauty and the beast retellings with some spice this book is for you.

"Inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone, this lush and enchanting enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Scarlett St. Clair.

Wren of Edgewood is no stranger to suffering. With her parents gone, it's Wren's responsibility to ensure she and her sister survive the harsh and endless winter, but if the legends are to be believed, their home may not be safe for much longer.

For three hundred years, the land surrounding Edgewood has been encased in ice as the Shade, a magical barrier that protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond, weakens. Only one thing can stop the Shade's fall: the blood of a mortal woman bound in wedlock to the North Wind, a dangerous immortal whose heart is said to be as frigid as the land he rules. And the time has come to choose his bride.

When the North Wind sets his eyes on Wren's sister, Wren will do anything to save her - even if it means sacrificing herself in the process. But mortal or not, Wren won't go down without a fight...

The North Wind is a stand-alone, enemies-to-lovers slow-burn fantasy romance, the first in a series sprinkled with Greek mythology."

I've always been a sucker for anything Beauty and the Beast related, throw in the gorgeous cover and I'm sold.

Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press for the gifted arc in exchange for an honest review.

“I am a creature whose teeth were sharpened on suffering, and above all else, I will survive.”
-
⭐️⭐️⭐️
✨one bed
✨forced marriage
✨enemies to lovers
✨beauty and the beast retelling

I think this book has a lot of promise! I love the ideas she had for this world and the writing style is also really engaging. I loved the inspiration from beauty and the beast!

Our MMC, Boreas, is a broody immortal with a very cold exterior (my fav kind of mmc 😌). I really enjoyed his character depth and development! He is slow to trust and guards his heart, but once his frosty exterior is melted, he loves fiercely.

“I would do it all over again, give it all up, if only to spend another day in your company.”

Our FMC, Wren, is strong and selfless. She’s battled a life of hardship and loss. I love a strong and sassy FMC, so she had me from the start! However, I thought it was odd that she completely trusted zephyrus at the start. It felt out of character, considering she is so distrustful.

I think the romance and characters saved this book for me. Those aspects were well written and kept me engaged. However, the world building was definitely lacking. There really wasn’t an explanation for why things were the way they were, like the eternal winter. I thought we were building up to a reasoning multiple times but it just never came. It also felt like there were some inconsistencies to the world (for example, mentioning the devil). I also thought it was odd that it’s marketed as a hades x Persephone retelling, but boreas is already his own Greek god. I think this could’ve been improved by Warwick creating new, unique gods or simply sticking with hades and Persephone. I think it just overall lacks originality. I saw a lot of parallels between this book and acotar (wren being a sassy hunter, opening scene is very similar to acotars, and elora is basically just elain). I know they are both beauty and the beast retellings, but it’s just too similar in my opinion!

Overall, I think this series has a lot of promise!

Thank you Alexandria Warwick, NetGalley, and Sage Press for proving this ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick is a fantastic piece and is the first book apart of The Four Winds series. This book is republished and has been slightly edited from when it was first released.

This is a Beauty and the Beast mixed with a Hades and Persephone retelling. It also reminds me a little bit of The Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa (which I absolutely adored).

I absolutely loved reading this book and ai couldn't put it down!! I loved the story of Wren and Boreas and it was amazing to see the growth of both characters as individuals and as a couple as well. The book is relatively fast paced as well and super easy to read and understand the world that they live in.

I can't wait to read more of The Four Winds in Warwick's next books.

Content:
❄️Beauty and the Beast Retelling with a little bit of Hades and Persephone
💨One Bed
❄️Arranged/Forced Marriage
💨Stabby FMC
❄️Cold, Grumpy MMC
💨POC FMC
❄️Standalone (but apart of a series)
💨One Bed
❄️Forced Proximity
💨Enemies to Lovers
❄️Gods, Specters, Mortals & Monsters
💨CAKE!
❄️Spice

I love this book and I love this series!
This was a reread for me as I read the indie published version right after it was first released. I really liked the small but, in my view, very good changes. No major plot points are changed but the story is polished up.

This book is the slowest of slow burns. I really enjoyed how both Wren and Boreas had to improve as people separate from each other. They didn’t change per se they just worked through some of their bigger character flaws.

This is also a true enemies to lovers. They were very much disgusted with each other in the beginning and their relationship slowly grows over the course of the book.

This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling but I enjoyed the changes Warwick added to the basic structure. I love Greek mythology so any sort of reference to it makes me very happy.

I am very ready for the new entry in this series, The South Wind.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Although it is outwardly described as a Beauty and the Beast retelling, I found myself bored with the similarities in the first several chapters of the book.
I was quickly won over by the slow burn romance and heavily entertained as the story continued to unfold.
I did feel disappointed as we reached the conflict climax that was in my opinion, too quickly resolved.

Overall, 4 ⭐️ because I’m a sucker for a happy ending.

🌶️ warning.

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.

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.

Reviews going live on 4/29 on Goodreads, Storygraph and Instagram