I liked the romance elements--who can resist a Beauty and the Beast or a gruff-and-taciturn/brash-and-spirited romance?--but the fantasy elements fell a bit short.

Although based on Beauty and the Beast and the Hades and Persephone myth, the story had some refreshing elements. Wren, for instance, is not the pure and sweet Beauty/Persephone of yore; she is an alcoholic who fights, hunts, and plots to protect her twin sister from becomes a sacrifice to the North Wind (aka The Frost King, aka Boreas). In sneakily swapping places with her sister, she believes she's going to her death--and she's going to fight the Frost King every step of the way. As it turns out, her fate may be worse than death: she is to be married to the North Wind, whose unrelenting winter destroyed her family and community.

Meanwhile, Boreas may not have ended up with the bride he thought he was getting, but he slowly but surely begins to thaw towards his spirited new wife. Will she be able to give up her hatred and fear of him in order to perhaps have a life together?

All of this is happening against the background of a somewhat confusing plot featuring The Shade (a wall between the worlds of the living and the dead), darkwalkers (souls whose inability to give up their lives upon death end up becoming corrupted spirits who consume the living), Zephyrus (brother of Boreas and god of the West Wind), and a tragedy in Boreas's past. The plot probably would have worked with a bit more care in setting up the fantasy elements. The ending also moved too quickly in resolving some of the conflicts. [Spoiler warning and text added here in other online reviews.]

I did enjoy it, and while there were several areas of plot, setting, and characterization that seemed underdeveloped, the romance picked up steam as the book went on and more than made up for some vague or confusing parts.

#tropes

🔥 slow-burn
🖤 dark romance
🛏️ one bed
🫶🏼 enemies to lovers
🐍 mythology
💍 forced marriage

I loved this book. I love how our author gave me both my favorites, beauty & the beast and Hades & Persephone in this book and gave us the greatest dark romantasy adventure! This is book #1 of The Four Winds series. I loved Wrens character and she was well developed and tough.

We watch her plan how to stop the winter in their wake. Our Frost King—Boreas is handsome and very dark and mysterious. Their chemistry build is perfect and when the spice between them kicks in (this is a slowburn), it is spicn’! This book was a favorite of mine and I cannot wait for book 2 of this series, delicious!

Thank you @netgalley, @sagapress and the author of this book for an opportunity to review this e-ARC.

I really like beauty and the beast retelling books. But unfortunately this one wasn’t for me. I almost put it down and just went on. But I ended up finishing it. Sorry to say I just didn’t feel this one

I just didn't like it.

I live for Beauty & the Beast retellings, where my favorite is McKinley's Beauty. This didn't hold any charm for me. It felt cold and I didn't like how rash Wren was. Every time I wanted to like her or I felt Warwick was building up to something, it just didn't hit for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC. The above is my honest critique. I wish I had been more into this, because it really did promise everything I generally love.

The North Wind by Alexandria is a friends- to- lovers, Beauty, and the Beast, slow burn, Romantasy. Starts off a bit underwhelming in the love, and the action departments as the story unveils quite slowly. The plot could also benefit from some more solid world building, but overall, the story held my attention .

Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press, for a copy of The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick in exchange for an honest review.

I love the concept of this book/series, the wind gods specifically. I also love a Beauty and the Beast retelling!! I liked Wren's overall story; specifically that she wasn't particularly special, just brave and impulse. By the end of the book, I felt that I missed a bigger emotional pull in some way. All the ingredients were there, but it had a hard time pulling me in fully. I was caught off guard by the alcoholism theme that dominated the first half of the book. It wasn't "bad" in my opinion (it is not a trigger in any way for me) but was unexpected and not something that added value to the story for me. So that could have likely played a factor. All said and done, I was entertained by this read and am looking forward to book 2!

Thank you netgalley, Alexandria Warwick and Saga press for this eARC.

A Beauty & The Beast AND Hades & Persephone mashup retelling? What is not to love? I often make side quests from my usual horror for some fantasy and I’m so glad I did! Thank you so much to Saga Press & NetGalley for this ARC!

I always had a soft spot for Had and Persephone myth so I was super excited to read this retelling! The writing felt like a warm hug while reading. The characters are complex and easy to root for. They also had a well written character development. The romance was swoonworthy and spicy is the most perfect way.
And lastly i found the world building and the magic system so interesting and cool. And i'm excited to read more.

This book reminded me a lot of what an ACOTR fan-fiction would be like. It had stereotype-typical tropes such as enemies to lovers, a female heroine who doesn't think that she's beautiful but the male main character does, only one room, etc. The book was decently written but not one of my favorite fantasy novels by any means.

My biggest turn-off from the book was the heroine. I did not find Wren to be all that likable. She felt fairly flat and one-dimensional for most of the time with her strongest emotion being angry. To me, it felt like that was all that she was. And Boreas felt like a grumpy old man. In a way, their relationship dynamics reminded me of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. She kept trying to get him to loosen up but he didn't want to.

The ending felt a bit rushed and I would have enjoyed more development in the backstory of Boreas and his brother,

I think some people would greatly enjoy this book, especially avid fantasy readers, and most likely rate it 4 or 5 stars, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Wanted to love this! I’m a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings and this was rumored to be that plus a Hades and Persephone vibe! I thought the story was ok. I didn’t connect with the characters like I wanted to. The hate to love trope was something I enjoyed, as well as the world building and spice. The beginning definitely gave me ACOTAR vibes!

This feels very “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” I stopped after chapter 2, but I’d imagine the target audience will be a solid 3-4 stars, 5 for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC.

#TheNorthWind #NetGalley

I had so much fun reading The North Wind and need to read more from Alexandria Warwick. This book reminded me of Sarah Maas and Robin LaFevers (with some Edith Pattou mixed in) with strong, imperfect heroines, dark immortals, and folklore. The depth and heartbreak that is suffered when you realized the relationships you had are not what you thought is captured in the North Wind, but the realization and personal growth that comes from it only makes you stronger.

This was a fantastic surprise to read! The North Wind encompasses so many elements I love in fantasy romances, and delivers it all in a way that feels fresh and invigorating to read. I came to greatly love our leads and I’m excited to see this world further expanded. 4.5✨

Wren was a wonderfully flawed heroine. While some may see her as unlikeable, I never did. I understood her, I felt her uncertainty and frustration. I appreciated how she was flawed, very much so. She portrayed a very assured, strong, impenetrable veneer, but she’s incredibly vulnerable, insecure, and untethered beneath it. Reluctant for help, but in desperate need of it. She had to learn it’s okay to let others in, it’s okay to make mistakes, it’s okay to make changes in our lives that may hurt at first but are ultimately to our own betterment. Wren undergoes a transformation within this tale, and I so admired her courage as she faced it.

Then we have Boreas, our male lead and love interest. I found him a remarkably intriguing figure, whose past I was eager to dive into it. He’s grieving and he’s stubborn in believing he can only be one thing. Just as Wren blossoms, so does Boreas. I loved learning who was beneath the North Wind facade.

While I loved the slow burn, I do wish there was more romance at the end. Wren and Boreas were a perfectly imperfect pair together, and I absolutely felt their chemistry— but I would have enjoyed seeing more on page romance, given that this is a standalone.

Many of the plot points feel like retreads of other reads, you’ll find Wren who shares similarities with the likes of Feyre Archeron and Katniss Everdeen. There are moments within this romantasy that have been done before. Yet, for me, what matters is how it was delivered. Yes, it’s a familiar plate being served, but it doesn’t arrive stale. On the contrary, I was enthralled by all its flavor. I was dazzled by this book and so very happy to read it. And while much may seem familiar, this narrative pushes against a common resolution at the heart of human/immortal love stories. How their happily ever after is delivered doesn’t come in the frequent packaging I’m used to, rather it presents another route for a specific character’s future— one I wholly embraced. It made such beautiful sense.

Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ⭐ This Hades and Persephone/Beauty and the Beast inspired story had me hooked from the start!

The FMC, Wren, sacrifices a lot and has a lot of demons, and I loved her journey. I really appreciated the POC representation as well.

The MMC, Boreas (The Frost King), is complex and battles extreme grief. He and Wren together are true enemies to lovers. It's definitely a slow-burn but there is some great spice.

This book is being rereleased and I definitely plan on reading the next one. It can be read as a stand alone but I like how the book has set up the next story (following the Frost King's brother). Thank you to the author, Netgalley and S&S/Saga Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

TW: Alcoholism, mentions of rape, mentions of prostitution, murder, violence (war), blood and gore

4.5 - 5 stars

I came across a quick little Booktok clip on The North Wind and it seemed right up my alley with it's Hades & Persephone vibes with a little bit of Beauty & the Beast twist. I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did because I hardly ever have good luck with Booktok, but it was actually a really fantastic read and very entertaining.

The North Wind is a dark fantasy romance about the Frost King who has come to take his next sacrifice from the village of Edgewood. Unfortunately for Wren, her sister Elora has been chosen, but Wren has taken care of Elora her whole life since her parents passed and Wren would literally die for her so of course she steals Elora's place and becomes the Frost King's sacrifice...err rather his new wife.

The Frost King, a.k.a. The North Wind, a.k.a. Boreas appears cold and aloof at first but like any good hero, beneath his frozen hard exterior dwells a man of soft marshmallow fluff. Wren is anything but a goody two shoe princess hero (you know the type). She has more flaws than I can count and she actually disgusted me in the beginning with her hygiene and table manners but I came to love her as the story went on. The romance between these two is firmly enemies to lovers and it's a really slow burn but it's so delicious. The story starts to really take off towards the halfway point and the tension is just so so so good. There's loveable side characters, attempted stabbings, fantastic spice, and so many libraries in Boreas's house...what's not to love?!

The world that the author built was fantastic and easy to follow and based on the Greek myth of the Anemoi, I'm really intrigued to know more of the background story of the four brothers and how the whole coup took place. I will definitely be following the rest of the books, though Zephyrus is really starting off on the wrong foot with me.

I would recommend this book to any fans of Greek mythology, fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout, Scarlett St. Clair, or Laura Thalassa.

Thank you so much to Saga Press for providing me with a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!