TLDR: This book is homebrand ACOTAR. Save your money and just read the real thing.

When Wren’s sister is chosen to be the North Wind’s new wife, Wren will do anything, even sacrifice herself to save her sister from this fate.

Admittedly I only read 65% of this novel before I absolutely could not bear to read anymore (this novel is entirely too long, and the burn is so freaking slow). But here are my thoughts on the 65% I did read:

Wren
Wren is your stereotypical dystopian heroine from a few years ago, the character traits of which has been rising in popularity in the Romantasy genre in recent years as authors flock to where the readers are. As you can probably guess from what I said above, Wren is tough, she’s like a little cockroach doing whatever it takes to survive and she’s not pretty, despite her identical twin sister being the most gorgeous woman in her village (an idea I’ll come back to later). The only way Wren differentiates herself from any typical reader insert is her alcohol addiction, a fact that is mostly ignored or written with a complete lack of nuance.

Wren’s character arc throughout “the North Wind” is incredibly confusing. Despite this cockroach-like character trait of hers and her constantly reminding of how tough she is, Wren constantly has a bleeding heart. There is a part where Wren is, quite literally, nearly beaten to death by the villagers near the North Wind’s palace, and instead of trying to retaliate in anyway (like her tough demeaner would have you believe), she instead decides to throw a party for them after there has been absolutely no change in their behaviour or feelings towards the North Wind.

Similarly, Wren is always poking her nose into things that are absolutely none of her business, despite her insistence that she has no feelings for the North Wind or does not care about how he manages his business. I really struggled with this aspect of her as she is constantly insisting she can’t wait to kill the North Wind, yet instead of doing anything to help her achieve this goal, she busies herself with helping him befriend the villagers (the same ones that tried to kill her) and deal with the shades (souls of the dead). This constant flip flopping of Wren’s feelings and actions got so exhausting and boring and was poorly written that I honestly just didn’t care when they started falling in love for real.

The North Wind
First, the North Wind had too many names. He was called the North Wind, the Frost King, Boreas and many more. Second, the use of “Boreas” as a name really annoyed me. This is because in addition to his powers as being the North Wind, he is also weirdly in charge of the equivalent of the underworld??? For some reason?? It is somewhat explained in the text but god, it is a stretch. I wish the author had of used any name other than Boreas for the North Wind because then I could have justified it as fantasy. However, using the Greek mythology name and other Greek mythology ideas throughout the text, this really annoyed me because where is Hades in this world? I get that this is meant to be a Hades x Persephone reimagining, however I feel like that could have been achieved without the explicit mentioning of Greek mythology.

Additionally, the big reveal that this big bad god is secretly just shy and a bit socially awkward, was incredibly lame and he is also just completely uninteresting too.

Elora
Elain is Wren’s sister. Sorry, I meant Elora. My bad.

Despite being on the cusp of starvation every day, Elora sits at home doing nothing to help, except look pretty and turn down every marriage proposal she receives. While Wren is out in the freezing cold, getting attacked by darkwalkers and risking her neck, Elora does f all. This killed me in so many different ways, the first being just how much similarity it bore to Elain/Nesta in ACOTAR. The second being just how much of a cow she is. Wren has a complete alcohol addition yet Elora does nothing to help her, and nothing to help their situation in life. She is completely undeserving of Wren’s sacrifice and just a horrible, boring, poorly written and thought out character.

The World
The world building in this story makes absolutely no sense because it is not explained to the reader very clearly. There is such little description in this novel that it was only when I got 50% of the way through that it was revealed that the North Wind has blue eyes.

Because the world building is so poor, it’s hard to know where and what everything is. I have no idea what the Deadlands are or where they are situated in relation to the Shade or what either of these things look like. I also have no clue what these darkwalkers look like either. Sometimes they’re described as being humanoid, sometimes they’re describes as being horses, sometimes they’re describes as being complete beasts. I also don’t know what they look like in general. How do you tell a normal human apart from a darkwalker other than the fact that they smell like smoke? I don’t know.

More things that I don’t know: Why does the Shade need the blood of a mortal woman to strengthen it? To be honest, I don’t really know what the Shade is but I really don’t know why Wren needed to marry the North Wind. It’s explained that there have been wives in the past and that they had “happy-ish” lives, but why? Why did these women need to marry the North Wind? It is absolutely never explained and I wish it were.

Overall, I absolutely would not recommend this book which is so disappointing because I saw it advertised all over my TikTok and Instagram and I was really excited to get the opportunity to read it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read “The North Wind” by Alexandria Warwick in return for an honest review.

I loved this book! I'm a sucker for a book with beauty & the beast vibes and Hades & Persephone and this book manages to combine both. I really liked this version of the afterlife with its different divisions and judgement of wrongdoings during life. Wren is highly likeable and a great example of a strong female main character who refuses to be pushed to the side. Her banter with Boreas (aka The Frost King) is perfect. No spoilers, but the epilogue is everything and made me laugh.

The North Wind
Alexandria Warwick

“Take care, mortal,” he warns softly, “or your insolence will bring misfortune upon this town. I have chosen. My mind will not be changed. Now stand aside.”

This lush and enchanting romantasy read has stolen my heart. This is inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone.

This is not a marriage. This is war.

I simply loved every second reading this story. The enemies to lovers was so satisfying. And it certainly ticks the only one bed trope I adore.

“I only wonder if this path remains unchanged, or if my destiny has begun to diverge.”

The start gave very similar Feyre vibes and the timeline moved quickly. This is a standalone story but we have The West Winds coming, a new story, same world situation.

“It would be the cruelest irony to die after having discovered a life with living.”

Wren ensures her and her twin sister survive, wearing that burden and responsibility since their parents died. Winter is harsh and feels endless. For three hundred years the land surrounding Edgewood has been encased in ice as the Shade, the magical barrier that protects the townsfolk weakens. The only fix is a mortals blood, namely the North Wind’s brides blood.

“We hold fast to what is familiar. Fear often prevents us from stepping beyond that boundary.”

The North Wind is a dangerous and cruel immortal whose heart is as frigid as the land he rules. The North Wind sets his eyes on Wren’s sister as his new bride and Wren will do anything to save her.

“There are many ugly things in this world, wife. But I do not think you are one of them.”

I loved it. Alexandria Warwick has instantly become an automatic buy author after this phenomenal novel. Simon and Schuster Aus have smashed this out the park. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. Released 1st May! Buy it and thank me later.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read this ARC.
From the moment we meet Wren we are completely aware she is a fighter who will defend completely without fail any person she considers hers, any person on whom she bestows her affection which is not lightly given.
At the outset of 'The North Wind' the person whom protects with staunch passion is her twin sister and Wren is about to make the ultimate sacrifice in taking her sister's place as the woman the god know as North Wind is stealing away from the village.
Alexandria Warwick has built a very convincing world filled with places and characters that are very engaging. I really enjoyed the relationship that develops between the two main characters and am interested to see where this series will travel to next.
I think Simon & Schuster were very wise in picking up this indie author and running with her storyworld..

3:5 This was a copy from NetGalley however I did pick up a hard copy because we call
Know there’s something about reading fiction on paper that just hits right.

I really wanted to love this book. I think there are some Great troupes in it,
enemies to lovers.
Forced proximity.
Family aspects.
And a retelling of beauty and the beast with a dash of hades and Persephone had me all over it.

I still think it was a good read, but I felt Wren was a little flat for my taste I couldn’t empathise with her and was left waiting for her to become more
In her character.

When it said inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone the answer was YES.
So yes absolutely Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone vibes, plus some ACOTAR vibes for sure.
Wren was not as imminently likable as some characters we encounter in similar universes/situations, BUT I like that. Her situation is rather trash, and as a result she gives herself permission to be angry and bitter. She even has a harmful coping mechanism, very human I thought.
We deal with themes like expectations and trauma and addiction.
There were, parts throughout that I was a bit MEH about, but it kept me reading, and I really enjoyed it overall.
I have seen some reviews with a negative perception of the slow burn, but honestly, it makes total sense that the burn would be slow with our main characters so I think its works well.
I did finish the book with some questions that I felt weren’t quite answered.
BUT I am looking forward to reading the next books!

A Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone retelling….say no more. I jumped onto NetGalley to grab this book and…..well….where to start. Let's begin with the story. I needed to close the book several times to look at the cover (which I love). Not because I loved the cover, but to make sure I was reading the right book. It was just like reading a copy of ACOTAR, but less perfect. I generally don't like books that seem to be a copy of another book. The plotline had holes and there were moments of dumping too much information, although I could live with that. The epilogue…I don't even want to talk about it. Then the characters; I liked Boreas, but hated Wren. She is such a whining bish. Yes, your characters need to be flawed and give them room to grow, but ffs…she was a complete flaw and I didn't grow to feel for her. On the bright side; I did like the dialogue between them and the chemistry that had some great sparks. I also think that if the story was written in dual POV, it would have been better. The worldbuilding was underdeveloped and could have been better, but it didn't bother me very much. The pacing was slow, not just slow, but really sloooooooowww. I totally get that building the world and setting everything up for the next book in the series is a necessary step, so can live with that. I liked the writing style and guess it's just refining and probably more developmental editing. For me this book was okayish. Probably a nice read if you are not an ACOTAR fan (or you like stories that are really the same) and enjoy retellings.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

2.5 stars
TW; Alcoholism
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

This wasn't the read for me. Most of my issues with The North Wind were surrounding Wren and her overall character. Since she is the main narrator of this piece, I found it challenging to be stuck inside her erratic and inconsistent mind. Her dramatics and treatment of all characters often resulted in tantrum-like reactions, and I didn't enjoy when she would dither back and forth with her responses. She would put up a big fight and then like a switch, submit to the situation or person and I spent a lot of time exasperated by this.

Inconsistencies riddled the world-building from the beginning too. Most were small issues, such as claiming no animals could thrive in the current world and they had no livestock or animals to farm from, and then in the next paragraph mentioning about Miss Millie's horse, but they racked up quickly and diminished the author's attempts in creating a world of interest to me. The imagery thus was shallow at best, and often times I felt like I was reading directly from other worlds in fantasy novels. The start feels exactly like the beginning of ACOTAR, and I'm not one to make comparisons with books in reviews where possible, but it was really hard to shake off the feeling that I was reading a fanfic for the Sarah J Maas series.

The use of Greek mythology in the storyline kept my interest for a little while, but I admit, I didn't vibe with the romance or storyline involving Boreas when there were so many loopholes.

Overall, I didn't have a great time reading The North Wind. For transparency, I didn't realise this was a new edition release of a book originally released in 2022, and I wish I had looked at reviews before accepting the invitation from the publisher to read this.

In the town of Edgewood, Wren faces the challenge of protecting her sister amidst the weakening magical barrier, the Shade, which has safeguarded them from the dangers beyond. Legends suggest that the weakening barrier could threaten their safety, and the only solution is the marriage of a mortal woman to the North Wind, an icy ruler. When the North Wind targets Wren's sister, she vows to defend her, even if it means sacrificing herself, determined not to yield without a fight.

This book is marketed as a retelling of "Beauty & the Beast," evident early on with echoes of ACOTAR, another retelling story, in the initial chapters. While it offered a decent read, it took quite a while to gain momentum. Things did notably improve as the story progressed which did improved things somewhat..

Heavily character-driven, the plot remains relatively stagnant until at least midway through the book. This lack of balance between character and plot was frustrating, leaving numerous plot holes and unexplored concepts that I felt could have enriched the storyline.

It’s no surprise that the characters and their development was my favourite part. Wren is a well-rounded but imperfect FMC, and the exploration of her self-worth, alcoholism and coping mechanisms was delivered in a thoughtful and engaging way. Boreas (aka. The North Wind) took a little longer to warm up but again his story was well developed and interesting.

I also really loved the way the relationship between Wren and Boreas unfolded. The tension and slow-burn between them was well-executed, and their transition from enemies to lovers felt authentic and compelling. Their dynamic added depth to the story and kept me invested in their journey.

The North Wind is the first in a series, however this first book wrapped up the story of Wren and Boreas quite neatly. While it was a good read, I think it works well as a standalone and isn’t a series I’ll necessarily continue with. However, for readers who enjoy a more character-driven narrative with just a touch of fantasy, it might still be worth picking up.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read this ARC.

It is a good book, unfortunately I found it hard to get into. A slow beginning but the second half was much better.

Great for those who enjoy fantasy, but not my favourite genre.

♡ ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 (rounded up to 4) ♡
🌶️ 1.5/5

This was an enjoyable fantasy read.
It incorporates elements of the Hades/Persephone myth and Beauty and the Beast. As others have mentioned, I could see the resemblance to A Court of Thorns and Roses and Feyre within the book—bow, hunter, ungrateful sister—but I don’t feel like it was so similar that I felt like I was reading fanfiction.
I enjoyed the character and relationship development of Wren and Boreas, and the premise of the four Winds/Gods and brothers was an intriguing element. Watching both main characters struggle with their particular vices gave the book a raw and natural feeling. I also enjoyed that while Wren grew into herself, she didn’t lose her personality—she stayed feisty and strong throughout the book.
I especially loved the side characters – Orla has my heart, and I wanted to tuck Thyamine into my pocket to keep her safe!
Although I felt a few plot lines could have been expanded and some plot holes needed to be filled, I still enjoyed reading it.

The North Wind was a fun read and a great start to the Four Winds series!

*I received an eARC copy in exchange for my honest review of this book*
Big thank you to NetGalley, Alexandria Warwick and Simon & Schuster Australia for the chance to read this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 stars
🌶️🌶️ spice

What to Expect:
🏹Beauty & the Beast Retelling (very close to some of these plot lines)
🏹Enemies to Lovers
🏹Forced Proximity
🏹Arranged Marriage
🏹Who hurt you?
🏹Slow burn

Favourite quotes:
If you knew what it felt like to love someone with your entire being, you'd know I never had a choice.

The Frost King's beauty is riveting, sure, but he has the personality of a pustule.

—

This was a great little read despite the storyline having a lot of congruencies with the first ACOTAR book, which you can sort of forgive given they are both Beauty & the Beast retellings. Outside of those plot points, the FMC is very reminiscent of Feyre as other readers have pointed out. She's a huntress who uses a bow and provides for her starving family, her sister Elora is pretty much another version of Elain and completely ungrateful for the sacrifices made for her benefit, and Wren gets taken through a portal to another realm to live in a castle with an immortal god.

That being said, I found Wren a much more well-rounded and complex FMC in comparison. I loved the exploration of her battle with her addictions as coping mechanisms, and she was snarky and witty in a way that Feyre isn't, which made her interactions and dialogue much more satisfying.

The slow burn tension between the two MCs was really well done, an authentic transition of their relationship from enemies to lovers and a nice build up of spice to go along with it. The book was very much character driven rather than plot driven, there honestly wasn't a lot happening until the later parts of the book and the descriptions of some of the action scenes were a little hard to follow.

Despite that, I had a great time reading this and would definitely continue the series in case his brother gets a redemption arc, because we love a morally grey MMC with a shady past.

Also worth mentioning the epilogue at the end was extremely cute and loved that addition to tie up this story. Very satisfying ending.

This was a solid first book and I am so excited for the rest of the series. The emotional growth of the main character was very well written, and the ending threw me for a loop!

This was a good enough read but not a great read. It was a bit slow moving. It got a bit more interesting over half way through.

For a few hundred years, the land surrounding Edgewood has been immersed in ice as the Shade, a magical barrier that protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond, weakens.

The characters are interesting but there’s some confusion about the necessity for 30 yearly wives for Boreas the Frost king and North Wind , etc . The brothers were each meant to represent a wind but we really only heard much about one of them. The Four Winds are Gods that control different seasons.

Wren of Edgewood lost her parents during an atrocious winter as a child to famine. She was left to take care of her twin sister, Elora. Wren loves her sister dearly and there is no low that she will not stoop to in a harsh world to keep body and soul together for the both of them. Boreas wants to marry her sister to save his kingdom but Wren isn’t having any of it. She will sacrifice anything, even herself, to prevent it.

This book may appeal to others more than it did to me. I just didn’t find it easy to get into it that much.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The North Wind was an enthralling read, with Beauty and The Beast and a Hades and Persephone vibe it was pure fantasy with so many things to have you hooked!
Wren was the strong and snarky female lead, while Boreas was the morally grey male main character with a traumatic past.
The slow burn between these two is fire, and I truly couldn't get enough. I love the enemies to lovers trope, and this one might be up there with some of my favourites of all time!
The world building was fantastic, with little details that kept things interesting.
Although this is a stand alone novel, I believe it will be an interconnected series, I am interested to see who the world builds in the coming books!
Absolutely loved this book! Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

A great romantasy with a beauty and the beast like story with a mix of hades and persephone.

I very much enjoyed Wrens fiery stabby character who matched Boreas's energy perfectly. The slow burn and enemies to lovers tropes were really well done in this book. They truly hated each other and the whole time Wren was trying to kill a God who could not be killed.

Some of my cons about this book is that I didn't feel the writing style suited. It's all written in first person as Wrens point of view which is a great pov but a lot of the sentences started with "I." Which felt a bit overused.

There are also some plot holes I wish were better explained. Such as why Zephyrus did the things he did. I felt like more explanation was needed for the barriers and the darkwalkers. I thought there would be more of a storyline in terms of the blood being used to strengthen the barriers.

All in all I think it was a decent read. It felt more heavier on the romance than the fantasy.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"Is it my face? You can't stand to look at it?" The Frost King does not turn around as he says lowly, "There are many ugly things in this world, wife. But I do not think you are one of them."

"If anyone is sleeping on the floor, it's you. You're young. I'm many millennia old. I have back pain." "You do not have back pain!"

A Hades and Persephone retelling meets "A Court of Thornes and Roses" in a unique way that has be on the edge of my seat the entire time. You are immediately drawn in my the world building, and then kept hooked my Wren's wonderfully complex character.

I love Beauty and the Beast and Greek mythology so I was immediately drawn to this book.

This was exactly as it was touted to be on the blurb, a slow-burn fantasy romance and I loved it.
Learning more about Wren and Boreas as the story progresses, understanding the events that shaped them into the people they are now, and watching their love story unfold. It was absolutely lovely.

I will be looking for the other books in the series now.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC. All opinions are my own.

➼ ★★★.5 stars

if you’re looking for an enthralling, steamy, captivating romantasy read - you need to read Alexandria Warwick’s ‘The North Wind’ RIGHT NOW!!! Prepare to be transported to a world where Boreas, a devilishly handsome and misunderstood God who reigns over the deadlands, collides with Wren, a headstrong, stubborn, altruistic heroine determined to flip his realm upside down…

“Endure. Survive. Fight. It is all I can do”.

we LOVE a girl who would do ANYTHING for the people she loves and miss wren does just that!! Her relationship with her sister was very real in terms of the burden eldest daughters have to carry when it comes to their younger siblings.

“unhand me…or I will castrate you, immortal or not.”

wren made me laugh in this book so much bcs she has NO CHILL HAHAHAH she really eats up these one-liners when interacting with those in the way of what she wants to achieve, and i love that for her lol

“but he only pushes back his hood, revealing a countenance of such agonising beauty that I can only look at him for so long before I’m forced to run away”.

Now, let’s talk about THE NORTH FREAKING WIND mmhm…

Boreas is your classic dark-hair, misunderstood, cold-hearted, “villain” mmc and i ATE IT UP!!! That man could take me to be his wife, and I wouldn’t complain one bit if it meant I got to live with his GORGEOUS self, lol. He was actually kinda funny too bcs some MMCs lack substance, period.

- worldbuilding was great!
- the pacing was great up until about 75% of the book - it got quite slow here and kinda felt like filler chapters and then picked up in the last 30-40 pages!
- the side characters are so cute esp orla, pallas, and thyamine (my faves)

tropes:
- enemies to lovers
- slow burn romance
- greek retelling (inspired)
- one bed

A Beaty and the Beast retelling but with a unique twist. The world that the author has created is unique and captivating.
Wren reads differently to your typical FMC and I enjoyed her growth as a character as she overcame her addiction and grew as a person.
And who can resist a grumpy, morally grey MMC.
The main characters had good chemistry and their relationship developed naturally over the course of the book, all be it a little rushed at the end.
The world building is good, I was interested in the different places introduced.
The whole story did feel rushed towards the end but overall the pace was good.
There were a few things that I think could have be improved which would have made it a more enjoyable read for me; there were some plot holes, time inconsistencies, plot lines started but not returned to etc. But overall the story kept me interested and I enjoyed it.