The North Wind is an enemies-to-lovers romantasy. When Wren's village is visited by the North Wind, the god of winter and the dead, she must do all she can to dissuade him from choosing her sister as his next sacrifice. This definitely takes inspiration from the Disney Beauty and the Beast movie. That is not to say it's for kids. This book has spice. The seasoning is there. However, Warwick isn't really breaking the mold. You'll be able to draw parallels here to a number of other romances that follow the Hades/Persephone, Beauty-and-the-beast-style plot. There really needed to be a bit more world-building and subplot to make it memorable and help distinguish it from similar books. All that being said, I had fun while reading this. If you love authors like Sarah J. Maas or Raven Kennedy, you will definitely like this book.

I read 'hades and persephone' and immediately requested this ARC. I think this was good, but not amazing. If you're looking fro something you can fly through, you may really enjoy it. Some things to look forward to:
-One Bed Trope
-Enemies to Lovers
-Spooky Atmosphere
-Strong World Building

I think I might have liked this more in the fall than reading a dark and spooky book in the summer. Overall, this book is for someone, but not for me.

The North Wind is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, where the Beast is Boreas, also known as The North Wind, the god of the underworld, and Beauty is the human he takes from her village and makes his wife. Or would have been, if Wren hadn’t taken her sister’s place, unbeknownst to everyone involved.

I liked this book, despite the fact that I wasn’t so much a fan of the first person present tense writing style. It was a very long book, but everything felt necessary to the story. I did enjoy the character development, and the ways the relationships between various characters evolved throughout the book.

While I wouldn’t race to read another book in this world, I don’t regret having read this one. I thought it was an interesting take on the Beauty and the Beast story, especially how it integrated elements of Hades and Persephone’s story as well.

The North Wind is marketed as a Beauty and the Beast retelling meets A Court of Thorns and Roses and that is exactly what you get. Wren, our protagonist, is bookish, brash, and brave and narratively follows the Belle archetype to a “T.” Much like Belle, Wren sacrifices her freedom for that of her only familial relation, her sister, and marries Boreas, the titular North Wind.

Boreas, our “Beast” character is just as despised, maligned, and misunderstood; however, unlike the Beast, Boreas is hot and is loathed not for being a hideous creature, but for creating an eternal winter and putting humanity in jeopardy. If I was a character in this story, I would hate him too and as a reader, it took a long time for me to warm up (no pun intended) to him.

We first meet our FMC hunting with her bow and arrow for food to keep her and her sister alive. There are unseen dangers lurking in the woods that put her life and those in her village in jeopardy. If this sounds just like the beginning beats of ACOTAR, you would be right and admittedly almost put me off the whole story, but I am glad I stuck around.

This is a very slow burn enemies to lovers romantasy standalone story. I wouldn’t say the magic system or world building were particularly revolutionary or complicated to understand and if you’re familiar with the story of Beauty and the Beast, there won’t be a ton of plot points in this book that surprise you. That being said, our fmc and mmc are complex and flawed and the way the author artfully weaves the story to make their romance believable was worth the wait.

A compelling blend of fairytale and Greek mythology, drawing inspiration from "The Beauty and the Beast" and the myth of Hades and Persephone. The lead character, Wren, is a relatable figure struggling with alcoholism and loneliness, while the antagonist, Boreas, is a redeemable villain with depth. The selfless sacrifices made by both characters add a powerful layer to the narrative. The book is a masterful mix of romance, adventure, and heartache, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

I struggled to fully to connect and love this book...it wasn't bad it just wasn't my favorite fantasy romance I've read. I will say there are some parts of this book that were fantastic, I loved the banter between Boreas and Wren, they had some amazing one liners and did a great job antagonizing each other, but also repeating when one said it was too much. The love between Boreas and Wren is the best part of this book, it's so clear how quickly Boreas falls for Wren as she continues to try over and over again to break free from the marriage by any means necessary.

The magic in this book was interesting in neither a good or bad way, it didn't stand out to me, and I don't think we got enough explaining of how it all works. It left the action scenes and magical fights a little bland to me.

I might read the next book, I need to see the blurb and such, but I can see the potential of this book even if I didn't love it!

“The North Wind” is a standard romantasy with our young adult fmc living in poverty in a mysterious land where she must hunt in the dangerous forest to feed her family until one day she is taken to a different mysterious land by an ancient, immortal mmc who is also extremely attractive (convenient, no?). If this sounds like ACOTAR, you would be correct. The fmc’s sister is also essentially Elain. I appreciated that it was a standalone!

4.5 ⭐️ this was such a great standalone!! The world building was easy to follow and understand, and I loved the characters. While slow to start, the story really picked up and I was unable to put it down.
This was definitely a slow burn, but the payoff was EVERYTHING! There was so much character development for both the FMC and MMC throughout the book, and it was done in a way that felt organic and realistic. I felt like the romance was done really well, and the ending made my heart happy

As this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, there is a lot that will feel familiar to those that know this story or those that have read ACOTAR - another Beauty and the Beast retelling. For me, this was so much better than ACOTAR. I felt that the characters were so much easier to love and relate to. I enjoyed that this also brought in aspects of the myth of Hades and Persephone and turned a few of these ideas and tropes on their head.

Some of the best parts of the book included the world-building and descriptions of what Boreas AKA bv The North Wind does in terms of judging souls and where he sends them. I also really enjoyed the romance between Wren and The North Wind as he went from an evil hateful lord in her mind, to someone much more human and caring as he thawed a bit in her presence.

Nothing about the plot was particularly unexpected, especially given the nature of it being a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but I really appreciated the additional layers to the story that were added here.

“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.” - Boreas

This was the SLOWEST slow burn I've read in a long time. I was pulled into this book because it was advertised as a Beauty and the Beast mixed with a Hades and Persephone retelling. Because of that my standards immediately were raised because those are my 2 favorite retellings. Unfortunately, this book was meh. The plot had holes like big crater-like holes. I did not like Wren's character and the character development was just boring. She was such a conflicting character because one second she is super immature then shes gearing up to be queen and lead Borreas' people in battle. The only highlight of her character was a believable battle with alcoholism and the strength it takes to become sober.

This was such a good read. I read it in about 24 hours because I just didn’t want to put it down.

This book kicks off with a lot of similarities to ACOTAR. At the beginning, those nods made this hard to read it as its own, but once I got past the first few chapters, this quickly stood on its own.

Wren is a fantastic main character. Strong and witty, and flawed in believable ways. This is a slow burn between two enemies, and I mean REAL enemies. Like she stabs him, actively ploys to kill him as they are thawing toward one another.

I think I would continue this series, but I’m not sure that I will enjoy a book about the brother featured in this book, if there is a book for him.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Let me preface by saying that I really enjoyed this book, I did. But, I can't say that it felt original to me. I liked the characters, and the world, but I think that's because they felt SO similar to the ones I already know from popular series. I enjoyed myself, but I was really looking for something new. I would personally hand this first to someone who hasn't yet read ACOTAR, so they didn't have the same opinions as me.

Unfortunately, this book really missed the mark for me. The main character is extremely unlikable, and her inner monologue is all over the place. The world-building felt lazy, lackluster, and confusing, and the plot felt forced and illogical.

The writing style is also very odd - it reads as if the author used a thesaurus to replace every single word. In addition, the explicit scenes were not for me. I usually prefer open-door explicit romance, but these scenes felt unnatural.

Overall, this book gave me “written by a man pretending to be a woman for clout in the romance genre and using AI to sound smart” vibes.

I couldn't put this book down, and me immediate thought after reading it was WOW. I loved the author pulling from psyche and eros and maybe some slavic lore with the winter king? It kept me guessing about which direction it would ultimately go in. I also loved that the characters were for the most part honest with each other, every time she attempted to kill him (some of which made NO SENSE) he always understood and forgave her.
Then when I had more time to come down from the emotional high of our MMC "conquering a cake" I realized I had a lot of questions.

We hear the west wind continuously complain that the North Wind's power is too strong and unchecked, and yet the shade is weak and his healing is weak cause his power is fading?

Why was the resolution simply for him to hand over his spear and then all the problems are solved? If thats the case why didn't he do that ages ago? That one left me very confused.

I will be reading the next book simply because i did fall in love with the characters and the overall storytelling style of the author.

I gave The North Wind four ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC. These are my own opinions.

I loved this book! It was well developed and kept my attention straight through. Finally, an FMC that doesn’t spend all their time having a woe is me pity party and guilt fest. Wren is likable, understandable and strong willed. When she does feel guilty, it’s well earned. She’s a little firecracker with a bow and arrow (and salt).

Boreas is everything. He is relatable on how he got where he is in “life”.

Enemies to lovers, captive/captor, slow burn, death and destruction. What’s not to like?

The world building was great! At times, I thought the pacing could have been a bit better and that’s my only complaint.

Read this! You won’t regret it!

The beginning started off almost like ACOTAR and I thought it was a fan-fic for a second. 😅 I'm a sucker for book maps though. It's a pretty map. The worldbuilding is inconsistent. I'm not sure how some of the traveling around happened so quickly based on how the map looked. The concept and execution of this story were decent enough to keep me reading, but I just couldn't finish this. I was so bored. 😴 It needs more refinement. Felt like there were a lot of filler pages. Some of the plot was a bit confusing at times. This is a slow burn, but maybe it's a little too slow for me.

If you love retellings of "Beauty and the Beast" or "Hades and Persephone", enemies to lovers trope, or a slow-burn romance this book is for you. It wasn't for me though. Lol.

Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press, & the author for this ebook.
Posted on Goodreads. Will not be posting anywhere else.
#TheNorthWind #NetGalley #SagaPress #AlexandriaWarwick

I don’t think Beauty and the Beast retellings are for me. This says it’s for fans of Beauty and Beast and Hades and Persephone retellings, which really may be true. I just couldn’t get into this one.

It started exactly as ACOTAR did, which made me feel like there was a lot of hope for the book, but it just let me down. After the first 10% I found myself bored. The world building lacks in areas and is honestly somewhat confusing at times.

This book was just flat. The characters weren’t anything crazy and it turned into just flat fan-fiction later on with not a lot happening.

The FMC achieves her goal of saving her sister within the first 5% of the book. Everything after that has very little plot to it and I just found myself bored. Again, this may just be because I wasn’t a fan of the Beauty and the Beast retelling.

I wish I loved this. It has such great reviews and I’m starting to think it wasn’t just for me.

**Thank you NetGalley and Saga Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I want to start by thanking NetGalley and Saga Press for providing me an Advance Reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

There was quite a bit about this book I liked, and some that simply wasn't working for me. The story begins with Wren and her sister Elora who are on their own and must do whatever it takes to survive. We learn pretty quickly Wren seems to be the only one struggling to keep them fed while her sister is painted as too delicate and pretty for such a task. I am starting to dislike the trope where there is always one sibling struggling while the other sits on their laurels and just gets everything handed to them.

The North Wing, aka The Frost King, aka Boreas, arrives in their town, and of the eligible maidens, he chooses Elora because of Wren's obstinance and back-talk. So honestly, she can't even say she was protecting her sister when it was really her own doing for getting her sister chosen. When the North Wind comes to take Elora to his kingdom to become his next bride, Wren drugs her sister and takes her place and then plays the victim the entire time.

I think my biggest issue wit h this book was Wren, she just was not likeable and I did not care whether her character developed or not. Otherwise, I liked most of the rest of the characters. The servants around the house such as her maid and the cook. The other wind, Zepherus (?) was kind of a roller coaster. I think the North Wind himself deserves better. I also kind of wonder what happens to his wives if he has to get a new one so frequently.

This book was fun and pretty well written. Fast paced and interesting. I didn't love the main characters but I recognize that that may be a me problem. It's not a new favorite but it is a solid read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for both the E-ARC and the physically galley of this book!

The one-liner description for this book is pretty much spot on: "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."

If you like A Court of Thorns and Roses, From Blood and Ash, or A Touch of Darkness, then I highly recommend picking up this book. Very slow burn, enemies to lovers fantasy that gave me heavy ACOTAR vibes. Wren is a human who has to marry the North Wind (Hades-like immortal), and help keep the magical barrier protects the humans from weakening. Also reminds me of For the Wolf, with sacrifices needing to be made for the greater good. It was a lot of fun and I didn't want to put it down. The really nice thing about this is it's a standalone, but is also part of a larger series if you want to continue with this world. I believe the others focus on each of the brothers (the four winds).