A sweeping and swoon-worthy debut! I really loved this one. I didn't know how much I wanted a Greek-inspired WLW YA romance until I got this one. This one had so much to love: action, adventure, myths, exciting settings, lady power, but most importantly, a really sweet sapphic romance that I just swooned for. It was a quick read and rough in some places but for being a debut it was really well done and very enjoyable. I had a wonderful time reading this and I loved seeing the romance between Atalanta and Kahina blossom and I was kept on the edge of my seat by the plot. I look forward to seeing more from Tammi in the future as this was a very promising start!

This book was fun! I clicked on it because the title intrigued me, and downloaded it on the promise of mythology, and this book delivered above and beyond in that way. I liked the combination of mythological characters and original characters, and their interactions were really interesting to read.

While the writing was good and easy to read, the multiple switches between character point of views could be confusing at times, and it took me a while to get oriented with that.

While I liked the characters as mentioned above, I wasn't entirely happy with the portrayal of Artemis, because she seemed too demure for the goddess of the hunt. She isn't known in mythology to have deferred to any prince or man, so I found it strange that she did so in a book that is quite feminist in its storytelling.

This was another book I really wanted to like but just couldn't get into. I love Greek mythology and a book about Artemis and the Hunt sounded like something I would enjoy.

Outrun the Wind is a unique take on the tale of Atalanta and the Huntresses of Artemis. Now, that said, this story, unfortunately, fell flat.

A Little Bland
It was interesting to see Artemis and her Huntresses brought to life. There was a coldness there however, that created this barrier between the story and the reader. Artemis being cold, almost callus, makes her fearful yes, but it made her a little unlikable. There is also Atalanta who in Greek Mythology was a huntress for her.

Yes, this tale rewrites Greek mythology, but in doing so, it lost some of its charm and in some ways, diminished the characters. Now while it is great to see the women come on top of the men, their personalities are what is lacking.

Atalanta is not wholly likable. As a reader, I was not invested in her at all. It was great to see her stand alone and stand above the men and never back down, but there is no development to her to make her personable.

The voices in the novel, fall flat. There is no charm, no personality to connect the reader to the characters. As a novel highlighting an LGBTQ romance, it does not resonate with the reader because these characters, unfortunately, do not shine.

Kahina and Atalanta should be a romance to root for, but this story lacks depth, it lacks to devotion and richness to pull in the reader. Their voices blended together, and it stems from this coldness that began with Artemis.

In short, these are shallow characters who lack the substance of the original tale.

Poor Pacing
What also makes this novel hard to read is the pacing. It starts with Atalanta on a hunt, and then she runs off from joining Artemis and her Huntresses. The poorly paced novel stretched thin the plot, indicating a lack of direction in the storytelling. Is it about Atalanta and her run? Is it about Kahina and Apollo? It makes the reader question where the story is taking them.

When it does finally give the reader a semblance of where it wants to go, it takes to long to get there. The first half of the novel is plain boring. It has no vitality to it and the poor pacing makes the story feel like it has no substance.

Final Thoughts
It was not a bad story, but it was not great either. This could have been a strong feministic story, and yet the lack of personality, character growth, and poor pacing, this made the story boring. This is a story that stretches in too many directions with no clear indication of where it is going and the fact that the characters have no voice, strips of any connection it might have with the reader.

Although well researched, I found there were real pacing issues throughout the book and a distinct lack of backstory . Overall it was a good read but not my favourite.

This was an awesome book! I love retellings In general and this one hit the mark! It was action packed and I absolutely loved Atalanta.

This was a delightful reimagining of a story from Greek mythology. Atalanta has always been a fascinating character, and I loved this f/f LGBTQ+ reimagining. I would have liked to see more unique voices from the two protagonists, since they are both first person perspectives, but that is hard to achieve and the story itself helped to make up for that. I really enjoyed this book!

Interesting concept, but ultimately I really struggled to get into this one, and believe me: I tried! The cover is stunning, as are many other elements in the book.

A fun sapphic retelling of Greek mythology centered around Atalanta, a warrior, and Kahina, a huntress for the goddess Artemis. While the conceit is simple, the romance was charming and enjoyable. However, the story struggled with some pacing issues, and while it's based in mythology, it didn't exactly feel like a retelling in the way I expected. The POVs were also a bit hard to distinguish in moments. Still, a fun and romantic foray into Greek mythology that would be great for anyone looking for f/f romance grounded in tales of gods and monsters.

I fell in love with this author and her breathtaking novel. I enjoyed the mythology aspect and the relationships between the characters very much.

A huge thank you, truly, to FLUX and Netgalley US for this book.

As a French person, I was a little scared to read a massive mythological rewriting, but as a queer one and a mythological nerd I really needed to read it. And thanks to the lockdown, I finally took some time to fly through the pages of Outrun the wind.

I really loved almost everything about that book, it’s a 5★ read. I loved my meetings with Atalanta and Kahina. They are both incredible strong female characters, I really enjoyed seeing those two women fought for what they believed in. The diversity is really great : sapphic love, POC characters. Everything is well written.

The book follows two points of view : Atalanta (the rewriting part) and Kahina (the created part) and it is absolutely stunning. Usually I prefer one POV when we get a few but not there. I loved them both, even if Kahina’s were a little bit longer.

I loved the narrative too, and all the characters are well built. I really got attached to those two women (and their enemies to lovers trope relationship), but also Nicoleta, Isadora, Phelix, Nora. As usual, I didn’t liked the gods who are truly selfish, using human beings as pets in their giant game. Appollo is the worst one, but even then, you can see how great Elizabeth Tammi’s writing is.

There is a lot of themes in Outrun the wind : all the mythological stuff, slightly draw behind the story, all the references (gods, huntresses, Delphie, the Pythia,…) but also to the myth of Atalanta itself (of course, it’s a rewriting) which seems incomplete when you read it. This allows a full story, from the Calydonian hunt to the very end of her racings. There is also a great place given to family, native, adoptive and friendly ones : the one you have and the one you get through time.

I really love this book (in case it’s not obvious), it’s really well written and the characters are well constructed. It’s a must-read for me, and I hope for you too.

Tw : kidnapping, abuse, attempted rape (or more), abandonment and quite a few deaths (animal and human).

Outrun the Wind is a YA novel written from the perspective of Atlanta, the fastest woman in Ancient Greece, and Kahina, a huntress of Artemis.
It took me a long time to get around to reading this book. I actually ended up read Elizabeth Tammi's second novel, The Weight of a Soul, last year. Sadly, the problems I had with that book are the same as the problems I had with this book.
I'll start with the positives:
1) The writing was easy to read
2) There's a sapphic romance of sorts, of the enemies to friends to lovers kind.
3) Explores sexism and gender roles

The negatives:
1) Plot lacked direction for quite a large part of the book- there was plenty of it, lots of stuff happening, but I didn't know where it was going.
2) The characters lacked depth - Atalanta and Kahina got a bit more development than the others, but that was because they had POV chapters. Their motivations were also sometimes kind of... vague.
3) Basically all the men were bad guys, which just didn't seem like a balanced portrayal, even in a highly patriarchal society like Ancient Greece.
4) It felt more like a draft than a finished book
5) It veered so far from the original myths that it was virtually unrecognisable - it's got plenty of names from Greek mythology, but that's about the extent of it. Oh, and Atalanta can run really fast.
6) Finally, I was kind of bored. I wasn't really invested in the characters, or their journeys.

Unfortunately, not the book for me.

I really enjoyed this story. I was intrigued by the premise, stories set in mythology are some of my favorites; I love reading an author's version of what the events surrounding a popular mythical tale might have been. Outrun the Wind really succeeded in making the myth of Atalanta come alive and feel real. I loved the dual POVs to really get a sense of what emotions are playing out for both Atalanta and Kahina. If you're a purist concerning mythological tales, this probably isn't for you, but if you enjoy a good spin on a classic story rooted in myth, you will love this one!

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an okay read. I didn't care about any of the characters so it was hard to read at times. The pacing was too slow for me too.

strong female character check, good story development also it was action pack. Going to read this books.

Outrun The Wind is a fantastic young adult fantasy novel. The Goddess Artemis is out for revenge against the King ruler. There is a fantastic and interesting war here. Atlanta our main female protagonist is included in this trial and is a very strong individual. The descriptions have a sort of viking/norman vibe to them, steeped in history.
I enjoyed the vibe of this story as it has a feel of a fairy tale retelling or mythology. I would be recommending this fantasy adventure to anyone who is interested in history.

I was initially interested in this because of the mythology element. But I got so much more than that.
This story was bold and fast paced. I could not put it down and I'm happy to have had the chance to read it.

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc from the publisher and then bought my own copy. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Outrun the Wind

Author: Elizabeth Tammi

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Diversity: LGBT characters!

Publication Date: November 27, 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (murder, violence, gore, animal death)

Publisher: Flux

Pages: 302

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The Huntresses of Artemis must obey two rules: never disobey the goddess, and never fall in love. After being rescued from a harrowing life as an Oracle of Delphi, Kahina is glad to be a part of the Hunt; living among a group of female warriors gives her a chance to reclaim her strength, even while her prophetic powers linger. But when a routine mission goes awry, Kahina breaks the first rule in order to save the legendary huntress Atalanta.

To earn back Artemis’s favor, Kahina must complete a dangerous task in the kingdom of Arkadia— where the king’s daughter is revealed to be none other than Atalanta. Still reeling from her disastrous quest and her father’s insistence on marriage, Atalanta isn’t sure what to make of Kahina. As her connection to Atalanta deepens, Kahina finds herself in danger of breaking Artemis’ second rule.

She helps Atalanta devise a dangerous game to avoid marriage, and word spreads throughout Greece, attracting suitors willing to tempt fate to go up against Atalanta in a race for her hand. But when the men responsible for both the girls’ dark pasts arrive, the game turns deadly.

Review: Overall I thought this book was really good. If you’re into Greek Mythology then this book will be amazing for you. The characters are developed and the plot is intriguing. The book is also well written and I just felt so absorbed by it.

However, the book does drop you off in the middle of everything and it’s very hard to follow throughout. The book is too fast paced in my opinion and there is a lot going on in the beginning and throughout the book. If the book had just slowed down it could have easily been a trilogy with the amount of events that happen in this book.

Verdict: It was good, but could have been less chaotic.

As you can see by my rating, I didn’t particularly enjoy Outrun the Wind. This is the second book that I have read by Elizabeth Tammi and I didn’t enjoy her other book either. The Weight of a Soul was a 2 star read as well and you can check out that review, if you are interested. Anyway, I think that Elizabeth Tammi’s books aren’t for me. That is a shame as books inspired by mythology are something that I usually adore.

Outrun the Wind has such an interesting premise and I was very exited to start reading it. Soon I discovered that I would be having problems with the book. The reason for that is that I just couldn’t get into the writing style. It took me ages to get into the story and even then I wasn’t enjoying it all that much. I can’t pinpoint what exactly what bothered me (as I usually can’t with writing styles), it just didn’t work for me. That is also the reason why I probably won’t be reading more books by this author. Also, this story was supposed to be taking place in Ancient Greece yet I didn’t get that feeling at all. It actually felt more like a fantasy world, which is something that brought me out of the story.

I couldn’t connect to the story or the characters. This partially due to the fact that I couldn’t get into the writing style. But I also felt that the characters weren’t that fleshed out, or rather some of them seemed unbelievable. Especially Artemis and Apollo, they just didn’t feel like gods – they felt very weak in the grand scheme of things (which I can’t get into because of spoilers). Kahina and Atalanta were okay, I just didn’t feel all that much towards them. Their relationship and interactions were interesting to read about, but they didn’t capture my heart. Their relationship was probably my favourite part of the book.

Overall, Outrun the Wind just wasn’t what I expected it to be. I thought I would enjoy it more, based on the premise. Apparently Elizabeth Tammi’s books just don’t work for me. I would still recommend checking this book out, if the premise interests you, as I know many other people who have enjoyed this book.

This is a really beautiful sapphic retelling of the Greek myth of Atalanta. It's a thrilling story of a girl who loses the man she thinks she loves, discovers she is a long lost princess, and falls in love with her handmaiden. The plot was a little meandering to me, but I absolutely loved the characters. If you love mythology and lgbtq themes, you'll love this story.