Before I read Wind Daughter I read Echo North and was captivated and even though I did enjoy Wind Daughter I found Satu at the beginning a weak character with her defeatist attitude she had so much empathy but to her this was a bad thing. This drove me crazy and I kept on putting the book down not good when you have a set time to read it.

Having Echo back along with Satu's Mum and Dad together with the characters of Fannaris, Inna who was a absolute hoot and the winter lord saved it together with Joanna's amazing writing was it's saviour. If Wind Daughter was published first I would not have picked up Echo North.

I also found the pacing off just a touch a bit and so for all these reasons Wind Daughter receives 4 stars

Wind Daughter is the companion novel to Echo North and is just as enchanting a tale, but I loved it much more than Echo North. Wind Daughter contains spoilers for the first book. If you plan on reading Echo North, I implore you not to read Wind Daughter yet.

Wind Daughter had me fully charmed as soon as I started it. In the beginning, it’s filled with a sense of wonder, a child-like innocence as a young Satu narrates. The tone shifts when she gets older, but it does not lose the magical quality it begins with. The sense of wonder gives way to the uncertainty of a young girl trying to make sense of who she is and whether she belongs. With the end of the world riding on her shoulders, she is forced to find an inner strength she doesn’t believe exists.

Part of Satu’s uncertainty arises from her overwhelming social anxiety, and part of it is due to being the North Wind’s daughter. She trades the company of others for the vastness of the outdoors, where she doesn’t feel the walls closing in on her. Her loneliness and her desire to be accepted pulled at me. I rooted for her to find her bearings, to start believing there was more in her than she believed. The change is gradual and when she finally seizes who she is, it’s an empowering moment. It was a moment I paused at so I could savor Satu’s shining moment alongside her.

Wind Daughter was more than I expected it to be, and I loved nearly every moment of it. It’s a magnificent read that had me captivated from the very first line. It’s a tale about believing in yourself and finding your place. I can’t wait to read more from Meyer. I hope she’ll add another fairy tale set in this world.

The writing in Wind Daughter is just so dreamy—the words themselves feel as imbued with magic as the novel’s characters and world. Speaking of the worldbuilding—Wind Daughter did not dampen my fantasies of moving to a small, snowy European town, though Meyer does an excellent job of reminding the reader that that lifestyle can be very isolating. This is especially true for Satu, whose extreme empathy makes it difficult for her to bear social situations. I really like that Meyers calls attention to Satu’s anxiety attacks, gives her supportive family and friends, and also teaches that Satu’s “sensitivity” is actually a strength.

The beginning of the novel was a bit slow, but once it picked up, the plot didn’t stop barreling ahead. As a result, Wind Daughter felt much shorter than its 350 or so pages. Honestly, in some places I wished the pace would ease to allow for deeper worldbuilding; Satu encounters so many different settings and characters on her journey, and I think each one could turn into its own story. (Also, as an anthropology student, it was very cool to read about ethnomusicology in a fantasy world!)

Overall, however, Wind Daughter felt more middle grade than young adult. There were certainly dark elements characteristic of young adult fantasies, but Satu seemed much younger than seventeen. I think this is partially due to her being portrayed as such a sensitive character as well as the opaqueness of some of her emotions; she’s heartfelt and resilient, but her perspective felt simple, and her romance with one of the side characters bordered on insta-love.

Even so, I blew through Wind Daughter in two days, so clearly, the lush writing and setting was enough to sustain me! While this novel isn’t one of my favorites, I will definitely be reading Meyers’ future works.

Excellent prose, magical tale!

I'd like to thank the publisher Page Street Publishing and netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wind Daughter is a beautifully written story full of emotions and love about a young girl discovering her strength while also trying to save the life she knows as it is coming undone. With this being the second book it was kind of an in-between book. There wasn't really much added to the plot but the characters are what really makes this book shine. Ever since I read Joanna Ruth Meyer's Beneath the Sea series she has become one of my favorite authors. She is an amazing storyteller and the Wind Daughter was no different! Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for sharing this story with me!

Happy Wednesday y'all and happy post-publication day to Wind Daughter by Joanna Ruth Meyer! Today's also my stop on the Wind Daughter tour put on by TBR and Beyond Tours! I read Echo North when it came out and I loved it so much, so I was the most excited to be able to be a part of this tour! As always, thank you to the publisher, Page Street Kids, for sponsoring this tour.
Wind Daughter 4/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
A hauntingly beautiful fairy tale about love and loss, this Echo North companion novel is perfect for fans of the Winternight Trilogy.
In the dark, cold reaches of the north lives a storyteller and his daughter. He told his daughter, Satu, many stories–romances like the girl who loved a star and changed herself into a nightingale so she could always see him shining–but the most important story he told her was his own. This storyteller was once the formidable North Wind, but he lost his power by trading it away in exchange for mortality–he loved her mother too much to live without her. The loss of his magic impacted more than just their family, however, and now the world is unraveling in the wake of this imbalance.
To save the North, Satu embarks on a perilous journey to reclaim her father’s magic, but she isn’t the only one searching for it. In the snow-laden mountains, she finds herself in a deadly race with the Winter Lord who wants the North Wind’s destructive powers for himself.
Satu has the chance to be the heroine of her own fairy tale, only this one has an ending she never could have imagined.
Here are my top 5 reasons that you need to read Wind Daughter:
1. Echo's back in this book! Since Wind Daughter is the companion book to Echo North, I did expect to see her, but it was so great to see how her story progressed, especially because I did enjoy her story so much. And I loved how much the world expanded on her story!
2. The winds: I know we knew the North Wind and he was Satu's father in this book, but I loved that the East, West, and South Winds were also here and that they helped her in her quest to reclaim her magic by keeping the unraveling away from her.
3. The Winter Lord: I'm a sucker for lords and I love winter, so that already was something I was super into, but the fact that the Winter Lord used to be a servant of the Wolf Queen's but also saved Satu from dying once and is now doggedly behind her and trying to get her to give him her father's magic was great (and then when you learn his real backstory and everything, that made things even more interesting)
4. Act 3: Everything about act 3 was so great and I loved the tone the story took on during it and I don't want to spoil it too much so I won't say anything else about it here.
5. Satu's growth: I really liked seeing the Satu from the beginning of the book become the Satu at the end of the book. She grew so much as a person after going on such a large quest and having to overcome so much and I really loved that journey for her!
Overall, I really enjoyed Wind Daughter and I think y'all should for sure pick it up today!

In 2020, despite owning all of her already released books and pre-ordering all forthcoming ones, I finally read Joanna Ruth Meyer for the first time when I participated in a tour for BEYOND THE SHADOWED EARTH. Because I have a compulsion to read whichever book was written first, even if they are companion novels and it’s not absolutely necessary, I started with BENATH THE HAUNTING SEA and then moved to BEYOND. I absolutely loved both of those books, so I couldn’t wait for WIND DAUGHTER to be released so I could read ECHO NORTH and then WIND DAUGHTER back to back. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to participate in this tour!

There is just something special about Joanna’s writing that evokes a sense of comfort and nostalgia and…I don’t quite know how to put it, but “oldness” is what comes to mind. She definitely has a way of writing that evokes old-fashioned fairy tales, a sort of gentle, soft, lyrical manner of laying out the story. It’s really hard to explain, but I hope that kind of makes sense. That’s not to say the characters don’t go through some really tough times! They absolutely do; but like with old fairy tales, that’s where their strength and courage end up coming from.

You don’t have to read ECHO NORTH before reading WIND DAUGHTER, as Joanna does summarize the story of ECHO at the beginning of WIND. In ECHO we met Ivan, the former North Wind, who gave up his power to be with his mortal wife and their little baby, Satu. Ivan helps Echo on the most important part of her journey, heading north to the Wolf Queen’s domain. WIND DAUGHTER occurs some years later, when Satu is just past her 17th birthday and is, needless to say, Satu’s story. Satu is depicted as an empath, I think, being able to feel the emotions of those around her, which incapacitates her at times (she spends a lot of the story crying!). She also stays alone with her parents at the top of their mountain, very rarely going down to the village; when she is around other people, she has what I think are anxiety or panic attacks, which she doesn’t know how to handle. Needless to say, at times she is very lonely, and I really felt for her in her anxiety at being around other people.

I’m not going to get into the plot here, but suffice it to say that just like Echo, Satu must travel long and far on her quest in order to save the world–and herself. I absolutely loved the Winter Lord, the Jokull, even though he was decidedly not a nice guy! I definitely questioned some of Satu’s choices, but you have to keep remembering how naive and empathic she is. I hope that you’ll pick this up and follow along on Satu’s journey. Will she save the world? Will she save the boy she loves? Will she figure out who she is and come into her full power? You have to read WIND DAUGHTER to find out!

RATING: 5 stars!

**DISCLOSURE: I received an early e-copy of this book from the publisher for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.

Initial Thoughts
I was super excited to receive this book in NetGalley, I love Joanna Ruth Meyer's writing. I've read all of her books.

Some Things I Liked
Villain love interests. I'm a sucker for a good enemies to lovers story but bonus points to anyone who actually makes it seem like that enemy love interest is actually the villain at first. I think I just love a mysterious and misunderstood love interest.
Nods to Echo North. While this is a companion novel and not a traditional sequel, I would definitely recommend reading Echo North first (if you plan to read it), as Wind Daughter will spoil that one for you. I loved the way the author wove the stories together.
Anxiety and Empathy as themes. Satu is often overwhelmed by feeling the emotions around her and is also constantly blaming herself for all of the problems of the world. I loved the way the author described her feelings and how Satu learns to find balance with what she can fix and what she can't.

Series Value
I'd love to see more books set in this world. In particular, I'd love to read the story of a certain character from Echo North and the West Wind.

Final Thoughts
As I thought, I loved this book. It's probably my favorite Joanna Ruth Meyer book yet.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wind Daughter was a magical and snowy tale that swept me off my feet! I loved the twist that came with the story and how well it fit with the ending. I loved the storyline and the adventure that came with all the troubles Satu had to face. I felt like a was reading a folktale from days past and I loved how the author incorporated magic and details of everything from the setting to the back stories and the Winds.

I LOVE this book! I have always loved Joanna's books and her writing is just *chef's kiss* in my opinion.

So, this story follows Satu, who is the daughter of the North Wind, is a very shy, and reserved girl to the point of having panic attacks when around too many people, and is not a fan of being enclosed in a room for too long. One day, an event comes called The Unraveling due to her father's wind magic being left astray and have nothing and no one to hold onto it and control, it has begun to run amok and cause chaos and literally unravel the world and the people in it. Her father and mother are taken, and now it's up to Satu to stop The Unraveling, while also trying to keep her father's magic out of the hands of the Winter Lord, the right hand man of the Wolf Queen, which makes her wonder whether the Wolf Queen is back and it is up to Satu to stop her once and for all.

I just love the writing in Joanna's books. Any time I read her books, I feel like I'm reading a fairytale told in a way that makes me think of the Grimm brothers or any of those older fairytales. That is the best way I can describe her writing, and just makes me feel like I'm reading such a beautiful, and magical fairytale filled with magic, and romance.

Satu is not your typical heroine. She is very shy, reserved, jumps at everything, tends to cry...a lot, and may even come off as a coward and weak. The thing about Satu, though, is that she is brave without even realizing she is. Yes, she tends to cry a lot, or get scared easily, but she's such an empath. She feels soooo much, it just tends to get in the way of her actions, words, and feelings. I love how Satu wasn't this fierce, and stabby gal. She felt, a lot, and those feelings helped her get through such a large hardship to save her family, friends, and the world. I love reading books with heroines that are not these super tough chicks. I love when they're more relatable. I mean who honestly can just raise their hand and say "I am going off now to find my father's magic to save the word" without thinking for just a moment there is NO way I, a mere human, could do this? She is a fantastic character, and that ending just made me love her even more.

The romance is also lovely. Not really a romance you would expect, it's a slow burn enemies to lovers romance, but I certainly saw the twist that was coming, and I knew exactly who I wanted to come out victorious in this story and romance. It's a truly timeless romance.

I applaud Joanna again for such a beautiful book! I just want to say I want more by her! I received a free digital copy to read(thank you to NetGalley, TBR Beyond Tours, and the publisher). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I could not put this book down.
Consumed this in 24hrs and then bought Echo North and read that just as quickly.

This is a magical tale of a young girl discovering her strength while also trying to save the life she knows as it unravels around her. She is desperate and sad but also resilient in her journey. She meets new friends and familiar faces along the way but not all have her best interest in mind. Will she be able to fix the unraveling or will the betrayal be too much?

Read if you like

YA
Magic
Strong FMC
Ghostly friends
An evil wolf queen
Going to the ends of the earth to save your winter love
Family love
Bees

Seriously, I really did love this so much. There was a point towards the end that I was worried that this wouldn’t have an HEA but rest assured, it does.

Wind Daughter is a companion novel to Echo North, but it's not necessary to have read that to understand or appreciate this story, though it would certainly add another layer.

Satu is the daughter of a storyteller who was once the North Wind. He gave up his immortality in order to live with the human he fell in love with, but giving up his magic came with a price. The world is now Unraveling from the loose magic, and it's up to Satu to save it. She needs to learn how to find her father's loose magic, master it, and sew the world back together before it's too late - but she's not the only one who's searching for the North Wind's magic.

Part 1 was a little slow paced for my liking - it takes a little while for Satu to come into herself, and there were some parts of the quest to find the magic that I felt could have been fleshed out a little more. Part 2 started to pick up, and then at the end when it transitioned to Part 3 - bam. It all was gorgeously woven together, and I couldn't put it down - it was absolutely worth the wait to see how it all came together.

This is an eerie, wintery fairytale. Meyer's prose is clear and beautiful - it almost reads like it's being told by an oral storyteller, which is very fitting for the characters. At its heart, this is a story about stories - the power of storytelling, the power of owning our own stories, and how stories are a magic of their own.

I really loved the magic system of this world. The visualization of the world being made up of threads and woven together and Satu's magic being the ability to manipulate that was beautifully shown - the Time Thread Sea at the end was a particular favorite of mine. Again, Meyer's descriptions were a strength - each location, magical or not, was described in beautifully vivid detail that made all aspects come to life.

This is a beautiful story about stories, love, loss, and coming-of-age. It's a fairytale that stands on its own and builds its own lore. This is a YA read that I think adults would also easily be able to enjoy - I will definitely be recommending this!

"Because there is work to be done. And I am the only one who can do it. Stories unfold inside of me. I am ready, at last, to take charge of mine."

Loved this book! It was a fantastically crafted narrative and I sped through it. It was a wonderful companion novel and I thoroughly recommend!

*I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity!*

Wind Daughter, a companion to Echo North, is a sparkling and enchanting fairytale that will hold you in its icy grasp from beginning to end. I was completely blown away once again by Meyer’s beautiful writing and her storytelling prowess.

Satu North is the daughter of a storyteller. She grew up listening to his magical glittering stories, including the most important one, his very own. Her father was once the formidable North Wind, but he lost his power when he traded it away for his own mortality. He loved Satu’s mother so much, that he couldn’t live without her. The loss of his magic impacted so much more than their family, and the world began unraveling due to the imbalance.

To save the North, Satu goes on a quest to take back her father’s magic. She finds along the way that she isn’t the only one searching for it. In the snow covered mountains, she finds herself in a lethal race with the mysterious Winter Lord who wants the North Wind’s immense power for himself.

Satu has the chance to be the hero of her own fairytale, but will her fears and her feelings prevent her? This fairytale has an ending that she never possibly could have imagined.

I just can’t come up with the words to express how much I love this book. Satu is such a strong and genuine character despite what she thinks of herself. Her journey is filled with self discovery, friendship, emotion, and love. I was so happy to see my dear Echo and Hal weaved into the story as well. I also lay claim to the Winter Lord! 😉

I highly recommend this amazing story of love and loss. If you like books that make you cry and melt your heart, this one is for you!

I loved Echo North and Heart of the Forest, so I was really excited to read this one. I liked it, but parts of it felt rushed and almost more like a summary than a finished, fully-fleshed-out final draft. Some of the fantasy elements didn't feel really cemented in the world building. I'm still glad I read it, though.

I'm always a little wary when it comes to sequels of books that I really loved but Wind Daughter absolutely blew me away (heh, pun intended). It is funny, it is magical, it is lovely, the writing is exceptional, as always! The fact that this was bee magic, just... *chef's kiss* I love bees anyways (SAVE THEM), so this was right up my alley. Tens across the board for this one!

Wind Daughter was a beautifully told story of the love of a daughter and the fight for identity in a world that is spiralling out of your control. After devouring Echo North, I was delighted to get my hands on Wind Daughter and dive into Satu’s story and the world set up in Echo’s novel.

Meyer’s writing is beautifully poignant, atmospheric in description and nuanced in emotion. I love writing I can really sink into, ones that have a certain fairytale feel to it that casts a whimsical air to the story, and Meyer always comes through with that exact style of prose. Writing style really makes a story for me, and Wind Daughter was made all the better by Meyer’s gorgeous ability to turn a phrase.

The plot was fast paced while still leaving room for character introspection and developments. The reader is running along with Satu as she is trying to harness her father’s magic to stop her unraveling world, all while doing her best to find her sense of self in the middle of the chaos.

I loved, loved, loved the romance. It isn’t a huge part of the story until closer to the end, but then it becomes everything. It was similar enough to Echo and Hal to show off the time of romances Meyer likes to write— soft, emotional and angsty— but had a certain enemies to lovers edge I can never resist.

Overall, the only part that somewhat drew me out of the story was Satu’s voice. I loved that she was sensitive and anxious, working through her problems in a way that felt very real to me, but at times she came across more middle grade or far younger than her age. I do wish she would have developed a little more in her coping mechanisms over the course of the story, but that’s just personal preference.

Overall, I loved Wind Daughter and can’t wait to read whatever Meyer writes next!

4.5/5 stars

What a beautifully crafted and woven story of fantasy and love. There is just something about this book that will stay with you and keep you turning the pages. The character are relatable and it was interesting to see how some social anxiety was woven in as so many of us struggle with it. Beautiful read!

Joanna Ruth Meyer's novel, Wind Daughter, is a compelling novel woven with wonderful stories. Full of emotion, adventure, and characters that change from enemies to lovers.

Ugh, I binged this in a day!!

If you are looking for another book focused on lore and fantasy, this is the book for you! There are so many emotions you will experience on this ride just like in Echo North. In Joanna's books, love is of the utmost importance but the romance is usually second to the main character's development. So if you are trying to decide to read, remember there is a lot of self examination and learning on the MC's part.

A lot of other reviewers commented that it felt like the maturity of the book was more like a middle grade or younger feel, but I disagree. Satu, to me, represented a lot of us empaths who don't really fit into the world as children and even adults. I could see myself in her especially with how I am and a lot of us are now later into the pandemic. Isolation is a lot on children and adults, on top of already feeling alone and different from everyone else. Her reactions to going to school, visiting a store, meeting strangers is similar to some of us with social anxieties and different developmental disabilities. For some of us, we live our day to day like Satu does.

Pacing:
Joanna brilliantly paced this so you felt the pain that Satu was feeling through the middle to the end. She is missing who she loves and we, the readers felt that too with the absence of characters.

Characters:
I really loved how she tied Echo North to Wind Daughter and we got to see Echo and Hal happy. It was also precious how Satu becomes close with Inna. The tie in with Hal had me so shocked!! EEP. The weaving of characters and stories is so beautiful.

I lovedddd the Winter Lord. The whole time I was getting Kylo Ren vibes and I was like Satu, if you don't take his hand, I will. Obviously from the pain of TROS in the sequels still hurts me to this day, so I was sobbing around 50-70 pages until the end. (Take heart friends, the ending will leave you feeling way better than TROS).

I do wish we got to know the Winter Lord more as I felt a bit more connected to Hal in Echo North.

All I can say is I felt like I was in a magical story and connected to all the characters. You feel their warmth and their deep, deep hurts.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!! Thank you Joanna for your lovely prose and heart.