On paper, I should love this book. I love the Beauty & the Beast/Hades & Persephone trope and typically really enjoy books with that element. The premise is so cool with The North Wind being an immortal who is tithed a new bride from this village whenever his old one dies. I love Wren disguising herself and taking her sister’s place.

But I don’t love the book as a whole and I can’t force myself to keep going. DNFing at 43% because it is a painfully slow start and I don’t love the characters enough to push through.

I’ve seen other reviews say the last half of the book is better, so I’m sure there are people out there who will pick this up, love the characters, and love the book. It’s just not me, unfortunately.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, all thoughts are my own.

I give this book a solid 4.5 star rating. I absolutely loved the concept of this book with the four winds being brothers/gods. I find that extremely unique and very captivating. I felt like the world Alexandria created was very well written and the characters all have great depths for the most part. I feel like I would have liked to seem a little more emotional depth to both Wren and Boreas. They were both pretty broody and pretty self centered for most of the book in my opinion. I would have loved to see them come together a little sooner in the story. I also didn’t care much for how it ended. I felt that it was pretty rushed from the time the final conflict takes place to the resolve of it. Where it explains in the end why Boreas chose to do what he did, I still felt there should have been something more. I dont feel as I can give many specifics in to what I felt couldn’t be different without spoiling the end for other readers. So I’m just going to leave the end as there was room for maybe a little more besides I made this choice and this followed type of thing. This is where it felt rushed and it doesn’t explain much about why or what with the West Wind. Other then those minor things for me I loved this book. It drew me in from the beginning to the end and i felt my self thinking about it through out the day wondering what else is going to happen. I will definitely recommend this book to others and will be looking forward to adding it to my collection of loved books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for providing the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book!

I will admit that it got off to a bit of a slow start, but the enemies to lovers trope shines so bright in this book. It's been a while that I've gotten a book where the main characters truly are enemies of each other and the confused pining that happens in this story is delicious.

Apart from that, this is a well written tale that takes elements from both Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone and fashions it into something that feels both familiar and brand new. I appreciated the insight into Wren's mind and the fact that she remained tough as nails throughout the duration of the story. Boreas was a bit harder to love initially, and while I did warm up to him eventually, that change of heart and character did not happen as seamlessly as I would have liked. But overall, I really and truly have no complaints.

A great addition to Romantasy!

This is a Hades and Persephone retelling that incorporates its own magical world. The world building slows the start of the book down significantly, but about halfway through it picks up and is more character- led. Wren and Boreas are an enemies-to-lovers couple who have an unexpected happily ever after.

Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for the ARC. I really enjoyed this book. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairytales and I really enjoyed this retelling of it. We follow our FMC Wren who is a twin to her sister Elora. Every few decades the North Wind comes to choose a woman from their realm. Elora was chosen, however Wren slid into her place when no one was noticing. However, everyone believed the North Wind would murder the woman not knowing they were to wed him to the end of their days. It is very slow burn, but the ending was very satisfying and happy.

This book was very well written and I enjoyed it. It started slow, however, but picked up around 40%. I'm also not too fond of the MMC or how he kept calling his wife, the FMC, "wife" constantly. I really did like Wren though!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A human…a god…a forced marriage…darkness…magic…love…loss. All wonderful attributes to a solid fantasy! However, this story fell flat to me. The plot, the characters, the small details of magic seemed very similar to A Court of Thorns and Roses that I found myself spending most of the book picking out similarities.

Now, although it read similarly to other popular romantasy novels, it was still enjoyable at times. Wren struggles with addiction and lack of love, so it was a treat to experience her growth.

This book is perfect for those who are craving an enemies to lovers story that follows a Beauty & The Beast framework.

It has many tropes that readers seek out including
*Enemies to Lovers
*Only One Bed
*Forced Marriage
*Dark Magic
*Spice
*Who hurt you

Although it wasn’t my favorite, I am curious to see what Alexandria does in the future!

Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone stories often feel so similar, that combining them to tell this story felt completely natural!! Wren is a mortal villager who takes the place of her twin in being taken by Boreas, the North Wind, the King of Frost. However, what she thinks will be a human sacrifice turns out not exactly what she's expecting...she becomes his wife.

Now overall, I really came around on this story!! The pacing at the beginning was pretty slow and the characters were tough to love, but I was insanely impressed by the back half of the book. Wren, with a little bit of a push from Boreas and her handmaid Orla, is able to make drastic growth. She was always fierce and tough, but this push drove her to be the best version of herself, tough but open, aggressive but caring.

I also really loved the world building aspects of this fantasy world, with little bits of references to other fairy tales and lore hidden amongst them- all while remaining completely unique!

Thank you so much to Alexandria Warwick and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

I love re-telling stories and I went in with an open mind. I wanted to love this book, but I really only got super into it from like 50% in.
The start of this book very much a replica of the beginning of ACOTAR and although I LOVE ACOTAR, I was hoping for something different especially when the next couple chapters gave me huge A Deal with the Elf King vibes as well. I'm starting to wonder if there is any originality to this story. It's supposed to be a Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone retelling, but I felt like it was a menagerie of other books pulled together..

I found the MC annoying and hard to follow all her emotions and thoughts. She became more tolerable after she sobered up.

I think the story had a lot of potential, but I couldn’t get past the annoying MC and how slow everything was. I love slow burn and world building but this just took too long to get to the point.

Maybe it just wasn’t my cup of tea and it will be someone else’s

I enjoyed the main character and her fierce independence. 2 stars off because I felt things were a but vague and left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I also thought her sister did a total 360 and felt her character wasn't well flushed out and was used as a very obvious plot device. Very much enjoyed the romance, slow burn and teasing and that the characters remained independent of each other.

4.5 stars! ⭐️
Hades and Persephone/Beauty and the Beast vibes!
This was a fantastic romantasy book with magic, angst, and slow but spicy burn. I love the representation of grief and alcoholism. I won’t attempt to explain the plot other than: woman goes to marry the scary Frost King/North Wind in her sister’s place and everyone does a lot of fighting and self discovery.
I will definitely be reading the next book!

And I love indie authors but the updated cover since this got picked up by a trad publisher??? LOVE

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. ❤️

This was a good fantasy romance and I enjoyed it. If you like retellings this is inspired by Beauty and the Beast retelling/hades and Persophene one. The fmc Wren is a strong protective sister who sacrifices herself to save her sister by marrying the immortal and dangerous Frost King. The Frost King finds out that he's married and they immediately hate each other. I liked the banter after the slow beginning and when the Frost King stopped being a broody silent mmc tbh.

The worldbuilding in this book was very confusing and I had no idea why the stakes were so high but it added tension to the romance. I thought the fmc was very interesting and annoying at times but I appreciated that the author explored her substance use disorder and how it affected her. The romance was the highlight to me, it was a very slow burn but I think it paid off once they got together. There were some spicy scenes that were done well and I liked the relationship development once they got together. Overall this was a good read that had lots of angst and a strong no-nonsense fmc. Thank you Saga Press for this arc for an honest review.

Read if you like:
- Retellings
- One Bed
- Slow burn
- Enemies to lovers
- Grumpy sunshine
- Forced marriage

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an e-ARC of North Wind!

Alexandria Warwick has talent as an author, Her writing style is captivating, she was able to have me invested very early on, and was able to build a world quickly and keep the reader immersed - for the most part with an exception listed below. The characters are palpable and the romance unfolding made my heart pump. It's very raw and you can see her talent and I'd be interested in more from her. I wanted to give 3 stars, but I just couldn't. I see her potential and I see this being a huge hit to others, it just didn't hit me the way I wanted.

My issue with The North Wind however is that it fell flat with originality. While the world building was unique and felt more thought out, the main plot did not. Initially, it starts like ACOTAR which annoyed me - Wren is hunting to keep her and her sister alive. With a bow and arrow... It’s one thing to read and be inspired by, it’s another to catch the attention of the audience using the same start. I wanted a bit more lushness, and less internal thoughts from Wren. When there's a Beauty and the Beast mixed with Hades and Persephone, I want to feel like I've fallen on a velvet chaise, enticed into eating the pomegranate even though I know I shouldn't. I want to be drawn to the Hades/Beast even when I try not to. Instead we have enemies to lovers, or insta-hate, which felt once more like ACOTAR, and less Hades and Persephone than I hoped.

It’s a tad meta, but I don't think this was intentional - there’s a point where she asks where’s the three headed dog, and he is confused. Since this is based on Hades and Persephone, I found this cheap… if you don’t want Cerberus in it, don’t mention him. This is your own world, don’t reference our views of myths unless it is part of the story, and since it’s not, this was just a throwaway comment to prove she has heard too many false rumors, which we already know given she thought all the girls were sacrificed.

The North Wind
By Alexandria Warwick
US Release Date: May 21 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️.5

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 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.”

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
I really enjoyed this book, it kept me intrigued from the very beginning! I’m a sucker for a good retelling and this is a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Hades/Persephone. I absolutely LOVE the FMC, Wren (If you’re a Nesta hater you probably won’t like her.) From the start she doesn't take any crap from the Frost King and I love that. She’s fierce, reckless, and very stubborn and I found myself relating to her, but I also wanted throttle her at times. The MMC, Boreas, is initially super cold and grumpy (for good reason), but he's really just a big teddy bear and I love him!!

This is a SLOW slow burn, but so worth it!
I cannot wait for the next book in this series!

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
❄️ Slow burn

❄️ Enemies to lovers
❄️ Forced marriage
❄️ Grumpy MMC
❄️ “My wife”
❄️ One bed/one horse

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: alcoholism

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and S&S/Saga for early access to this eARC. I really enjoyed this retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a Hades and Persephone twist!! Our FMC Wren is complex, compelling, and quite the match for her new husband, the Frost King. At first, this story is slow to start, but it soon warms with layers of banter, angst, and attraction. We are awarded with tropes such as: one bed, threats of stabbing, and “who hurt you?”I really enjoyed how Warwick approached this retelling and I’m rather looking forward to hearing the other Wind’s stories in the future.

💭 BOOK THOUGHTS: The North Wind is inspired by Beauty and The Beast & Hades and Persephone, but I loved that it was a fresh story in what can be considered a saturated ‘retelling’ genre. There was so much to love about the book that made it hard to put down. I ate up the slow burn tension and was especially obsessed with the feisty FMC! For my UK, Aussie and NZ book besties, you can already read this one, but it releases May 21st here in the US, so save this as your reminder to add The North Wind to your TBR.

You will love this if you enjoy:
🖤 Enemies to Lovers
🖤 “I was supposed to 💀 you but fell instead”
🖤 One bed/one ‘horse’
🖤 Marriage of convenience
🖤 ‘My wife’
🖤 Slow burn fantasy retellings

Cool magic!

I rounded up to a 4 but overall I think this is accurately rated at a 3.71. There are a lot of things that I liked: the seasonal magic of the four winds, the doors of realms, the banter, the powerful but obtuse god paired with a fiery complicated gal.

I was pretty into it until the last 2o-30%. There was so much build up for everything to be resolved VERY quickly. The magic elements were not totally thought out, the main "crisis" was fixed without much ado. The only things that felt fleshed out were the characters but everything else was too loose. The doors of realms while being one of my favorite elements, was not really utilized? There could have been so much more to play with there, I wish she saved it for another book. After a disappointing ending, I am not in a hurry to read the the next ones, but I will keep them in mind for when I need a romantasy fix.

I received a copy of The North Winds from Netgalley (thanks NG!) in exchange for my honest opinion.

“The North Wind” is a standalone classic enemies-to-lovers \ Beauty and The Beast/Hades and Persephone retelling . The magic system was interesting and I loved The Frost King (MMC) who is a dark god and Wren (MFC)who is a strong and stubborn mortal. The banter between the two was pretty entertaining too.
I really enjoyed reading this book it was a bit long but the storyline was interesting and I really wanted to know how it ended. It does end with a HEA. This story had a very slowwwwww burn romance but it was worth the wait because it was perfectly executed 🥵
Overall I enjoyed reading this fantasy retelling .
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌶️🔥

Thank you to NetGally and Saga Press for proving a digital copy of The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick in exchange for an honest review.
A stand alone, fantasy romance, slow-burn, enemies to lovers that had been completely transfixed - YES, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!
This was a really great Beauty and the Beast retelling with some Greek mythology. Our FMC Wren would do anything for her beloved sister including giving herself to the North Wind, man with a heart of ice, in her place. The Library scene…. truly every romance readers fantasy come to life. I cannot wait to read more within the interconnected series.

I really enjoyed this book overall, and thought that the FMCs struggles with addiction and self worth felt very authentic and relatable, and I absolutely loved her personality and the banter that she shared with the MMC. This definitely lived up to the Beauty and Beast + Hades and Persephone retelling that was described, which was really fun to read. My biggest issue with this book is that I had a hard time really understanding the magic – I didn't really understand the magic and rules around the sacrifices that had to be given to the barrier, and the ending made me question a lot of the magic that had been previously set up and made me ask, "what now?". I felt that the magic could have either been simplified OR expanded upon to be given more detail – instead, it felt like I didn't get enough to really feel immersed in this world and was left with a lot of questions.