This is not your typical romantasy. The two protagonists are best friends – in the case of Siiri might have slightly warmer feelings for Aina than mere friendship but this is not a specifically queer romantasy (even if there are some queer overtones). Set against the backdrop of Swedish history and mythology, the story follows the two girls as one of them is kidnapped by the Witch Queen and dragged to the underworld, while the other sets off on a quest to learn magic and get her friend back. There are twists and turns aplenty and at least one Hades/ Persephone style romance. What I loved most was that the two girls are both so distinct and yet both utterly believable. There’s a place here for the love of friends and the romance of finding or rediscovering your besties as well as the more usual sexual romance. In many ways this was more dark fantasy than romantasy- perhaps why I loved it so much. However, as long as you actually like a healthy helping of fantasy with your romance, you’ll probably love this too.

I personally feel like this book was mismarketed I went into it expecting a sapphic novel and instead the book spent the vast major of its time building a relationship between one of the two leads and a god rather than making me honestly believe in the relationship between the two leads. On top of that it was honestly far too long and poorly paced. The way this book was marketed towards me made it seem like something I should really love but in the end it felt more like a tired hades and Persephone retelling rather than something new and fresh.

I will say that I do think the narrators did a good job keeping me engaged enough to not DNF the book out of frustration and the fact that this wasn’t a one star is based heavily on their talent I just wished they where reading something more like what was sold to me when I requested this ARC

I picked up this book to listen to because it is based on Finnish mythology. I should have read it, not listened to it, because the listening was ruined by the reader’s pronunciation of Finnish words. But that’s that.

It’s actually a pretty briliant use of old myths. Yes, at times the story gets too politically correct and modern, but there’s a good idea behind it all.

So two girls, who live their daily lives with their relatives and kin, talk about upcoming marriages and gathering supplies for the winter … and then one of them is grabbed and dragged to the underworld. The situation changes when the other, the weaker of the two, gets her friend free and gives up her life instead. And so Aina disappeared into the underworld. But Siiri doesn’t accept it. She should have been the one who was kidnapped, she has the strength and skills to survive.
So Siiri takes her equipment and goes to investigate a way to escape the underworld. At one point, she is joined by a reindeer she saved from wolves, and a bear they helped out of a trap. As in fairy tales, help others and you will be helped. Finally, she reaches Väinämöinen, who has not been found for a long time.
At the same time, Aina is in complete confusion - she is fed one bite at a time, dressed in gold and fear, she meets other prisoners, and cruel “Hunger Games” are organized for them. When Aina finally gets to the king of the underworld, she is ready to sacrifice herself to save the other girls and thus Siiri.
But Siiri has gathered Väinämöin’s wisdom and pushed herself through fire and fat and pain to the underworld, and so she finds Aina, but this meeting is not at all what she had hoped for.
Siiri went to save the tormented Aina, but Aina had chosen a life that would fulfill all her dreams so far. Siiri cannot accept that Aina has changed, but at the same time she does not admit to herself that she herself is no longer the Siiri who once began her journey to the underworld.

This story is also reminiscent of another myth related to the underworld, but at the same time it is also a Nordic myth, to which a lot of modern culture has been added. Pretty good fantasy, but yeah, if you're an Estonian/Finnish speaker, don't listen to this as an audiobook, because half the time you'll be guessing what was that word they're trying to read in English. :)

An author who writes hockey romance and the world of fantasy, i read the ebook for this instead of the audio but I will listen to the audio at some point

I dnfd this unfortunately. I was very much looking forward to new book from Emily Rath because I LOVE her Jacksonville Rays series; however, I couldn't look past the religion talk and negative connotations put on certain types of people.

I was immediately immersed in this story. The audio drew me in quickly and I devoured the book. This is a unique take as it delves into Finnish mythology, and it will fascinate a wide variety of readers. There are a few times when the storyline drags slightly, but those are manageable in light of the overall work. Love when authors take a risk on something outside their norm!

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for this ALC.

Khaya Fraites and Emily Lawrence delivered stellar performances as the two leading ladies in this book.

I’m conflicted. I liked this story most of the time. I did find myself wanting to rush to complete it. Eh. Such is the way of things occasionally. I do look forward to book two.

4.25/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
1/5 🫑

I love the aspect of going to hell for someone. I loved this from Emily Rath! It was completely unexpected in the very best way! We get to see this journey from two completely different sides of what’s going on. Siiri who is just such an epic bad ass. Aina was softer but her growth over the story was great!

It was such a fresh and fun fantasy story. I love the fact that you get to go and see something new and see something that I personally have not.

I listened to the audio and read the hardcover in tandem. The narration was so fantastic! Khaya Fraites and Emily Lawrence were perfection on this story! I’d love to listen them again for book 2.

I’m looking forward to more from this world! I would recommend this story to fantasy lovers and those who enjoy female forward stories! Thank you to the author and publisher for a copy of this story for review!

What a beautiful and haunting story, the narrators did an amazing job bringing this gorgeous story to life. This was seriously one of the most beautiful things I have listened to. I did find a lot of the character names similar so I at times I got confused as to who was who, but I think if I was actually reading the physical book I would have not had that problem, so I didn't take any stars off for that. The love between the two main characters was lovely yet heartbreaking as they both went through so much trial and ultimately growth as people. They both needed to make hard choices. I can't wait for the next part.

I tried to get into this but I just couldn't. I tried a few times and it just didn't catch. The writing is beautiful and I can see how people would love it it's just not for me today.

Huge thanks to Recordedbooks for the ALC through NetGalley!!

This was such a wild ride & I so badly want the sequel now!!! Also I was quite worried that the author usually writes spicy romance books and that I might not like this one but I was so wrong cuz she excels at writing fantasy, and I'm quite curious to see what she's gonna do next in this genre.

I absolutely loved the world created by the author. It's highly influenced by Finnish mythology & folklore, while the author also has added her unique ideas to them to make it more dark & gruesome & also captivating!! (don't judge me, i just love dark myths & gothic vibes and this was perfect for me). The way the gods were portrayed made me look at em in awe as well as in horror cuz they all have immense powers & can easily do more damage with a flick of their fingers, yet they've lost powers cuz of the loss of trust in them by the villagers. And I found this aspect of the plot to be highly interesting as they also need our beliefs to exist & be powerful in the real world.

And I found the setting & the politics of the underworld to be extremely cruel and even brutal at times. All the gods & goddesses in there exude that fearsome aura and have unique brutality to themselves which was interesting to witness (while also making me lose sleep at times cuz I looked through their images in Pinterest, I'm a scaredy cat y'all🙈)

The audiobook is a duet narration and both the narrators did an incredible job of bringing out the nature of the characters. Siiri is strong but Aina is meek & gentle, and you could clearly picture who's who even if the narrators had not mentioned the chapter titles. That's how well they portrayed the emotions of the characters!!

Characters -
If you'd told me at the start that I'd grow to like these two girls & even root for them to get together, I would've laughed at you but I was screaming for them to join hands by the end!!! They both grew up on me & have become one of my all time fav characters now.

Siiri is such a brave soul that she's ready to venture into the darkness of the underworld to bring back her only friend, Aina (ik, massive Orpheus & Eurydice vibes!!!). And she kept surprising me with her relentless efforts to keep going further even when things went south, and she was ready to even give up her own life to save the one she cares about. And what I liked most about her was that she was always ready to go against the traditional norms set forth by the people on how a woman should act!!! She breaks the rules & makes her own, and I absolutely admire her for that.

Aina, on the other hand was meek & vulnerable at the start but goes through an incredible transformation towards the end. At times, I found myself questioning her choices and actions but she had me rooting for her in the last few chapters. I don't think I've ever seen a woman who would do things she has done for the people they care about cuz she goes through so many ordeals & yet stays hopeful and lives for the people she loves!!! Her nature of giving all of her & sacrificing everything for others is honorable indeed and I truly love her from the bottom of my heart.

By the way things ended, I'm so eager to get my hands on the next book!!! If you love fantasy with dark folklore and FMCs who are ready to die for one another, you absolutely have to give this a try.

Wow, this was such an incredible read! I did mainly listen to the audiobook, but I had purchased a copy of the hardcover just before I started reading it, so when I had an hour left, on a Friday afternoon when I don't typically pick up audiobooks, I tandem read physically while I had the audiobook playing, which was a great experience, since I didn't really know the spelling of all these characters names and places. Still don't, really, but I have a better understanding.

The way that this story was told, going between Aina and Siiri's stories, Sirri trying to make a plan to rescue Aina, and Aina trying to survive. Each where both really interesting, and watching as the stakes rose, as they learned more of what was going on, on both sides, was so great!

There was a point, about 3/4ths in, where things seemed to be pretty good, that they'd defeated the big bad. But given that there was still a quarter left of the story, yeah, I knew things would go wrong. How they did, it was sad, and I hope that the future holds more happiness for all of them!

Honestly, if this series results in a threesome, or Aina going back and forth between Siiri and Tuoni. Like she said, he has her heart, but Sirri has her soul. If she isn't made to choose, that would probably be happiest for all involved once they settled into such a relaitonship with one another! I mean, why not, once the threat is passed, once Kal is old enough that she wouldn't be what they threaten him with to make him comply?

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait for the sequel!

Sadly do to the time of year I didn't get all the way through this book before it vanished from my account. What I did hear I enjoyed a great deal.

It took me two entire months to get through this story. It’s hard to pinpoint any technical weaknesses, but it just came across as dull. I never grew to care for the characters, and I grew tired of being told how much everyone cared for each other instead of shown. The plot had plenty of action yet still seemed to drag. I’m really bummed this didn’t work out for me.

Following two Finnish girls in the time that the old gods are fading, North is the Night is a mythological epic. After Siiri's best friend Aina is taken by a death goddess, she sets off into the wilderness to save Aina and maybe the entire Finnish world as they know it. Meanwhile, Aina must survive by her wits alone in the underworld.
I really wanted to like this book. Finnish mythology is an area I want to learn more about, the Christian colonial era, cool girls with axes, and a ton of comparisons to authors I love? It sounded delightful. Unfortunately, I didn't really like it. It fell flat, and also the relationships didn't make sense. Siiri should definitely not have been straight. She was set up so queer (she goes to the underworld for the woman she loves the most) and also it was marketed as sapphic. It probably doesn't help that this book was pretty hyped up, and also the hardcover is alluringly beautiful, but this just wasn't it.

This book was a mix of a lot of things but none seemed to be done well.
Siiri's POV for the first half was boring at best.
Aina was the only interesting POV in the first half.
And then right when Siiri got interesting, Aina started giving me whiplash with her changing her mind every 5 seconds.
The "romance" was confusing, even at the end it was unclear if they were actually together or if they were just BFF's that are completely there for each other. There was 0 chemistry and it felt very pushed.
I just feel like there are so many other books out there that do these plot points so much better that there is no point in wasting almost 600 pages on this book.

A little slow and pretty for my taste, but really good! The world is interesting and Emily's writing is absolutely lovely. The narrator did a great job and I'm glad I read this one!

The only reason I finished this book is because I listened to it and could have it as background noise.

I originally picked it up because Finnish folklore and sapphic romantasy sounded amazing. Well the Finnish folklore was interesting, but I kind of wish I knew more about Finnish folklore before I read this. The sapphic romantasy part was the most boring part about this story.

There was no romance between the two girls until the very end. I would have believed they were just best friends who were raised together and like sisters more than I believed a romantic love. It was almost like they didn't recognize their feelings for what they were throughout the entire book and they didn't make me believe it by the end.

Frankly, I thought Tuoni and Aina had a better love story and was kind of disappointed the way they left off.

The book also starts off very heavily about the Christianity that the Swedes are bringing and crushing the old Finnish gods with and it reminded me too much of what's happening modern day with anything except "normal" Christianity being looked down upon and it just made me want to throw this book. Luckily, it tapered off and most of the book wasn't about the religion. However, the next book will be as they start their religion wars and I will definitely not be reading that.

The audiobook narrators were good, although sometimes they sounded too similar and it made it a little difficult to tell them apart. However, I was using it as background noise, so that's on me for not giving it my entire attention.

Thank you to Netgalley for an audio copy of this book. My thoughts are entirely my own.

Overall, 4 stars. I don't typically enjoy folklore/mythology books, but I really enjoyed reading about Siiri and Aina, their friendship and their individual journeys. My imagination had a good ol' time imagining what Tuonela was like and what the witches looked like. This book is a total 180 from Emily Rath's usual content so I went into this with zero expectations which made this more enjoyable. The only thing I wish I had was a character list of who all of the gods/goddesses/witches were so that I could keep their names straight.

Siiri and Aina's devotion and love for each other, their culture, and their beliefs were so strong and resilient. The relationships between Siiri and the bear and Aina and the raven were so sweet and born out of mutual respect and trust. Great story, I would consider book fantasy, and not romantasy. Interested to see how the duology will continue.

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the advanced audiobook!

Format: audiobook - the audio narrators were great, and I liked the dual POV

Soft DNF at 19%. The premise was super interesting, but I got bored pretty quickly. I might circle back to it in the future. The audiobook narrators themselves were very engaging!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!