Once in a while, you come across a book you literally never heard of. This was the case for me with The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick. I only found out about this romantasy title recently as it has been picked for two book clubs quite short after one another. At first, it didn’t really pique my interest, but when I saw it is available on Kobo Plus (the Dutch edition), I decided to take the plunge. Was this a good choice after all?

Trigger warnings: poverty, malnutrition, grieving the loss of loved ones, alcohol abuse and addiction, withdrawal symptoms from said addiction, anger management issues, self doubt, PTSD.

About the book

The North Wind Series: The Four Winds #1
Published by Andromeda Press on January 13, 2022
Pages: 551
ISBN: 9781733033466
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romantasy
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Lush. Dark. Romantic. Introducing a newly reimagined tale written in the vein of Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone.
Long before civilization, there were the gods. And before the gods, there was the earth, the celestial bodies, and air given flesh. They are the Anemoi—the Four Winds—and they have been banished to the four corners of the world.
Wren of Edgewood is no stranger to suffering. Her parents are gone. Survival is all she knows. For three hundred years, the land known as the Gray has been encased in ice, surrounded by a great barrier called the Shade, which protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond.
But day by day, the Shade weakens.
Only one thing can stop the Shade’s fall: a mortal woman taken captive across the barrier, bound in wedlock to the dark god who reigns over the Deadlands. He is the North Wind, the Frost King, an immortal whose heart is said to be as frigid as the land he rules.
And the time has come for the Frost King to choose his bride.
The North Wind is a standalone, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, the first in a series sprinkled with Greek lore. Perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout, Laura Thalassa, and Scarlett St. Clair and This London Love comes a heart-warming tale of love & redemption.

My review

My expectations for this novel weren’t too high actually. I was afraid it would be too much young adult since one of the book clubs it was picked for is a YA one, but it ended up not being the right fit for this particular book club. And there it was, my curiosity. I have to admit that I didn’t want to read this book at first because it was picked for the YA meeting I couldn’t attend, but I was glad that the other book club also picked this read. So I was forced to read it within a few weeks.

For the first few chapters, I still was a bit sceptic. The storyline feels like a rip-off of ACOTAR, one of my all time favorite series combined with a little bit of The Hunger Games. The sisters swapping places, the kidnapping to another realm… Sounds familiar right? Thankfully this feeling fades away after a few chapters, but Warwick is not getting the award for most original plot. The unfolding of the bond between The Frost King and the mortal human woman Wren was the most interesting of the entire plot which further consists off battles, power loss, and what else you could think of in romantasy books. Still, I ate it all up.

The reason why I ate it all up were the characters. And not the characters themselves, but their character development is what did it for me. At first glance, Wren and The Frost King seem like every other main character within the romantasy genre. However, once the story progresses, deeper layers are unraveled. Wren has known poverty all her life as her village is poor. The land is dry and frosty, which makes it impossible to grow food. Even animals are scarce. Wren’s upbringing wasn’t easy. On top of poverty and malnutrition, she struggles with addiction. She abuses wine like her life is depending on it. This influences her life to levels she refuses to acknowledge. The Frost King on the other hand seems cold, distant and icy (literally and figuratively). Later on we find out more about his traumas which makes his behavior understandable. Both he and Wren grow when they spend more and more time together. This growth is a bit rapid though, I expected some more space for this It feels like they turn around 180 degrees is a span of a few chapters. Okay, this is a stand alone novel, so all is forgiven because there is not much space after all.

Warwick’s writing is fine. It was easy to get sucked into the story once I got past the first few chapters. It was also easy to continue reading as you wanted to figure out what was to come next for the characters. This book is – apart from the epilogue – told from Wren’s point of view. This is interesting, but adding The Frost King’s POV would add a more deeper layer into it. But, this book already has much deeper layers than the blurb suggests. The author addresses several themes which you hardly find in romantasy and they also have been written well.

This book is part of the “The Four Winds” series which contains of four stand alone but interconnected instalments. This influenced my intrigue as so much is happening in so little time. However, the ending is a full circle moment, which is necessary but predictable. The whole plot is though.

I didn’t expect to enjoy The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick as much as I did. I was surprised enough to continue reading, although the plot is a mishmash of several popular books. The deeper layers the addressed themes provide and the accompanying character growth are what did it for me, they make this story so much more intriguing. However, it’s still not the best out there and I’m not too sure whether I want to read the rest of this series.