The North Wind Lacks A Guiding Star
~spoilers~ The moment I became angry reading The North Wind , a romantasy that markets itself as a Beauty and the Beast retelling with strong elements of the Persephone myth from Greek mythology, was when the protagonist pays a visit to her twin sister. Our protagonist, willing kidnap victim Wren, saved her sister Elora from the fate of being taken by the title character and is unexpectedly given the chance to visit the human realm to allay her sister’s anxieties. Wren, a pseudo-self-loathing functioning alcoholic with an attitude problem, is shocked when Elora is angry at her return. We are told this is because Elora, actually, has been the selfish twin all along, manipulating Wren’s willingness to shield her from the dangers of their wintery world. The narrative wants us to forget that Wren drugged her sister without her sister’s knowledge so she could take Elora’s place as the North Wind’s captive, putting her in danger so that Wren could play hero. This is a book...
