I really enjoyed this book, the Finnish folklore is really interesting and it's what made me request it in the first place. There was some info dumping at the beginning, and the relationships weren't the most believable, but each character's journey made up for it.

don't ever compare this to "the bear and the nightingale" ever again.

this book wasn't really my cup of tea. let's start off with the good!! the characters were alright - i did like our two female protagonists most of the time, i thought they were interesting and both were incredibly persistent and never gave up, which is always admirable. plus they were extremely dedicated to each other, but i'll get more into that later...

"come kings and queens, shamans and gods, witches and wolves, siiri and aina will always find their way back to each other."

the world building was nice. the finnish mythology was intriguing and atmospheric, and i liked the majority of the magic and the snowy, dark, winter vibes.
plus i did really like the platonic father-daughter bond, i love grumpy-old-man-and-young-annoying-girl dynamic - i will always eat it up, be it "the last of us", "the witcher", anything. those two were cutie patooties, and i kinda wish the book had centered around them!

"he sighs, shoulders sagging in defeat. "to know you is to love you, siiri jarintyttar."
i smile. "i love you, too, old man."

now we have the not so good. the "romance". *cue the eye twitching*
i didn't know all that much going in - i requested this book from netgalley months ago and then preceded to ignore it for another 4 months after i received a copy. but my god, no one has ever been more confused than me trying to work out whether these girls were in love or just really good friends. and you'd think that's easy to divine - but no. one sec they were sisters, the next they were in love, the next one of them was in love with some other guy - i truly truly could not keep up. and i wasn't really feeling it, to be so honest. i feel either the author should've gone hard with the sapphic vibe and i would've eaten it up, or should've just taken it out, because it felt a bit like a little extra something thrown in at the end, instead of woven into the story.

and i'm not sure it can be called romance - but i wasn't loving whatever was happening between aina and the king of the underworld. it felt very manipulative, very power-imbalance type of relationship. they did not seem healthy, or make much sense at all. i wasn't a fan.

also the plotline. please choose a plot and stick to it - i could not keep up with everything going on, and i fear this book mostly felt like a prequel for book 2, because there were 7 different storylines beginning. there were the evil christians (honestly an interesting plot point for sure - but naturally the least developed), aina being dragged to the underworld, siiri going on a little march north and befriending this old shaman, then a bunch more spoilery plot points but damn... i kinda couldn't keep up. that could be because of my skimming though - so take this criticism with a grain of salt.

"because our lives are measured by the risks we take to help those in need when their need is greatest."

overall, this one was a bit disappointing. thank you nonetheless to the author, publisher and netgalley for the arc copy provided!

A fantasy inspired by Finnish folklore, this is a dark tale of two friends with a lot to overcome. Anna is kidnapped and must outwit a Witch Queen and bargain with the King of Death to escape meanwhile Siiri sets out on a dangerous quest to find her friend and bring her home. I found the mythology in this story interesting as it was new to me and felt fresh. I really liked both of the main characters and loved reading from each of their POV. I also liked the characters we met along the way. The romance didn't grab me the way I hoped it would however the story of friendship and the plot was more than enough to keep me on board.

I did love this book and enjoyed learning more about folkloric Finland stories and culture even if it was a steep learning curve form the info dumping at the start. I am struggling to rate this book as I loved the adventurous journey each character took but I just didn’t buy the relationships. My frustration also lies in the marriage of convenience (probably because I would have loved to marry the god of death 😂), the constant will they won’t they vibe and when you get to thinking she will stay, doing a 180 and then wanting to leave.

North is the Night is one of the books I have been excited about reading in 2025 and was lucky to get an advanced copy via NetGalley. This book is inspired by Finnish Folklore and is the story of two young women Siiri and Aina, from a small village, where they live and work with their families. Whilst near the shore of the lake, Aina is kidknapped by Väinämöinen, a goddess of death who takes her to the underwold. This is the catalyst that sets both young women on a seperate perilous journey to save each other.

I really love fantasy books that take inspiration from the folklore of different civilisations around the world. Norse mythology is well known but Fnnish folklore/mythology is new to me and I really enjoyed learning about it. Emily Rath’s depiction of the Tuonetar, the Everlasting Night was wonderful imagined, and filled with dark magic. I loved that there were different goddesses of death, for the many ways in which you could die; Vammatar the goddess of evil and misfortune, Kiputyttö the goddess of pain and Tuonetar the Goddess herself. There is plenty of light to combat the darkness in the world above with goddesses of the forest etc, bears and a Shaman who help Siiri on her quest. As well as the mythology angle, there is the history of Finland, with the invasion of Swedes who are taking over their land and bringing in the new religion of one God rather than the many Gods and Goddesses of their folklore, something Sirri, her family and their felow villagers want to fight back against. This is part of what inspires Sirri to take her journey to the north, to find a shaman and fulfill a prophecy.

North is the Night is very much a female driven book, with empowering female characters. Siiri and Aina, best friends, are different in character, Aina gentle and kind whilst Sirri is headstrong, stubborn and confident, taking on a journey that most men wouldn’t survive. I really enjoyed Aina’s story, how when put in a dangerous situation she came into her own, using intelligence and cunning to help save herself and others who were also kidnapped. Both characters were selfless in their different journey’s and both faced frightening situations that could have killed either of them. These characters are drawn with heart with qualities that made me really get behind them, wanting them to succeed, and being on the edge of my chair when they faced danger. As well as human characters I really loved the animals the girls met on their journey; Halls the reindeer, Kal the bear and Jaako the raven.

North is the Night is a spellbinding and magical read. I loved the mix of folklore and fantasy, the detailed imagining of the world of the dead and those who live there, and the different Goddesses that are important to Finnish culture. Emily wrath has written a mesmerising and masterful story, with relatable characters who I cared about and am looking forward to seeing again in the second book. For fantasy fans who love magical lands and folklore, and kick ass female characters this is a must a read, it lived up to all my expectations and more.

What a wonderful book to read with is magical, mythical, romantic fantasy it makes for an enchanting read. The story is so well written, it flows really well and I love the characters which captivated me and made me want to read more. I could visualise everything that was described in this book, it made it all that much more real.

A book that draws you in, entertains you, and makes a fantasy jump off the pages at you. I loved it and look forward to seeing what comes next.

Thank you NetGalley and Quercus Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was something completely different than what I am used to from Emily and I loved it. It's a Finnish folklore inspired fantasy duet.
It follows Siiri and Aina during the upcoming Finnish winter as they both get attacked. Siiri vows to protect Aina but she can not stop a goddess of death from taking Aina to Tuonela, the mythical underworld. She sets out on a journey to go and save her best friend from the land of the death. Meanwhile Aina fights to survive the land of the death as a cruel Witch queen rules Tuonela.
The world building for this book was absolutely amazing! I loved learning about all the gods and goddesses of this world. Seeing Siiri's determination to help her friend and Aina's kindness in a place that gave her nothing was really something. Both of these girls went on a life changing journey. I am excited to see what the next book has in store. There were so many intriguing side characters that I would love to know more about.

This one was, unfortunately, not for me. I DNF at 40%. I was immersive reading, so listening to the audio and eyeball reading at the same time but I wasn’t invested in what was going on or any of the characters. Due to not finishing the book, I will not be rating it publicly. A book not being for me doesn’t make it a bad book and I don’t think it’s fair to the author to down rate a book that I haven’t even fully read. Thank you for the opportunity to read this!

I knew next to nothing about Finnish stories and mythology before picking up this book and now I certainly know a lot more than before! The amount of names and characters were an info-dump and I’m still reeling from it all.

I’m aware that Sarah J.Maas has referenced Northern European mythology in some of her ACOTAR books, and there was a definite similarity in some characters and situations, so it felt familiar in place.

The dual POV works really well for pace and tension. I felt that Siiri’s character mastered new skills rather quickly and found Aina more relatable in her actions and resourcefulness. The book is part of a duaology but works well on its own.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was so excited to read about folklore and mythology that is competely new to me. It's one of my favourite things to learn so was keen to get to this. The story itself was intriguing, but unfortunately, it just dragged so much. The same story could have been told with 150 pages less. I found it to be a bit info dumpy and it felt like I had been reading it forever.

For a book that was marketed as Sapphic, I had a very hard time establishing exactly when and where this was supposed to happen. It was mentioned a fair amount, but you don't see it. This was also supposed to be a feminist book but apart from a couple of cringey girl power lines, Siiri's "girl power" moments came when she murdered men that tried to sexualy assault her and forcing an immortal shaman to teach her everything they knew and Aina's came from an arranged marriage to the God of death, who was a really manipulative character.

All in all, this has the bones to be a really good book, but it just read more like a dragged out setup for the second book. One that I have no interest in reading.

I have quite a few weaknesses when it comes to books. Fairytales is one of those. Mythology is another one. When I came across this book, and especially the special edition of course, I just had to have it. Luckily I also found the book on Netgalley and could request a review copy there. I was very happy when Arcadia granted my request so I could start reading.

The moment I started this book, I knew it was gonna be totally different from what I expected. The tone of the book was clearly a lot darker than I currently read. I was therefore not entirely sure if the book was gonna be my thing at the moment. Which is sad, because I think the book is really good and deserves a lot of love and attention. I hope that other people can appreciate it more than I currently can.

What I love about this book is that we see two entirely different journeys from two entirely different girls. They each have their own challenges to deal with and they each have their own lessons to learn. We watch them grow from teenage girls into adults. We see them taking responsibility and learning what it means to do so. Their roads are dangerous and despite them being apart from most of the books, the connection is always there between them.

Just like other mythological stories, there is a lot going on. Since there are quite a few Gods involved, it’s not always easy to tell every character apart and to remember who’s in charge of what and on whose side they are. However, the author does make sure to remind us of who everyone is regularly and therefore it never becomes very confusing.

The ending was quite satisfying in a way, although it’s clear that the story is far from over yet. However, if my taste in books doesn’t change again, I don’t think I’ll read the sequel. Not because it’s not gonna be great, but mostly because it’s not the kind of book I currently need and want. I’m sure there will be plenty of readers who will fall in love with this story and will look forward to the rest of the tale!

The promise of Finnish folklore and mythology completely drew me in and I enjoyed learning more about the different gods, goddesses and also shamans! The way that the folklore was passed down generation to generation was interesting to see and though she doesn't appear much, I liked Mummi's character - she's a strong female role model, for sure. My experience of this book was full of ups and downs. I took a while to warm up to it but the story did start to develop and through the two different narratives we get to see different journeys and worlds, and all the challenges that come with them. There's plenty of danger throughout and our female main characters are both strong in their own ways, and fighting their own battles. The love between these two best friends is so charming to see and it makes them both incredibly fierce! That being said, I don't feel like other relationships were built well into the story - they mostly seemed to be glossed over in a more superficial way, despite the length of the book, making it hard to feel invested in them or connected to the story. The exception being one relationship Siiri forges in the second half of the book (no spoilers!). It's a powerful read at times, and it has a lot of interesting elements to it, but for me it did move too slowly and I prefer books where character connections are built really well on the page. That's all personal preference though so no doubt this one will be a hit for the right reader!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Slightly rounded up because while it wasn't bad, I found some difficulty and issues through it.

The Finnish folklore was good and I don't know enough about it to know how accurate it was but it was enjoyable in the story. The problem I had was she mentioned the Sámi people (woohoo!) but it wasn't done in an especially impactful or complimentary way. So why do it?
There were a number of places where the dialogue was weird. Like "I want to make sure to mention this legend and folktale. I know, throw it in this conversation." So it was just...off. and some of the character relationships were weird in the end. Like Siiri spends a few weeks with this shaman character learning the magic and before he dies he's like "let me call you daughter just once." Totally not weird and a super organic thing to throw out there.

Half the plot is the Swedes are displacing the Finns and spreading Christianity, removing the old gods and religion. Actually a quarter of the plot is more accurate. This might grow more in the next book...I hope so at least otherwise I don't really get the point.
The rest is half Siiri trying to rescue Aina from the realm of death after she's taken and Aina in the realm of death trying not to die, break curses and not get murdered.

The 'sapphic' aspect is really just one character pining for the other and the other eventually being like 'She's my soul' but still kind of platonic. Like when people being would say "They're just good friends. And they share a bed to save space in the house."

*Edited to add* When I picked up North is the Night, there was an emphasis on the sapphic aspect that has since been removed. With this I have to echo what I believe many others are saying: If you go into this expecting a properly sapphic romance, you are going to be disappointed.
The publisher has since removed mention of this as a focal point on the blurb. With the published version differing from the ARC that I was sent, some of this may not necessarily track with the final, now available editions.

North is the Night sees Siiri battle witches and gods to save her Aina from the realm of death.

It was an unexpected gem from Emily Rath and a complete departure from the Pucking Around series. Steeped in folklore it sweeps you north across the Finnish landscape and down into Tuonela, the underworld. Its always interesting when an author tries a new direction and genre and she completely pulled it off. Whilst love is a core theme, the characters have distinct arcs and growth, in part as they spend so much of the novel separated by death. The world building quickly gets you up to speed with the mythology it's based in, whilst keeping one foot solidly in the land of the living.

I had a few technical glitches with the electronic version, hopefully it's just a me thing and won't be a wider problem, but it meant I have limited photos - I got a lot of error messages when I turned pages 😬

Thank you very much to @quercusbooks @arcadia_books @emilyrathauthor for the ARC and I look forward to the second in the series!

This was a great look into a Finnish inspired story. I enjoyed reading about the gods and shamans and the realm of the dead. There was an interesting dynamic between the two best friends and it was interesting to see from both of their points of view. I did find the pace quite slow at points and I didn't feel that heavily invested in the characters. There were definitely some tense parts and overall an enjoyable read.

i am a little disappointed by this book. for the most part i did enjoy it— the world building, the plot and even the characters— what disappointed me was the sapphic aspect. this book was marketed as a sapphic fantasy yet for 80% of the book we see the development of a heterosexual relationship. whilst there were indications of siiri’s feelings for aina during that 80%, the same couldn’t be said of aina (for siiri). once they finally reunited, their relationship felt incredibly rushed and lacked any sort of development. there was so much potential but honestly the romance side to it was disappointing.

once we got to siiri and aina reuniting, i thought perhaps the sapphic relationship is a slowburn ? (since this is a duet) but nope!

i love emily rath’s writing, as well as the premise of this book but the romance was a huge let down!

Thank you to Netgalley, Quercus Books, and Emily Rath for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: Hi all, I read this before I heard that the marketing team updated the way this book was being advertised, so I went in thinking this would be a sapphic book (and I was extremely disappointed as a result). Keeping this in mind, I've tried not to let my expectations colour this review too much, but figured I should disclose this to those of you who are reading my review, just in case my (valid) feelings still bleed through a little too strongly.

3.5 stars, rounded down.

Sometimes you read a book that hits a bullet point list of things you absolutely adore in a story, yet the story still doesn't quite hit right. Such is the case for my experience of North is the Night. A unique premise? Check. Women being powerful? Check. Interesting lore? Check. And yet, here I am, left feeling a little bit overwhelmed by what I read and underwhelmed by how I feel about it. My best guess here for why I'm left feeling so confused by this book is probably... the story just didn't grab me by the throat like I expected it to.

That being said, I still liked this book. A 3.5 star rating isn't a bad rating, especially not for an author who is switching to the fantasy genre for the first time as a known contemporary romance writer. In North is the Night, you can actually see this experience of contemporary romance tropes showing through, and it makes for a very strange mish-mash of genres. Maybe that's what threw me off. I'll have to think on it.

Anyway, it's a solid genre debut. I liked it. It's worth a read, especially if you want something different from the fae romantasy we keep being fed over and over. There's a lot to enjoy here, and I'll likely read book two.

Full of Finnish mythology, daring adventures, and Sapphic yearning this book was so good. I loved the characters, especially Siiri. Aina, I took longer to warm up to, but she really came into her own later in the book.

I loved the mood of the book. You could just feel the woods pressing in on Siiri as she searched for Väinämöinen. Although I enjoyed all of the book, I think that journey of Siiri’s was my favourite part.

Aina’s journey was even more dangerous than just being a girl on her own in the wilderness. She had more explicit dangers. I loved how she changed over the course of the novel. I also loved the raven that appears near the start of her time being captured. I enjoyed watching her befriend him and I felt it said a lot about her character.

I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book, but honestly it could have almost been stand alone for me.

Thank you Netgalley, Quercus Books | Arcadia and Emily Rath for the eArc of North is The night.

North of the Night is A fantasy folk lore tale and one that took me by surprise. We follow Aina and Siiri, almost inseparable friends despite their opposite personalities. But one is kidnapped by the goddess of Death and the other won't rest until she fins her soul mate.

I don't know much about Finnish Folklore but from this book has left me thirsty to find out more, I loved the polarising sides of the characters, mages, goddesses and the god of Death and many more.. The world building within both worlds, our earthly realm and the realm of underworld Tuonela captivated my imagination and was beautifully described. The pacing of the narrative itself starts off slow, building in the characters and world building then builds to a medium pace. It did take me a while to get into but once I was invested, I didn't want it to end.

I also listened to the audio version of this book in which Lucy Doig and Maryam Ali kept the characters both separate and the characters individuality. Both narrators were a pleasure to listen to.

4 stars

Unfortunately, this book ended up being a DNF (Did Not Finish) for me. The plot felt sluggish, and I struggled to connect with either of the main characters. The storytelling fell short of expectations, and many of the plot elements that intrigued me in the blurb were either underdeveloped or completely absent in the book. Overall, it was a disappointing read for me.