3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this but just didn’t connect to it as much as I would’ve liked. I liked the characters but didn’t connect to the relationship that much. The plot was fun and kept me engaged. The vibes of this book were great and it was a good Greek mythology retelling but I felt like at times not much was happening and wished it was a bit more fast paced

The third standalone novel in the series, which began with ‘The North Wind' keeps the high standard we have come to expect, but I think this one is my favourite so far. The world-building is spectacular, building upon established elements while offering hints about future developments. The narrative skilfully avoids spoilers from previous books, yet it references earlier characters in a way that rewards readers familiar with the series. Each of the three books can be read in any order. Very excited for The East Wind.

I enjoyed diving back into this world, this time exploring Sarai and Notus's story. There was a lot of push and pull between their characters, with the ghosts of their past standing between them, and you can see how Sarai in particular is fighting her instincts when it comes to Notus. Their romance is somewhat a side plot to the Sarai's plans for arranged marriage, her curse, and the Labyrinth and its beast. I liked seeing how Greek mythology was woven into the story but with a completely different take on it.

Sarai is a character who grows through this story, and though it was difficult to see her relationship with her father, it was really rewarding to see her better understand herself and what she wanted as time progressed. Notus in comparison remains quite a mystery for this story. I would have liked to know him a little better, and to also spend more time understanding how Sarai and Notus got to where they are today. It felt as though we skipped over the parts where they had developed feelings, with only a very brief (and slightly confusing) glimpse of their past. Despite this, I had a good time reading the story and waiting for the mystery to unravel and to see whether Sarai and Notus would finally communicate! When I thought to hard about it I was a little mad at Notus, this immortal God behaving very much like an emotionally stilted man, and I found it much easier to empathise with Sarai and her emotions - who wouldn't be mistrustful and confused in her situation! But don't get me wrong, I enjoyed being mad about it so this wasn't a drawback of the story. Let's see what the final brother's story brings!

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

I started reading "The South Wind" with trepidation. I had loved Alexandria Warwick's "The North Wind" and therefore, had rushed from it to the next in the series "The West Wind", only to find that I admired, rather than enjoyed the story. The nature of the standalone yet interconnected stories of immortal brothers cast out to roam lands for centuries, separated from each other and humanity at large could be a victim of its own success. It's why I forgave "The West Wind" for its bolder strokes, but it's also why I punched the air with giddiness at what "The South Wind" delivered. The story saw separated lovers Sarai and Notus reuniting for the good of her Kingdom. It delved into their past, shared and otherwise and offered up a whole heap of yearning. It hit beats reminiscent of "The North Wind" and yet offered up wholly new characters and settings. I'm fully back on board for the next brother, the East Wind and the world in which he inhabits.

I loved the premise of The South Wind and the opening lines had me so excited to read the rest of it but it didn't work for me. Unfortunately I had to dnf it because while it was interesting it was also boring and slow moving. The pacing was what really tanked this book for me. I loved the author's writing it very descriptive and easy to picture in my mind's eye but it just wasn't enough to keep me going I needed something else to keep engaged in the story.

I am a big fan of both greek mythology and fairytale retellings but I wont lie this felt a lot like Sarai spent the first half of the book just whining. I liked the MC and I did like the romance but the plot line was paper thin. I read North Wind and really enjoyed that. Not so much South Wind but this was less enjoyable than that.

Ms Warwick is a very good writer though so kudos to her as I still finished the book.

This fantasy romance is an excellent mashup of fairy-tale inspiration, touches of Greek mythology, original lore, and a slow burn. Sarai is a talented musician, stubborn princess, and heartbroken woman living under the shadow of a curse. Notus is a god of disgraced origins and traitor status, returning to protect Sarai after abandoning her some years ago for reasons he won't share. Together they must face enemies from the inside and outside of their home.

I love Sarai, she is such a good heroine! She is strong, feminine, fierce and hurt, angry and scared. Her family's politics and her future are the true center of the drama in this story. She is a well-rounded character whose actions can be frustrating but are completely understandable. Notus is the classic handsome, devoted, frustratingly stoic love interest that will make your toes curl.

If you need a fantasy romance with plenty of original lore, touches of mythology/fairytales, yearning, and some open-door spice, give this a go!

This was so good! I couldn’t put it down, I enjoyed all the plot twists and the fast pace. The chapters ending on a cliffhanger made it a page turner. It is very well written, the characters are very interesting and entertaining and not annoying. I can’t wait to read next book.

Alexandria Warwick delivers another spellbinding entry in The Four Winds series with The South Wind, a lush, emotionally charged fantasy romance that weaves together Greek mythology and Sleeping Beauty–inspired curses into a tale of betrayal, redemption, and second chances.

Princess Sarai of Ammara is living on borrowed time—cursed to die on her twenty-fifth birthday unless she can break the spell. Her pragmatic solution? An arranged marriage to Prince Balior, a man whose charming façade hides sinister ambitions. But when Balior’s true motives threaten her kingdom, Sarai is forced into a dangerous game of deception, fake-engaging herself to Notus, the South Wind—the very god who once shattered her heart.

Warwick excels at crafting tortured, magnetic lovers, and Sarai and Notus’s chemistry is electric. Their history simmers beneath every interaction, blending bitterness with unresolved passion. The fake engagement trope adds delicious tension, but it’s the labyrinth—a nightmarish, ever-shifting prison at the palace’s heart—that steals the show. Its horrors force Sarai to confront her own inner demons, elevating the story beyond typical romance into a gripping journey of self-discovery.

The world-building is sumptuous, with Warwick’s signature blend of mythic grandeur and visceral detail (think sand-swept deserts, whispering godly winds, and a curse that feels both poetic and deadly). While the pacing lags slightly in the middle, the climax is a breath-taking payoff, balancing action, emotion, and a few well-earned twists.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for allowing me to read this ARC in return for my review. All opinions are my own.

As a big fan of the previous books in the Four Winds series, I was so excited to read this and it didn’t disappoint!

The story follows Princess Sarai and Notus, The South Wind, who previously had been lovers and are back in each other’s lives, much to Sarai’s dismay as she absolutely resented him for leaving!
Sarai’s father, the King, asks Notus to come back to Ammara to help protect them from the Darkwalkers. The king thinks that marrying Sarai off to Prince Bailor from a neighbouring kingdom would help with extra protection from the Darkwalkers. At first, Sarai tries to see the best in him and the engagement but grows suspicious of him after she finds out his army are stationed already around the kingdom. In order to stop the engagement from happening, she tells her father she is already engaged to Notus!

I loved Sarai as a character, she had really been through it. She didn’t have a great relationship with her father, lost her mother and her brother and then had to go through the loss of Notus when he left. On top of this, she also had to live with the curse that she was going to die on her twenty fifth birthday - which was fast approaching.

I do feel like she should’ve have told Notus of this, instead of leaving this part out, but I liked the way it did come out eventually. At the same time, I also wished Notus had told Sarai the real reason as to why he left, but I understand why he didn’t. I loved their romance, a second chance is definitely what they needed and I was so rooting for them. I also thought their intimate scenes were written beautifully!

I really liked her tailor, he was a funny character and I also loved the appearances of The North Wind, Wren and the East Wind, whose story I am so excited to be reading (Rapunzel is my favourite fairytale and this one has elements of it in it!!)

I did go into reading this without knowing the story of Daphne and Apollo, but I will definitely go back and read it. And you don’t need to know it to enjoy this book or have read the previous ones, but I highly recommend you do!

Again, thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK!

I'll start by prefacing this review by the fact this was my first read from this series and the fact you can read each as a stand alone or enjoy as a series is great - I love a flexible series!

Warwick's writing style is beautiful and detail orientated, a sign of a good author for me is if I can truly imagine the locations and setting but also love and feel connected to the side characters as much as the main characters and in The South Wind this really rang true.

The story and pacing was a little mixed for me and whilst I was drawn in by the writing style, Sarai and Notus's story was easily guessed from the outset and conversations often repeated with a slight lack of direction. As a result I didn't feel a real excitement to get back to the story after putting it down.

If you love a 'retelling' of sorts and a second chance trope then this will be one for you!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A new addition to this magical series provides us with another swoonworthy heart stopping adventure that will have you captivated from page 1.

The one thing I massively love about each of these books is that so far each one of them has felt so incredibly different even though they’re all part of the same series. Its left each book feeling so fresh and different, and really made them enjoyable to read as standalone novels!
Each book focuses on giving us a new interpretation of a myth, with this one focusing on Minos and weaving elements of Sleeping Beauty into it too. Honestly, this is a mix that I didn’t think would work overly well, but it was executed so beautifully by how talented Alexandria Warwick is at spinning a new tale from something old.

The first thing that sucked me into this one was just how rich and vibrant the world building was. I don’t think I’ve read many books that have left me feeling like I can vividly picture the world it’s set in, but I could picture in such detail every little thing that was happening. The palace was exuberant, the market bustling with life, the tailors shop seemed so rich and vibrant, and I’m pretty sure this could have been the most boring story ever written and I wouldn’t have cared or even noticed because I was simply enraptured with how detailed and delicious the world building was. It was very clear that so much love and attention to detail had been put into making this setting seem so alive and different to all the other books!

Aside from just how amazing the world building was, both Sarai and Notus have my whole heart! Ugh the pining, almost enemies to lovers kind of vibe that they had going on had me hooked right from the beginning (not to mention learning that they actually had a pretty spicy past?!?!?! But that it all ended on such a sour note because of a lack of communication?!?!?! It killed me)

Were things a little repetitive and redundant at times between Sarai and Notus? Yes, but only at the beginning. I think it was this way because there was just so many other things happening at once that the characters just didn’t know how to communicate or move forwards together so they just kept having the same old arguments. Not that I can really blame them though because if I had been spurned by an ex lover who was also an immortal I would also be extremely mad and hurt like Sarai was (especially because he didn’t even say sorry or explain why he just left one day). And as for Notus, I think it was as simple as him not knowing how to get his emotions across because he is old as heck and was stuck in his ways for such a long time.

This was truly such an amazing book, and its given me the urge to read the other two in the series immediately just so I can experience more of the world building and insane romance!!

I have been excited about this series since I first picked up The North Wind last year and devoured it in a few days. I fell in love with Alexandria Warwick’s writing, and the world she had built in the first book of the Four Winds series. Little did I know that each book that followed would feel like en entirely new world.

In the third book, which can be read as a standalone, we are introduced to Sarai, a princess who is cursed by the Lord of the Mountain to only live until her 25th name day. The story ties together the myth of Minos and Sleeping Beauty.

While navigating grief and her own feelings of inadequacy and lack of freedom, Sarai is faced with the return of her ex, Notus. Notus is the god of the South Wind, and is the third brother of the Four Winds we meet in this series.

Ammara feels atmospheric, rich and golden, and completely distinct from the other settings in the series. The side characters also help to make this world feel real. Roshar, in particular, stands out. I think I want to read an entire book about him.

Sarai is wonderfully flawed. She’s stubborn, insecure, and makes incredibly relatable missteps and bad decisions. There’s a complex web of emotions and insecurities that have led her to this point in her life, and her attempts to untangle and make sense of herself in order to move forward are, at times, emotionally intense.

As for Notus… I’m not sure how, because each of the Four Winds is incredibly distinct from the other, but somehow they’re all my favourite. Notus feels like peak ‘man written by a woman’ to me. I love him. He’s hot. I don’t know how else to say it.

Their love feels steamy and rich and helps balance the emotional intensity with something warm and romantic.

Time is taken to lay the foundations at the beginning of the story so that the world is well established when the plot really takes off. Reading the second half of this book flew by and I couldn’t put it down.

Sarai’s grief, her feelings of inadequacy, and her lack of freedom create a moving emotional core. Watching her untangle her own identity was powerful.

This is a lush, emotional, romantic fantasy with both character depth and wonderful worldbuilding. Alexandria Warwick continues to impress me, and I’ll read anything she writes.

I really enjoyed the other 2 books in this series, and had high hopes for this one - unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations.
The story was very all over the place and disjointed, the characters felt really bland and flat compared to the other 2 books, there was no real development to them with the same conversations happening over and over again
Overall not impressed with this one, hoping it is the curse of the middle instalment of a series and the next will be amazing

Another great instalment in this series. The first book still remains my favourite, but this was also a good read. I loved Sarai and her sass and strength and her the way her relationship with Notus developed had me hooked

I was very excited to get this and enjoyed it as much as the first and more than the second. I liked Sarai and Notus a lot. Notus did feel less God-like than Zephyrus and Boreas though.

Wow… yet another beautiful story in this series, It was a very lovely read.

The relationship between Sarai and Notus made my heart feel so warm even if I did want to scream at them both sometimes. The dialogue was a little repetitive at times but the evolution of the relationship between Sarai and Notus made up for that, along with the surprises that were added to the plot.

Overall I’d say this was a lovely read and it has definitely made me incredibly excited to get to know The East Wind!!!

I really wanted to enjoy this book more as I enjoyed the other ones in the series.
Unfortunately I found its very disjointed. The whole story could have been completed in one chapter if folk actually spoke to each other ( like they keep saying they have too). The fmc is the most annoying one I've had to read. I know that this series is based from fairytales/myth but at this point it felt like random ones continued to be added that did not advance the plot or character development at all.

The South Wind by Alexandria Warwick is a masterpiece! I rated it 5 stars because I couldn't put it down for a second. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.