A review by lolatarantula
Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox

3.0

I'm putting this one at a 3.5 for various reasons. I still recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the genre.

I had pretty high hopes for this after reading Seven Summer Nights and I wouldn't say I was disappointed, but it was a little lackluster in comparison. Still recommend it, but not as highly as the former. Don't get me wrong, characters were well developed, plot was engaging, but I think I just found the setting less interesting than the last. Again, I wish the magical elements were explained or built upon more.

Spoilers for this AND Seven Summer Nights ahead.

Spoiler

Finally, having only read two of Harper Fox's books I've noticed a consistency between the two. I don't know if this is a common thing or not but it sort of rubs me a little bit wrong if that's the case. Harper Fox gives her characters a HEA, which I love. Full stop. However, in both of these novels she straight up erases a disability or physical ailment, or some other intrinsic trait before doing so. It's odd and feels off. I love a happily ever after as much as the next person, but I can't help but feel as though there's a mental block here that's somehow equating disability or infirmity with unhappiness. In Seven Summer Nights especially I found the whole 'trans guy finds love but only after magically transforming into a dude' thing uncomfortable but I really couldn't figure out exactly what it was until now. That's a bad path to walk and I'd like to see one of these end with the characters' physical state not getting in the way of their happiness. I know Fox has the capacity to write flawed characters looking after one another, so I hope deus ex machining character's suffering away isn't her go to plot device for wrapping things up. Anyway, one shouldn't rely on miracles to write happy endings.