North Is the Night

The Tuonela Duet, Book 1

De: Emily Rath

Narrado por: Khaya Fraites, Emily Lawrence

YOU’RE MINE IN LIFE AND DEATH—BODY AND SOUL.

In the depths of the Finnish wilderness, more than wolves roam the dark woods.

When a death goddess attacks their village, best friends Siiri and Aina prove helpless to stop her from dragging Aina into Tuonela, the mythical underworld.

Determined to save her beloved Aina, Siiri braves a dangerous journey north, seeking help from the greatest shaman of legend—the only person ever to venture into Tuonela and return alive. There’s only one problem … the stories say he’s dead.

In Tuonela, the cruel Witch Queen turns Aina’s every waking moment into a living nightmare. But Aina soon learns that the God of Death himself has plans for her.

To escape, she strikes a costly bargain with him, not knowing that Siiri plots a daring rescue.

In this sweeping fantasy adventure—perfect for fans of Adrienne Young and Genevieve Gornichec—hope and love must conquer even death itself.

“Rich, vivid, and brimming with emotion, North is the Night pays touching homage to Finnish culture and mythology while forging a unique path all its own. … You will weep and cheer for Siiri and Aina as they find their strength and claim their power.”—Vaishnavi Patel, New York Times bestselling author of Kaikeyi

©2025 Emily Rath (P)2024 Recorded Books

It could have been so much more!

I wanted to like it. I liked parts of it. Maybe it’s best to break it down to pros and cons?
Pros:
I liked Aina’s character development. Meek fisherwoman to Goddess? Hell yeah I’m on board.
I liked Tuonela, the story of it, and all the characters in it.
I liked Tuoni and feel like he was done dirty. I also feel like Aina seriously screwed him over.

Cons:
I found pretty much everything in the land of the living, including Siiri’s journey to find the Shaman, to be extremely dull compared to the world building and vibrancy of Tuonela.
I really dislike how Aina signed up to tie her life to Tuoni in order to free him and bring order back to Tuonela, but within days of them getting married, she is begging to be let go and is plotting an escape. Not cool, lady.
I just couldn’t get into the relationship of Aina and Siiri. Maybe because they just didn’t have that much dialog? Aina and Tuoni had heat!
I also thought this book should have either been edited down a bit, or expanded to explain more of the Finnish lore. I honestly can’t tell which I would prefer? I just know where the book landed in final print didn’t hit right for me.

As for the performance? The narrator for Siiri started out rough, with odd timing and clunky cadence. She smoothed out, but it was distracting.

Fantastic narration!

I love this book so much, like so much. Emily rath knocks it out again.

Finnish Mythology Never Looked This Fierce

My Review:
4.5 ⭐️ .5 🌶️

North is the Night by Emily Rath is a dark fantasy masterpiece steeped in Finnish mythology. When Aina gets kidnapped by a death goddess, her bestie Siiri grabs her metaphorical sword and says, “Not on my watch,” kicking off a rescue mission through icy forests, legendary shamans, and scheming gods to save her.

The story alternates between Siiri’s badass quest and Aina’s clever survival in the underworld, with sapphic vibes simmering just beneath the surface. Rath’s lush prose brings snow-laden landscapes and eerie mythological realms vividly to life, while her characters leap off the page. Siiri’s fiery determination and Aina’s quiet strength are equally captivating, and their allies—like a goddess of disease and a mystical bear—add depth to the tale.

Packed with twists, mythical chaos, and a mystical bear you’ll want as a pet, this book grabs you by the parka and doesn’t let go. Richly atmospheric and packed with heart-pounding twists, this book is perfect for fans of folklore-driven fantasies. It’s gripping, immersive, and engaging. I can’t wait for the sequel—this duology is destined to be a classic.

Familiar

It was great to learn of the Finnish folklore, mythology, and earliest tales through Siiri and Aina. The plot was predictable but the journey toward its conclusion was as adventurous as it was satisfying. I look forward to the next book.

Beautiful and thoughtful

Finnish lore and sapphic love? Sign me up? This was beautifully written and the VA was incredible. Perfect listening for cold dreary days. Certainly got a bit heated at times and spiced up the yucky rainy days!

Beautiful dark fantasy that kept me on the edge of my seat!

4.5⭐️ 1🌶️ 4🎧
- Dark Fantasy
- Epic Quest
- Finnish Myth Inspired
- Shamans/Witches/Gods oh My!


Wow! Just wow! I finished this book earlier today and it has taken me hours to process my thoughts. If you are looking for a fantasy with baddie FMCs on an epic journey back to each other as they face terrifying villains and surprising allies, all inspired by Finnish mythology then look no further!

I don’t know how Emily does it. She is such a versatile writer. This was so different from anything else she has written. I know she’s said it before but it really does need to be repeated that this isn’t a romance or romantasy. This is a fantasy with romantic elements.

I loved Aina and Siiri. They were both so strong in their own way. Siiri’s strength was her love and determination and Aina’s was her caring and selfless heart with a backbone of steel. While this book definitely had sapphic elements, and it is obvious from the beginning how Siiri feels about Aina, Aina’s feeling for Siiri weren’t so clear.

I also loved the friends and allies they made along the way. Only Siiri could find the unfinable shaman and convince him to train her and only Aina could befriend the goddess off illness and disease. Don’t even get me started on my complex feelings about Tuoni, the god is the dead.

I can’t wait see what trials they will face in South is the Sea and how they take on the Christians.

Khaya Fraites and Emily Lawrence did a wonderful job narrating!

Loved it

This is the first Emily Rath book I have read it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I finished the book in 2 days. I can’t wait for the next book.

This book made me cry

Loved it, the adventure, the characters, the overall world just thank you. This made me love the whole underworld

Beautiful book.

4.5⭐️ It took me a bit to get into this one but once I did I loved the magical picture it painted in my head. Looking forward to book 2.

Disappointed

I have a lot of thoughts about this book. Firstly, I have a copy of the physical book and let me just say, it’s one of the most gorgeous books on my shelves. That is what initially caught my attention when scrolling, then when I read that it was a Finnish folk tale I was sold! I love anything Nordic, so I was super excited about a Nordic fantasy. That being said, this was very much disappointing to me. Firstly, there was a lot going on in the story from the get go and I honestly feel like this would have been much better had it been broken down into 2 books. I know this is book 1 in the series, but it really should have been 1 &2. For the length of the book, I expected it to be dripping with descriptions of the Finnish landscape, lifestyle; however, I still have no idea how to imagine the setting at all. In addition, I don’t really know how any of the main characters look either, the only characters I have a vivid picture of is the 3 witches. Secondly, since this was basically set to describe the lore of Finnish gods, I would have expected there to be more descriptions of their history, and magic system; again, there was very little. And like I said, this was a long book, so it felt too long not to have that better described. Thirdly, this was marketed as a sapphic book, but that doesn’t even come into play until the very end. Yes, the two main characters talk about each other in terms of endearment mostly reserved for a lover- but it’s never outright stated. Fourth, while on the subject of the main characters, both got on my last nerve. They were so incredibly indecisive and never seemed confident in their decisions. There was so much potential to have two bad ass FMCs and I was very unimpressed with them throughout the entirety of the book. Fifth, and lastly (though I could list more quite honestly), it seems as though this story started out as a sapphic romance with a rescue mission, but then sort of divulged into a lot of side tasks that never really got fleshed out.

Now, for some positives, I do think that some of the writing was poetic and pretty, so I definitely think this series has potential to become better. I do greatly respect authors that write in one genre to crossover into a new genre- so that in and of itself is a positive. However, I think that this one could have been edited a bit more to show rather than tell. Another positive was the narration. Both narrators did a lovely job.

Will I read book number 2? Most likely not, but I will still keep the lovely physical copy on my shelf to admire its beauty.