*** Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a free, honest review. All opinions are my own. ***
“… I was: a girl fighting for survival on the streets. I could belong somewhere. I could be someone.” Elizabeth Tammi, Outrun The Wind
Outrun The Wind Review
By: Rae
The race is declared. The prize is listed. The crowd roars with greed, anticipation, hunger. Who will win the hand of legendary huntress Atalanta and how did she get in such a predicament?
Outrun the Wind is told in the dual prospective of two strong heroines – Atalanta and Kahina. Kahina is a huntress of the Greek goddess Artemis and has only two rules she must obey: never disobey the goddess and never fall in love. Already struggling to fit in with the other huntresses, Kahina breaks the first rule of Artemis to save a legendary huntress named Atalanta from a raging boar. How will Artemis react? What will Kahina do in order to save herself since she is already on the run and needs Artemis’s protection to survive? Meanwhile Atalanta was raised by hunters, found as an infant in the woods, she fights for her place in the hunting party of powerful men, all legends in their own right. With feelings for the prince and fear of a relation of Poseidon in play, Atalanta must use all her strength to survive the boar and the consequences that follow.
Pace, plot, and characters all had me intrigued in this mythological YA fiction. Partial to the supporting secondary characters – I’m looking at you Phelix! – I could easily relate to Atalanta’s and Kahina’s stories. Both young woman were relatable in their fears as they struggled to find their place in a world ruled by gods and goddesses. Of course – no one plays fair!
For Atalanta, she was a touch standoffish from the world she was supposed to know and fighting to survive in a male dominated game of hunting and fighting. Her lessons on being a princess are laughable at best because I really didn’t think she retained much until it counted. She really did her own thing and worked to twist everything to her advantage. I adored how her ability of speed, shown through running, tied into the title of this YA. She doesn’t have any easy time of it. Some parts of her story I suspected from the beginning.
As for Kahina, her story still plagues me. I hated her cousin, hated what had been done to her, and generally just hated Apollo 99.% of the novel. She got the short end of the stick from the beginning all because she decided to save a huntress she was attracted to but didn’t understand why. I could relate to her hate and wariness but how her and Atalanta transitioned from their first meeting to the next remeet and then the ending was smoothly done. The road bumps at the end had me nearly shouting in frustration too. *sigh*
The love aspects of Outrun The Wind are undecided for me. One left me satisfied but felt forced while the other was just so sad and beautifully done – even if I had suspected it at some point in the sharing of backgrounds. I can’t share much without giving anything away so I’ll leave it at that.
Overall, I recommend Outrun The Wind with a 3.5 rating to readers who enjoy mythology, romance, and a lighter read of a coming of age story. While it fell a tad flat in some expectations I had, I still enjoyed the read and look forward to seeing what else Elizabeth Tammi has in store.
Raven C. Eckman 