North is the Night by Emily Wrath

Here is a summary with spoilers for North is the Night

Siiri and Aina have been best friends almost all their lives, growing up in the Finnish wilderness. Siiri has more than just best friend feelings towards Aina. Aina, however, realizes that it will be her job to find a man so they can have children together, but she knows that any man she picks, Siiri will disagree with. Many of the girls in the area have a curfew now, as many young girls are being taken in the night and never seen again. One day, the two girls are getting ready to go home when Siiri’s brothers start frantically waving at them from a boat; they tell the girls to run. Someone, whom they later find out is Kalma, goddess of death, comes to try and take Siiri, but Aina offers herself in her place.

When the townspeople hear that Aina has been taken, they all start to freak out and reach out to the local religious leader, a Swedish man. They all start to speculate that Aina was taken because she was bad. But Siiri speaks her truth — that she saw Kalma. The religious leader is upset by this because their religion does not believe in the Finnish gods. Siiri’s father takes her home and gets upset with her. He tells her that she needs to apologize; her outburst will only bring a bad name on them. Siiri refuses, so she comes up with a plan with her mummi (her mother’s mother) — Siiri will run away and try to find the entrance to Tuonela, the underworld.

Siiri does so — she escapes and heads north. On the way, she runs into a trapped bear. Deciding that she will need the blessings of the gods, she saves the bear, then continues on her way.

Meanwhile, Aina wakes up in a strange home. She is not able to leave, and there is only some bread and water for her. Upon eating the bread, the second bite always tastes moldy. She starts to go mad with being alone until a raven arrives, and she names him Jaako. Jaako occasionally shows up, and they are able to somewhat communicate. Jaako is able to get her a real meal and a hot bath. But then the latch on her door starts to open, and Aina goes to beg Jaako to stay, but he has already fled. She is then forced to go to a feast, where she meets other girls who have been taken like her. They are introduced to Tuonetar, the witch queen of Tuonela. She says that all the girls there are to be servants and tortured, as they are in the underworld.

Siiri is able to find a goddess; she requests her help. The goddess gives her supplies and tells her to continue going north, and that a lot of people are counting on her. As she is traveling, she runs into two men. After dinner, they want to take advantage of her. One of the men takes Siiri, but before he can do anything to her, she manages to get her knife and kill him. When she goes back to kill the second man, she is attacked, but a bear comes to her rescue and kills the man. The bear, who Siiri realizes is the one she saved earlier, is now nice to Siiri — she has a new guardian.

Aina’s torture begins. She is assigned to work for one of the witch’s sisters. She is blind, but her task is to knit, which Aina is good at. She knits socks for the witch, and when she meets the other girls, she realizes her punishment is very easy compared to theirs. Things go well for her every day, but then Tuonetar comes to get her for a different sort of punishment — one that includes the girls slowly dying. At one point, Aina kills one of the girls, but it was out of mercy. When she goes back to the witch she serves, the woman takes pity on her. She tells her about the death god, Tuoni, who is currently trapped as a crow because of his good deeds. It’s Aina’s crow, and the only way for his curse to be lifted is for his wife to lift it — the problem is he has no wife.

Siiri, after her harrowing experience and first kills, runs into a village. A strange woman, who she feels is a goddess, is there and takes her in. She tries to get info out of Siiri, specifically about her bear. Siiri refuses to share anything, and the woman poisons her. When she wakes, she runs and jumps into the water, only to be found by another god.

Aina decides she can step up — she will find her crow and marry him, thus releasing his curse. She finds Tuoni and gives him terms: that the girls will be safe and returned, that it won’t happen again, that her friends and family will be safe, and that he will be kind to her. The crow agrees, and she marries him. Once she speaks the vows, Tuoni is in full human form. They seal their marriage with a kiss, and Tuoni starts to show Aina all the perks — now that she is a queen of death, she can control the dead. Tuoni goes straight for Tuonetar, the Witch Queen. Tuoni puts her in cuffs, which gets rid of her magic, and she will be thrown in prison. However, Aina feels bad for Tuonetar’s daughters, all the witches. She convinces Tuoni that they can have dinner with her; she vows to kill herself if he doesn’t comply.

Siiri, meanwhile, is with the god who saved her. She is trying to get his help to get to Tuonela. He takes some convincing, but he decides to help her on her journey. Eventually, the bear comes to find her, and he is able to take the trapped person from the bear — which turns out to be a piece of him. The bear turns back into a bear, and the two continue training, focusing on her spirit animal. Siiri eventually is able to summon hers. She is able to turn into a woodpecker. This allows her to fly back home, as it has been weeks since she could check in with her family.

Aina makes Tuoni keep his promises — all of the mortals are released. Aina goes a little mad; she has no one, she is in a new world, and she doesn’t know her husband. She starts to spiral, so Tuoni decides to take her out and show her their world. She also starts to take her queen roles seriously. The witch she once worked for — she gives the decree that the woman can never go searching for her daughter until she answers questions for Aina.

Siiri makes it to her home. Her family is not there — they are all out celebrating with the village. She comes right next to her brother, who seems to have changed religion. He tells her they thought her dead, and they had a funeral for her. He tells her she needs to go, because if the village sees her, they will think witchcraft is involved. But it’s too late — others see her, and they start to burn her as a witch. She is saved by her god, and when she wakes, he forces her to keep training, as the time for her to go north is coming soon.

Aina is preparing for her coronation, but she has also gotten closer with Tuoni — enough that they spend their nights together. Aina is now trying to portray a strong and powerful person, not a mortal. She is crowned queen, but during the festivities, everything turns to chaos thanks to Tuonetar. She reveals that she knows Aina is pregnant, and reveals there is a prophecy that now might be about Aina. Tuoni puts a stop to everything and takes Aina to safety. They fight, as Aina feels betrayed — he never loved her, was just using her for an agenda, having his child. He disagrees, says that he does love her. They end the night still fighting, but it gives Aina a chance to plan — she is going to escape. The next morning, she decides to try and be on good terms with Tuoni; but he already knows her intentions thanks to their bond. He gives her a choice: after their son is born, she can leave to the mortal world, or stay. But either way, their son stays with him.

Siiri manages to find her way into Tuonela, and she overhears some of Aina and Tuoni’s conversation. Once he leaves, Siiri goes to Aina. They reunite, but they quickly learn they have both been through a lot and have changed. Even still, they share a kiss and decide to escape. Aina knows a way out, but it’s in the castle. They run into the witch she served, who is still missing her daughter. Siiri realizes that the first goddess who helped her is this witch’s daughter. The witch decides to help them escape, knowing that her daughter would want that. Things start to go well until Tuonetar comes to put their plans to a stop. They fight, on both sides of the realm, and they manage to escape — although it does come at a cost: the death of Siiri’s trainer. Before he dies, he transfers all of his memories and powers into her. Once the fighting is done, a goddess appears — the first one Siiri met, and the witch’s daughter. She tells both Aina and Siiri they have a new mission: unite the Finnish people and kick the Swedes out. The gods’ stories need to be shared again. She also gives a wooden crow gift to Aina, saying she has her husband’s blessing to continue, and to give the gift to their son, and know he can always go to him.

Siiri is able to use her magic to go back home. She tells her family and Aina’s family that they are north and safe. That Aina is pregnant with Tuoni’s son, and they have a mission from the gods. Siiri also finds out that one of Aina’s brothers is betrothed — to one of the girls Aina saved from Tuonela.

Months pass. Aina gives birth to a healthy baby boy. Soon after the birth, a raven appears — it’s Tuoni, who just wants to see his son. His request is that twice a year, he will visit. And he wants to know if Aina still loves him. She says yes, in heart and mind — but her soul belongs to Siiri. Siiri decides to train the boy, whom she names Cal, and he will be instrumental in uniting the Finns.