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charliauthor's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wolves of Duty is a story so special to me because it is the book i have always wanted to write. It is by no means perfect but its perfect to me.
While featuring a black cast was important to me to do after my trilogy and prequel, it was more about featuring a narrative that was not based in trauma or oppression as so many black fiction books are prone to do. While there are many stories to tell in this setting, i did not want to add to it and Duty is my love letter to Black Excellence.
Its a book about self discovery, about love, about friendship and about betrayal. It might seem cliche but its not your 'typical' werewolf book because its so much more than that. Its not about dominating Alphas being in heat or helpless virgins waiting to be deflowered by a hunky wolf named Connor lol
Duty is about a young woman who has unconsciously being mentally abused and her fight to escape a world that would deny her the right to be free of her obligations and use her for their own nefarious aims. Duty is a fantasy snapshot of a world we are slowly regressing into and I hope that people take from it, the passion and depth that went into writing it.
While featuring a black cast was important to me to do after my trilogy and prequel, it was more about featuring a narrative that was not based in trauma or oppression as so many black fiction books are prone to do. While there are many stories to tell in this setting, i did not want to add to it and Duty is my love letter to Black Excellence.
Its a book about self discovery, about love, about friendship and about betrayal. It might seem cliche but its not your 'typical' werewolf book because its so much more than that. Its not about dominating Alphas being in heat or helpless virgins waiting to be deflowered by a hunky wolf named Connor lol
Duty is about a young woman who has unconsciously being mentally abused and her fight to escape a world that would deny her the right to be free of her obligations and use her for their own nefarious aims. Duty is a fantasy snapshot of a world we are slowly regressing into and I hope that people take from it, the passion and depth that went into writing it.
lilyrooke's review
5.0
(4.5*) Born the Female, Aspen has always known her duty would be to mate with the Alpha and bring a new generation of Alpha wolves into their laecan world. Rich, comfortable, and ignorant of the murky truth lurking below her life of luxury, Aspen is excited for her relationship with Sabre to move to the next level and to settle into her deserved position in society. But her whole world is turned upside down when childhood friend and final Triquetrian Caius refuses to compete in the Mating Games. As lies, misunderstandings, and betrayals are laid bare, Aspen must decide where her duty truly lies, and take her own stand in the world of wolves.
Wolves of Duty is a gripping story exploring privilege, loyalty, and love. Aspen is a deeply complex character whose journey is hugely rewarding to follow. I hesitate to describe Aspen as spoiled, because while her position as the Female seems enviable, and Aspen herself (being what I would consider quite an unreliable narrator for most of the novel) relishes her situation and the dubious honours it affords her, if you read between the lines and understand the consequences of what she was literally born for, her life feels more and more dystopian, especially when considering the actions of her mother.
This is why I love Caius. I love his emphasis on Aspen needing to understand the truth of their lives before he can fully trust her, or open himself up to her emotionally. One of my favourite scenes is when Caius asks Aspen if she would be bound by duty to him if he won the Games, and his reaction when she immediately says yes. Knowing the truth about Caius and his mother makes me cry just thinking about it even now. While I sometimes felt Aspen's emotions could have been dug into in more detail, I am full of praise for the author in how she handled the foreshadowing throughout Wolves of Duty, and I think it is a story that only becomes stronger with each re-read.
Featuring political intrigue, romance with heat and heart, and engaging with complex themes in an accessible way, I think Wolves of Duty will appeal to readers who are looking for a flawed female MC who actually grows, as opposed to a perfect cardboard cut-out, and despite being a reader who hates love triangles, I never once felt frustrated by the romantic escapades of the Triquetra. I am grateful to the author for providing an ARC of Wolves of Duty. These opinions are my own.
Wolves of Duty is a gripping story exploring privilege, loyalty, and love. Aspen is a deeply complex character whose journey is hugely rewarding to follow. I hesitate to describe Aspen as spoiled, because while her position as the Female seems enviable, and Aspen herself (being what I would consider quite an unreliable narrator for most of the novel) relishes her situation and the dubious honours it affords her, if you read between the lines and understand the consequences of what she was literally born for, her life feels more and more dystopian, especially when considering the actions of her mother.
This is why I love Caius. I love his emphasis on Aspen needing to understand the truth of their lives before he can fully trust her, or open himself up to her emotionally. One of my favourite scenes is when Caius asks Aspen if she would be bound by duty to him if he won the Games, and his reaction when she immediately says yes. Knowing the truth about Caius and his mother makes me cry just thinking about it even now. While I sometimes felt Aspen's emotions could have been dug into in more detail, I am full of praise for the author in how she handled the foreshadowing throughout Wolves of Duty, and I think it is a story that only becomes stronger with each re-read.
Featuring political intrigue, romance with heat and heart, and engaging with complex themes in an accessible way, I think Wolves of Duty will appeal to readers who are looking for a flawed female MC who actually grows, as opposed to a perfect cardboard cut-out, and despite being a reader who hates love triangles, I never once felt frustrated by the romantic escapades of the Triquetra. I am grateful to the author for providing an ARC of Wolves of Duty. These opinions are my own.
sashawins's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Arc Book Review📚
Wolves of Duty
By: Charlotte Murphy
Rate-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Wolves of Duty arc was provided to me by @charliauthor for a honest Review. Book is out March 2nd 2022!
🎇Songs for Book
"Love child "by Diana Ross
"What it is" by Amber Mark
"I Ride for You" by Phyno
🎇Favorite Quote
"What Good were choices if you always made the wrong ones."
🎇My Review
This story is told from the prospective of Aspen in 1st POV. She is part one of the royal Beta Family and is coined " The Female." A significant role governed by the three royal families and shaman to bring forth a new alpha heir.
Aspen gives you all the annoying teenager vibes-- indecisive, arrogrant, hard-headed, and clueless about her surroundings. Definitely air head vibe.
Instantely we are thrown into a world of political espionage, greed, family duty, and infidelity👀.
I specifically used the quote above to sum up all the craziness some of the characters experienced. Cause folks were definitely doing whatever the hell they wanted--- fuck the consequence.
❤What I loved
● The book dedication💜
● The Wolves Lore & Legends
● The glam
●The Carribbean food elements
● I am a sucka for maps-- it build the world in my mind.
●The underdog
●Villians are always sexy ( hint hint -- Big Poppa G🤣)
● People finding their will to fight for what is right!
● The stakes & the plot twist
😑Minor Issues
●Grammatical errors ( started to add up towards end)
●Too many words to describe features or location.
●Describing skin color/ tone as food.
●The Shaman-- I felt her part could have been better. All I know is she was a shaman, had riddles, and power that I wished she would of flexed on so many folks.
🥳Overall, I enjoyed this story. And look forward to Book 2. Cause that ending was insane🤪
#WolvesofDuty #TheFamilies #Betas #Alphas #Gammas #Duty #TheCave
#Shamas #RumPunch #RicePeas #GoatFootSoup🙃 #Read20BlackWomenChallenge
Wolves of Duty
By: Charlotte Murphy
Rate-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Wolves of Duty arc was provided to me by @charliauthor for a honest Review. Book is out March 2nd 2022!
🎇Songs for Book
"Love child "by Diana Ross
"What it is" by Amber Mark
"I Ride for You" by Phyno
🎇Favorite Quote
"What Good were choices if you always made the wrong ones."
🎇My Review
This story is told from the prospective of Aspen in 1st POV. She is part one of the royal Beta Family and is coined " The Female." A significant role governed by the three royal families and shaman to bring forth a new alpha heir.
Aspen gives you all the annoying teenager vibes-- indecisive, arrogrant, hard-headed, and clueless about her surroundings. Definitely air head vibe.
Instantely we are thrown into a world of political espionage, greed, family duty, and infidelity👀.
I specifically used the quote above to sum up all the craziness some of the characters experienced. Cause folks were definitely doing whatever the hell they wanted--- fuck the consequence.
❤What I loved
● The book dedication💜
● The Wolves Lore & Legends
● The glam
●The Carribbean food elements
● I am a sucka for maps-- it build the world in my mind.
●The underdog
●Villians are always sexy ( hint hint -- Big Poppa G🤣)
● People finding their will to fight for what is right!
● The stakes & the plot twist
😑Minor Issues
●Grammatical errors ( started to add up towards end)
●Too many words to describe features or location.
●Describing skin color/ tone as food.
●The Shaman-- I felt her part could have been better. All I know is she was a shaman, had riddles, and power that I wished she would of flexed on so many folks.
🥳Overall, I enjoyed this story. And look forward to Book 2. Cause that ending was insane🤪
#WolvesofDuty #TheFamilies #Betas #Alphas #Gammas #Duty #TheCave
#Shamas #RumPunch #RicePeas #GoatFootSoup🙃 #Read20BlackWomenChallenge
gee_reads_books's review
4.0
Set in the same EverVerse as her "The Antonides Legacy" series, Charlotte Murphy's "Wolves of Duty" is the first book in a duology about werewolves, games of power, betrayals, forbidden loves, and following your duty at the expense of your heart. As the Female of the Triquetra, the three children of the families that make up the cusp of power in the laecan society, Aspen Anai knows she's destined for greatness: she's to mate with the next Alpha, and give birth to his heir. Whether that will be her boyfriend Sabre or social misfit Caius remains to be seen, as they'll have to compete for her hand in the Mating Games. All her life, Aspen has been okay with this fate; but when the circumstances change, and she starts realising that there's far more darkness and corruption to it than she ever thought possible, she'll have to decide whether she'll do what she must, or what she needs.
This book was an absolute surprise! The early chapters had me rolling my eyes at Aspen's self-absorbed, arrogant behaviours, and if you scroll down my state updates far enough, you'll see that I even considered DNFing "Wolves of Duty" solely because I couldn't stand her. Despite the strong urge to, I told myself to give the book a go until at least 25%... And I'm so glad that I did! Once Aspen started taking note of the many little things that didn't add up around her, she started questioning everything; and I simply couldn't stop reading once this was on. What stands out the most to me in this novel is, without a doubt, Murphy's ability to create a character like her; with a strong personality that changes as life happens, but never quite loses its spark and essence. I was truly amazed by Murphy's quill, and her talent to adapt Aspen's voice to her journey and personal growth. Few books have managed to impress me on the subject of character development arcs the way "Wolves of Duty" did!
Another thing that had me marveling at the author's geniality was how complex and multilayered each character turned out to be. During the first chapters of the book, Aspen lives in a pretty lie in which everything's black or white, right or wrong; it takes her a great dose of reality to understand that there's a myriad shades of gray as well. The different people that were once presented as "good" or "bad" in Aspen's eyes turn out to be far more than that, each with their own background. While you still don't really root for the bad guys (because there's, indeed, a bunch of those), it's so much easier to understand them and their seemingly awful actions! It felt just like real life, where real people have real stories that drive them to the things they end up being or doing. Absolutely chapeau! The one character that impressed me the most, in this sense, was Sabre. Although I won't be joining a Sabre fan club anytime soon (or ever), I loved that Murphy showed how abusers actually have a story of having been abused themselves, and how, deep down, they don't even see what they do as abuse.
There's an important discussion around female empowerment, the role of women in society, and the lack of true equality our own culture still drags around in this book. Aspen herself is a woman who has been treated like a possession, like an object, by more than one person; and, as she starts to reclaim her agency and her power, consequences rain on her for defying the status quo. Still, she refuses to give up her newfound strength, and challenges all the misogynist expectations placed upon her… At a price. It was great to see not only the way Aspen reclaimed her rights, but also different situations that made it really clear how much we still have to go in terms of women's rights.
(By the way, every character is BIPOC!)
The plot starts out as fairly simple - Caius and Sabre will be competing to win Aspen's hand. Soon, though, the political intrigue and the family secrets turn the book into an emotional rollercoaster where nothing is the way it seems. I loved discovering the different secrets everyone was keeping from Aspen alongside her! And, although I saw the sister plot-twist coming, I definitely never would've imagined the final one. Jesus! I'm still trying to pick up my jaw from the floor!!!
The only thing I didn't enjoy as much was the initial info-dumping, which was quite abundant and told instead of shown. Although I get that some of the information was important to understand things later on, it was too much all of a sudden, and I didn't really retain the things I should have. Besides, there was a lot of it and most wasn't even connected to the scene at hand, which it made the first chapters difficult to get through for me. Still, I know that a lot of other readers do enjoy hearing about the worldbuilding in depth, so they may really enjoy it!
If you enjoyed universes such as Game of Thrones or The Vampire Diaries, then don't miss out on "Wolves of Duty"!
This book was an absolute surprise! The early chapters had me rolling my eyes at Aspen's self-absorbed, arrogant behaviours, and if you scroll down my state updates far enough, you'll see that I even considered DNFing "Wolves of Duty" solely because I couldn't stand her. Despite the strong urge to, I told myself to give the book a go until at least 25%... And I'm so glad that I did! Once Aspen started taking note of the many little things that didn't add up around her, she started questioning everything; and I simply couldn't stop reading once this was on. What stands out the most to me in this novel is, without a doubt, Murphy's ability to create a character like her; with a strong personality that changes as life happens, but never quite loses its spark and essence. I was truly amazed by Murphy's quill, and her talent to adapt Aspen's voice to her journey and personal growth. Few books have managed to impress me on the subject of character development arcs the way "Wolves of Duty" did!
Another thing that had me marveling at the author's geniality was how complex and multilayered each character turned out to be. During the first chapters of the book, Aspen lives in a pretty lie in which everything's black or white, right or wrong; it takes her a great dose of reality to understand that there's a myriad shades of gray as well. The different people that were once presented as "good" or "bad" in Aspen's eyes turn out to be far more than that, each with their own background. While you still don't really root for the bad guys (because there's, indeed, a bunch of those), it's so much easier to understand them and their seemingly awful actions! It felt just like real life, where real people have real stories that drive them to the things they end up being or doing. Absolutely chapeau! The one character that impressed me the most, in this sense, was Sabre. Although I won't be joining a Sabre fan club anytime soon (or ever), I loved that Murphy showed how abusers actually have a story of having been abused themselves, and how, deep down, they don't even see what they do as abuse.
There's an important discussion around female empowerment, the role of women in society, and the lack of true equality our own culture still drags around in this book. Aspen herself is a woman who has been treated like a possession, like an object, by more than one person; and, as she starts to reclaim her agency and her power, consequences rain on her for defying the status quo. Still, she refuses to give up her newfound strength, and challenges all the misogynist expectations placed upon her… At a price. It was great to see not only the way Aspen reclaimed her rights, but also different situations that made it really clear how much we still have to go in terms of women's rights.
(By the way, every character is BIPOC!)
The plot starts out as fairly simple - Caius and Sabre will be competing to win Aspen's hand. Soon, though, the political intrigue and the family secrets turn the book into an emotional rollercoaster where nothing is the way it seems. I loved discovering the different secrets everyone was keeping from Aspen alongside her! And, although I saw the sister plot-twist coming, I definitely never would've imagined the final one. Jesus! I'm still trying to pick up my jaw from the floor!!!
The only thing I didn't enjoy as much was the initial info-dumping, which was quite abundant and told instead of shown. Although I get that some of the information was important to understand things later on, it was too much all of a sudden, and I didn't really retain the things I should have. Besides, there was a lot of it and most wasn't even connected to the scene at hand, which it made the first chapters difficult to get through for me. Still, I know that a lot of other readers do enjoy hearing about the worldbuilding in depth, so they may really enjoy it!
If you enjoyed universes such as Game of Thrones or The Vampire Diaries, then don't miss out on "Wolves of Duty"!
montrez's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
readalilsmsm's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“Doing what you want is the easy path, Aspen, but doing what is right is always a choice.”
Choices, choices, choices! This shifter fantasy revolves around the choice the Female of the Triquetra, Aspen Anai, must make between duty and happiness. Enemies become lovers and lovers become enemies as the two males of the Triquetra (Sabre and Caius) compete against each other in the Mating Games. They compete to determine who the next Alpha will be and to see who gets to mate with Aspen to produce the Alpha heir. Challenges arise as Aspen becomes less self absorbed and starts to notice what’s going on around her. As her eyes are opened to war, greed and corruption what will she choose, duty or happiness?
Forbidden love, steamy romance, betrayal, deception struggle for power and all BIPOC characters …this book has it all and I loved it! The development of the characters over the course of the book is perfection, especially that of MFC Aspen. In the beginning I loathed Aspen. She was spoiled and annoying. As I read I started to like her, feel sorry for her and root for her. I wanted her to figure out a way to reclaim her power! Sabre is another character that has me all over the place in my feelings! Do I love him or hate him or is it somewhere in the middle?
Anyway all I can say is Laecans rock! READ THIS BOOK…you won’t regret it. I can’t wait for the next one!
Choices, choices, choices! This shifter fantasy revolves around the choice the Female of the Triquetra, Aspen Anai, must make between duty and happiness. Enemies become lovers and lovers become enemies as the two males of the Triquetra (Sabre and Caius) compete against each other in the Mating Games. They compete to determine who the next Alpha will be and to see who gets to mate with Aspen to produce the Alpha heir. Challenges arise as Aspen becomes less self absorbed and starts to notice what’s going on around her. As her eyes are opened to war, greed and corruption what will she choose, duty or happiness?
Forbidden love, steamy romance, betrayal, deception struggle for power and all BIPOC characters …this book has it all and I loved it! The development of the characters over the course of the book is perfection, especially that of MFC Aspen. In the beginning I loathed Aspen. She was spoiled and annoying. As I read I started to like her, feel sorry for her and root for her. I wanted her to figure out a way to reclaim her power! Sabre is another character that has me all over the place in my feelings! Do I love him or hate him or is it somewhere in the middle?
Anyway all I can say is Laecans rock! READ THIS BOOK…you won’t regret it. I can’t wait for the next one!
flyawayfantasy's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
allthestories08's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
daja's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If I were just rating the first 50% of this book, it would have been a two star read. However, I pushed myself to continue and I'm happy that I did. The story follows Aspen Anai who is the female prize the males of the triquetra would receive if they win the Mating Games. However, as the games continue she learns about the corruption going on in the world around her.
The first half of this book was a struggle to get through. From the first chapter, it was hard to get into because the writing was not the best. There were info dumps with the world, repetitive writing (especially with the dialogue tags), and points when I was left with questions that could have been answered in a sentence/paragraph since it was in Aspen's POV (mainly talking about one thing here that is a mild spoiler). There were also way too many characters to keep track of when they only played a small part of the story. Pair that with the fact that the story is written in a character's POV I hated made this a struggle.
Aspen was the one of the characters I would have liked to die and then we get another person's perspective as the story continued. I don’t think she was supposed to be a likable protagonist since no one in this world seemed to truly be her friend either, which I don't mind. However, this girl was just annoying. She's so immature for being 19-20 and she doesn't seem to have a brain for herself. She didn't really notice anything until another character gave a poor foreshadowing clue of things she should watch out for and potential deceptions from other characters. I wish she was more of an active character and that her growth as a character wasn't stemmed from other characters telling her what to do. It just seemed she did whatever people told her to do. I know that was the point of her character arc but even at the end she was doing what others told her to do. It could have been an amazing character arc to have someone that was so immature and ignorant grow but she's still pretty passive at the end even when she knows the corruption is the truth.
The other characters would have been a lot more interesting to follow because they were actually the characters in the action. While Aspen was just sitting home or in their town, they were the ones doing all of the political rebellions. It would have been great world building (more on that later) and it would have been more interesting than just having the characters relay information to Aspen who wouldn't do anything with the information.
As for the romance, I...don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, I really liked Caius as a character. He was the mysterious guy that was mean to the main character. Then there was Sabre who was the good guy dating Aspen. It presented as a love triangle but it wasn't really a love triangle. I knew from the beginning who the author wanted to be the love interest to be even if the main character was flipping back and forth between them. The one thing about the romance, though, was that I couldn't understand why Caius liked her. It's revealed what Sabre thinks of her but Caius only has the one reason I can't divulge because it is a spoiler. Like most of the other characters, it seems like they just put up with her because she is the female. No one actually likes her which made it hard for me to actually find out why they wanted her.
As for the world building, I was a little confused. It wasn’t the political structure that confused me, though. It was the time period that this world takes place. I knew it wasn’t a European inspired world because of the food they ate (plantains, cow foot soup, etc) and there’s a few Black cultures that eat food like that. But there were times that I thought we were in some historical inspired time because of the way they dressed, the lack of phones/electronics, and the use of carriages for everyday life. Then there would be times that I would be taken out of that because of the alcohol they were drinking (tequila?) and use of showers sometimes. It didn't bother me much because I usually read for the character anyway but those readers that need deep and consistent world building probably won't like this.
This was a lot about what I didn't like about the book but it ended up going up a star because the way that the author writes the drama and the tensions had me flipping the pages like crazy. It didn't get interesting to me until the second challenge of the mating games. It's spoilers if I say why, but OMG I was hooked from that point on. The tension and the reveals were on point! I cannot wait to read the second book despite the fact that I still hate Aspen.
Now for some spoilers. Don't read if you don't want to know what happens!
Why did Caius like her? I talked about this earlier but the whole mates thing is what I hated. I know it's a werewolf thing but does that mean that there can't be chemistry and other reasons that they like each other?
Also, how did she get pregnant by two different men? That's not even possible biologically, right? Is it a wolf thing in this world that she can carry more than one man's child?
Aspen's sister would have gotten these hands if I found out that she was having sex with my boyfriend. Actually, I would have killed her especially if I was the female and they couldn't hurt me. But I guessed that her sister was sleeping with Sabre in the beginning as soon as she was about to tell Aspen something and then changed her mind.
She'd be such a bad ruler as the true Alpha because she's so dumb. I feel so bad for the future of their world if it lands in her hands. Caius would be better. Caius deserves better!
But also, it seems like everyone and their mama knew what Goliath did to have both Caius and Sire be his son! I'm so blew! OMG!
The first half of this book was a struggle to get through. From the first chapter, it was hard to get into because the writing was not the best. There were info dumps with the world, repetitive writing (especially with the dialogue tags), and points when I was left with questions that could have been answered in a sentence/paragraph since it was in Aspen's POV (mainly talking about one thing here that is a mild spoiler). There were also way too many characters to keep track of when they only played a small part of the story. Pair that with the fact that the story is written in a character's POV I hated made this a struggle.
Aspen was the one of the characters I would have liked to die and then we get another person's perspective as the story continued. I don’t think she was supposed to be a likable protagonist since no one in this world seemed to truly be her friend either, which I don't mind. However, this girl was just annoying. She's so immature for being 19-20 and she doesn't seem to have a brain for herself. She didn't really notice anything until another character gave a poor foreshadowing clue of things she should watch out for and potential deceptions from other characters. I wish she was more of an active character and that her growth as a character wasn't stemmed from other characters telling her what to do. It just seemed she did whatever people told her to do. I know that was the point of her character arc but even at the end she was doing what others told her to do. It could have been an amazing character arc to have someone that was so immature and ignorant grow but she's still pretty passive at the end even when she knows the corruption is the truth.
The other characters would have been a lot more interesting to follow because they were actually the characters in the action. While Aspen was just sitting home or in their town, they were the ones doing all of the political rebellions. It would have been great world building (more on that later) and it would have been more interesting than just having the characters relay information to Aspen who wouldn't do anything with the information.
As for the romance, I...don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, I really liked Caius as a character. He was the mysterious guy that was mean to the main character. Then there was Sabre who was the good guy dating Aspen. It presented as a love triangle but it wasn't really a love triangle. I knew from the beginning who the author wanted to be the love interest to be even if the main character was flipping back and forth between them. The one thing about the romance, though, was that I couldn't understand why Caius liked her. It's revealed what Sabre thinks of her but Caius only has the one reason I can't divulge because it is a spoiler. Like most of the other characters, it seems like they just put up with her because she is the female. No one actually likes her which made it hard for me to actually find out why they wanted her.
As for the world building, I was a little confused. It wasn’t the political structure that confused me, though. It was the time period that this world takes place. I knew it wasn’t a European inspired world because of the food they ate (plantains, cow foot soup, etc) and there’s a few Black cultures that eat food like that. But there were times that I thought we were in some historical inspired time because of the way they dressed, the lack of phones/electronics, and the use of carriages for everyday life. Then there would be times that I would be taken out of that because of the alcohol they were drinking (tequila?) and use of showers sometimes. It didn't bother me much because I usually read for the character anyway but those readers that need deep and consistent world building probably won't like this.
This was a lot about what I didn't like about the book but it ended up going up a star because the way that the author writes the drama and the tensions had me flipping the pages like crazy. It didn't get interesting to me until the second challenge of the mating games. It's spoilers if I say why, but OMG I was hooked from that point on. The tension and the reveals were on point! I cannot wait to read the second book despite the fact that I still hate Aspen.
Now for some spoilers. Don't read if you don't want to know what happens!
Also, how did she get pregnant by two different men? That's not even possible biologically, right? Is it a wolf thing in this world that she can carry more than one man's child?
Aspen's sister would have gotten these hands if I found out that she was having sex with my boyfriend. Actually, I would have killed her especially if I was the female and they couldn't hurt me. But I guessed that her sister was sleeping with Sabre in the beginning as soon as she was about to tell Aspen something and then changed her mind.
She'd be such a bad ruler as the true Alpha because she's so dumb. I feel so bad for the future of their world if it lands in her hands. Caius would be better. Caius deserves better!
But also, it seems like everyone and their mama knew what Goliath did to have both Caius and Sire be his son! I'm so blew! OMG!
thecorkedreader's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
4.0
First of all, thank you for the eARC I'm exchange for an honest review.
Wolves of Duty was my first book by Charlotte Murphy and will not be my last. I had to take a couple days to let this rollercoaster ride settle so I can collect my thoughts.
The real emotions I could feel on behalf of Charlotte's characters was so real and so raw. Family dynamics was such a big part of Wolves of Duty and I truly felt outrage as Aspen navigated the pressure and treatment she received. Familial pressure is definitely something a lot of people feel and the heightened amount that Aspen receives is so relatable for many readers.
The other point I wanted to touch on was the beautiful imagery Charlotte Murphy used. Her settings were described so vividly that I truly felt transported and could see them in my minds eye.
Overall, I really enjoyed Wolves of Duty and Charlotte Murphy's spin on wolf shifters. I am very much looking forward to finding out where Aspen's story goes from here! I would definitely recommend Wolves of Duty to readers who enjoy fast paced NA fantasy.
Wolves of Duty was my first book by Charlotte Murphy and will not be my last. I had to take a couple days to let this rollercoaster ride settle so I can collect my thoughts.
The real emotions I could feel on behalf of Charlotte's characters was so real and so raw. Family dynamics was such a big part of Wolves of Duty and I truly felt outrage as Aspen navigated the pressure and treatment she received. Familial pressure is definitely something a lot of people feel and the heightened amount that Aspen receives is so relatable for many readers.
The other point I wanted to touch on was the beautiful imagery Charlotte Murphy used. Her settings were described so vividly that I truly felt transported and could see them in my minds eye.
Overall, I really enjoyed Wolves of Duty and Charlotte Murphy's spin on wolf shifters. I am very much looking forward to finding out where Aspen's story goes from here! I would definitely recommend Wolves of Duty to readers who enjoy fast paced NA fantasy.
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