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A review by gee_reads_books
Wolves of Duty by Charlotte Murphy
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"!