Scan barcode
A review by bookishhill
Wanton for the Wolven King: A Regency Monster Romance by Kristen Strassel, Kristen Strassel
2.0
2.5/5 ⭐️s
The story has so much promise - a genuinely fun plot with a lovers to enemies to lovers vibes - but it suffered from poor pacing and dialogue.
I loved the premise of this book and thought Kristen did a good job of laying the groundwork in the first few chapters! Phillipa seems strong and steadfast in her desire to kill the Wolven King to defend her Fae friends. That aspect really should’ve been focused on more (it fizzles out so quickly - like, a one-page confrontation, and she’s practically done fighting him).
That really highlights my biggest issue with this book: the pacing. We make it almost halfway through the book before Phillipa and Wesley even interact. There’s all this build up, and the moment they finally confront each other is so anticlimactic. It’s also when I noticed some issues with the dialogue too (really, that first scene of them in the library was cringeworthy).
After that, the murky characterizations became almost unreadable. It constantly feels like these characters are having completely different conversations - Case in point: While lamenting how his actions have cost the lives of some of Phillipa’s Fae friends, Master Bow is simply telling him how perfect he and Phillipa are for each other and that he has high hopes of their match. What?
One high was the storyline with Phillipa and her mother, but even that had a bizarre conclusion. I think Kristen Strassel really did have the foundation for a great book here, but the execution of it just didn’t work.
Spice: 1/5
The story has so much promise - a genuinely fun plot with a lovers to enemies to lovers vibes - but it suffered from poor pacing and dialogue.
I loved the premise of this book and thought Kristen did a good job of laying the groundwork in the first few chapters! Phillipa seems strong and steadfast in her desire to kill the Wolven King to defend her Fae friends. That aspect really should’ve been focused on more (it fizzles out so quickly - like, a one-page confrontation, and she’s practically done fighting him).
That really highlights my biggest issue with this book: the pacing. We make it almost halfway through the book before Phillipa and Wesley even interact. There’s all this build up, and the moment they finally confront each other is so anticlimactic. It’s also when I noticed some issues with the dialogue too (really, that first scene of them in the library was cringeworthy).
After that, the murky characterizations became almost unreadable. It constantly feels like these characters are having completely different conversations - Case in point: While lamenting how his actions have cost the lives of some of Phillipa’s Fae friends, Master Bow is simply telling him how perfect he and Phillipa are for each other and that he has high hopes of their match. What?
One high was the storyline with Phillipa and her mother, but even that had a bizarre conclusion. I think Kristen Strassel really did have the foundation for a great book here, but the execution of it just didn’t work.
Spice: 1/5