Fated to the Wolf Prince by April L. Moon
This book was good. Like genuinely good. And also frustrating in a way that makes you pace your kitchen and rant to your dog.
The premise had me immediately. A global Great Pack Gathering. Forced attendance. Fate doing that thing where it ignores your carefully curated quiet life and lights it on fire. The plot had layers. Politics. Power dynamics. Mates. Secrets. Murder. So many subplots that I was actively invested and fully ready to binge answers.
Which is also where my first problem begins.
This book ends in mated bliss. Cute. Fine. I love love. BUT WHO KILLED HIS DAD. Why are we just lightly jogging past the fact that the king was murdered. Kane is like “I will deal with it later” and Brielle is apparently cool with that. Later?? Sir. Your father is dead. That feels like a now problem. I am not built to emotionally accept a murder mystery being shelved for vibes.
The side characters. Loved them. Over the top. Loud personalities. Locked into their archetypes and absolutely committed to them. They carried this book at times and I am fully aware they are future FMCs and I will be there. Front row. Snacks ready.
Now let us talk about Brielle.
I wanted to love her. I really did.
But she spends over three quarters of this book telling us she is weak. Can barely shift. Not alpha material. Not worthy. Her magic is lesser. Everyone is stronger. Woe. Is. Me. It is relentless. Then she gets challenged to a duel to the death and Kane is like “absolutely not, you are weaker than an alpha she wolf” and she loses her mind like he personally committed treason.
Ma’am. That is the thesis of your internal monologue.
You cannot spend 300 pages narrating your own fragility and then be shocked when someone agrees with you in a life or death context. Pick a lane. Preferably one that includes therapy.
If I were her best friend I would have shaken her by the shoulders at least six times. Lucky for her, her actual besties are iconic, competent, and way more enjoyable to be around. They absolutely propped this story up when Brielle was busy spiraling.
That said. I still had fun. Like kicking my feet, giggling, flipping pages fun. The worldbuilding was engaging. The shifter lore did not overwhelm. The underpopulation plotline flirted with cringe but pulled itself back just in time. The men were powerful without being stupid. The women were confident and loyal. The scene demanding proof of life that made me laugh out loud.
Final verdict:
This book has serious potential to be great. It needed a little more resolution and a little less self pity monologuing. I will absolutely continue the series. I will absolutely be thinking about the unresolved murder. And I will absolutely be side eyeing Brielle until she gets a grip.
