
Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book from the author. This has not influenced my review.*
This book was well-written, but the plot was a bit of a let down for me.
Part of the problem was an “it’s not the book, it’s me” thing. I’m not always a fan of royal court politics, and even though I enjoyed it in the previous book, there was just too much of it in this book for my taste. I was also still kind of confused by the religion/history of the people aspect that was focused on more.
The other part of the problem was that hardly anything happened. All of the books in this series haven’t had super packed plots, but they had a goal and felt complete (in a sense). The first was about Scarlet and Liall meeting and discovering their feelings and starting a relationship. The second was about making their journey to Liall’s homeland. The third was about getting the people to agree on a new king. But this one was about… Scarlet being upset about Liall potentially having to marry Ressilka and Liall finding out he needs to travel the Temple Road? I know the series has an overarching plot, but it still frustrates me when individual books don’t have a goal or when the goal isn’t accomplished or failed by the end.
I will say, however, that the writing and the characters were still just as good as they were in the previous books. I especially liked the intimate moments and conversations between Scarlet and Liall because they were the kind of thing you don’t see in many books. Those moments felt natural and playful and like a real relationship. It helped me to feel the emotion between them, believe that they loved each other, and understand why. They had a natural comfort with each other that couples in books sometimes lack, and even though they did have struggles and disagreements, they actually talked and communicated eventually.
So overall, all the politics were not for me, and I couldn’t rate it higher because it felt more like half a book than a full one, but I still enjoyed the book because it still had the same good writing and characters.
Recommended For:
Fans of Books 1-3 in Kirby Crow's Scarlet & the White Wolf Series. M/M high fantasy readers who like slow-paced, character-focused books with sweet relationships.
More Books in the Series:
Book Review: The Pedlar and the Bandit King (Scarlet & the White Wolf Book 1) by Kirby Crow
Book Review: Mariner’s Luck (Scarlet & the White Wolf Book 2) by Kirby Crow
Book Review: The Land of Night (Scarlet & the White Wolf Book 3) by Kirby Crow
Book Review: The King of Forever (Scarlet & the White Wolf Book 4) by Kirby Crow
It does sound like this one needed more plot- wise, or goals wise maybe. Glad the characters and writing are good though. I see it’s a fairly short book, compared to some these days, maybe that contributes to the sense that not a lot happens? Hopefully the next one picks up! It does have kind of a cool cover.
Yeah, I do think it could’ve been longer and had more to the plot. But at least the characters and relationship were still good! Thanks. I like the cover too!
Nooo… not a plot problem! It’s like the bulk of a book. Ugh, I hate that. Sorry it didn’t work well for you. I can relate to you feeling like it didn’t go anywhere! I feel like there is no objective in the book I’m listening to right now. They’ve quite literally been wandering around in the woods for FOUR HOURS of the audiobook. I have absolutely no idea what they’re trying to do, and they can’t seem to decide on something either.
Yay for the writing and the characters!
Do You Dog-ear?
I mean, I can enjoy a book that doesn’t have a lot of plot if it has good characters, but I just like to know where the plot is heading, some sort of goal, and some sort of conclusion, even if it’s temporary in a series book. Oh gosh, wandering around in the woods for four hours of audio, that does sound pretty bad lol.
I love my politicals in books, even royal court politics. But having said that, it can’t overtake the story. Because something still needs to actually HAPPEN. It’s the reason why I am struggling with reading Clash of Kings by George RR Martin at the moment. Plenty of great politics but so little action. :/
I mean, it can be good sometimes. I loved it in the last book. But more often than not, I’m not interested in royal court politics.
Awe, sorry this one was a letdown. I hope you’ll enjoy your next read a lot more!! ♥️
Thanks!
That’s too bad the plot was a bit of a let down for you :(. I can enjoy politics in a book, but it does depend on how it’s handled.
I agree that it’s nice if each book in a series has a plot and the series as a whole an overarching plot. It doesn’t sound like much happened in this one.
I do like how you describe the writing and the relationship. That sounds great how natural and realistic the relationship feels. I like seeing those more normal situations or the comfortable and playful moments in a romance. It sometimes feel many books skip those type of scenes.
Yeah, I guess it depends for me too.
Exactly, I don’t mind an overarching plot, but I also still want a full story, in a sense, in each book.
But yeah, I love the relationship! It feels so natural. Many books do skip over those little playful moments.