The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman – I Hate Love Triangles Except This One

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“I’ll learn to fight. I’ll make my own stories, rather than be the side character in the stories of kings.”

Summary

Princess Aurora longs to escape the castle where her marriage has been arranged for her. 

And it is the night before her wedding, while at a dog fight, where werewolves are made to fight for sport, she spares the life of a young wolf. 

This gets her the attention of a powerful alpha. Later that evening when the alpha escapes, he kidnaps her and takes her to the rugged northlands. 

Where clans that once warred are beginning to unite. 

The alpha believes that Aurora is the key to winning the war against the humans. 

But as they begin to spend time together, their forbidden attraction starts to grow. Aurora must question everything she has been taught about the wolves. 

Aurora also begins to wonder how her story will end, in love or in tragedy? 

Goodreads / Storygraph

What I Loved

I don’t read a lot of werewolf books, so this one was kind of new territory for me. 

I found the wolves to be far more interesting than any of the human characters. Main character included. 

I did listen to the audiobook version of this story, and I really enjoyed the dual narration. 

The narrators for Aurora and Callum (our alpha) are done really well. 

The pacing was nice and didn’t linger too long in some spots. 

However, once Blake was introduced to the story, I had a hard time even remembering Callum existed. I can’t help that I love a dark-haired, sarcastic, broody man. 

What Wasn’t My Favorite

The descriptions of the world in this book felt like either it was a forest or dying, grey land. 

There was also a serious lack of world-building. 

And like I said, once Blake entered the scene, I really lost all thought of Callum. Which is my own fault because Callum is a strong, honest, and charming character in his own right. 

This book also contains the virgin trope, which is one of my least favorite tropes to exist. 

The ending of the book, while not a serious cliffhanger, was a bit much. I kind of wished it had ended differently, but that is personal preference. 

Vibe Check

• Genre: Paranormal Romance & Fantasy
• Mood: moody, romantic, and filled with tension
• Read if you love: werewolves, love triangles (done well!), sorta enemies to lovers, political unrest, forbidden attraction
• My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Would I recommend it?

Yes! If you are looking for a fairly low stakes intro to this werewolf trilogy, then you should check this out.

There are a lot of readers who compare this to ACOTAR but that is incredibly insulting to Callum to compare him to Tamlin. 

So, disregard those comments. But if you like werewolves (minus the knotting) and an FMC who has to discover her own strength and place in the world, this one might be for you. 

Overall Thoughts

This was a good, fun read. The FMC was a bit annoying at times, but considering how much she is having to overcome, I can look past it. 

The love triangle is done well considering love triangles are another trope I detest. 

This story is an interesting paranormal/fantasy romance with really good narrators if you would prefer to listen to the audiobook. 

I gave this one a solid 4 stars out of 5 stars. 

Side note – do we like this book review format? I’m playing around with new book review formats, and I really like this one, what do you think?

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