InvestiGeek

If you are in Romantasy for the vibes, you might come to a very different conclusion than I for this novel, but as someone who does not enjoy nearly 600 pages of mediocre narrative, I knew The Wolf and the Crown of Blood was not my tempo from the first 10%.

For the sake of a fair chance, I wanted to give this novel at least 50%, but I ended up setting this book down at 39%.

Bryony Devaliant has given her life for the kingdom time and time again. Literally. But, despite her life of sacrifice and resurrection, she has been marked to permanently die at the hands of the Wolf, the immortal assassin.

But, despite all the blood on his hands, there is something about Bryony that compels the Wolf to forgo her assassination and instead keep her as… a pet?

What Worked:

• Insta-yearn: If you enjoy insta-yearn and insta-hate, this is your goldmine.
• Interesting beginning: This novel does not waste time! We jump into the drama from the very beginning.
• Uprising: It’s apparent that the people do not care for the current political standing in this world, and the uprising is on the verge of boiling over.

What Didn’t Work:

• No Connection: We were tossed into the chaos from the very beginning, which means that we had no baseline for the characters. Our MC and LI were emotionally heightened from the roller coaster of events, so I was unsure how to gauge their reactions.
• Lackluster Writing: The modern, casual tone the author uses makes it quite difficult to immerse oneself in the novel. Every time I was close to finding a beat in the novel, I was torn away by a Get fucked!
• Shifty POV: Despite the novel being multiple first-person POVs, there were some insights that didn’t quite align with the current POV. For example, we would get one character’s emotions plainly stated within the other character’s POV chapter with no contextual evidence. Not situational awareness or another excuse, but rather just an emotional insert, which muddies the POV.
• A “Bad” Boy: When you supply an explanation at the beginning of a novel that the LI is subjectively bad, I am prepared for a morally pitch-black character. But, instead, we are introduced to the Wolf’s POVs, where he questions his actions and maintains a natural stance. Aside from bedroom preferences, he is objectively mentally stable and understands his position within the system. If by “bad” the author meant boring and lacking dimension, then I approve of that statement.

This novel is an example of the current trend of repetitive narrative that leans heavily in the “here for the vibes” plot. The only additional feature the author brings to the table is simply cranking the spice scale up, but at the cost of immersive narrative.

When it comes to the relatively new Romantasy genre, there is space for both romance and fantasy, as the name implies. However, The Wolf and the Crown of Blood does not meet my standards for this collaborative genre.

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐ (2/5)
Spice Rating: DNF’ed

The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May is expected to be published on January 27, 2026.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA, for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this novel for an honest review.