Hunt the Shadow. Guard the Flame.
House of Wolves
House of Eclipses
Fantasy
November 19, 2021
Kindle, Hardcover
458
Noor is the new Aten of Helios, having wrenched the kingdom of the sun from her treacherous father’s hands. Citali stood with her sister against him, and rejoiced when he died at Noor’s hand… But he did not go quietly. He poisoned the thoughts of their older sister, Zarina, who believes that Noor is not who she claims and was never supposed to be Aten. As Zarina flees the temple to determine her next step, she encounters, then attacks, Citali. Beaten and left for dead, Citali’s cries are heard by the Wolven of Lumina. In a flurry of fur and fang, Beron rushes to her aid yet fears he arrived too late. With what would have been her dying breath, Citali whispers a secret that changes everything. Pleading to Lumos – the god of the moon – for a way to save her, Beron is provided an answer that comes at a steep price. Citali will become Wolven. The two bonded together for a lifetime. Despite their tumultuous past, Beron helps hone her new strength and senses, a primal passion now surging through her veins. But can the two stop fighting one another and work together to hunt and destroy the darkness spreading over the sands like a plague of locusts? Or will the sands of time run out for them both?
Have you ever read a book and liked it so much that you weren’t sure how to put a recommendation into words? Well, that’s how I feel about House of Wolves! If you have read my past reviews of her work, it’s no secret that Casey L. Bond is one of my favorite authors; her books have it all: morally gray main characters contrasted with spectacularly good and evil main characters, well built fantasy worlds, sly references and twists on mythology, romance with just the right amount of heat, action that isn’t gory, and satisfying endings. House of Wolves is all of these things, providing a fast paced journey, chronicling Citali’s redemption arc from former seemingly-bad apple, to heroine of the world.
House of Eclipses closed with Zarina’s attempted murder of Citali, who unexpectedly cried out to Beron for help. House of Wolves picks up with Citali finding out that he has used his powers as the Wolven to heal her, but at a steep cost for both of them. In fact, by healing her, Beron has changed the paths that her destiny, and her son’s destiny, might take. Citali’s destiny is also wrapped up with the fate of the God of the Dead, Anubis, who desires to gain control of the world. The arc of the story unfolds as Citali tries to come to terms with who she is, and grapples with rumors that she was made for Anubis. Her romance with Beron unfolds so slowly that at times it seems it will never flower at all, making its eventual blossoming that much more sweet. However, the blossoming comes at a cost, and another twist in the path of Citali’s destiny.
Despite how rotten she seemed in House of Eclipses, Citali becomes a heroine that is easy to root for over the course of this book, as she is required to sacrifice everything she has ever been, or wanted to be, in order to save those she was once afraid to love. I can’t say much more without venturing into the realm of spoilers, so I will close this review by saying that this duology is a beautiful addition to any home library (seriously, check out the covers and sleeves ?), and is time well spent trampling over the dunes of Helios, exploring the land of the dead, and shivering in the forested wilderness of Luminia.
