The Werewolf Queen (Wheel of Crowns, #1) (2024)

It was decent. I mean it had a good plot but it feeled rushed. If it was more in depth and not rushing scenes it would be great.

Nope. Sorry, I wanted to like this, I truly did… and I tried and I tried. And through the majority of the book I stubbornly held to that precarious 3 stars. But the more I read, the harder it became. Why? Well….

While it started out obvious that the book is written in a very basic and pedestrian YA style, the story, itself was promising and I liked the characters. Slowly but surely, however, even small things like the simple sentences and teenage feel devolved into cliched teenage vernacular that even now sounds outdated.

The biggest problem for me, however, was that by the second half of the book - and absolutely by the 70% mark, the entire feel of the words and storyline read like it was created straight from an adolescent’s thought process, “… and then she did this! And then…. Everything exploded! And she got even more powerful, and destroyed all the bad guys, and then her love realized he couldn’t live without her and then, and then, they told each other and then they kissed! And it was so awesome!!!! And they decided they couldn’t wait to mate so they bit each other right there and BAM she became immortal and they went and saved the world!!! Yes, that’s what happened! And then, they lived happily ever after.. the end. Until next time.”

Now, I know that sounds ridiculously simplistic but it really is pretty much how it went. And, I understand most adolescents will eat this up and love every flowery, fighting minute - and maybe even adults will enjoy a trip into teenage dream stories for a sec. The eye rolling for me, however, became so intense, I just couldn’t.

I received this book in exchange for a review. Thank you!
This novel was an enjoyable read, especially if you enjoy the supernatural, where there is magic, witches, warlocks, werewolves, physics, demons, vampires, and ogres oh my! The story is novel from Sadie's point of view, would believed she was a dud, a person with no magical abilities. However, her bff Jo knows more about Sadie's destiny than she lets on. When Sadie turns 18, her powers come in full swing. This leaves her confused and has trouble controlling her new powers. This makes her a target, some desire and others want to kill. The king of werewolves tells Sadie to come with him and it takes attacks to get her to go. CG and Sadie are attracted to each other, but he is engaged to a witch who has ulterior motives and causes trouble for Sadie. We see Sadie develop into her abilities and her love for CG, which causes trouble between the two since CG has issues about love that he needs to work out. They will the fight of their lives on to retrieve the keys and stop others who wish to destroy them, as well as making friends and allies along the way. This novel made me laugh with some of the characters antics and added humor to the story. It sets the preface for story lines of other characters, especially with a meddling psychic's foreshadowing.

LOVED IT! ~Spoilers

I liked this book a lot. There were a couple of times I almost lost interest but definitely made a come back and finished well. I don't like Jason Momoa (sorry, I know its crazy but ever since I saw a youtube video of him grabbing some underage girls boob he grosses me out), so when you compared the lead to him it was hard to get past, but that's just me. However, I loved, absolutely LOVED the female characters, including Jo. In the end, I got around the Momoa thing. I would have liked more steamy scenes but maybe this wasn't mean't to be read that way. But I loved the humor in this book and the world building!

Great storyline! Mindblowing and original. Must read for sure. We loved it! Can’t wait voor the next book to come.

5 Stars

Edited 5th December 2019- This is definitely one of my favourite reads of the year- if not ever! Just finished re-reading the first three books in this spellbinding series, so everything is fresh in my mind as I dive into book four! Brilliant....

The Werewolf Queen is the first spellbinding instalment in the Wheel of Crowns Series by Brandi Elledge. WOW!!! What an amazing story!!! I was completely riveted from the very first page, so completely absorbed by the story, that I lost all sense of time and place. The ‘real’ world ceased to exist as I fell deeper and deeper under Ms. Elledge’s spell. This is one of those books that deserves to be read- it’s so fascinating, engrossing, and entirely unforgettable. Ms. Elledge is a new-to-me author and now I am kicking myself that I hadn’t discovered her and her books before now- but now that I have she has earned a spot on my ‘must read’/favourite authors list. I have already started on the next book in the series, and pre-ordered Book #3 (due out 25th April).
The Werewolf Queen is an action-packed paranormal fantasy, with werewolves, witches, warlocks, psychics, soothsayers, vampires, fairies, demons, ogres, succubi, magic, the supernatural, blood oaths, visions, fate, missing keys, different planes/realms, bloody battles, intensity, drama, and so much more.
We meet Sadie Grey, who comes from a long line of witches, and lives in a town of witches, even attending a school for witches- but she feels like a dud, and a real failure, because her ‘powers’ have failed to manifest, yet. But all that changes on the night of her 18th birthday, when 3 strangers arrive in town- turning life as she knows it upside-down. She is swept up on a quest to retrieve some very important keys, with the fate of the world resting in her hands- while meeting many new friends, and enemies, along the way. What part will the gorgeous, complicated, brooding, and protective werewolf play in this incredible story- you really must read the book to find out- you really won’t be disappointed!!!
OMG! Where do I even begin to do this book the justice it deserves! It is so funny, emotive, exciting, fast-paced, intense, touching, romantic, and just plain incredible. The story is told from Sadie’s perspective, which I loved- but I really wanted to hear from Camden and would love to have had his perspective too. I love Sadie, she was a fantastic female lead- I was completely invested in her, Camden, and the outcome of the story. Sadie learns so much about herself, her family, her ‘powers’, and the world she thought she knew. I loved Granny- she is hilarious. Jo is such a great character, too- a perfect best friend for Sadie, and a wonderful addition to the story. I also loved Lil (Lilly-Ana)- she was a hoot. I wanted to adopt Kong and bring him home- I really felt for what he’d been through. But he really added an extra element of interest and imagination to the story. I can’t wait to read Jameson’s story, and Stephen’s story- but would also love to read Jo’s story, as well as Austin’s- hint, hint Ms. Elledge.
Ms. Elledge is a gifted storyteller and excels at complex, vividly detailed world building- bringing the whole story to life, making it entirely realistic and believable. Truly masterful!
Without a doubt, one of my favourite reads of the year!!

Bravo, and thank you Ms. Elledge!

4-4.5 PG-rated funny Stars

“Um, Lil? Are you convulsing?” “What kind of small ass town are you from? Girl, this is called twerkin’.” Her butt started vibrating faster, and her wings were flapping with the rhythm. She looked over her shoulder. “Sometimes, you got to look back at it.” What the hell was she talking about?

I was so happy after reading this book that I thought it deserved a real review instead of a half ass one that I do sometimes to remind myself later on why or why not I didn't like a book.

The Werewolf Queen was so GOOD! Totally worth the read. It was a fast paced hilarious paranormal romance. I loved everything about it.

We start out with Sadie who was a whit that I can relate to with a sidekick-psychic best friend named Jo. They are just days away from graduating their supernatural high school when Sadie's eighteenth birthday rolls around. The whole town gets involved and celebrates which is where we meet my favorite character...her GRANDMA (aka grandma b)! Oh and the love interest.

Most grandmothers channeled their inner Jackie Kennedy or Martha Stewart. Mine channeled her inner thug.
“There is young blood over by the punch bowl. He has been asking for you, Sadie, and he is drop dead gorgeous. Like phat! For the first time in forty years, I think I felt something in my who-ha. It was like wazzzap!”

Umm...can I have a grandma like that? The story is filled with hilariousness that had me outright laughing and my husband checking to make sure I was still sane.

Now...onto the love interest. We first meet CG (so glad we stoped calling him that later on) aka Camden at her birthday party. I'm not going to give too much away but I do like his protectiveness and the fact that though him and Sadie were mates they didn't an instant love affair.

“The things I feel for you can’t be measured. I think of you when you’re right beside me and when you left, I couldn’t think of anything but you returning. I was going to give you one more day before I went to get you. It’s not fair of me to say we can’t see where this thing between us goes when I can’t let you leave me, so I’m sorry."

The secondary characters were also key players to making the story work so well. They all had layers and were easy to connect with. Elledge did a fantastic job making me want to read more since every character had more than one role to play. Not just in this book but in future books.

The only thing I would have changed or added I guess was if we got to see from Camden's point of view. I think that would have heightened the emotional connection that I had already created with the characters and made this a 5 star.

All in all what I want to be taken from this review is that this book is worth anyone's time who likes a paranormal read. I also want the author to know that if she keeps writing the series I will keep on reading.

Very entertaining

I love the book i could not stop reading. I like the pace th story goes on. I look forward to more adventures in this series. Thanks for your hard work.

Oh my gosh I loved this book, story plot very good with a few unguessable twists, can't wait to read the rest.
I've re read this series so many times I have officially lost count.

Well, this was one of those "meh" books.. I lost interest a couple of times, considered dnfing it, but I powered through, I loved, absolutely LOVED the female characters, including Jo. I liked the world building, how the author decides to tackle the supernatural aspect of it all, but it iwasn't enough to make me wanna read the second book.. this book starts off strong but I dont know if it tried to do too much at once, but at the halfway mark it just looses itself.

There were a lot going on so I wasn't really bored by the story but I wasn't overly attached to it either. It was enjoyable enough and quite entertaining but don't think I'll continue on with the series, maybe I will. But I'm not eager to know what going to happen next.

The Werewolf Queen (Wheel of Crowns #1) by Brandi Elledge was interesting, unique and original, it kept my attention and turning the pages.

Okay I'm going to be real with you, this book is different, good different from a plot stand point. It fresh and very intriguing. The wording building is detail and the authors paints a wonderful picture, making you feel connected and there. Now here were I'm going to have to get a little, not so nice.... The MC, was, a little annoying, and I didn't like the trying to be funny all the time trope, it made for weird reading, the dialogue choppy, and it also was hard to get into a serious scene.

I love the different take on the supernatural world, I always love seeing how an author will reshape what has already been done, to create something new and wonderful. The journey was pretty neat, I love the key plot, and how it was used to grow our MC and her powers. As for the male love interest, CG, well, he was okay, but I felt like I read about him before. I wish his character had more depth, and wasn't just a carbon copy of the typical alpha male. Like, he wasn't bad, just.. meh.

Overall this story was fast moving, with an evolving plot and epic magical creatures. This book gets my high recommendation and my stamp of approval. I can't wait to read the next book!

Happy Reading

-E.A. Walsh

The Werewolf Queen (Wheel of Crowns Book 1) by Brandi Elledge
5 Stars

This is the first book that I have read from this author and I loved it. There were vampires, witches, demons and werewolves. There were mind-readers, healers and psychics. There were hot sexy men and a kick ass female lead, what’s not to love?

Sadie grew up in a town full of witches. Everyone had powers except her. On her 18 th birthday, everything changed. She came into her powers and all of a sudden, demons are trying to kill her. She always wanted powers, now every supernatural wants her dead because of them. Flirting with the Vampire Prince and lusting after the Werewolf King and trying not to get killed by his psycho witch fiancée and the Demon King, Sadie is quite busy. All the while she needs to find some lost keys and save the world. Not too much to ask of a girl who’s trying to graduate high school, right? She makes some new friends and heads on a crazy adventure.

This is an original, action packed story filled with amazing characters, unlikely allies and a bit of romance. Some of their antics had me laughing out loud. I loved this book and can’t wait to read more about their adventures.

The Werewolf Queen (Wheel of Crowns Book 1), by Brandi Elledge, is a romantic fantasy novel. This novel/series by Brandi Elledge was exquisite. An amazing cast of characters set the stage for this amazing story. Sadie was a strong character, from her personality to her friendships to her sense of right & wrong. I instantly loved her and was rooting for her throughout the story. Adding in the supporting characters and the chain of events that unfold were original, intriguing and magnificent. One of the best first book/series starters that I have recently read. Brandi Elledge is imaginative and has a remarkable creation of all the individual characters along with the story development. I cannot wait to delve into the next book(s) of the series to see what comes next and the additional personalities that are introduced!

The Werewolf Queen (Wheel of Crowns book one) By Brandi Elledge
5 Stars!!!!!

I absolutely love finding new book series and authors. I was not disappointed by this book. I really found the author's writing style to be quite refreshing and entertaining.The characters just really seem to jump off the pages and come to life.

I found myself really drawn to Sadie. The way that fate plays a part in her life really just makes the reader rout for her. I was really drawn to the chemistry between her and CG. I also liked how the author threw in some twists in the beginning of their relationship as it starts out. I really found myself on the edge of my seat as I read this book to see what would happen next. I will definitely be reading more from this author and this series.

A fun light read and a great start to a new series I think. If you enjoy the Sookie Stackhouse books I think you'll definitely dig this one. Enjoyable plot and good characters I'll probably read more books in the series going forward.

A very exciting adventure

Love all the characters and the story telling was fun. Can't wait to read the rest of the series. Hopefully it is a series!

Thanks again for this fabulous book.

Great story

I am hoping the rest is as good as this one and that the characters continue to make appearances in every book. Definitely recommend this one it left me wanting more so here I go grab a copy asap.

Loved it!

So many different types of paranormals, and hints at many different mixed mates.
Love this story and plot line. How everything comes together is perfect. Can't wait to read book 2!

Great read

I really liked this book. How we got to know so many characters, building up for the future books. It was an easy read and some lol moments.

The good thing about this book is that despite being a series starter, it has it’s own plot. From what I’m getting from the blurbs, all the books in the series are interconnected, but they each deal with a different couple, so at least those stories are self-contained. Other than that, the species are interesting and the MC is not particularly whiny. That’s about it.

The writing is not very good and often jarring: the slang is heavy and mostly unnecessary. If it was just the Granny being “down with it” it might be quirky: but as both the MC, her best friend, and another female character are constantly pushing it, it gets exhausting. It reads like it was either written by an older person trying to mimic teens or a young person thinking to make their characters as cool as possible.
Words are also often misused: the most egregious example is when Sadie describes herself as “detrimental” to the plan… when she obviously means “instrumental”, which is the exact opposite. There’s also an “excepts” instead of “accept” and some other, less obvious, issues peppered throughout.

The love story is also quite bland. It’s a mate-bond match, so that takes care of the instalove issues other YA suffer from. But the male MC runs hot and cold, for reasons he explains around the middle of the book, and the romantic scenes between them are often rushed and not particularly engaging. Not even the mating scene is swoon worthy, and we never see them “complete” the bond “on screen”.

I usually enjoy stories where different characters have different powers, and as often is the case with these premises, the MC has a super-special power. Maybe it’s because I’ve read WJ May Kerrigan series, but I feel like Sadie’s power, as interesting and versatile as it is, was unoriginal and May handled it better. I understand this story was a lot shorter, but the more Mary Sue the power the harder it should be for the wielder to master it. Sadie only had a few weeks of training and she immediately acquired all the skills she needed to face her opponents, which she immediately knew how to perfectly use. Her only drawback was also quickly and conveniently disposed of once she mated with Camden.
Another parallel with May was the psychic best friend, which was interesting in the Kerrigan books and completely annoying here. Elledge does try to let her main characters have their own agency and play scenes out organically, but when there’s not one but two almost infallible psychic characters literally maneuvering characters and events as chess pieces because it serves “a higher purpose” it gets boring really fast. Especially when the “higher purpose” is not even plot realated but merely setting up the couplings for the next books.

All in all, I might pick up the rest of the series at one point, but for now I’d rather keep looking for something more engaging.

The Werewolf Queen (Wheel of Crowns Book 1)
By: Brandi Elledge
5 out of 5 stars

The story The Werewolf Queen (Wheel of Crowns Book 1) by Brandi Elledge is a wonderful fantasy book that I loved reading. It is a story that pulls you in from the very beginning and doesn’t let you go until you have read the final page. I loved reading about the characters of Sadie and Jo. Sadie is a young girl who doesn’t have supernatural powers. She stands out from those in the town she lives in. Then things begin to change on her 18th birthday. Jo is Sadie’s BFF. I love the interactions and bantering that goes on between the two. Sadie is a psychic. Does she know something about Sadie that she is not saying? Things really kick into high gear when Sadie has to leave her best friend, family, and town. She is learning about her new powers and needs protection. What does the future hold for Sadie? Read this book to find out. This story has action, adventure, danger, and a bit of romance. It is a book that at times had me turning pages to find out what was going to happen next. I love books that include the supernatural and this is a wonderful example of why. The story keeps your interest all the way through. There are other additional characters that I enjoyed reading about. They each have their own part to play and many of them are a help to Sadie. Then there are those with their own agenda and plans. Will they be stopped? This is a book that you don’t want to miss out on reading. Highly recommended.

Had potential, but writing was awful

I wanted to like this book, but the writing felt so juvenile. Everything happened way too fast, and there was just too much information. No world building, the problems were solved rather quickly (which I guess if you like that) but overall it had potential to be good. The storyline was interesting, but it felt like a 5th grader writing. Basically just kept adding information that seemed irrelevant in some ways. Characters had no development. Honestly, my head hurts now.

You know what, nevermind.

Gag.

DNF 29%

3.5

PG-13

Some swearing and lustful comments with a good story. I’m debating reading the next one. I just like a cleaner read than this.

Very intriguing. Loved the read. Fast paced. So good I bought book 2!

Love this new world of paranormals!

Characters with enough depth that you care what happens to them, a kick ass heroine, and a really sweet troll. What more could you ask for?

I really enjoyed this book.

Fast-paced and enjoyable

I thought the ending was a little rushed, but the book was still enjoyable.

Can't wait to read the next one.

The best book ever. I was glued to the pages ever since I started reading it. Kept me up all night. I would defo recommend if your into the supernatural and romance genre.