A River of Golden Bones

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

Actual review close to 3.5 stars. I loved that there was LGBTQ+ representation with the characters. However, the beginning was a bit confusing to start and had instalove which kind of set the tone for the rest of the story me. I'd much rather see a relationship develop can be done, even with fated mates. The language used in the spice scenes was a little weird lol.

This story follows Calla, a young wolf princess whose existence has been kept a secret from the rest of the world. She and her twin, Briar, have finally come of age, and Briar has been tasked with marrying Prince Grae of another wolf kingdom. Briar will become queen, and Calla will remain as her shadow. When her twin is cursed to sleep for eternity by the same Witch Queen that destroyed their kingdom, Calla leaves her new home and her mate to rescue the one person who can wake her sister.

The concept of this book was interesting enough to pick up, but the urge to put it down was so much stronger. It felt like the author had a vague idea for a story and then had a bunch of boxes to check off with very specific character descriptions. There were also many moments where I could see what the author was trying to do but was not able to successfully convey it on the page.
The checklist probably looked like this before they sat down: ✅Spice ✅Fated Mates ✅Wolves ✅Sleepy Beauty Retelling ✅Queer Character(s)? ✅Howl's Moving Castle Caravan

The world-building fell very flat for me as well. It was hard to discern character motivations, and for a while, I thought this might be an intentional choice to add an air of mystery. However, after finishing the book, I concluded that there was no true build-up to anything.

Our main character was very much “not like other girls,” especially not like her sister. She often looked at her sister and wished she could be as pretty, prim, and prepared to take the throne as her. This thought occurred multiple times per chapter.

Toward the end, Calla was having a crisis when it came to her gender identity. Usually, I welcome this sort of exploration, but I found this to be out of place. It seemed like this fantasy world was 100% okay with anybody being anything and loving anyone, even to the point of the Moon Goddess, herself, choosing a sapphic mating pair in front of the royal court. This crisis felt like another box to check, as it was shoehorned in at the end without a convincing buildup to these issues.

I also found the romantic pacing to be unrealistic and, at times, frustrating. The Fated Mates reveal was just as dramatic as it was sudden. Considering these characters were Wolves, Calla couldn't stop mentioning that she and her chosen mate were “mates” and how intense the Mating Frenzy was. However, there was no pining, no slow burn—nothing that made me believe they were truly crazy for each other. Usually, when the “Mating Frenzy” comes up in books, you expect a real spicy treat. Instead, it was just tiring to repeatedly read about how bad it was not to touch each other. When it came to the spice, it was concentrated in one chunk of the book, it was more overwhelming than it was rewarding. I found myself skimming the pages to get through it all.

I also love politics in fantasy, as I believe it adds an extra exciting element to world-building and gives us a real glimpse of what it's like in this world. However, the politics in this book were as simplistic as “This King is bad, this Queen is bad.” Maybe the next books will dive into this a little more and clear a few things up, but I don't think I will be there for that journey.

So if you like wolves, limited worldbuilding, and a main female character who is always stressed for the wrong reasons, this book might be for you.