A Peculiar Wolf by Louise Clement

A twist to the traditional fated mates stories – with a good dose of romance, action, humor, a prophecy, and an epic final battle!

Zephyr Wyndham is next-in-line to become Alpha of the Wind Howlers Pack. However, his world gets turned upside down on the night of his first shift when he gets a female wolf as his counterpart.

The young leader’s skills are put to test as rumors spread about him being cursed, and he starts to think the Moon Goddess is playing tricks on him. It isn’t until his mate – a packless she-wolf with a hidden past – comes along when everything starts falling into place.

In face of an apocalyptic threat and secrets that need to be unveiled, can Zephyr trust his peculiar wolf and fulfill his destiny?

My Review

This book almost bored me to dnf in the first hundred pages. I was not too fond of the single pov, the misogynistic teenage boy, and the very wordy, not going anywhere part of this story. I’m thankful I kept reading because it did get better slowly and by the last hundred pages. I couldn’t put this book down. I like how the author switched it up and added some peculiarities to the story. Once this story got into the fated mates and prophecy, it became a delightful read. The characters, especially all the females, are fantastic heroines, and the males eventually grow into true heroes. This story could use some trimming not to bore the readers with unnecessary details because the second half of this is pretty outstanding, but is it losing stars and readers based on the terrible first impression? I enjoyed the story overall, but if you read it, I highly encourage you to maybe skim the first part so you don’t throw the book across the room before it gets good.

The prologue of this book beings with an intriguing prophecy. The beginning is well explained but slightly twisted, focusing on the Moon Goddess and a plan to even the scales.

Zephyr is the future Alpha of the Wind Howlers pack. He has yet to get his wolf but seems to still lead the warriors well, even in human form. He is cocky, has somewhat of a playboy attitude, young, still not yet eighteen. The wolf society and hierarchy are more detailed in this story. 

Intriguingly, the antagonist is introduced before his wolf counterpart. The antagonist is external but has secrecy about it, as it isn’t well described. The male pov makes it challenging to get into the character’s mindset. Okay, that’s ironic and funny, and it has a purpose. The political this and that could be more interesting, and I could care less about their treaties and duties. Where is the fated mates part of the story, or at least answers to the repeated questions and the peculiarities brought up. 

So we have Zephyr’s pov and his Wolf Dawn’s pov, but she is a little preachy, whereas he is all misogynistic. This book has a lot of mundane day-to-day stuff that is boring to read. I will admit that reading this story mainly from the male mc pov is different. This book has an urban fantasy-like setting with imaginative names and locations. The snarky she-wolf of his is better than his mundane, spiraling woe-is-me thoughts. This vision might help this story get better read and not be stale. Some of the language is not needed, especially in his pov. His tone and prick-like tendencies come across to the reader just fine. 

So far, this story still needs to go somewhere. Because of that, I’m rather bored, but the main character is also very misogynistic and just a jerk. The last thing I want to do is be in his mind and see how he treats and talks to females, especially his wolf. I credit the author for a different story, a nice twist, and a great idea. Still, unfortunately, the execution of it isn’t relatable, it is difficult to read, and the main character’s pov is beyond frustrating, especially how he treats and talks to women. The main character has more emotional whiplash than a teenager and isn’t graceful about it. One minute, he is strong Alpha, the next, he is a wanna-be Playboy; and the following, he is a scared little kitten. This book gets marginally better after the first one hundred pages. I like his attitude and personality change we begin to see and the fact that it sticks thru the later part of the story. I wish it wasn’t so wishy-washy in the beginning because the back-and-forth attitude makes it hard to read his pov. Now we have Malin’s pov and get a little taste of his fated mate’s story. 

Most of this story would have been better without the first hundred pages or so. One chapter here or there is needed but certainly not all of the teenage angst and melodrama. I like the author’s concepts of gender swaps and fated mates, which is very peculiar in a wolf-shifter book. Still, I want to see where this idea goes and how she implements the details. 

We also get Valentinas pov; her character is easier to relate to. This story seriously lacks that Alpha male bad boy vibes we love to read about. But it is a different take on wolf shifters. However, after a few hundred pages of exciting reading, we are back to the boring political day-to-day stuff. Okay, so the secrecy around the fallen makes them a fascinating antagonist. I really like the suspense the author creates once things finally get moving. There are some extended, tedious time frames between the decent scenes in this book.

This book gets steamy as the author gets more descriptive with other scenes the more they are written. Oh, hmm, I like how the prophecy comes into play, the supernatural abilities that make them unique, and the fact that this book is now reading like good paranormal fiction. I enjoy the seamless switching between dual pov better than the brooding single pov. It reads better, and you don’t feel trapped in one person’s endless moping. 

This book finally picks up the pace as Zephyr and Valentina march to their destiny. You know a high-action sequence is coming, but I’m still on the edge of my seat. Now this read is very new adult, as the author gets riskier and more detailed with each steamy scene and coupling. The nicknames the couples have for each other are peculiar too. Admitting the increasing tension and expected upcoming action, the author finds a way to include a sappy father-and-son moment. Alpha Zephyr has come a long way from the beginning of this book.

The action at the end of this book will have you at the end of your seat, and there are so many profound moments between Valentina and Zephyr. The writing is infinitely better than this portion of the story. That explains so much, but I love that this tidbit was left for the end of the book. I love the epilogue of this book, and the last 200 pages definitely bumped the story up a couple of stars for me. This is a standalone book and the author’s innovative ideas in the story.

If you want to read and review A Peculiar Wolf by Louise Clement, you can find this book on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases.

If you like this book, you may enjoy books with these tags and categories Heroine, Paranormal Fiction, and Phrophecy.