It took a long time for me to get into Konstantina P.’s WolfHeart. I think part of it was me, but also, despite opening with a pretty intense prologue, the book just didn’t grab me. There were a few things that contributed to this, I think.
The pacing is erratic. I felt like Konstantina spent a lot of time explaining things that aren’t important, or have been explained before while glossing over or ignoring other things. The dynamics of pack and politics are often taken for granted as being understood (when they aren’t always clear). There are also partial explanations…like how a wolf will lose his or her mind at the loss of a mate (repeated frequently), but there is never really an explanation as to WHY this happens. Also, there are long lulls between action scenes, but the action scenes frequently feel like they’re cut off and underdeveloped. The ending DEFINITELY had a rushed feeling to it, which made it difficult to focus and finish.
The development of Steven and Cora’s relationship has this same aspect to it. At times, you wonder why she even bothers. Definitely, the sex scenes were subpar. She’s a virgin and they just get it on without foreplay? The poor girl never gets foreplay (and Steven never bothers to take his clothes off all the way). Her orgasms might be the most magical events in the book.
There were quite a few wrong words (crashed instead of crushed, on instead of to, and Konstantina gave intransitive verbs objects while leaving objects off of transitive verbs). While the errors weren’t bad enough to make the book unreadable, a thorough proof-reading would improve the flow.
The thing that Konstantina does extremely well, though, is the development of Cora as a character. The other characters were okay, though the way Jen and Kate seemed to do about-faces on attitude bugged me. But Cora was the shining jewel of WolfHeart. Konstantina did something that so few authors have the guts to do. She wrote a female lead who is a combination of strong, timid, and caring. I’m pretty certain this is the first time I’ve ever read a female lead where the author didn’t feel the need to make these characteristics mutually exclusive. It made for a character that had a ton of depth.
Overall, I give this 3 stars. The story is good and the development of Cora is spectacular. However, the execution lacked some of the finesse and polish that is needed to make this truly amazing.
Grab your copy by clicking on the image below!
Birdie's Bibliotheca 