2 out of 4 stars
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Centuries-old prophecies and reincarnated Scottish kings are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Nikki Broadwell’s The Wolf Moon. An epic fantasy set in what is essentially a reimagined ancient Scotland, the novel weaves together past and present through magic and enchantment, detailing desperate battles and haunting landscapes that will leave readers wanting more. If you’re a fan of high fantasy or you’ve read and loved the Narnia books—this novel is something you might want to try!
As usual, here is the SparkNotes version, for anyone who’s interested: Maeve Lewin, our protagonist, leads a perfectly ordinary life until she receives a note from someone claiming to be her long-dead mother. The letter speaks of an ancient prophecy in which Maeve plays a central role, and Maeve must follow her destiny into the mysterious Otherworld to wrest control from evil priest Brandubh—or forever condemn her native land to darkness and despair. The Wolf Moon is the third instalment in a trilogy, but it can be read as a standalone book.
I loved the concept of this book. As a fan of the fantasy genre and something of a history nerd, the Arthurian-legend undertones and Celtic backstory were what drew me to this book in the first place. The novel does deliver as promised—readers do get their fill of ancient magic, and the background Celtic influences are seamlessly incorporated into the worldbuilding. If I were judging based on the concept and basic worldbuilding alone, this book would definitely rank high on my most-recommended list.
Unfortunately, while the idea for The Wolf Moon is amazing, the execution still leaves a lot to be desired. Although I happily picked up the book based on the blurb alone, I did not enjoy the actual product very much, and here is why:
Firstly, I didn’t exactly relish the writing. Broadwell tends to move from arc to arc without really giving each subplot enough emotional depth to make readers truly invested in the story; she also tells rather than shows what her characters are feeling. As a result, the book reads like a summary of events rather than sounding like a complete novel. To illustrate my point, here’s an example from a scene where Maeve meets a half-dead creature in Otherworld: “Maeve was horrified by such callous disregard for life, and said so. The Amuigh, who said her name was Mena, regarded Maeve calmly with no apparent malice or feelings of revenge. Maeve vowed to free all the prisoners Brandubh had subjugated.” While this excerpt would be fine in a working draft, it seems a little too skeletal to be part of a finished novel—especially for a scene that sounds as though it should be fraught with emotion!
In terms of plot, I also felt that Broadwell had tried to do too much in one book. The Wolf Moon is a sprawling fantasy and could have easily been split into two or three volumes. As it was, the plot felt too rushed: there were far too many characters to remember, as well as many underdeveloped, underemphasised arcs. This meant that I couldn’t remember characters and events when they were referenced later in the book—I had to constantly reread whole chunks of the story to refresh my memory! This detracted from full immersion, and I wasn’t able to lose myself in the story like I would have liked to do.
Overall, I rate The Wolf Moon 2 out of 4 stars. (It would be 2.5 stars, but this website unfortunately doesn’t allow half-star ratings.) I will say that writing and pacing aside, I did genuinely love the concept of the book—and it was also a plus point that there were very few grammatical errors and other editing mistakes. There’s a lot of potential in this novel, and I’ll definitely be following this author to see what she comes up with next!
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The Wolf Moon
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Yes, I really loved the idea for the plot, especially the Celtic influences, and I definitely agree with you on the authentic-touch thing! It was sad that the story was a little too skeletal for my liking, though--I would have loved it if it were more fleshed out 
Yes, I'm afraid that was one of the dealbreakers for me for this story 
