Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

12 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

2.75

Finished reading: September 10th 2024

“It was candy canes and pinecones. It was epic and awesome. And it was home.”

WARNING: it's another unexpected stop of the unpopular opinion train!!

I'm honestly still shocked and sad this has happened. I mean, I absolutely adored T.J. Klune's writing in the three books I've read before Wolfsong, and I was SO sure I was going to love this story as well. Sure, I don't exactly read a lot of shapeshifter romances, but this author always seems to create the most wonderful characters and worldbuilding in his books and I was fully convinced this was going to be one of them. I guess I was wrong. It's not that I don't like the premise or general idea behind this book... But somehow the story itself just didn't work for me this time around. I think this had a lot to do with the way this story was written; while unique, I was never able to warm up to the writing style and the constant repetition of certain words and phrases got so EXTREMELY annoying after a while. In fact, you could probably cut out at least 200 pages and still not get rid of all that repetition... While I liked what it represented in the beginning with the pack mentality and connections, it soon really started to grate on me. Especially the second half was a struggle to get through, because I was long over the way this story was written by then. Also, am I the only one wondering about just how inappropriate the relationship between Joe and Ox is, since he was only ten when they first bonded? Sure, nothing sexual happened until they were both adults, but still... I can't say that I was a fan. And then I'm not even talking about the extremely graphic steamy scenes when they appeared. *shudders* The whole quest thing was also extremely frustrating and it seems like it was only used to keep them apart until Joe was of age. There was so much drama and angst in general, and the story gave me Twilight vibes (for me personally that is NOT ment as a compliment). All in all Wolfsong wasn't the story for me, and I won't be continuing the series. I loved the premise, but the execution somehow just didn't hit the mark... This doesn't mean that I love his other stories any less though! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

stacey_unchecked's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A beautiful story of found family, revenge and danger. Wolves and humans, pack and loss. 
Trigger warnings for violence, child abuse and blood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

mrshays's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

helfire124's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

traceyanderson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bel017's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

It was way too dark for me so I skimmed and skipped through the last third or so. Should have checked the content warnings, but I was in a bricks and mortar shop and I loved *Under the Whispering Door* and *House in the Cerulean Sea* so didn't think to look it up online. I can't cope with child torture, or parent/child death, or grief. Too dark. Especially after how hard I was laughing at Joe stammering about mounting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Gaslighting

ruthiedr89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, and Gaslighting

shushkeepitdown's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I got into reading TJ klune books and this definitely was not what I expected. After reading two of his other books this is more darker with a lot more heavier topics. I personally didn't mind it at first until

the age gap, ox was 16 when Joe was 11. Ox felt sexually towards him while Joe was only 17. It really made me not like it. Especially during scenes where ox would have to defend it by saying he is almost 18.

also personally the whole wolf thing made me giggle like scenes I couldn't take seriously when they mentioned alpha or mating. I loved how the emotions were written, grief is a tough thing to express beautifully, it's bitter and cruel and the book shows it in such a wonderful way. I don't know if I'll continue reading the series but it wasn't that bad. However there was a lot of repetition of words and phrases and certain times they just wouldn't stop apologising as well. If you're into werewolf things I guess you could read it but definitely not the book I would recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Friends, I stayed up until 1am last night to finish this book. I just couldn't put it down! I'm supposed to be reading sections for a buddy read, but obviously I read way ahead. The characters and the emotions in this just hit hard. I loved them so much. Honestly, I can't wait to read the rest of this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Confinement and Kidnapping