Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

105 reviews

rissa11's review against another edition

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I love T.J. Klune's writing, but I can't finish this one. The
age gap in the romance
is giving me the ick and I can't in good conscience keep reading.

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dykish's review against another edition

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The writing (I found it juvenile and uninspired) nearly made me put down this book. Several cringe-worthy moments (howling for his pack in front of his mother? GAG) nearly made me put this book down. The lack of depth to any of the three female characters (typical of TJ Klune, I've found!) nearly made me put this down. The weird grooming vibe (the family next door, including the three adults, is weirdly physical with the main character, demands his time and commitment to them in a way that borders on abusive, and generally tries to isolate the main character) nearly made me put this book down.
The nail in the coffin was the literal pedophilia. Yeah. I found the main character's relationship with his young neighbor weird from the beginning—the main character is 16 and the boy is 10 when they meet—but figured it was at least innocent. The main character is strongly implied to be intellectually challenged (though it's never explicit, he's just called stupid repeatedly. Woohoo, representation!) and maybe he just got along well with the boy? But no, after seven years of a weirdly obsessive but platonic relationship, the 23-year-old main character gets with the then 17-year-old boy. Sorry, but that's pedophilia! Even if the other guy was 18, the main character had still known him since he was 10 and was 6 years his senior. That's grooming AND pedophilia!!!!
I'm horrified that I see this book being recommended without trigger warning for pedophilia plastered all over it. Really, I'm horrified that this book and its uncritical depiction of pedophilia was even published. Read something—ANYTHING—else.

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saretta02's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense 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? No

4.5


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herondaleducks's review against another edition

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

5.0


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fritopie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Wish the author had aged up the characters instead of them meeting at 10 and 16. The story would have still worked.  

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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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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babsy_burns's review against another edition

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

1.0

Groomed by the Narrative; The age gap between the love interests is very uncomfortable and borderline paedophilic, frustrating that the other characters (not even the parents) had no problem with it, besides one and she was seen as unruly and at worst envious. The chapters dragged and the writing poor. Also the pack read more cult than family. 

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levilore_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-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

I loved the werewolf lore in this book and how the author showed the bonds between the wolves via writing style. Ox was a great main character and genuinely liked all the side characters as well. 

The exploration of found family and belonging was really beautiful especially because the book took place over more than a decade. 

Sometimes things were repeated and retold multiple times which got kind of tedious towards the end, but overall a great start to a series. I'm excited to read the rest!

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femme4fleurs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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miri42's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5


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