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poopyfacemcpoopypants's review against another edition
I do NOT condone grooming or statutory rape
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
kingicarus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The age gap between Ox and Joe was.... certainly A Choice. Throughout this book, I quickly found the author's use of repetition and "call backs" to lines initially mentioned in the first few chapters to be very grating, as I soon found myself rolling my eyes and groaning whenever Ox mentioned "not being a man yet," or his dad claiming that "he'd get a lot of shit," and at each repeated "I said" (mentioned almost 10 times on a single page).
I also won't lie; I grimaced/cringed at a few scenes that felt a bit... heavy-handed or extremely unnecessary on multiple occasions, especially with one of the later scenes with the main villain. Some of the dialogue in that scene was also a very unpleasant choice, to say the least.
That said, I really liked Ox's mom and Mark as characters, however. For me, this book's only saving grace was the more emotional and impactful scenes (the deaths of Thomas and Ox's mom ), which actually managed to move me almost to tears.
Ended up half-listening to the rest of it at about 1.25 speed around the 50% mark. Unfortunately, I think due to Klune's writing style, I won't be continuing to read this series.
I also won't lie; I grimaced/cringed at a few scenes that felt a bit... heavy-handed or extremely unnecessary on multiple occasions, especially with one of the later scenes with the main villain. Some of the dialogue in that scene was also a very unpleasant choice, to say the least.
That said, I really liked Ox's mom and Mark as characters, however. For me, this book's only saving grace was the more emotional and impactful scenes (
Ended up half-listening to the rest of it at about 1.25 speed around the 50% mark. Unfortunately, I think due to Klune's writing style, I won't be continuing to read this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Murder
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Kidnapping
Age Gap note:aragivey's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual violence and Torture
Minor: Rape and Cannibalism
heini's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia and Rape
sofieishere's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"I wanted to say, I may have started picturing your underage son naked, but I didn't know if that was something someone could say to an Alpha werewolf." ....What? ðŸ˜
The book started of strong, sketching the relationship between Ox and his parents. Especially the relationship with ox's father was very emtional to read. So I expected that the book would continue to be this great. But then came the age gap...
The mc (Ox) has a love interest (Joe) who is 6 years younger than him. That wouldn't be much of a problem if they were both over the age of 18. But they first meet when Ox is 16 and Joe is 10. Joe gives Ox his wolf, basically claiming him. Later in the story there's a flashback to this moment where Joe says something along the lines of "even then you were mine and I was yours" Ox later freaks out when he realises that Joe likes him. They get together when Joe is 17 and Ox is 23.
My main problem with their relationship is that the age gap is completly unnecesary. Joe has an older brother (Carter) who is around the same age as Ox. At first I thought that Carter and Ox would and up together simply because they were the same age and that Joe's obvious crush was just a joke for the plot and would just stay one-sided. But then the book kept developing and hinting at their (potential) relationship. It made me deeply uncomfortable. I'm currently 16 years old and it makes me sick to even think of being in a relationship with a 10 year old. Have you seen what a 10 year old looks like?? Even if they only get together when they're older, it's still mad weird. Like the only use for the age gap is for random jokes. So I have no idea why TJ Klune decided to write them like this. That has to have been a concious decision, right?
But besides the age gap the writing is also just very cringe worthy and eye rolling at times.
There is so much repetition. There were moment were I thought "Wait haven't I read this exact scene before?"
Near the end of the story I just didn't care anymore. I didn't really care about the characters, I didn't care about the plot, I didn't care about the relationships. I honestly just wanted them all to die so this book could finally end, because it was dragginggg on.
Anyway Ox is a hypocrite, I would rather have Ox and Robbie end up together and this review might not be very coherent and a bit hate-filled. But I still found the book quite entertaining. It definitly wasn't great, but it was wasn't all bad.
( Also I've never read a book where the epilogue was just a sex scene lmao)
The mc (Ox) has a love interest (Joe) who is 6 years younger than him. That wouldn't be much of a problem if they were both over the age of 18. But they first meet when Ox is 16 and Joe is 10. Joe gives Ox his wolf, basically claiming him. Later in the story there's a flashback to this moment where Joe says something along the lines of "even then you were mine and I was yours" Ox later freaks out when he realises that Joe likes him. They get together when Joe is 17 and Ox is 23.
My main problem with their relationship is that the age gap is completly unnecesary. Joe has an older brother (Carter) who is around the same age as Ox. At first I thought that Carter and Ox would and up together simply because they were the same age and that Joe's obvious crush was just a joke for the plot and would just stay one-sided. But then the book kept developing and hinting at their (potential) relationship. It made me deeply uncomfortable. I'm currently 16 years old and it makes me sick to even think of being in a relationship with a 10 year old. Have you seen what a 10 year old looks like?? Even if they only get together when they're older, it's still mad weird. Like the only use for the age gap is for random jokes. So I have no idea why TJ Klune decided to write them like this. That has to have been a concious decision, right?
But besides the age gap the writing is also just very cringe worthy and eye rolling at times.
There is so much repetition. There were moment were I thought "Wait haven't I read this exact scene before?"
Near the end of the story I just didn't care anymore. I didn't really care about the characters, I didn't care about the plot, I didn't care about the relationships. I honestly just wanted them all to die so this book could finally end, because it was dragginggg on.
Anyway Ox is a hypocrite, I would rather have Ox and Robbie end up together and this review might not be very coherent and a bit hate-filled. But I still found the book quite entertaining. It definitly wasn't great, but it was wasn't all bad.
( Also I've never read a book where the epilogue was just a sex scene lmao)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Rape, Vomit, and Alcohol
bookwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.5
THIS WAS SO LONG. Ox as a narrator was really difficult to get used to, especially for that many pages. It may be a personal thing, but the age gap romance aspect felt a tad too uncomfy for me. While Ox was a decent character, I think I was overall just interested in others, which could have led to this being just an okay romance. Not to say it was inappropriate, it was done in the correct way, I just did not particularly like the characters at the center, nor did I like seeing them from such a young young age at the beginning.
Somehow though, despite my little issues, TJ Klune manages to grip me in a way that few others have. His writing is magical in itself, and has easily made him an auto-buy author for me.
While I am more interested in the main characters of other books in this series, the length keeps me at bay, at least for now.
Somehow though, despite my little issues, TJ Klune manages to grip me in a way that few others have. His writing is magical in itself, and has easily made him an auto-buy author for me.
While I am more interested in the main characters of other books in this series, the length keeps me at bay, at least for now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Rape
fritopie's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Rape
jadeyfish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Enjoyed the writing and the focuses on family! I loved the found family and the relationships felt extremely genuine. Could not put it down, and I read this thing in one day!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Mental illness
Minor: Rape
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
5.0
If there's one thing that TJ Klune absolutely excels at it's writing found family. That theme can be found running through every single one of his books, especially this series. I listened to this it time around and the audiobook narrator does such a fantastic job with this story. Something about Klune's writing in this just makes it so difficult to put down. So glad the next one is on Hoopla so I can keep going with my re-read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Rape
caseylovett's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Rape