Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

25 reviews

sir_melons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual violence

booklifeisthelife's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad 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? No

4.0

Alright so. This is probably a 4 star for me.

I really enjoyed this. I liked the slow, gradual approach to everything and that we learned about the world as he did. The friendships and family bonds happened gradually as well, just like with everything else. It felt natural. Even his relationship with Joe which was "mystical moon magic" we saw develop through the years. However, on that note, the lack of development after Ox finally sees Joe and realizes his attraction is unsatisfactory. They have what, a week, before everything happens and they are separated? Would have liked a bit more. But even that could have been fixed by after they come back together they build their relationship again? Spend time together? Yes they did spend time together and have to build a relationship again but it was mainly Ox having to let go of his anger. Which is totally justified btw. I don't like that some of the characters were calling his feelings "ridiculous". But whatever. They take time to come together again which I liked, that it wasn't an instant thing. But after? There wasn't an after. We didn't get to see their relationship after. We didn't get to see how they work as a couple, them going on a date, them doing anything besides the really short claiming scene at the end which I also didn't love since Ox didn't bite Joe? I felt like should have both bit..but meh. I would have liked a little more into the after. Onto another aspect, I didn't agree with every choice characters made but you almost never will. But for Ox, sometimes his thought process irked me. Him blaming the wolves, even a little. Not just after the death right then but even years later he still feels it a little. I didn't like that. But at the same time it shows how human he is? How imperfect he is? Ox or even Joe, neither are perfect characters without flaws. They are still great characters regardless. So I can't fault Ox for that even though it made me a little uncomfortable. Anyway. I'm happy Ox finally found somewhere he belonged. A family who accepts him fully. A place he belongs, as pack, as alpha. It still isn't fully but that'll time time and it's okay. He mostly accepts it now. The position really suits him. He earned it. And as mates. Joe will make sure Ox is the happiest person there is, same with Ox towards Joe. Joe will never let Ox think himself as less, he's the perfect person for him. So yeah, despite a few complaints I enjoyed this book.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Vomit, and Kidnapping

obstinateheadstrongcurl's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

1.5

Wow this book was uncomfortable. I shouldn’t be surprised given the author’s other works, but I guess it’s good to be aware he’s creepy on multiple levels. Why did this start when they were children? Why is there such an age gap between the couple? Why was this book so long? Why was repetition used so frequently? 

The most disturbing thing about this book is the ages of Ox and Joe. They’re six years apart, and Joe is ten when they meet and he realises Ox is his mate. What the fuck. Why? There is literally no reason why they couldn’t have been closer in age. Also no reason why they couldn’t have met in high school and then very quickly moved forward in time (also would have solved the problem of this being excessively long).

Richard Collins torturing and abusing Joe seemed like an unnecessary and gratuitous plot line. It seemed like the only reason that happened was to show why Ox and Joe were mates: Joe didn’t talk until he met Ox, and years later he’s scared Collins will hurt Ox so he leaves him behind. In both of these instances, we get other reasons for Joe’s actions so it seems over the top (and poorly handled) to also attribute them to horrific abuse.

I know people love the found family aspect of this book, but this also creeped me out. All of the relationships seemed borderline sexual and once again, a large portion of this found family are minors for a significant chunk of the book. Also, I get that it’s not exactly a surprise that the Bennetts are werewolves, but they are so doggy. Is that really attractive? I’m aware I’m not really a dog person, but I think Klune might be a bit too into his pets.

 

The one thing I did enjoy about this reading experience was the audiobook narrator seemed to dislike this book as much as I did and did some things that really emphasised the annoying parts of this book. I appreciated what I’m interpreting as his sneaky resistance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual violence

corihwill's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual violence

eidal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

alsoapples's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

20sidedbi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Sexual violence

libraryofaphrodite's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

2.75

I think this book just isn't for me.

Having read Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door, I was expecting an introspective cosy fantasy. This was decidedly not that.

Being an educator, the age gap really didn't sit right with me. They meet at 10 and 16 and Ox constantly thinks back to the 10 year old Joe throughout the book. As a result, I felt that Joe's character development was stilted and at pivotal times nonexistent. I also struggled with accepting some of the character development we are told about Ox midway through. Perhaps if they had met at the same developmental point, these issues would have been easier to overcome.

I can see that there is an audience for this book and certainly I do love a found family trope - plenty of that here. But I simply wasn't able to overcome the timing of the age gap.

ARC received via NetGalley.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Reading vlog: 

Where do I begin? I give this all the stars!

My heart soared. My heart raced. My heart plummeted. My heart broke. My heart healed, all in a continuous circuit.

I loved this story so much.
Ox and Joe were so beautiful to read about. I was uncomfortable about this all beginning at such a young age, but nothing inappropriate happened when it shouldn't have.

The connections between the characters were so beautifully written and I don't even know how to explain it... it was all candy canes and pinecones. Epic and awesome! 

A 5 out of 5 stars 100%!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence

bialves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death