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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!
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
darkmattersoybean's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really struggled with the age gap in the beginning of the book and the possessive nature of the relationships. I realise that TJ Klune tried to explain them away with the whole werewolf dynamics but it still made me a bit uncomfortable.
Looking past that, this book was very well written and the short, succinct style of writing was really pleasing to read. I probably will consider reading more books in the series.
Looking past that, this book was very well written and the short, succinct style of writing was really pleasing to read. I probably will consider reading more books in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Torture