Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

28 reviews

saretta02's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking

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

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

chasinggrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

TJ Klune you have DONE IT AGAIN. How this man effortlessly writes raw human emotion without being cringey or stereotypical will never cease to amaze me. His romance stories are beautiful and real and heart-wrenching and sweet and I’m OB. SESSED. 

This is a story of love and loss and self esteem and trying desperately to fit in, of doing anything on earth to protect the people you love and still experiencing world-stopping grief. Of how love is actually fluid and will hit you upside the head without you even knowing but is SO fickle and can be lost without trying. 

These characters are real and they are lovable and they’ll rip your fucking heart out. I LOVE how Klune can write LGBTQIA+ stories without incorporating homophobia. 

I will say…

the age difference made me uncomfy for a little while there. But it made Ox uncomfy too so I got over it.

My only gripe is that not all 4 books are out in paperback yet and I’m gnawing at the bars of my enclosure desperately to stay in this world a little longer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kassidyreads's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Abandonment

mirandyli's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.25

I really like TJ Klune’s books, but this one didn’t hit the mark for me at all.

There’s a pretty uncomfortable age gap where Ox and Joe meet at ages 10 and 16, but don’t have sex until they’re 20 and 26. But Ox is constantly thinking about how they met as kids, and he also vows not to have sex with Joe until Joe turns 18. So you have this 17 year old Joe “courting” 23 year old Ox, and everyone is ok with this??! Also, Joe’s family knew that he would eventually get with Ox, even when Joe was 10 years old - because it’s “different” for wolves. Yikes. Creepy. It’s like they groomed Ox to be Joe’s “mate” when he got older. I couldn’t stomach a lot of the book because of that, and I probably won’t read the sequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

panopticemu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Definitely one of my favourite fantasy books from this year. The writing style took a little getting used to, as it was different to what I've read in the past, at no time was it difficult to understand, just different.

TJ Klune delved into a lot of sensitive topics throughout this book, but at no point did it feel forced or strained, and the subject matter was handled very well. I definitely want to read the rest of the series. TJ definitely knows how to make us feel pathos and my heart was constantly being wrenched by the two MCs.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

An explanation of some of the CW tags. A/M relationship:

While this is handled very well, and ensures certain plot points of the story pack more punch, the fact that family members encourage the MCs to pursue a relationship while one is a minor and there's a 7 year age gap is something worth being aware of.

Child abuse:

There is zero detail regarding the actual abuse, however it is a major plot point and plays a significant role throughout the whole book

Sexual content:

Some small references as well as two on-page descriptions of explicit sexual acts.

modevokatze'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Torture, Outing, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

jennybugg's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Bullying

oranges448's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment