Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

30 reviews

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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ciuli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I think the first time I read this book I gave it 5 stars, but now I'm dropping it to 4 because the pace is so. Freaking. Slow.
I love the characters, I love Ox and I had forgotten how close he was to Carter and how precious their friendship is, this makes me all the more excited for the 4th book! (I had previously read up until the 3rd book but never gotten around to reading the last one, so I'm really curious about it).

Kelly and Robbie are my babies, no one can touch them.

But Joe. Joe. I'm sorry but I can't stand him 😭. He is such a pretentious little shit and the whole book I was like "Ox, baby, are you really sure about ending up with him?!" 


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maddox22's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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


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chris_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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justacowboy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

I knew this book was going to be five stars within the first 50 pages. 
I loved everything about it, from the bonds between characters, to Green Creek itself. We follow the characters lives from teens to adulthood, so some moments are slower than others. However, it was never enough to make me want to stop reading! I loved this book so much, it quickly became one of my TOP favorites!

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mirandyli's review against another edition

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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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jaydarjoker's review against another edition

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

4.25


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modevokatze's review against another edition

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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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electricshe's review against another edition

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

4.0

A hell of a slowburn, but I was somehow still hoping for a longer epilogue after everything was sorted out. Like some of Klune’s other work, it has a bit of repetitiveness that goes beyond my personal tolerance (“you’re gonna get shit, Ox”) but I did also read this in two days when it should have maybe been read at a slower pace. That said, I was very moved by the story and I loved the characters deeply. I think Gordo is my favourite, so I’m excited to read the next in the series!

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kshertz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

I love TJ Klune. He rips out your heart but then puts it back and you can’t stop reading. You love the characters and root for them. I thought this would be an automatic 5 star! 

I loved all the characters and I did root for everyone! It was a little uncomfortable for me possibly because it was YA and everyone was family but there were some romantic overtones. Everyone was just too young and maybe too much of an age gap for me. There’s definitely trigger warnings that probably should have been noted in the beginning of the book. 

But I’ve been told the other books are way way better. I bet they will have 5 stars. We shall see! 

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