Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

12 reviews

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

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.

---

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.

helfire124's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

vael's review against another edition

Stopped at chapter 22, I asked what happened next and it's more of nothing.
The book is just nothing.
Ox my most hated fictional character ♡

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

redd13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

I was enthralled, but found the grooming between a 16 year old and a 10 year old slightly icky. Nothing happened until they were adults, but it was uncomfortable. 

I do love the family and I’m rooting for them. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Grief

negs'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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death

joygarcialim's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

This book was bad bad bad and crap crap crap. The best part of it was before I started reading it.

The book was so disjointed in so many parts that I didn’t know what happened between one part of the writing and other parts. There was basically no flow. Ox and Joe are walking red flags, even outside of their inappropriate relationship, they are immature, whiney and possessive. The dialogues between characters were so similar that they all seemed to have the same personality- one-dimensional. The book came across as it was written by a 12 year old with a Twilight obsession, with no understanding of character-building or world-building. Maybe except for the sex scenes, I would have been completely convinced this was written by a kid. The writing was that juvenile. I don’t understand why every time Ox has an emotion, he has to write out a soliloquy about them. I’m not talking artistic, literary soliloquies- they were very whiney and he thinks he’s suffered the most or something. And it’s repeatedly used. By other characters too. There was a lot of repetitiveness. It was a long book not because a lot happened, but because there was a lot of repetition and Klune used a new line for every sentence he wrote in some parts.

The sex scenes were probably the best part of the writing tbh. They were incredibly detailed and less whiney than the other parts- all 15+ pages of it. It wasn’t great, I got second-hand embarrassment from it. It didn’t need to be that long.

TJ Klune, if this book is a reflection of your reality, please get professional help from a therapist and a psychiatrist.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Abandonment

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bel017's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

It was way too dark for me so I skimmed and skipped through the last third or so. Should have checked the content warnings, but I was in a bricks and mortar shop and I loved *Under the Whispering Door* and *House in the Cerulean Sea* so didn't think to look it up online. I can't cope with child torture, or parent/child death, or grief. Too dark. Especially after how hard I was laughing at Joe stammering about mounting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Gaslighting

ruthiedr89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, and Gaslighting