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_forestofpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I felt instantly protective and connected to Ox, and in love with how TJ Klune wrote him and his journey from an abused and bullied boy to a confident man with a pack he'd do anything for. He's a precious character that I will love always.
Why am I rating this lower? Mostly, because of the repetitions, the pacing which was a mess past the 300 page mark and the writing which started so well but I think deteriorated toward the end of act 2. It felt like a lot of that section was padded and just went on for too long, for me. I do love the ending, but it was still a lot of conversations being repeated and parts that definitely could have been cut and nothing about the story or character development would have changed. Also, the choice to make the age gap six years and have one of them be eleven when they meet is something I will never like or understand. He could have been a year older or maybe two, why six??
(Side note: I am picky about sex scenes because if it's too detailed I can't take it seriously and I usually just laugh. The one really explicit scene in this book was WAY too detailed and IMO went on too long. It was like fifteen pages ffs)
Overall, I am excited for the rest of the series, despite my issues with the length and bloat of book 1.
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
yoursisterscanary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual violence
brookeisbusyreading's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
- The setting and worldbuilding (reminded me of how the werewolves and pack thing was done in Twilight movies)
- The found family dynamic
- Thomas Fucking Bennett
- Mark’s role in the whole story
- Using colors to represent emotions
- The two and a half times this book ripped my heart out then apologized and did it again
- SOME of the repetition
- Richard Collins’s evil-ness
- Carter and Kelly’s brotherhood
- ~95% of the repetition (I got very annoyed so many times but occasionally it would work)
- Being beaten over the head with how Ox’s dad told him he’s “gonna get shit”, Joe’s explanation of how much Ox means to him, and Joe’s traumatic experience (all said pretty much word for word over and over again, I might add)
- The idea of tethers seeming like they’re important but getting drowned out by the Alpha stuff
- The possessiveness, especially with Joe (I get the bonding thing and I was all for it at the start of the story, but it does get controlling by the end.)
- THE 20-OR-HOWEVER-MANY PAGE DETAILED SEX SCENE (Yes, I know this is an adult book but I wasn’t expecting it to be THAT detailed. Also, I don’t know, I felt that scene cheapened another scene later on.)
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Explicit sexual sceneninja5phinx's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual violence
kstacy91's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
saretta02's review against another edition
- 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
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
2.75
“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!
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
jemms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Plot: 0.75
Pacing: 0.75
Writing style: 1
Vibes: 1
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
dirtylittlechai's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
haileeraye's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Torture, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault