kelsokake's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse and Cursing
Minor: Rape
dragonsreadtoo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Domestic abuse and Rape
neetarattan's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-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
๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ โข ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐บ โข ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ โฃ
๐๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ โข ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ โข ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ โฃ
๐ถ๏ธ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆโฃ
This book blew my mind in a transformational kind of way.ย
Many of the themes are common to books of the paranormal variety: shapeshifters who share minds with their packs, becoming the beast, forgetting one's humanity, the powers of good vs evil, alphas as the pack leaders, changing eye colours, the concept of a destined mate bonded for life. And yet.
So this shows my biases: I did not know before this that I could love a paranormal gay romance. 90% of the characters in the book are male. I didn't think I would appreciate it the same way as the hetero relationships/female MCs in many best-selling romance novels. I'm not sure why anymore. Maybe I thought I wouldn't completely relate or would be uncomfortable reading the spicy scenes.
Well, I am here to say I was wrong.ย
I loved Ox. I loved his simplicity, his straightforwardness, his shyness, his slowness with words, but mostly I loved his heart. I loved many of the other characters, including Thomas and Gordo, and of course the two mamas spoke directly to this mama bear's heart. The slow burn romance was my jam. It was a little weird the ages when the two MC met but in the end it did not bother me the way it was written (some people will disagree, and I'd welcome discussion).
I also appreciated how the book references other fantasy series to almost mock itself, including both Star Wars and Twilight. I enjoyed the witches who were men - another novel concept. Why must witches be women? Like I said at the start, this book made me examine and reconsider a lot of my assumptions, which is just what I'd want in a book.
Beyond all this self-introspection, I bawled. It was raw and emotional.
Werewolves and witches are the perfect October combo for your fall reading fantasy list, so def check this one out!
TW: there are many. I recommend reviewing triggers on storygraph or another platform prior to reading.
๐ฌ Q: What was the last book that changed your world view?
๐๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ โข ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ โข ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ โฃ
๐ถ๏ธ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆโฃ
This book blew my mind in a transformational kind of way.ย
Many of the themes are common to books of the paranormal variety: shapeshifters who share minds with their packs, becoming the beast, forgetting one's humanity, the powers of good vs evil, alphas as the pack leaders, changing eye colours, the concept of a destined mate bonded for life. And yet.
So this shows my biases: I did not know before this that I could love a paranormal gay romance. 90% of the characters in the book are male. I didn't think I would appreciate it the same way as the hetero relationships/female MCs in many best-selling romance novels. I'm not sure why anymore. Maybe I thought I wouldn't completely relate or would be uncomfortable reading the spicy scenes.
Well, I am here to say I was wrong.ย
I loved Ox. I loved his simplicity, his straightforwardness, his shyness, his slowness with words, but mostly I loved his heart. I loved many of the other characters, including Thomas and Gordo, and of course the two mamas spoke directly to this mama bear's heart. The slow burn romance was my jam. It was a little weird the ages when the two MC met but in the end it did not bother me the way it was written (some people will disagree, and I'd welcome discussion).
I also appreciated how the book references other fantasy series to almost mock itself, including both Star Wars and Twilight. I enjoyed the witches who were men - another novel concept. Why must witches be women? Like I said at the start, this book made me examine and reconsider a lot of my assumptions, which is just what I'd want in a book.
Beyond all this self-introspection, I bawled. It was raw and emotional.
Werewolves and witches are the perfect October combo for your fall reading fantasy list, so def check this one out!
TW: there are many. I recommend reviewing triggers on storygraph or another platform prior to reading.
๐ฌ Q: What was the last book that changed your world view?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Child abuse, Cursing, Murder, Torture, Death, and Kidnapping
anoelle896's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Death, Abandonment, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Blood, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Torture
booksnbrooches's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This was everything. The slow burn romance with werewolves is everything my 13-year-old self loved about Twilight, but itโs so so so much better. TJ Klune is officially my favorite current author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Cursing
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Homophobia, and Alcoholism
joygarcialim's review
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 wasย bad bad badย andย crap crap crap.ย The best part of it was before I started reading it.
The book was so disjointed in so many parts that I didnโt 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 donโt understand why every time Ox has an emotion, he has to write out a soliloquy about them. Iโm not talking artistic, literary soliloquies- they were very whiney and he thinks heโs suffered the most or something. And itโs 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 wasnโt great, I got second-hand embarrassment from it. It didnโt 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.
The book was so disjointed in so many parts that I didnโt 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 donโt understand why every time Ox has an emotion, he has to write out a soliloquy about them. Iโm not talking artistic, literary soliloquies- they were very whiney and he thinks heโs suffered the most or something. And itโs 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 wasnโt great, I got second-hand embarrassment from it. It didnโt 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, Pedophilia, Violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Abandonment, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Addiction
nat_wegas7's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Torture, Child abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Confinement, Vomit, Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence
sabinehunter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Grief, Sexual content, Torture, Cursing, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
mailuss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
saestrah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A free advanced reading copy of this title was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review:
After hearing a lot about this series, I was very excited to get an advanced copy of Wolfsong to review, and unfortunately I think the hype made me a little disappointed by the end result. I've seen a few other reviews for this book, which describe the main romance as reading just like fanfiction, and I see where the similiarities lay. The dialogue between the characters is often lighthearted and funny, but I found that the text as a whole lacked the depth I wanted from this book. The topics discussed (poverty, abandonment, kidnapping, and child abuse to name a few) could have lended this book a much richer (albeit darker) texture, but instead a lot of it felt glossed over and for the Bennett's in particular, I never felt like it had a lasting effect on them. Ox's personal fears and motivations felt considerably more developed in comparison, making him easily my favourite character of the book and the only one that I could say that I even liked. His first chapter where his father is leaving the family, and he tries to tell Ox but Ox doesn't pick up on it and believes his father will be returning, broke my heart. There was something so tangible about Ox missing the cues of the conversation and believing himself to be stupid, perhaps due to his narrative style that has a rhythmic and repetitive nature that felt like it would be best read aloud. For all that Gordo claims that Ox didn't talk much as a kid, Ox's inner-voice reminds me of slam poetry.
As for the plot, a lot of it felt predictable in that it follows a lot of YA-werewolf-story tropes and patterns. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the was one that I saw coming and enjoyed a lot. While I've mostly grown out of YA and haven't read a paranormal romance book for a long time, I found that plots similiar to that of Wolfsong work best with a rich and dynamic worldbuilding, which for me this book was lacking. Witches-in-packs and werewolf-governments felt thrown in without a moment's pause, and I kept expecting parts of the story to connect and come together, such as why Ox's father left their family, but unfortunately that aspect of the story was as realistic as it comes. These both relate to the fact that unlike most books I read, where I experience the narrative fluidly and anticipate that my questions will be answered at the narrative's own pace, I expected to be told rather than to be shown. Unfortunately, this also relates to the characters' dynamics. For a main romantic couple that I'd seen a lot of love for online, I didn't see what Ox and Joe saw in each other or why they were supposed to be mates, other than that I was explicitly told that's what they were.ย
From the start of the book I believed that the love interest would be Carter, being a character closer to Ox's age. Joe was never an option for me until it was made clear that the other characters weren't going to be given nearly as much page time (throughout the book I felt like every character other than Ox had only just been introduced in passing, without giving me a chance to connect with any of themโperhaps since Klune was leaving their development for their own narratives in the series).
On another note, I'm definitely falling on the side of reviewers uncomfortable with the age gap between Ox and Joe. I would have had less of a problem of the two meeting at such a young age if romantic feelings hadn't developed until they were both much older, but as it was, reading about a twenty-three year old being sexually attracted to a seventeen year old that he had 'suddenly' seen as more than a kid, didn't sit right with me.
All in all, I read this book rather quickly and found it easy to binge-read as Ox's narration is easy to follow and the plot exciting enough to draw a reader in, even though I didn't feel the 'pull' that many readers had with this story. It's unlikely that I will read the rest of this series given that they're from other characters' perspectives and I felt like Ox's narrative reached a satisfying ending, but I'm still glad to have read Wolfsong and grateful for the introduction of Ox into my life (as I now have a houseplant named after him).
After hearing a lot about this series, I was very excited to get an advanced copy of Wolfsong to review, and unfortunately I think the hype made me a little disappointed by the end result. I've seen a few other reviews for this book, which describe the main romance as reading just like fanfiction, and I see where the similiarities lay. The dialogue between the characters is often lighthearted and funny, but I found that the text as a whole lacked the depth I wanted from this book. The topics discussed (poverty, abandonment, kidnapping, and child abuse to name a few) could have lended this book a much richer (albeit darker) texture, but instead a lot of it felt glossed over and for the Bennett's in particular, I never felt like it had a lasting effect on them. Ox's personal fears and motivations felt considerably more developed in comparison, making him easily my favourite character of the book and the only one that I could say that I even liked. His first chapter where his father is leaving the family, and he tries to tell Ox but Ox doesn't pick up on it and believes his father will be returning, broke my heart. There was something so tangible about Ox missing the cues of the conversation and believing himself to be stupid, perhaps due to his narrative style that has a rhythmic and repetitive nature that felt like it would be best read aloud. For all that Gordo claims that Ox didn't talk much as a kid, Ox's inner-voice reminds me of slam poetry.
As for the plot, a lot of it felt predictable in that it follows a lot of YA-werewolf-story tropes and patterns. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the
Spoiler
part where Ox finds himself a human-AlphaFrom the start of the book I believed that the love interest would be Carter, being a character closer to Ox's age. Joe was never an option for me until it was made clear that the other characters weren't going to be given nearly as much page time (throughout the book I felt like every character other than Ox had only just been introduced in passing, without giving me a chance to connect with any of themโperhaps since Klune was leaving their development for their own narratives in the series).
On another note, I'm definitely falling on the side of reviewers uncomfortable with the age gap between Ox and Joe. I would have had less of a problem of the two meeting at such a young age if romantic feelings hadn't developed until they were both much older, but as it was, reading about a twenty-three year old being sexually attracted to a seventeen year old that he had 'suddenly' seen as more than a kid, didn't sit right with me.
All in all, I read this book rather quickly and found it easy to binge-read as Ox's narration is easy to follow and the plot exciting enough to draw a reader in, even though I didn't feel the 'pull' that many readers had with this story. It's unlikely that I will read the rest of this series given that they're from other characters' perspectives and I felt like Ox's narrative reached a satisfying ending, but I'm still glad to have read Wolfsong and grateful for the introduction of Ox into my life (as I now have a houseplant named after him).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Gore, Rape, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Bullying