alsoapples's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Death, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Stalking, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
20sidedbi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Stalking
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Sexual violence
ashley_mrose530's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
5.0
Okay so I absolutely love this book. I think it's beautifully written even if at first the writing felt childish - very similar to the Aristotle and Dante books. But that got better as the characters got older so I was able to get over it. I loved the characters, all of them, and how they interacted. I loved the story line and I loved Ox and Joe together eventually. Ox's story was so amazing and I loved watching him grow from the boy who idolizes his terrible father to the man who was able to lead the pack and care about them all so much. It was truly beautiful to see. The author did such a good job portraying grief and heartache throughout the whole book and I was so close to crying at work because of it. It was all really well done.
The only thing that made me a little uncomfortable was the age difference. When the wolf family was first introduced I found myself hoping that the love interest was Carter because it was mentioned that he was around Ox's age but it became clear that it was actually Joe really quickly and he was only 6 years old compared to Ox's 11 and that was incredibly icky to think about. I know the romance and attraction between them didn't start until Joe was 17 but Ox was still 22 at that time and that's still not really okay honestly. I think the author tried to save it a little bit by having Ox refuse to make it physical until Joe was at least 18 but it still didn't really sit well with me. He could have easily made him already 18. It wouldn't have made it completely okay, but it would have been a little better.
That being said, I still loved their relationship once they were older. I've always been a fan of friends to lovers and this one was done really well. I loved that Joe let Ox have his anger and sit with it even though he was dying to talk to Ox about everything and once they did finally talk, I felt like the communication was done well and they didn't jump right into anything which was nice to see.
Now I also have to talk about the elephant in the room. This is basically another version of Twilight except with werewolves and a mlm relationship. But I loved Twilight and I loved this one just as much honestly. I also thought it was really funny when the author even referenced it in the book. That was probably my favorite thing ever when I got to that part. It was so funny.
The only thing that made me a little uncomfortable was the age difference. When the wolf family was first introduced I found myself hoping that the love interest was Carter because it was mentioned that he was around Ox's age but it became clear that it was actually Joe really quickly and he was only 6 years old compared to Ox's 11 and that was incredibly icky to think about. I know the romance and attraction between them didn't start until Joe was 17 but Ox was still 22 at that time and that's still not really okay honestly. I think the author tried to save it a little bit by having Ox refuse to make it physical until Joe was at least 18 but it still didn't really sit well with me. He could have easily made him already 18. It wouldn't have made it completely okay, but it would have been a little better.
That being said, I still loved their relationship once they were older. I've always been a fan of friends to lovers and this one was done really well. I loved that Joe let Ox have his anger and sit with it even though he was dying to talk to Ox about everything and once they did finally talk, I felt like the communication was done well and they didn't jump right into anything which was nice to see.
Now I also have to talk about the elephant in the room. This is basically another version of Twilight except with werewolves and a mlm relationship. But I loved Twilight and I loved this one just as much honestly. I also thought it was really funny when the author even referenced it in the book. That was probably my favorite thing ever when I got to that part. It was so funny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse
cassie_happened's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
ginniereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, and Car accident
scout_jones's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, and Torture
mandi_lea's review against another edition
emotional
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Torture
seawarrior's review
2.0
I don't really know where to begin with this review, but I guess I should justify the two star rating first. The romance this book held was relentlessly disturbing, given that it involved two men who met when one was ten and another was almost eighteen. The romance didn't start until the younger boy, Joe, was seventeen, yet he and his family knew it was beginning from the time he was ten and were looking forward to it. And this inappropriate relationship is justified because he's a werewolf I guess...? Which I don't really give a shit about. Additionally, Joe's father adopts Ox, the older boy, into his family, and both men refer to each other as father and son. Ox refers to the Bennett boys as his brothers until learning that he's fated to mate with Joe. I just am unable to fathom any reasoning for why Klune would create this relationship to be borderline pedophilic and incestuous when it did not have to be. Why not have Ox develop an attraction to the boy his age immediately instead of starting a sexual relationship with the person he thought of for almost a decade as his baby brother? It's gross at least and suspicious at most.
Aside from the ick romance I just did not like the writing in the book. It was extremely repetitive and tacky. There are paragraphs worth of italicized repetitive wolf thoughts that did not need to be read over and over. The symbols the characters hold onto are also bludgeoned into the text until I was rolling my eyes when they were next mentioned. The writing is not very descriptive or lyrical otherwise. What Klune excels at, and the only reason I bothered to finish the book, is the found-family relationships and portrayal of intimacy and trust between the characters. Those passages were rewarding to read and made me understand why this book was adored enough to be reprinted. I did appreciate the relationship between Ox and Gordo, and would have liked the book much more if their tether was the one that was most explored, without the gross mate destiny sullying it.
I would not recommend this book to other readers because I am profoundly against books that glorify grooming relationships and present them in ways that would never naturally occur in real life. Trust me, as a queer library worker I know how suspect it is to speak the word "grooming" about any represenations of gay people, but this is a legitimate instance. In no healthy family would the adult members encourage a budding romantic relationship between a ten year-old and an eighteen year-old. It's just demented. I'm truly stunned that this book has not only been republished but embraced by people who see it just as an angsty found-family romance. It's wounded my trust with the book's publisher and Klune's readers.
Aside from the ick romance I just did not like the writing in the book. It was extremely repetitive and tacky. There are paragraphs worth of italicized repetitive wolf thoughts that did not need to be read over and over. The symbols the characters hold onto are also bludgeoned into the text until I was rolling my eyes when they were next mentioned. The writing is not very descriptive or lyrical otherwise. What Klune excels at, and the only reason I bothered to finish the book, is the found-family relationships and portrayal of intimacy and trust between the characters. Those passages were rewarding to read and made me understand why this book was adored enough to be reprinted. I did appreciate the relationship between Ox and Gordo, and would have liked the book much more if their tether was the one that was most explored, without the gross mate destiny sullying it.
I would not recommend this book to other readers because I am profoundly against books that glorify grooming relationships and present them in ways that would never naturally occur in real life. Trust me, as a queer library worker I know how suspect it is to speak the word "grooming" about any represenations of gay people, but this is a legitimate instance. In no healthy family would the adult members encourage a budding romantic relationship between a ten year-old and an eighteen year-old. It's just demented. I'm truly stunned that this book has not only been republished but embraced by people who see it just as an angsty found-family romance. It's wounded my trust with the book's publisher and Klune's readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, and Sexual content
pimaz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Torture, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship
viivacious's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a very sweet book. I was not expecting that, so I was pleasantly surprised. The characters in the pack were all lovable. I was nervous about the age difference in the romance but it was very well handled. And so very cute and funny. I liked seeing the characters at different ages and how they grew, though I wish that the lighearteness of their younger days could have made a comeback toward the end. I liked the way repetition was used in the writing, the way grammar broke down when in wolf form, the humor, and that Ox was able to find better father figures and a whole family.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse