traceyanderson'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
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, and Religious bigotry
madmadmaddymad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Bennett pack! MY HEART. My heart is being squeezed with feelings. Gordo… Gordo, Gordo, Gordo. The story of Gordo and Mark was so heartbreakingly beautiful. This book is all angst. But it has a happy ending! (An exciting, action packed, edge-of-my-seat, upsetting, and still somehow so-totally-satisfying ending.)
It’s official. I’m a dedicated TJ Klune fan. I’ll read anything this author puts out. It’s simply incredible how many different varieties of emotion this author can wring out of me!
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
adancewithbooks'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
Oh Gordo, how I feel for him. I wanted to tear a few people to shreds just for him. Namely his father and Thomas Bennett. The trauma those people cost him, not on. Especially Thomas Bennett. I don't care how many excuses people keep coming up with for that man throughout this whole series, you do not leave a 15 year old boy that was just orphaned alone. Yes I might have been feeling rather stabby throughout this entire book. It shows why he so desperately wanted to keep Ox away from them in Wolfsong and I can't blame him for that.
As much as I feel that Mark and Gordo have a lot of chemistry and work, there are also parts where I felt that maybe Mark needed to get his head out of his ass. You can't expect to leave a 15 year old boy behind and have him wait for you when you never show yourself. Like get of your high horse. Though stalker mark was funny. True stalking it was not because that is not cool but the awkwardness surrounding those two was funny.
This was a strong follow up that filled in a lot of the gaps that I had from the first book. It just lacked the same emotional punch (even if I got angry so many times for Gordo).
Graphic: Murder and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Ableism
Loss of limbcluckieduck'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
I found Ravensong followed closer to a plot-based narrative, but still retained the poetic elements of what made Wolfsong unique. Because it is definitely a unique narrative style that I don’t know is for everyone. The use of repetition, jumping between past & present, dialogue among pack bonds, and alternative sentence structure all contribute to such an impactful story of belonging, family, love, heartbreak, and always <i>packpackpack</i>
Ravensong opens the door to Gordo’s backstory. We know there’s some traumatic history based on his actions in Wolfsong, and we get the full, horribly heartbreaking scope of things surrounding his relationship with Mark, and the pack as a whole. I loved the focus on an older couple and we get some great scenes of comic relief from the “Team Human” shop guys.
In short - absolutely fantastic.
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexual content
lizacorn'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: Sexual content, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Animal death
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Confinement, Child death, and Torture
Minor: Xenophobia, Suicide, and Alcohol
kharlan3's review against another edition
Things I like about Ravensong:
Spoiler
a kinda flawed mom (it seems like otherwise, every mom in the series is perfect and every father either SUPER sucks or significantly sucks). I also really like meeting Rico, Tanner, & Chris as children. The characterization of the hunters is compelling, and the set up of Caswell folks working with them does a really good job slowly building the creeping dread.Things I like less: the word "lowly" as in "growled lowly". IDK why I hate it.
Spoiler
Robert Livingstone doesn't seem to have a single redeeming quality. Parts of the sex scene really don't work for me. And I'm not 100% convinced about the WHY of Mark and Gordo. Also- where in the Ravensong narrative does the moment that Ox recounts in Wolfsong happen where he sees Gordo and Mark go to the movies?Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Child abuse
Minor: War, Drug use, and Pregnancy