Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road. The little boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the little boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the little boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.
Ox was seventeen when he found out the little boy’s secret and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.
Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.
It’s been three years since that fateful day—and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.
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| 4.81666667 Average |
This book took the clubhouse by storm! We rushed this thing like a Wal-Mart on Black Friday. So, strap in, grab a drink (and maybe a snack) because we all had things to say.
Jenni Lea - 5 Hearts
It says a lot about a book when 400 pages don't feel as if they're enough.
Just when I think TJ Klune couldn’t possibly write a better book he goes and proves me wrong, wrong wrong. Every book I’ve read of his has been better than the last.
Every. Damned. Time.
When I finished Wolfsong I just stopped. I just sat there. I sat there on my couch and I just stared. I stared at the wall and I breathed. There was nothing else I could do. I was still caught in the grasp of the story. It wouldn’t let me go. So I just stared.
I could say this book caught me by surprise but that’s not fair to the author. He’s proven himself to me time and time again with his words. His epic stories. I’ve come to expect that he’s going to blow me away with his prose. With the dialogue. With the witty banter. And the tears. Can’t forget those.
And there were a lot of tears. Funnily enough, they didn’t come in places that I expected. I didn’t tear up at the obviously sad points. No, I teared up at the little things. Certain sentences in the story, placed here and there, seemingly almost haphazard, just caught my heart and tore it open.
“And I’ve been waiting,” Joe said. “For him to look at me like I looked at him. And he finally did. He finally did. And I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it stays like that. Because I want him for always.”
And…
I wondered if this is what it felt like to have a father who loved you enough to stay despite all your faults.
This story was epic. It was awesome. It was heartbreaking and uplifting and funny and scary and sexy and full of love and laughter and tears. I daresay it was the best book I’ve read all year. I’m not sure how to come back from this. I have a deep, all-consuming need to read more. I stayed up until 4am reading and reading until my eyes wouldn’t stay open any longer. And when I woke up just a scant three hours later I immediately picked up where I left off and read until the end. I didn’t eat. I didn’t speak. I just read. And now I don’t know what to do with myself now that it’s over. The only thing I can do is sit here.
And breathe.
Fantasy Living- 5 Hearts
There’s something magical that happens when I pick up a Klune novel. I get sucked into this protected reader bubble that I have no desire to escape. There’s always something extremely memorable about the story that I read, and when I’m finished, I’m jonesing for more, or a re-read. Something. The bubble disintegrates slowly after the last words are read, and I’m left looking around, and wondering if I’ve missed something epic in real life, because I was so absorbed in the story, that surely something epic has happened while I’ve been floating in that Klune-bubble, soaking the words into my being.
Wolfsong - Magical, beautiful, epic. TJ’s writing style is sometimes quite odd, but compelling because it just works. The structure of the writing is like poetry, with great pauses, and scattered thoughts that connects everything together in a slightly disjointed, but completely fluid way. How does that even make sense right? But it does.
I was never lost in this story. Even the flashbacks are smooth. There is no mistaking what is going on, and most of the time they are not written in italics. It feels real, like I am having the memory as I go about my day. It’s what happens to all of us, and the way Klune writes, it is exactly the same. Something prompts a memory, and it plays out in a way that is natural, while the character is still doing what they are doing.
400+ pages is never enough. It could go on forever and I would still feel completely absorbed in this story.
Paranormal is a favourite of mine, and I would say this is up there as Top 5. The worldbuilding was wonderful and complete. There were questions, but mostly I just accepted this world the way it was. No need to go deeper into the politics, the hierarchy, the why’s and how’s. This was about one pack. Just one. And I didn’t care about the wider shifter population.
The relationship between Joe and Ox is a slow development from friendship in childhood. Told through Ox’s point of view, the character, and relationship development was it’s own entity. I loved them together from the moment they met. Joe was eleven, and Ox was sixteen. Their foundation was solid, and they molded their friendship around the circumstances that arose as they grew.
The unfolding of the story was like a trickle, and then a rush. It built to a point where the inevitable unveiling was required. It happened organically, and felt right.
Ox is the perfect character to be built up the way he was. The development of him as a person was stunning. He matured in the most natural way I have ever read. It truly was magical.
The other characters were all important, and invaluable to the story line. I got enough of them all to feel the connection between them, to know each one individually and how they fit into the group.
I didn’t find this overly angsty. It wasn’t a painful experience. I didn’t ugly cry, I did the ‘tears silently sliding over cheeks’ cry, and then something would make me laugh, so I could dry my face and feel cleansed.
There is some violence in this book, some depression, and a character recovering from a traumatic event. But I wouldn’t really consider any of it triggering. It is emotional, and there will be tears, but it is so worth the extra glass of water to rehydrate.
Believe it or not, I have no highlights. I wouldn’t have stopped highlighting any of it if I started. So there are no profound quotes for this review. Just read it. You won’t regret it. Not once.
Adam - 4 Hearts
This is my first read by T.J. Klune, and I have to say that I’m impressed. It has some of my favourite things: gay werewolves, friends-to-lovers, a great cast of characters, lots of angst, and some action and suspense.
‘Wolfsong’ will put you through the wringer. While there are moments of fluff and happiness, the heartbreak is persistent throughout the book. Ox has gone through life being told that he’s dumb and won’t go far, while Joe was traumatized by events in his childhood. The two make an unlikely pair, but their friendship becomes the one thing that both of them can hold on to.
I’m a sucker for a friends-to-lovers story, and even more so when the characters are childhood friends. I loved reading every interaction between Ox and Joe as they grew up and discovered what they felt for one another. This isn’t insta-love, a staple of werewolf romance. Ox and Joe’s love for one another develops slowly, and is tested repeatedly.
It was easy to understand why the two were incomplete without each other, and hard to read everything they go through before they can finally be together.
‘Wolfsong’ isn’t just about the romantic love between two men. It’s also about family - both the one we’re born with and the one we choose. There was not a single secondary pack character that I didn’t love. They were just as much a part of the story as Ox and Joe.
The suspense was done brilliantly. I felt the fear, the anger, and the panic that Ox and Joe felt when they had to confront the monster from Joe’s past. I was dreading what would happen next, but it kept me hooked.
If I have one criticism, it would be that the book could have been tightened up. There were many scenes, particularly flashbacks, that didn’t add much and were a bit distracting. But then I’m not always a fan of long books, so take this with a grain of salt.
'Wolfsong' is a book about overcoming pain and second chances. It takes a while and a lot of work, but Ox and Joe’s happy ending is worth it. If you’re a fan of MM shifters, I would highly recommend this book!
Cupcake - 5 Hearts
I wish I had the words to adequately explain just how much I loved this book. Right from the start 12 yr old Ox grabbed hold of my heart and he's yet to let go. And I loved it. He squeezed it so tight sometimes it made my face leak. And I loved that too. I wish I could smell him like Joe can. I wish I could smell the epic and the awesome and the candy canes and pinecones all smashed up together.
Even though I can’t have that I will always have Ox. When I’ve had a horrific day and I want everyone to run backwards through a field of dicks. When I start believing the human race incapable of kindness. When I feel my hope faltering. I’ll have Ox. Ox will remind me there is some goodness, innocence and purity left in the world. As will Joe and the rest of the pack.
This is my first Klune so I’ve no way of knowing whether or not this is representative of his work, but I can say I’ve never read anything like this before. Wolfsong is about family and sacrifice, duty and honor, love and loss, first and forever love, grief and recovery, vengeance and priorities, good versus evil and choice. And how those choices affect those around us and the consequences of those choices. And forgiveness.
I highlighted and bookmarked so much and once I finished it I wanted to go right back to the beginning and get on the ride again. It was the shortest 400 pg book I've ever read. It may have been a little repetitive and maybe some could’ve been edited out, but it was perfect to me and those things are what make Ox… Ox.
As perfect and poignant as I found Wolfsong to be, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that if there’s not a follow up I may die. If that's not a recommendation I don't know what is.
Sheziss - 4’99999999999999 Hearts
This smells of pinecones and candy canes. Of epic and awesome.
I don’t exactly remember the smell of pinecones and candy cones right now.
But I will always remember the smell of epic and awesome.
It’s a power some have. A power a few people on Earth simply have. The power of writing epic and awesome. The power of creating epic and awesome.
This is an epic and awesome creation. And it’s powerful. In every sense of the word.
I loved everything in this book. I loved Ox. I loved Joe. I loved the pack, as a whole, and each one of them individually. I loved the family. I loved the friends. I loved the bonds. I loved the sexy. I loved the kink (yes, the KINK). I loved the fluffy. I loved the rawness. I loved the laughs. I loved the lump in my throat. I loved the magic. I loved the wolves. I loved the sense of belonging. The sense of ownership. The sense of conquering. The sense of surrendering. The sense of acknowledging. The sense of goodbye. The sense of marking. The sense of mating. The sense of despair. The sense of exhilaration. The sense of completion. The sense of perfection.
It was poetry in prose. This inner voice. This earthy voice. This mystical voice. This soundless voice. A voice that reverberates. A voice that pulls you under. A voice that makes you fly. It was an insistent voice, an evocative voice, a tactile voice. Pictures behind my eyelids. Vibrations inside my bones. A sinking feeling in my stomach. It’s a voice that surrounds everything and impregnates everything. It’s a voice I can touch and I can caress. It’s a voice that touches and caresses me. From the inside. It’s warmth and it’s love. It was liquid and solid. Without defined shape. Without defined color. It’s powerful.
Violet, blue, red, orange. Green.
Green. Green. Green.
I felt I was dying and seeing the sun for the first time in my life.
I felt I was flying too close to the sun.
I felt I was touching this sun and setting myself afire.
Once and again.
Once and again.
And again.
Some books don’t exist but there is always a place waiting for them. There was an empty space once. This space screamed. For a long time. Demanding attention. Demanding plenitude. Nobody heard that scream. It existed once. Not anymore. Because this book was created and it filled that space. At last. It was meant to be.
What’s this, really? A shifters book? A love story? A tale of family and union? A coming-of-age book? A soul mates’ destiny? A fantasy novel? The light against the dark?
I don’t dare to say what this is.
I was so satisfied.
With everything.
I marveled at the long arguments. How things were not black and white. Were not easy to solve. Were not something that could be fixed with a kiss and a few words. I loved the complex conversations. I marveled at the big mistakes and at the big wise moves. I marveled at the suffering and the healing. I marveled at all the hilarious in here. I marveled at brothership and friendship and “packship” and all the “ships” in the universe.
I marveled at a witch working in a garage. I marveled at Bennet’s pups protecting Ox at school. I marveled at Ox’s mother kicking like a bad-ass. Rico’s Spanish. Elizabeth’s dances at a song of those who stay behind. Or are left behind. Small displays of genius that are subtle but constant. I’m sure I didn’t catch them all with my conscious mind and that’s why I will never be able to write them and pay a proper homage to them. But deep inside, I saw them all. They were there. I can simply sum it up saying how marveled I was at the affection I felt for everybody here, because every detail is essential, every little word, every casual scene. Each one of them was carved on stone. Every one of them is there for something. Every breath of theirs is useful and noticeable. The characters not only keep their seats warm, but you feel the lost of warmth when they disappear, and you feel the warmth when they come back. Or the eternal loss when they never do.
I marvelled at Ox.
OxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx.
His selflessness. His loneliness. His longing. His ability to love. And forgive. And love again. His innocence. His strength. His resilience. His sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. His straightforwardness. His raw honesty. His hesitant self-worth. His large presence. Large as life. His heart on his sleeve but also his guts, his balls. And his brains. Life is going to give him shit, but he will always be standing.
I love Ox’s love.
Joe.
This little tornado who came out nothing. Whose words meant the beginning of it all. Of adventure. Of happiness. Of loss. Of everything. It was simply right that he pronounced those exact words to that exact person in that exact moment in that exact place. It was right. His joy. His euphoria. His instincts. His choices, bad and good. His hopelessness. His nightmares. His shadows. His dark. This yearning that makes him tremble. His lack of voice. His trigger to make him talk.
The characters were not perfect but they were born that way. Epic and awesome in their own way. Little shining stars in this infinite universe of Klune.
The storyline not only makes sense but feels right. In every moment of the road.
It’s complex and could go on and on and on. Beyond the ending, there is a “to be continued”.
An “Hasta la vista, baby”.
Not exactly an “I will be back” but an “I never left”.
It’s full of green.
When I was little I wanted to go to Hogwarts. But when I graduate there, I want to move to Green Creek and become part of the Bennet pack.
Kristan -
I'm going to keep this short, since you'll probably read a lot of reviews regarding this book, and they'll all say the same thing:
That you should read it.
That it's amazing.
That it's a different kind of shifter story. A better kind.
The truth is that I think T.J. has ruined me for every book I'll attempt to pick up after this one. It's 400 pages, and not a single one wasted. It's characters so well developed that I feel like I know them. I feel like I've lived in this town, with these people.
To say I loved this book, wouldn't do it justice.
I ran the gamut of emotions reading it.
I cried in the very first chapter; for a little boy who was told he was stupid and would only get shit in his life. Who didn't feel like he belonged because he talked too slow, or not at all, and people didn't like that. I cried when his friend/ brother/ pseudo father gave him a shirt for his fifteenth birthday with his name on it and told him You belong to us now.
I smiled when a little tornado stood in the middle of the road, climbed Ox like a tree, and asked him what that awesome smell was. The one that smelled like pinecones and candycanes, and epic and asweome. That little tornado gave Ox his heart, a family, and place to call home.
I laughed when that little tornado grew up and wanted to court Ox. I laughed at the bonds of brotherhood and the goofy loving way the Bennett family had with him.
And I sobbed UGLY tears when it was taken away from them. When a family was ripped apart, and again when they began to knit back together.
400 pages, and not nearly long enough. I'd read 1000 if it meant I could spend more time with them. Ox captured my heart from the very first moment and never let it go.
There's a magic to this book that's just as strong as the magic that binds the Bennett pack together.
I challenge you to read it and not fall under its spell as well.
Thanks for the words, Mr. Klune. As you can see we all loved and cherished every one of them.
An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review(s).
Find out more on Goodreads & Dreamspinner Press.
Love this group review. Please don't stop doing these. :)
ReplyDeleteAwwww thanks for the support. :)
DeleteWe do like to be together.