Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Wolfsong

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

22 reviews

electricshe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

A hell of a slowburn, but I was somehow still hoping for a longer epilogue after everything was sorted out. Like some of Klune’s other work, it has a bit of repetitiveness that goes beyond my personal tolerance (“you’re gonna get shit, Ox”) but I did also read this in two days when it should have maybe been read at a slower pace. That said, I was very moved by the story and I loved the characters deeply. I think Gordo is my favourite, so I’m excited to read the next in the series!

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kshertz's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

I love TJ Klune. He rips out your heart but then puts it back and you can’t stop reading. You love the characters and root for them. I thought this would be an automatic 5 star!

I loved all the characters and I did root for everyone! It was a little uncomfortable for me possibly because it was YA and everyone was family but there were some romantic overtones. Everyone was just too young and maybe too much of an age gap for me. There’s definitely trigger warnings that probably should have been noted in the beginning of the book.

But I’ve been told the other books are way way better. I bet they will have 5 stars. We shall see!

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greymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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sehenry20's review

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dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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

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kimschouwenaar's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I devoured this book, finished it within 48 hours. And I am a slow reader.

Oh my god. Oh my god, y'all.

You gotta smell him and then tell me why it’s all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome.

I never thought TJ Klune would succeed in ripping out my heart and shredding it entirely. Alas, here we are. As a slow reader, I usually take my time to get through books, especially when they're a little chunky (yes, this is 'only' about 450 pages long, but it's longer than books I normally read). However, that wasn't the case with this book. I sprinted through this, couldn't put it down, didn't WANT to put it down (because 'you always have a choice'). It has been a long time since I stayed up until 3 am to read. I think the last book that kept me up all night was The Foxhole Court, which is now one of the books I reread every year. Because, fuck. This book doesn't consist of words, it's predominantly made up of characters, pain, and a rollercoaster of emotions.

People could be cruel. They could be beautiful, but they could be cruel too.

At least the first half of the book is what you read in the synopsis: we briefly follow Ox through his childhood when his father leaves, but it quickly moves on to his teenage years and his first meeting with Joe. Joe, the little tornado. Joe. Ox meets the rest of the Bennett family, befriends them, becomes their family, becomes part of their pack, becomes their pack. Until murder comes to town and three remain.

Sometimes I walked in the woods. Things were clearer there. The trees swayed in the breeze. Birds told me stories. They didn’t judge me.

Klune doesn't take the time to wholly explain the setting, making this a timeless book. He glosses over descriptions of buildings, surroundings, characters. And yet, I saw Greek Creek, Oregon as if I've lived there my entire life. I'm not going to lie, his writing style took some time to get used to. It's a lot of dialogue, and you need to stay focused or risk losing track of who's saying what. But it works because that's who the narrator is. That's who Ox is. He sees the world through his own unique lense, and Klune is a master at depicting that lense through his writing.

On top of that, Ox is hilarious. I had to stop reading the book several times, because I was on public transport and I could not risk bursting out laughing. And then I was reading at night and had to stop reading to I didn't wake up the rest of my family. I was dying. And it's not just Ox. It's Carter, Kelly, Joe, Elizabeth, Thomas, Mark, Gordo, Ox's mum, and everyone at the garage Ox works at.

But hearts are a funny thing; they beat strongly in our chests, even though they can shatter at the slightest pressure.

And then comes the heartbreak. The waiting, and the pining, and the years of trying to work your way through loss. It took me out. I was sobbing.

I think the only criticism I have is the use of the word 'retard'; although it was used in a memory Ox has of when his father calls him that. Kind of. And it took some time getting used to the age gap, but it's only 5/6 years and nothing explicit happens until both of them are adults.

So, yeah. This is easily one of my favourite reads of 2023, and it has been added to my all-time-favourites shelf. It's a romance, yes, but it's also so much more. It's grief, it's family, it's loyalty, it's friendship, and it's love that transcends that on the romantic plain.

That was fine. That was okay. Because we were the goddamn Bennett pack. And our song would always be heard.

If you have come this far, I am very much looking for more book friends! You can find me on:
IG: kimschouwenaar
TT: _kimschouwenaar
Goodreads: Kim Schouwenaar

I am also in the midst of creating an IG account specifically for my reading, writing and art journey, which you will be able to find under the username @shelvesofsanity! And I'm obviously on here, so feel free to send me a friend request! (:

- kim <3

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