Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Ravensong by TJ Klune

24 reviews

britt93414's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Gun violence, Death, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Torture, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

embersbookventures's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

This book captured my, just like Wolfsong did.  Every spare moment I had was picking it up and not wanting to put it down. 

Reading from Gordo’s point of view was just so raw and real - I came love his character all the more, despite the hilarious curmudgeon front he puts up.

It was emotional watching him go from protecting himself from everything…having lost it all before, and being so afraid to lose it again…so angry he ever lost it in the first place…that he couldn’t allow himself to be happy. 
To finally letting the joy in…holding the sadness, the relief, the joy.
The blue and the green.

I love the way TJ Klune uses colors to describe emotional states.  It’s so vivid. 
I am diving right into Heartsong, and then will be impatiently waiting for the re-release of Brothersong in July. 

The world is a hard place right now - it always has been, but I think maybe those of us paying attention feel that now more than ever. 
Reading a book with characters who have experienced so much darkness, loss, trauma, and violence that overcome by the bonds of love, friendship, and family is exactly the kind of story I need right now. 
To remember that we are strong together, and that love is always stronger than hate. 

This series is a gift - I have a feeling I will return many a time to Green Creek.  Thank you for the family I’ve found within these pages, TJ Klune.
💚Packpackpack💚

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child death, Car accident, and Abandonment

I am a very sensitive person, who doesn’t enjoy pushing the boundaries of what I’m comfortable with. This book had some heavy, dark themes. I was able to move through it all…definitely with some tears, but I will say TJ Klune is excellent at mixing the heavy with the humor, so it never feels solely one way. Most of the really disturbing stuff, like mentions of child death, abandonment, death of parent, and murder are flashbacks. There are some

hunters and bad witches

killed by the protagonists. I would say it’s medianly graphic. The injuries and violence and grief are consistent themes, but they are not gratuitously graphic. One thing that did heavily trigger me, as a trans person with religious trauma reading this, was the deeply religious beliefs and justifications for murder that the hunters used. It reminded me of a lot of excuses and justifications for harm that I’ve heard over my lifetime and it was upsetting. I had to set the book down and ground myself before continuing. So around the middle of the book, so be prepared for that if you have religious trauma like I do.

voxrusso's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Torture

hex_meghead's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Religious bigotry

beetree's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

3.5

Enjoyed it a bit more than the first one! What I disliked is that the characters are all written very similarly in terms of their voices (ie Ox and Geordi’s inner monologues and their reactions to situations are very similar). It feels like TJ has developed a lot as a writer since then.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Stalking

sir_melons's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Child abuse

kal517's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death

themelodyofspring's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Gordon and Mark, my beloved 🥰 They were my favourites in the first book. This book was sooooo good but sooooo angsty!! No regrets! I loved it 🫡 MOAR!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Abandonment

Moderate: Abandonment

bilbili's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Abandonment

brewdy_reader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 • 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 • 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 ⁣
𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳 • 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯 • 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 ⁣
🌶️🌶️ 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you saw my review of Wolfsong, you know the book blew my mind in a transformational way. Therefore I knew a follow up would be tough. I will say that while Ravensong was not quite as unique as the first, it's a strong sequel nonetheless. 

Ravensong is Gordo and Mark's story, and you do need to read them sequentially for it to make sense unlike some other romance series. I appreciated that they are older characters, though there is still quite a bit of miscommunication given their respective ages (39 & 42). The puns and humor had me cackling! I also appreciate that this book had more witches, spells, and context for the symbiotic relationship between witches and shapeshifters left largely untouched in book 1.

My complaint with this one is that the first third of this rather lengthy saga is essentially a rehash of book 1, told from Gordo's perspective rather than Ox's. And while both characters are lovable, I loved Ox more. That felt repetitive. In its defense, it was a good refresher since it'd been a few months between reading the two books. I also could have done with slightly less profanity.

One of my favorite things about this series is that the endings set some things up for the next book, but they are artfully done so that you leave each book with a sense of closure. Like the prior, you'll find Klune's tried-and-true tropes of found family, choice, male vulnerability as a strength rather than a weakness, and normalized LGBT relationships. And I always end up getting emo. 

TW: I recommend reviewing triggers prior to reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Child abuse