Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

21 reviews

k80mae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

3.25

I find myself struggling to write any kind of nuanced review for this book. On the one hand, I absolutely devoured it in just a little over a day. I read the first 300 pages in one sitting. I found the characters and their voices to be absolutely compelling, even if their arcs felt circuitous and repetitious at times. Ox especially had an absolutely wonderful narrative voice and made it so easy to be immersed in his story when normally, I find the first person POV absolutely grating. Every single one of his platonic relationships were compelling and interesting and I wish had been fleshed out even more than they were. The interpersonal dynamics here were fascinating and so much fun to read. 

On the other hand, I don't know if I was really sold on the romance here. Next to Ox and the rest of the cast of characters, Joe did not feel nearly as fleshed out or strong of a character. Throughout the book, he was the only character whose voice I felt did not land for me. Considering he is the main romantic interest and driving force behind Ox's actions, it made it difficult to invest myself in the romance. What I find myself most distracted by, however, is that I was completely unable to look at the world-building and plot and not think that the author had to have been inspired by fandom for a very specific television show popular in the 2010s. Nearly every world-building element felt like a detail I had already seen before, to the point where I wouldn't be surprised to have found this on AO3. I don't want to outright say that this is a negative quality because I do think that it absolutely worked for this story, but it made for a very distracting read even as I sped through it. 

Overall, I'm not sure if I will personally continue with the series, but this is absolutely the kind of book that has a very particular audience who I hope is able to find it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Ableism, Grief, Murder, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcoholism and Bullying

Sexual assault is threatened, but the description in that threat is repeatedly vivid so the SA tag is necessary. The adult/minor relationship is a bit of a grey area, but when Ox and Joe enter a romantic relationship, Joe is still only 17.

joshoonet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

• MY HEART
• TJ Klune you have done it again
• The next volume only comes out in August (at least in the edition that fits the one i have now) and i am in pain
• I only read Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door before this, and... this is darker. And SMUTTIER. Also people say fuck. I like it!
• Klune is one of my favourite authors because he always includes healthy, but realistic! communication, especially between men. It's just so damn refreshing.
• Also a bunch of queer characters! Incredible! I have yet to find a trans character though, maybe in his next book? 
• His book have been the only one to make me genuinely emotional in a long time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Murder, and Animal death

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

Ableism, Domestic Abuse, Alcohol:

the protagonist's father is kind of a piece of shit, but he leaves pretty early on in the book. Nothing too graphic here.

Adult/Minor Relationship:

the protagonist falls for his friend, who he's known since that friend was ten years old. This only happens when the friend is 17 and the protagonist is 23 years old; nothing graphic happens between them at this point.

Sexual Content:

around page 442 there's a pretty damn smutty sex scene between the male main characters, apart from that only a mention here and there.

Death of Parent, Grief:

the protagonist's mother dies by violence, and his father "in all but blood" as well. Grief is a major theme of the book. The protagonist's biological father dies as well, but there isn't really any grief tied to it.

Abandonment:

a major theme in this book. The protagonist's father left pretty early on, and later his friend and partner leaves for an undetermined time as well; this is devastating for the protagonist.

All the bloody stuff: this book centers around werewolves, so there's a bunch of defending the territory and so on, also...

one of the main characters was kidnapped and tortured as a child, which is mentioned quite a lot.

saestrah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

A free advanced reading copy of this title was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review:

After hearing a lot about this series, I was very excited to get an advanced copy of Wolfsong to review, and unfortunately I think the hype made me a little disappointed by the end result. I've seen a few other reviews for this book, which describe the main romance as reading just like fanfiction, and I see where the similiarities lay. The dialogue between the characters is often lighthearted and funny, but I found that the text as a whole lacked the depth I wanted from this book. The topics discussed (poverty, abandonment, kidnapping, and child abuse to name a few) could have lended this book a much richer (albeit darker) texture, but instead a lot of it felt glossed over and for the Bennett's in particular, I never felt like it had a lasting effect on them. Ox's personal fears and motivations felt considerably more developed in comparison, making him easily my favourite character of the book and the only one that I could say that I even liked. His first chapter where his father is leaving the family, and he tries to tell Ox but Ox doesn't pick up on it and believes his father will be returning, broke my heart. There was something so tangible about Ox missing the cues of the conversation and believing himself to be stupid, perhaps due to his narrative style that has a rhythmic and repetitive nature that felt like it would be best read aloud. For all that Gordo claims that Ox didn't talk much as a kid, Ox's inner-voice reminds me of slam poetry.

As for the plot, a lot of it felt predictable in that it follows a lot of YA-werewolf-story tropes and patterns. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the

part where Ox finds himself a human-Alpha

was one that I saw coming and enjoyed a lot. While I've mostly grown out of YA and haven't read a paranormal romance book for a long time, I found that plots similiar to that of Wolfsong work best with a rich and dynamic worldbuilding, which for me this book was lacking. Witches-in-packs and werewolf-governments felt thrown in without a moment's pause, and I kept expecting parts of the story to connect and come together, such as why Ox's father left their family, but unfortunately that aspect of the story was as realistic as it comes. These both relate to the fact that unlike most books I read, where I experience the narrative fluidly and anticipate that my questions will be answered at the narrative's own pace, I expected to be told rather than to be shown. Unfortunately, this also relates to the characters' dynamics. For a main romantic couple that I'd seen a lot of love for online, I didn't see what Ox and Joe saw in each other or why they were supposed to be mates, other than that I was explicitly told that's what they were. 

From the start of the book I believed that the love interest would be Carter, being a character closer to Ox's age. Joe was never an option for me until it was made clear that the other characters weren't going to be given nearly as much page time (throughout the book I felt like every character other than Ox had only just been introduced in passing, without giving me a chance to connect with any of them—perhaps since Klune was leaving their development for their own narratives in the series).

On another note, I'm definitely falling on the side of reviewers uncomfortable with the age gap between Ox and Joe. I would have had less of a problem of the two meeting at such a young age if romantic feelings hadn't developed until they were both much older, but as it was, reading about a twenty-three year old being sexually attracted to a seventeen year old that he had 'suddenly' seen as more than a kid, didn't sit right with me.

All in all, I read this book rather quickly and found it easy to binge-read as Ox's narration is easy to follow and the plot exciting enough to draw a reader in, even though I didn't feel the 'pull' that many readers had with this story. It's unlikely that I will read the rest of this series given that they're from other characters' perspectives and I felt like Ox's narrative reached a satisfying ending, but I'm still glad to have read Wolfsong and grateful for the introduction of Ox into my life (as I now have a houseplant named after him).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Gore, Rape, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Bullying

ruthiedr89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, and Pedophilia

cluckieduck's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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

I don’t think I have words that can truly explain how much adoration I have for this book. I feel as if I’ve read something profound, unlike anything I’ve read before. 

It is a poetic and heartbreaking story of love, and what it means to be family. The people of Green Creek have stolen my heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Bullying

Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

tieflingreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

I wasn't really expecting much from this book honestly, with it being an older mlm werewolf book. I was expecting 'dubious consent' alpha x omega dynamics and way more smut than plot. I WAS VERY MUCH MISTAKEN. 

[also, werewolves aren't even the only supernatural creature in this series!!]

 Right off the bat we start with a lot of heavy emotions. While this book has its share of jokes and chaotic teenage boys-being-boys to help lighten the mood, it is still quite heavy. Grief, anger, fear are all very prevalent. I defintely say it is worth the read but please check out detailed CW lists beforehand!!  

As an autistic person myself, I definitely see Ox as being autistic. He has difficulties with finding the words he wants to say as well as fully understanding others and where they are coming from in several conversations. While processing strong emotions like fear, anger, and sadness, he 'sees' colours and I take this as his way of trying to understand and accept these emotions, both in himself and others. ~ While Ox is in school, there are some bullies who habitually use the r-slur on him. Ox doesn't do anything about it because he feels like it's inevitable, but later on he has friends who challenge these people and once Ox is out of school nobody else disrespects him in that way. 

Where do I even start with the Bennett family... My love language is physical touch, so the fact that the Bennett's are constantly patting Ox's back, playing with his hair, sitting close to him despite other spots being open, all of that screams to me that Ox is so so loved
This might read differently to somebody who is more touch-adverse so keep that in mind! 

I also love the writing style! Wolfsong is full of short, choppy sentences, very similar to my own writing style. The short sentences were really easy on my ADHD brain and I was able to absolutely FLY through this book. 

There is a relationship between and adult and a minor in this book, with a 6 year age difference. The two people know each other from ages 16 and 10, and the older one doesn't think of the younger in a romantic or sexual way until the younger is 17 and begins to flirt with him, and even then he is still very "you are a MINOR" to the other instead of just taking advantage of him. That being said, I can still understand how it can be triggering to some readers; feel free to ask me for more details if you'd like!

Rep: bisexual MC (bisexual is used on page!), it's said somewhere that werewolves are most commonly "fluid" in their sexuality so I'm assuming they're all meant to be m-spec as well. Multiple mlm couples, as well as a side character who feels aro-ace coded! I believe he gets his own book later in the series

CW: r-slur several times from a very minor character (challenged), one hp reference in the chapter "Moon". (These are the main things that keep this book from being a 5 star, but it was written in 2015 so I'm not entirely surprised either)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Ableism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Torture

btrz7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Violence, Torture, and Murder

dippyfresh's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism and Bullying

dashboardlights24601's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Car accident

solinel7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

4.5🌟
I love this book and it's probably one of my favorites I've read this year, maybe on my all time favorites but I can't give it 5 stars. And that is because....
*SPOILER*
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Joe was 17 the first time Ox felt attracted to him and he was already an adult. They don't get together until years after but still, it felt icky. 

Other than that, I love it. TJ Klune's writing is amazing and compelling. I couldn't stop reading and crying. Nope, not crying, sobbing. Idk why. 
Can't wait to get to know the rest of the characters in the next books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, and Grief