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dragonsreadtoo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Domestic abuse and Rape
ctara2123's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, Animal death, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse and Rape
alsoapples's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Death, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Stalking, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
blaiseteal's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
4.75
oh. my. god.
did not know what to expect when i picked up this book. i was somewhat familiar with tj klunes work and was still blown out of the fucking water with this. the found family makes my heart ACHE in the best way. Ox as a character was phenomenal and it was amazing watching him change and grow due to the people around him. one thing i adored about this book is the agency that every single character has, there isn’t a single “damsel in distress” moment because even when a less powerful character is faced with a threat, they aren’t entirely useless. cannot wait to read the rest of this series.
did not know what to expect when i picked up this book. i was somewhat familiar with tj klunes work and was still blown out of the fucking water with this. the found family makes my heart ACHE in the best way. Ox as a character was phenomenal and it was amazing watching him change and grow due to the people around him. one thing i adored about this book is the agency that every single character has, there isn’t a single “damsel in distress” moment because even when a less powerful character is faced with a threat, they aren’t entirely useless. cannot wait to read the rest of this series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Pedophilia and Rape
About the minor pedophillia and rape/sexual assault warning, it’s only a brief mention whenscrambledemma's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
as someone who was already a tj klune fan i gotta say… this story exceeded my expectations.
i’m not gonna lie i thought this story was gonna basically be soft core werewolf smut. cut to me in hysterics about an hour in over these fucking characters
as always tj klunes characters are so endearing and loveable. you really feel for them and every character. i mean EVERY character. is treated with love and is so engaging.
i’m not kidding this book made me cry so much but i also couldn’t put it down and knocked it out over the course of like. five hours.
while this is definitely a different vibe than tj klunes one off stories, the found family is so tender it makes your heart hurt and the characters fears feel very real and relatable (in like. an abstract sense). i cannot wait to read the rest of the series
i’m not gonna lie i thought this story was gonna basically be soft core werewolf smut. cut to me in hysterics about an hour in over these fucking characters
as always tj klunes characters are so endearing and loveable. you really feel for them and every character. i mean EVERY character. is treated with love and is so engaging.
i’m not kidding this book made me cry so much but i also couldn’t put it down and knocked it out over the course of like. five hours.
while this is definitely a different vibe than tj klunes one off stories, the found family is so tender it makes your heart hurt and the characters fears feel very real and relatable (in like. an abstract sense). i cannot wait to read the rest of the series
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
elkboy23's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Mental illness, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Rape, Grief, and Domestic abuse
ileniasb's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? No
4.0
I am a big fan of TJ Klune's books but had not read any of his earlier work. This books had great elements of found family and the characters learning they are more than they have ever imagined. However, the book is definitely spicy and that was a departure from his more recent books. If you are someone who does not enjoy very descriptive sex scenes this book may be jarring. I loved the characters and want to read the rest of the series to see where they go from here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Rape
daphnerussets's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
2.75
I think this book just isn't for me.
Having read Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door, I was expecting an introspective cosy fantasy. This was decidedly not that.
Being an educator, the age gap really didn't sit right with me. They meet at 10 and 16 and Ox constantly thinks back to the 10 year old Joe throughout the book. As a result, I felt that Joe's character development was stilted and at pivotal times nonexistent. I also struggled with accepting some of the character development we are told about Ox midway through. Perhaps if they had met at the same developmental point, these issues would have been easier to overcome.
I can see that there is an audience for this book and certainly I do love a found family trope - plenty of that here. But I simply wasn't able to overcome the timing of the age gap.
ARC received via NetGalley.
Having read Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door, I was expecting an introspective cosy fantasy. This was decidedly not that.
Being an educator, the age gap really didn't sit right with me. They meet at 10 and 16 and Ox constantly thinks back to the 10 year old Joe throughout the book. As a result, I felt that Joe's character development was stilted and at pivotal times nonexistent. I also struggled with accepting some of the character development we are told about Ox midway through. Perhaps if they had met at the same developmental point, these issues would have been easier to overcome.
I can see that there is an audience for this book and certainly I do love a found family trope - plenty of that here. But I simply wasn't able to overcome the timing of the age gap.
ARC received via NetGalley.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Gore, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Sexual content, and Blood
theheartisanarrow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
if you plan to read this: content warning for child abduction/abuse, villain makes a couple rape threats
my thoughts: i wasn't exactly overwhelmed, but not all that underwhelmed either... just whelmed.
+ i am a sucker for found family, so there's that
+ i liked the exploration of masculinity and its facettes
+ the nature scenes that showed how atuned wolves are with their environment were lovely
+ the premise overall is pretty cool tbh, we need more decent werewolf fiction imo
+ ppl keep whining about the twilight comparison (y'all need to chill), but: the part of the small town mysterious family that draws you into their supernatural world and welcomes you with open arms as you learn more about them and train alongside them gave me twilight vibes in the good wonderous way of first reading it wayyy back when
+ the witches sounded cool, i hope they get explored more in the future
- the age gap. i did not quit once i learned about it, solely bc nothing whatsoever happens between the two until both are of age, a physical relationship only develops once they're well in their twenties, and as their relationship develops, there is an emphasis on consent and who is in a position to give it. however it was still icky and in my opinion the extent of it was completely unnecessary??
- tj klune's racism analogies, no matter how well-intended and handled are so on the nose i can never fully take them seriously, so the 'speciesism' bit didn't do it for me, but that's just a personal thing
- in 500+ pages, i have counted a total of 5 women. two mothering mothers, one okay (ex-)girlfriend, one incompetent girlboss and a rescued civilian. none of them are given much depth or attention and in this day and age reading a book without a single properly written female character in it just bores me
- this book could have been sooo much shorter! there were redundant observations and flashback lines that popped up every couple pages (what ox's dad once said, what joe thinks ox smells like, soap bubbles etc.) and the middle of the book (the moody angsty bit) just felt like waaay too much filler. and i say that as an angst-enjoyer. the story would slap a lot more if stripped of all/most of that
- not a fan of the jealous/possessive/controlling or the primal/mating trope. kinda dug my own grave here as i reckon both make sense with the wolfish theme, but still did not enjoy that
verdict: enjoyable enough to casually keep up with the series once the sequel is (re?)released, but it's definitely not a priority.
my thoughts: i wasn't exactly overwhelmed, but not all that underwhelmed either... just whelmed.
+ i am a sucker for found family, so there's that
+ i liked the exploration of masculinity and its facettes
+ the nature scenes that showed how atuned wolves are with their environment were lovely
+ the premise overall is pretty cool tbh, we need more decent werewolf fiction imo
+ ppl keep whining about the twilight comparison (y'all need to chill), but: the part of the small town mysterious family that draws you into their supernatural world and welcomes you with open arms as you learn more about them and train alongside them gave me twilight vibes in the good wonderous way of first reading it wayyy back when
+ the witches sounded cool, i hope they get explored more in the future
- the age gap. i did not quit once i learned about it, solely bc nothing whatsoever happens between the two until both are of age, a physical relationship only develops once they're well in their twenties, and as their relationship develops, there is an emphasis on consent and who is in a position to give it. however it was still icky and in my opinion the extent of it was completely unnecessary??
- tj klune's racism analogies, no matter how well-intended and handled are so on the nose i can never fully take them seriously, so the 'speciesism' bit didn't do it for me, but that's just a personal thing
- in 500+ pages, i have counted a total of 5 women. two mothering mothers, one okay (ex-)girlfriend, one incompetent girlboss and a rescued civilian. none of them are given much depth or attention and in this day and age reading a book without a single properly written female character in it just bores me
- this book could have been sooo much shorter! there were redundant observations and flashback lines that popped up every couple pages (what ox's dad once said, what joe thinks ox smells like, soap bubbles etc.) and the middle of the book (the moody angsty bit) just felt like waaay too much filler. and i say that as an angst-enjoyer. the story would slap a lot more if stripped of all/most of that
- not a fan of the jealous/possessive/controlling or the primal/mating trope. kinda dug my own grave here as i reckon both make sense with the wolfish theme, but still did not enjoy that
verdict: enjoyable enough to casually keep up with the series once the sequel is (re?)released, but it's definitely not a priority.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Rape
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Reading vlog:
Where do I begin? I give this all the stars!
My heart soared. My heart raced. My heart plummeted. My heart broke. My heart healed, all in a continuous circuit.
I loved this story so much.
Ox and Joe were so beautiful to read about. I was uncomfortable about this all beginning at such a young age, but nothing inappropriate happened when it shouldn't have.
The connections between the characters were so beautifully written and I don't even know how to explain it... it was all candy canes and pinecones. Epic and awesome!
A 5 out of 5 stars 100%!
Where do I begin? I give this all the stars!
My heart soared. My heart raced. My heart plummeted. My heart broke. My heart healed, all in a continuous circuit.
I loved this story so much.
Ox and Joe were so beautiful to read about. I was uncomfortable about this all beginning at such a young age, but nothing inappropriate happened when it shouldn't have.
The connections between the characters were so beautifully written and I don't even know how to explain it... it was all candy canes and pinecones. Epic and awesome!
A 5 out of 5 stars 100%!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Mental illness, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Gore, Kidnapping, War, Death of parent, Violence, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia