Reviews

“She smiled around the gag. A bright and shining smile that was the most awful thing I’d ever seen. And then she moved.”

This might be my longest review to date—bear with me, I just have way too many emotions right now.

This was such a rollercoaster. I teared up 20 times and ugly cried twice. TJ Klune does it *every time*, but this one takes the cake! There were some flaws, but I still devoured this book in no time, and it gave me ALL THE FEELS. I can’t wait to continue the series.

❤️ Loveable characters (too many of them to count)
❤️ The banter and pack dynamics
❤️ Ox’s character development
❤️ Positive queer representation
❤️ Skillful trauma and grief representation
❌ Unnecessarily long (too many repetitions)
❌ Too much foreshadowing
❌ Underwhelming villain

Plot:
Ox’s father took off when he was 12, leaving only heartache and feelings of self-devaluation as a legacy. Life went on and Ox thought he’d never fit in and be good enough. But one day, a strange family moves next door and shows a genuine interest in getting to know him. Soon enough, he’s howling and running with wolves in the forest, forming bonds of trust, friendship, and romance. But a dangerous werewolf is on the prowl, seeking revenge on the family—and Ox will stop at nothing to protect what's his.

I can’t decide if it’s more of a feel-good or crush-my-heart-into-a-thousand-pieces kinda book. I like to think it’s both. I smiled, laughed, cried. Cried again, and again. Ugly cried like I hadn’t cried since Kingdom of Ash. Klune is such a wonderful storyteller and such a wizard at building settings that feel both magical and so real at the same time. This book is definitely more character- than plot-focused, but that was fine by me. I’ll get into characters later on, but I have to emphasize how well Klune managed the whole pack dynamics. Is this person a werewolf? How could it feel so REAL? When I turned the last page, I had to grieve for a long moment, knowing I’d never have my own pack to run with.

Now, let’s take a moment to ponder the age gap romance criticism this book has been receiving (slight spoilers):

- the two characters have a 6-year difference
- nothing romantic or sexual is even *suggested* by the older man until they are 17 and 23
- nothing happens, except a dry kiss, until the younger man is 20

Also:

Let’s think about a very common trope: the teen, or even pre-teen girl, has a crush on her big brother’s friend, but he thinks of her as a child. But when she turns 17, he realises she’s attractive and starts liking her back. She liked him this whole time, they get together, the end.

No one would get all shocked and pissed about that! Why the double standards? Urgh.

Also:

We’re talking about werewolves and chosen mates / imprinting (this term is never used in the book except to make slight fun of the Twilight series), mystical creatures that follow different rules. Still, Klune waited until the younger man was of age to add spice.

FINALLY, excuse me if I find that a 11-year-old imprinting on a 16-year-old is A LOT less creepy than a grown-up man imprinting on a BABY (looking at you Jacob).

Characters:
The characters as well as their relationships and interactions (packpackpack) were my favourite part of this book. I should have counted the times I went “Gordo is my favourite,” “no, Mark is my favourite,” “oh but I love Thomas so much, and Carter, and Maggie, and and and Jessie.” I loved Ox and Joe, but the side characters stole my heart and kept it the whole time. The guys at Gordo’s! ROBBIE! The banter and the chosen-family love was like a warm, fuzzy blanket. (Did I say how much I loved Mark and Gordo?)

However, I found that the villain was a little underwhelming. He was a bad guy alright, but most of what he did was mentioned rather than experienced. It was all about what he had done in the past, and what he wanted to do. But until the very end, he did… very little. Klune managed to nail the “show, don’t tell” technique for a crazy number of characters, but the villain was all “telling” and it made him a little underwhelming. With a book this thick, there would have been plenty of room to give us some reasons to hate the guy more.

Writing:
I like repetitions here and there, but there were just. too. many. Repetitions of lines and text, moments, dialogues, thoughts, etc. that made some parts heavy. I feel like this book could have been a good 100 pages shorter only by removing pointless repetitions. Other than that, Klune did it again. The prose was sharp, smart, whimsical, and simple/accessible but never dull. The dialogues were epic and awesome (iykyk) and the BANTER had me giggling and cracking up many, many times. Klune is also an absolute KING when it comes to pacing as well as building up angst and intense emotions.

wolvster's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

More...