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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Deeply uncomfortable read due to the age gap in the main romantic pairing
magine if Faulkner wrote a hauntingly beautiful book about gay werewolves and their pack families. That would be this novel. The story is about Ox, abandoned and devalued by his father, and Joe Bennet, the young boy he helps heal from unspeakable trauma. The story tracks Ox, a rare human alpha, and the relationship he develops with the Bennets as he works with them to protect the pack from a wolf seeking revenge. Their found family is made
of grumpy wizards and several human car mechanics and, if that sounds a little weird, so is this book, but in a lovely way.
I did have one fairly major problem with this story. Joe scent matches with Ox very early in the story when Joe is 10 years old and Ox is in his late teens. Although the author does not technically allow anything sexual to occur between them then, Joe’s behavior toward Ox while he is a wolf is akin to other ABO stories between animal mates, and that was disconcerting to me. There’s really no reason to need to begin to describe Joe, WHO IS TEN, as being head over heels attracted to, even possessive of, a 17 year old young man. The love and affection between Ox and the Bennets was enough for the reader to understand they were a kind of replacement for his missing father. As the pack aged, this disquieting age gap resolves.
I love this new take on the typical wolf narrative. I love Ox’s determination to hold on to his humanity. I love the nod to Jane Austen (since the neighbors are wealthy and the mom is named Elizabeth Bennet). And once the age gap becomes less weird, I appreciated the depth of the relationship between Ox and Joe, along with the nuances of coming of age. I look forward to Ravensong, up next
of grumpy wizards and several human car mechanics and, if that sounds a little weird, so is this book, but in a lovely way.
I did have one fairly major problem with this story. Joe scent matches with Ox very early in the story when Joe is 10 years old and Ox is in his late teens. Although the author does not technically allow anything sexual to occur between them then, Joe’s behavior toward Ox while he is a wolf is akin to other ABO stories between animal mates, and that was disconcerting to me. There’s really no reason to need to begin to describe Joe, WHO IS TEN, as being head over heels attracted to, even possessive of, a 17 year old young man. The love and affection between Ox and the Bennets was enough for the reader to understand they were a kind of replacement for his missing father. As the pack aged, this disquieting age gap resolves.
I love this new take on the typical wolf narrative. I love Ox’s determination to hold on to his humanity. I love the nod to Jane Austen (since the neighbors are wealthy and the mom is named Elizabeth Bennet). And once the age gap becomes less weird, I appreciated the depth of the relationship between Ox and Joe, along with the nuances of coming of age. I look forward to Ravensong, up next
Gobbled this book up, it had me giggling, it had me in a righteous fury. 10/10 LOVED the characters, LOVED the banter, the tension was really well done and I liked it a lot!
I had to take a star off tho cus the writing style is absolutely not for me. I genuinely don't think I would have finished this if the characters weren't as amazing as they were. I have to preface the rest of this review with the fact that I loved the book, because I'm about to sound very annoyed lmao I just have very strong feelings
My lil rant:
The amount of repetition in this book is actually exhausting. Like the word 'said' is used so often that it becomes insanely distracting. Anytime there is a cute phrase or a good piece of dialogue gee golly in 6 hours you'll wish there wasn't cus you'll have heard that same phrase repeated 20 times over. It got to the point where I could feeeeeeel the oncoming "my dad told me I would get shit all my life" or a 'tornado' or a "candy canes and rainbows and epic and awesome" Ignorable for the first dozen times but eventually it just started to make me roll my eyes during moments that were supposed to be tense or sweet. (Ox was literally about to die and I rolled my eyes cus he pulled the 'Shit' line AGAIN)
It was frustrating cus I really liked Ox but most of his relationships, with his dad, with his mom, with Thomas, even with Joe, were reduced to a snappy little phrase and whenever he is having a *thought* TM about any of them, he just pulls out the phrases and calls it a day on the inner monologue. Literally just have a second thought about anyone, pls dear God I beg u
I'm curious if the following books are written like this or if this is just because the book is written from Ox's perspective and he's not supposed to be a super verbose person? I can see the potential with the blunt writing if it's specific to him, but it just got really old to me
The description of the pack bonds was honestly so sweet and made me feel things. Like the found family in this series is to die for <3 Carter was hilarious, Robbie was my boi, I’m intrigued by the drama between Gordo and Mark, Elizabeth is bbgirl who has never done anything wrong
Anyway, I read it in three days. Fantastic time, but gee golly do I have strong opinions about some very specific choices that were made. Overall very worth the read tho, and the characters are genuinely so amazing <3
I had to take a star off tho cus the writing style is absolutely not for me. I genuinely don't think I would have finished this if the characters weren't as amazing as they were. I have to preface the rest of this review with the fact that I loved the book, because I'm about to sound very annoyed lmao I just have very strong feelings
My lil rant:
The amount of repetition in this book is actually exhausting. Like the word 'said' is used so often that it becomes insanely distracting. Anytime there is a cute phrase or a good piece of dialogue gee golly in 6 hours you'll wish there wasn't cus you'll have heard that same phrase repeated 20 times over. It got to the point where I could feeeeeeel the oncoming "my dad told me I would get shit all my life" or a 'tornado' or a "candy canes and rainbows and epic and awesome" Ignorable for the first dozen times but eventually it just started to make me roll my eyes during moments that were supposed to be tense or sweet. (Ox was literally about to die and I rolled my eyes cus he pulled the 'Shit' line AGAIN)
It was frustrating cus I really liked Ox but most of his relationships, with his dad, with his mom, with Thomas, even with Joe, were reduced to a snappy little phrase and whenever he is having a *thought* TM about any of them, he just pulls out the phrases and calls it a day on the inner monologue. Literally just have a second thought about anyone, pls dear God I beg u
I'm curious if the following books are written like this or if this is just because the book is written from Ox's perspective and he's not supposed to be a super verbose person? I can see the potential with the blunt writing if it's specific to him, but it just got really old to me
The description of the pack bonds was honestly so sweet and made me feel things. Like the found family in this series is to die for <3 Carter was hilarious, Robbie was my boi, I’m intrigued by the drama between Gordo and Mark, Elizabeth is bbgirl who has never done anything wrong
Anyway, I read it in three days. Fantastic time, but gee golly do I have strong opinions about some very specific choices that were made. Overall very worth the read tho, and the characters are genuinely so amazing <3
The age gap thing was uncomfortable, but honestly it was only uncomfortable for a few chapters (?) when they were 17 and 23, after Ox came into his own feelings. The “before” felt like a brotherly love and “after” was appropriate. I can see how some people couldn’t get past it though. The author made an odd choice there. The writing itself was fantastic imo.
Well if you didnt like this book you’re entirely wrong and thats all I have to say about that. This book was beautiful. The writing was so unique. It breaks your heart and weaves it back together. I couldnt put it down. I cant stop thinking about it. I cant even imagine in any world not loving this book. Read it!!
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Abandonment
Age gap romance
Not gonna lie, immediate flashbacks to Twilight ;), but less drama in many ways, and different drama in others. Love the actual close knit family bonds, Love that the pack includes humans.
As someone who started reading Klune with The House in the Cerulean Sea, I'm not a huge fan of the explicit sex, ONLY because I know as a young teen reader, my inclination would have been to go read all of an author's books after reading one I liked, and boy would i have gotten an education! Also as a former bookseller, I would have to learn to be careful about recommending to some age groups. But, authors can write whatever they want, and Klune writes very well. I'm just trying to reconcile content for readers across the board in my own mind.
As someone who started reading Klune with The House in the Cerulean Sea, I'm not a huge fan of the explicit sex, ONLY because I know as a young teen reader, my inclination would have been to go read all of an author's books after reading one I liked, and boy would i have gotten an education! Also as a former bookseller, I would have to learn to be careful about recommending to some age groups. But, authors can write whatever they want, and Klune writes very well. I'm just trying to reconcile content for readers across the board in my own mind.
Loved it!
Honestly, even though the werewolves certainly helped, this book was great mostly because of the characters. I loved the big family feeling that surrounded the whole book and it's - in my opinion - definitely the big theme that carries the story. I was particularly fond of Carter and Kelly, their relationship and their behavior towards Ox. Small Joe was also adorable. The plot was intriguing, but there was more focus on the characters and how things affected them, which I loved as well. The relationships between all the characters, and how this shows in how they behave when they're wolves, were definitely the best part for me. I'm really looking forward to reading Ravensong and getting to know more about Mark and Gordo.
Honestly, even though the werewolves certainly helped, this book was great mostly because of the characters. I loved the big family feeling that surrounded the whole book and it's - in my opinion - definitely the big theme that carries the story. I was particularly fond of Carter and Kelly, their relationship and their behavior towards Ox. Small Joe was also adorable. The plot was intriguing, but there was more focus on the characters and how things affected them, which I loved as well. The relationships between all the characters, and how this shows in how they behave when they're wolves, were definitely the best part for me. I'm really looking forward to reading Ravensong and getting to know more about Mark and Gordo.
challenging
dark
emotional
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