Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road, the boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end … at the end of the lane.
Ox was seventeen when he found out the boy’s secret, and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.
Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.
It’s been three years since that fateful day—and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.
more
4 – 4.5 stars
It’s taken me several days to write this review, mostly because, I’m not really sure I can do it justice.
I started a journey last year to be open minded and venture outside of my usual genres, Wolfsong would be part of that journey for me and I confess I’m beyond happy. This is a paranormal romance, this is story about friendship and family, about love and loss, about growing up and acceptance, and about holding on and letting go.
I sometimes forgot I was reading a PNR because the feelings and emotions are very real and very human.
This story is long, it’s the first in the series and there is a good bit of world building, but necessary to establish your investment in the characters. Unfortunately, it really slows down at one point and the angst factor was a bit over the top for me during this section, but once you’re past it the author catapults you into an explosive climax.
I highly recommend you don’t pass this one up. On to Ravensong!
Nothing I could write in this review would do this book justice, NOTHING…….just READ THE BOOK!!!!
Even if you don’t normally read paranormal, M/M, or romance, READ THIS! Wolfsong transcends all of it, genre, gender and trope. I can’t imagine anyone reading this and not connecting in a meaningful way or identifying with the emotions of the characters. It was MORE….so much more. It was family, friendship, growth, loyalty, self, trust and love. It was the moon and the stars, the earth and the water, and everything in between. It was life.
Wolfsong was so much more than a story, for me. It was an experience. A rarity. A sheer joy to read. One of the few books that has actually touched my soul. Now excuse me while I go nurse my epic book hangover.
If you’re in the mood for a m/m shifter book, read this one. Have some tissues nearby though. Pack pack pack.
Anything Klune…anything
TJ Klune writes such powerful characters and conveys such heart-wrenching emotions!
4.5 Stars Honestly, I really wanted to just say f it and give this the full 5 stars, because it wasn’t the book I was supposed to be reading today, but once I started it, I truly couldn’t put it down. But the writing style kinda threw me. The sentence structure. And sure that might be a trivial thing but I did find myself constantly tripping out of my sheer enjoyment of the actual text by the stunted structure. But plot wise, romance wise, and character wise? Total gem. I get the hype because it is very much deserved. Ox and Joe had me by the neck and I couldn’t fight them. It was epic and awesome and I’m so glad I picked this up today. I was immersed and didn’t really wanna come up for air. But I’ll be prepared for this type of WS for Ravensong.
This book is… to quote one of the book’s characters “all candy canes and pine cones and epic and awesome”
The slow talking Ox as a main character is as brilliant a choice as most people would think he is dumb. That he can be a gentle giant when his his father was such a failure is amazing. That the author can make you feel that Ox loved him anyway despite his flaws just made the whole thing sweeter. The Green Creek gang very quickly felt like family… no, make that like pack. And I just wanted to spend more time with them.
I did laugh a bit when we found out that the mother’s name was Elizabeth Bennett. The Austen reference was a bit unexpected but I’m guessing not unintended. I’d actually started by listening to a preview of book 4 in this series where they talked about tethers. That made their mention here even more meaningful.
I absolutely loved Joe and Ox’s first meeting. It was the epitome of meet-cute moments. And when Ox is finally smitten by Joe (as we all knew he was destined to be for chapters) it’s one of the best laugh out loud scenes I’ve read in a while. Who knew? The onset of infatuation really CAN stun an Ox.
The scene where Joe asks for Ox’s mom for his hand, whilst the whole Bennett pack is eavesdropping is laugh out loud funny.
When Joe and Ox go on their first small-town date only to run into both of their exes, the four way dialogue was hilarious, and sweet and sad all at the same time.
This really should be made into a movie. That first date scene alone would make it an instant classic.
I actually read the e-book version of this via my new Kindle Fire. At over 600 pages this Hoopla title (and a special $100 rebate offer from Amazon) finally got me to upgrade to a Kindle Fire rather than be be “tethered” to my desktop.
I’ll admit I am curious how well Kirt Graves handled the audiobook version of this, particularly the four way date conversation I mentioned earlier.
I totally loved this book, the writing style, the relationships, the character building and growth arcs, such a different take on the typical shifter trope. And Ox and Joe…. lovelovelove
5 perfect
Now that is how you write a freaking werewolf novel!!
I had several of my Goodreads friends recommend this book to me so I added it to my TBR and said I would read it soon once I got through some others. Since I am fairly new to MM I wasn’t sure what to expect from PNR MM and it seemed like everywhere I turned this book was popping up. Naturally after that I had to dive right in, and my world has been shifted (no pun intended lol).
Ox was 12 when his father left, and it was just him and his mom. He was sad understandably slow but before his dad left, he said “You’re gonna get shit, for most of your life.” and that stuck with Ox. Not long after he got a job under the table at a mechanic shop and in that he found a little bit of what he felt he was missing after his dad left. He found his family. It wasn’t until his 16th birthday when he met Joe Bennett and his family that Ox’s life really started to change.
The characters in this story were stunning!! Every character has a purpose and I fell in love with not only Ox and his Mom but the whole Bennett pack. I found myself rooting for not just Ox but for all of them. Joe’s and Ox’s relationship is one of those that will transcend time for me because it was such a unique and beautiful buildup from friendship to lovers.
“You don’t get to decide what you’re worth because you obviously don’t know. You don’t get to decide that anymore because you have no fucking idea that you’re worth everything.”
When I saw how long this book, I was a bit concerned because I didn’t want it to be drawn out or too much, but I was so wrong it was perfect. The emotional roller coaster I went on through this whole book was intense. There were moments I was literally laughing so hard I was crying and then I was sucked into the touching moments of the pack that I was left breathless with tears in my eyes.
T.J. Klune wrote an outstandingly beautiful novel of love, family and what happens when you find your pack. There was not one moment in this book where I wasn’t 100% pulled in by the story. I am ruined forever on any other PNR MM because I don’t see how this can be topped.
The best werewolf series I’ve read
This is the first book I’ve experienced from this author and the first time I’ve listened to this narrator.
I LITERALLY woke up in the middle of the night and popped my earbuds in because I was OBSESSED with the story.
I listen to A LOT of Audible and this is my #1 perfectly narrated story. The narrator has such a staccato cadence to the telling that I was hooked from the very first line. There are many instances that words or phrases are repeated over and over and the way they are uttered… well the tone is pure and perfect. I’m honestly not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much reading it in “my own voice”.
The story itself is like none other that I have read. The world building was brilliant, the nuances of the characters were consistent, there was humor and horror and emotion and if I was reading I think I would have snuck a peak at the last page because I was breathless waiting for what was next.
I know this is a series and while I am curious about the pack, I don’t think I will read the rest because this book was so perfect, to me, that I’m not sure how others in the series can live up to it. Of course as I type this I am already planning on one clicking the next.
In conclusion – I absolutely recommend this book and this narrator and would have rated it higher if there were more stars to give.
This is a paranormal, LGBT romance unlike any I’ve read. It’s what I crave in a book – it’s long (as in 20 hours of listening long), it has realistic and relatable characters that are explored and grow with patience, not rushed to get to the end or the steamy bits. The world building is great, nothing is over the top and there aren’t cookie-cutter stock characters…it’s an authentic and beautiful story of love and family and friendship. I’m already listening to book 2 and loving it! I would say T.J. Klune is the Sarah Lyons Fleming of the LGBT romance world.
I just love these series…….Totally interesting & inspiring
This book was angsty as fuck. I was surprised because I read his book How To Be a Normal Person which was not, like at all. That book had zero angst. Regardless of where his books land, whether serious or light-hearted, they always have this sense of humor, and Wolfsong did not disappoint. This book also had a very unique writing style. It was filled with vivid imagery and had a lot of repeated lines, I honestly thought this was a fantasy for a while and not paranormal because I’ve never seen this type of writing in a paranormal book.
But what made this book amazing was the characters. I think it’s pretty special when I love the supporting characters just as much as the main ones. Literally every single character served a purpose, they were never stereotypical clichés, and were each developed in their own way.
Our MC is named Oxnard “Ox” Matheson. I adored him, ok. He was such a pleasure to read about. He’s a little quiet but has a heat of gold, he doesn’t fit in, and at 16 his life changes forever when he meets Joe Bennett. I loved the way his mind worked, I loved his relationships with every single character, his mom, Gordo, his friends at the garage, and obviously, the entire Bennett family. He’s very kind, always accepting people exactly as they are and loves himself exactly as he is.
Then we have Joe Bennett. He meets Ox when he and his family move into the town, and they all embrace Ox with open arms. This family was really special to read about; they will literally do anything for each other and I loved reading the pack dynamics.
Joe and Ox had such an epic romance as well. I will say that there were some things that certain characters did that I didn’t like, but I’m happy the other characters never gave them a free pass or forgiveness too easily.
I haven’t even said anything about the plot. But I’m not sure what to say. There definitely is a plot. There are shapeshifters and witches and humans, lots of bad guys and fight scenes. But overall it’s about people. How they interact with each other. It’s about family, love, and friendship. I have a lot of feelings. I am a sucker for well-developed relationships (whatever type they might be!).
T.J. Klune wrote a really emotional and beautiful story here. This was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Angst ridden and humorous. I was hooked from the first page.
Wow!! So this was totally epic!!! It was sooo good. Heartbreaking story about a boy who finds his place among a wolf pack. So ya, werewolves are real and they live in Green Creek. Ox lives with his mom and he is an outcast, until he meets the Bennett’s. They accept them into their family and it is wonderful. Then some really bad things happen and their family is fractured for over 3 years! Wow those years were rough. Then they are whole again only to have it threatened once again. But alas you get the HEA for these two! Kirk Graves is absolutely stunning on the audio for this.
I don’t know what to say about this book that left me stunned and awestruck. I experienced every emotion while I read and listened to this book – joy, laughter, fear, excitement, sorrow, and compassion – this book cut me to the quick, made my heart bleed, and then healed it with a love so deep and intense that it made goosebumps break out on my skin.
This novel is a masterpiece – from the in-depth characterizations of the characters – even the villains and secondary characters were well crafted and complex – to the layout of the narration – both past, present, and future storylines. The prose was beautifully fashioned and flowed with ease – never once becoming rough nor choppy, never once becoming tedious and annoying. I couldn’t put this book down and then when it was finished, I felt adrift while I tried to process how I felt. Saying I love this book is putting it mildly.
This book had me completely awestruck. It’s utterly overwhelming, there’s just so much to process and appreciate. It’s bloody fabulous is what it is.
Objectively, Wolfsong is an M/M shifter romance. But it’s so much more than that. I wouldn’t want this amazing novel to be limited by such a restrictive description. Yes, it’s a love story and yes, one of the guys is a wolf shifter. But this story is about so much more. It’s about growing up, about family and trust. It’s about anger and loss. And love. Above all, it’s about love and not only the romantic kind.
I admit, for the first few pages I was a bit put off by the writing style. At a first glance, it appeared too crude and simple. Too abrupt. Almost child-like in the telling. But pretty quickly, I realized how wrong I was. The writing is nothing but brilliant. Apart from the fact that the short and concise style is the perfect fit for Ox’s personality and self image, and the fact that it’s a genius way to convey the world from Ox’s point of view, it also makes for some truly hilarious conversations. I high-lighted so many exchanges between Ox, Joe and his brothers just so I could go back and laugh some more. Simply brilliant.
This story is for everyone. It doesn’t matter if paranormal isn’t your preferred genre, it doesn’t matter if you’re skeptical to read about a love-story between two men. This read is a definite must-read. So emotional. So lovely. So raw. It’s a true slow-burn romance – and I mean sloooooow burn – it takes ages before they even kiss. But it’s magnificent. Personally, I would have liked some more hot man-on-man action, I mean who wouldn’t? But Wolfsong is pretty tame with the physical stuff and not very explicit. Basically the contrary to what I like, but it’s still one of the best books I’ve ever read. And I’ve found a new favourite author.
I can only quote ten year-old Joe when rating this book. It’s “candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome”. Yup that’s what it is.
https://reflectionsofaswedishgirl.blog.se/
One of the very best books I have ever read
And definitely a Top Read of 2019.
A book friend recommended this one forever ago and I grabbed it. She kept asking if I had read it and I hadn’t managed to find the time.
FINALLY I made the time and I am kicking myself so hard for waiting.
This book is EVERYTHING. I can’t even describe how much I loved it. I switched from laughing so hard I was snorting to sobbing so uncontrollably I couldn’t see the words on the page. I finished at 3am and laid awake for ages smiling and sniffling thinking about the magic of this book.
Ox is one of the most beautiful characters I have ever read and I know I will be thinking of him for a loooong time.
Fated mates, evil werewolves, first loves, family bonds and the inherent goodness of a young boy who has no idea just how special he is made this a six star read for me. PNR Romance perfection
This book is about a young man known as Ox that has a really bad father and a great mother, he doesn’t know how to approach people and doesn’t like to speak with others that much. One day he meets a boy named Joe that wasn’t speaking anyone until he met Ox, and they become best friends.
Joe’s family is beautiful and they are very united they receive Ox with arms wide open but they have a secret since they are werewolves and then the action begins… .
If you are looking for an unforgettable romance you should give this book a try.
Wonderful characters. Interesting twists.