I stayed up until 2:30 reading this one--I enjoyed it a lot! It's just as sweet as his other books (House on the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets), but a little more graphically violent and a few more sex scenes. A queer paranormal romance about healing, chosen families, and being left behind.

3.5⭐
I love TJ Klune's most recent releases and when I saw this on netgalley with a different cover, I was intrigued. This book would be good for any fan of werewolf lit that doesn't mind a bit of unexpected spice. The majority of the book is fairly PG (sex wise) and then there are some pretty spicy scenes towards the very end. So definitely skippable, and the plot stands on its own without it as well.

This book has similar fantastic character development and character relationships as the authors other books, each character is vivid and clear and you feel like even minor characters could stand alone. The writing is very well done, again.

I got a little lost during the short prose ish/dialogue between wolf and human, pack mates/and alpha. It took away from the writing a bit and made me enjoy it a little less, having said that, perhaps you would really enjoy it if you are a hardcore werewolf lit fan.

Ox has always been picked on, he is a lumbering boy that people call dumb and make fun of. His father left when he was young and it's just him and his mom trying to make ends meet.

When the family at the end of their road moves in, everything changes. 10 year old Joe takes to Ox instantly and after experiencing trauma and being mute for a few years, he sees Ox and starts talking immediately. The Bennett family invites Ox into their family and accepts him as one of their own. He and hus mother are invited to Sunday dinners and he hangs out there every day after school.

Joe was kidnapped by Richard, an evil wolf, that wants to be an alpha and will go to any length to become one. What he wants most, is to destroy the Bennett's and take what he believes he is owed. When he escapes from magical prison, they are all on edge.

The book is about connection, found family, bonds, and love. It's also about werewolves and is LGBTQ+ friendly.

Thanks to netgalley for an eARC to review.

Something I really enjoyed about Wolfsong by TJ Klune was how long it took to know what was going on. Knowing more than the narrator but only barely more is one of my favorite literary devices when it's done well, and the first half of this novel really did make it work for the story, and had me turning page after page way past my bedtime.

There are some really interesting and subversive explorations of werewolves and magic tropes in this book, especially with how humans interact and coexist within the pack dynamic that I thought were really cool. The intensity of emotions all of that brought up for Ox (the main character) is really what drew me into the narrative at first.

I got through the first half of Wolfsong in one sitting, but finishing it was another story. I had to drag myself back to the book and trudge through. I really wanted to be beckoned to it, but I just didn't find myself super excited to finish it.

It is possible that this is related to another issue I have, which is that the summary blurb spoils a little over half of the story. It felt really counterintuitive to the story to have it this way, as to me one of the best parts about this story was discovering more about the world at the same time that Ox learned them. Knowing a few major plot points before they happened really lessened the emotional impact they had, and that was a bummer.

Overall, I really did want to enjoy this story, and there were parts I genuinely did like! The slow burn of the main relationship and culmination when they finally found one another on equal footing was great, and as I mentioned before the genre exploration was really intriguing and well done.

I'm a big fan of Klune's other works and was excited to give this a shot, especially knowing that it's the first in a series, but I don't think I can see myself returning to Green Creek.

For those wondering if they'll like this book, especially if you decide against reading the summary, I think this is a book and a series for people who know and love werewolves, but also for those who want to forray into the genre. It's not going to be a book for everyone, but it's not something you'll regret reading if you're interested in the subject.

Thank you to TOR/Forge publishers and NetGalley for access to an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Admittedly this was a reread for me as I'd initially read this (at least twice) before when released under an old publisher.

Yes it's about werewolves, but it's more.

Ox is a big kid with an even bigger heart. He's not what you'd call book smart, but he knows how to care for what matters. He's never expected much because, on his way out the door, his daddy told Ox he'd get sh*t his whole life.

Instead of sh*t he finds belonging and family beyond just his mom and his boss and coworkers at the garage. And with this family comes a whole new world he never thought possible. And deep love and loss.

This book conveys such an intense belonging and unconditional love through the way the characters come together and pull apart and find their way home. Yeah there's also the cool werewolf angle and some epic battles, but the relationships are what makes this book so good. It's also pretty dang funny. And might make you cry. So, be prepared.

I was slow to start this book because I was unsure of the writing style, but it hooked me and was hard to put down. Ox seemed simple at first, but he truly had so much depth as a person it was easy to relate to him. The Bennets were a remarkable family that I'm glad to see found someone special to welcome into their ranks. The pack was unique and the relationships ran deeper than you expected. Please pick up this book because it is beautiful and you won't regret adding it to your collection.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I adore this author and his writing style and I was only a chapter or two in when I started to become attached to the main character, Ox., and frankly emotional about how his father treated him. However… I thought the book drug on quite a bit and should have been edited down. It got to the point that I just wanted it to be over even though the writing was beautiful and, as usual, the characters were amazing, honest and true. The book was just too long and I like long books if the story is progressing..this was not. I am looking forward to Ravensong though. Interested to see where we go from here.

I really enjoyed this! It was all the campy coziness of Twilight, but with a queer spin on the story that I really, really loved. I also think that, unlike Twilight, the characters and connections are much deeper and impactful in this story. I love Ox and Joe 's character and connections develop through the story. I am hopeful that my library can get copies of this series as it's being rereleased, because I know that a lot of our teens will adore this story!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this.

I love TJ Klune's work! Wolfsong is about gay werewolves but the way TJ took Ox's character and transformed him into something amazing for his pack had me amazed. TJ Klune always finds a way to tug at my heart strings.

2/5 Stars

TL;DR - I’m almost conflicted about this book. On the one hand, it has beautiful and visceral explorations of grief and childhood trauma and the profound nature of found family, and on the other, it has a paper-thin plot, a cartoon villain, and oh my god no one ever stops talking long enough to even think the world ‘plot’. There’s too much and simultaneously not enough, and it all would have left a bitter taste in my mouth if the last 75% of the book hadn’t been bland, predictable filler.

Big thanks to Tor Publishing Group/Tor Books and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

‘Wolfsong’ by TJ Klune is the story of Oxnard “Ox” Matheson, a boy who grew up with an abusive father who always told him the world was going to give him shit. We watch as Ox grows up, dealing with the aftereffects of his father’s abandonment, and see how his life changes when the Bennett family moves in across the road. They’re energetic and affectionate and a little strange, and as they accept him into their family, he begins to feel drawn towards their youngest son, Joe. What follows is a years-long saga of found family, grief, sacrifice, and learning what it means to be a pack.

First, I want to come clean. I didn’t realize this was a werewolf book. Yes, the blurb says the Bennetts are shapeshifters who can turn into wolves at will, but I guess it read to me as more of a mystical, magic thing, not just…werewolves. Not that I don’t like werewolves, I’m just a veteran of the late 2000s YA vampire-werewolf craze and it’s really not my thing anymore, at least not in an urban fantasy setting. Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics (NOT the fanfiction variety, to be clear), are weird to me, the use of the term “mates” makes me uncomfortable, and it’s just all around not a good time for me. However, I didn’t dock any stars for that, because it’s 110% a me thing. If you love werewolf shenanigans, you might very well enjoy this book.

I gave this book 2 stars instead of 1 because the beginning was compelling, the writing was high-quality for the most part, and I found Ox a relatable character that I was excited to follow. I took away stars for a few reasons, which I’ll detail below, but one of the things that was an immediate demotion was the use of the r-slur. Call me over-sensitive, but there was no need for that slur to be used when this was published in 2016, and there’s no reason it needs to be used now with the republication. It added nothing to the story but tired and harmful anachronism, and turned me off so much.

The writing itself, independent of plot, was good for the most part. Sometimes it’s downright gorgeous. I just wish it wasn’t writing about werewolves and harping on dynamics and mates and whatever. I would be vibing along as the author beautifully explores the effects of abandonment and childhood trauma, grief and loss…and then the spell shatters as it brings up werewolf jargon.

The beginning of the book is good. I really enjoyed getting to know Ox and his struggles, and I think the author did a really good job of showing the progression in thoughts and speech that comes with maturing from childhood. I’ve never seen it done like that, or that well, and I was really impressed. Ox is a normal kid, then a normal teen, but he’s resilient and honest and just a good person. I felt a strong connection to him from the beginning, and I was excited to see where the story would take him.

Unfortunately, once the Bennetts show up, things get weird. Ox is 16 when he meets the love interest, Joe, who is 10 at the time. Somehow, Joe just “knows” they’re going to be mates…at 10…and commits to Ox then and there, in what, in this universe, is the equivalent of a marriage proposal on a soul level. He's 10, and I'm really uncomfortable. The dynamic between them is always teetering on the edge of “something more”, when Joe is a literal child for the majority of this book. It’s weird even when they’re both in their 20s because Joe still acts like a teenager. And even past that, the romance is just boring. There’s really not much chemistry, it’s just “you’re my mate” and “we're together because something something wolf reasons”. I was glad for the queer rep, but beyond that, it gave nothing.

The antagonist is boring. Typical bad guy with typical motivations. He delivers trite villain speeches that would have been better served in a bad CW teen show for how melodramatic they are. He does all of the expected “I’m a bad guy” things, and honestly, there were times where I wanted him to win so the book would be over and I could stop reading about him.

Several plot twists are entirely predictable. I could see the fates of a few characters from miles away, and I could see the big heartbreak scene before that. I had this feeling that the book was going to take a, shall we say, “New Moon” turn, and yep, it sure did. I felt part of myself disconnect from the story after that, and I really stopped caring about most of what was going on. The writing was still good, and I still cared about Ox, but the book became a chore to get through.

Everyone talks so much, but very little gets said. So many conversations are either superfluous or repetitive, or both. Ox has the same conversation, over and over with different people and nothing new is added and nothing comes of them. Yes, it mirrors how people talk in real life, but the point of dialog in books is to only say what needs to be said to convey information or character development, not every little thing. There’s just so much talking and so little saying. Around 75%, I just started skimming. Everyone just talks, nothing happens, I was so bored. This book really didn’t need to be as long as it is, but no one would shut up and let the plot progress.

Speaking of, the “plot” is barely above non-existent. Very little happens in this book that’s of any substance. There’s a few little plot points here and there, but they’re so few and far between, and so overcrowded by the constant repetition and talking that they almost fade into the background altogether. Things happen, people talk, I contemplate throwing my Kindle and myself out the window.

Ox makes some really stupid decisions towards the end of the book. He’s shown himself to be a smart and capable leader and then he just…forgets all he’s been through and makes the dumbest choices. The villain pulls an uninspired, predictable bad guy move, and that’s enough for Ox to snap and be an absolute idiot with his own personal safety? Nah. Why tell the pack of werewolves their arch nemesis is coming for him? Why do the smart thing when he can just be stupid for the angst? UGH.

The climax and the “twist” afterward were so anticlimactic. I knew what was going to happen miles before it did, and I held out a sliver of hope for the author to dazzle me with a big reveal or 180-turn, but it just…moseyed along its inevitable expected track to the end and gave me nothing. I felt nothing except my eyes scraping my skull as I rolled them, hard.

After reading this, I have to ask, was this originally a fanfiction of some kind? I’ve both read and written a lot of fanfic, and the majority of longer works tend to meander and eschew traditional story structure for the sake of character interaction and angst (which is fine and expected in the context of fan works), and that’s exactly what this book felt like to me. Long and loose, only bits of plot here and there; most of it felt self-indulgent, like these characters used to be from a fandom and the author was writing fic about them and then decided to change some names around before seeking publication. Or that the author reads/writes a lot of long fics and thought it would transfer over into novel form - spoiler, it doesn't. If it was a fandom I liked, where the characters were familiar and beloved and a lot of hard character development and world-building had been laid out by canon material, I wouldn’t mind reading 500+ pages of meandering story (which I quite often do), but because this is a world and characters I knew nothing about and had no previous draw to, this book is simply too long and too boring for me to feel anything but frustration after reading it.

Final Thoughts:

This book had a lot of my favorite things to see explored - found family, the nobody who shows their mettle and becomes a strong leader, the lifelong implications of childhood trauma, how grief changes us - but it ultimately felt like these things didn’t matter. It was all too far buried under endless talking and it had nothing to prop it up because the plot was so weak.

Even if werewolf stuff was my thing, I still wouldn’t have liked this book. I can get behind a story that’s not to my tastes if it’s a good story, but this wasn’t. This was just a giant serving of mediocrity soup, and I was full to bloating and nauseated hours before the bowl ran dry.

Wolfsong by TJ Klune is a captivating novel that explores the themes of identity, love, loss, and acceptance through the eyes of Ox, a young man with a speech impediment who has always felt like an outsider in his small town. The story follows Ox as he becomes entangled in the world of werewolves and magic, and as he grows older, he realizes that his fate is tied to the fate of his pack, and he must fight to protect those he loves from the dangers that lurk in the shadows.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Wolfsong, although I felt it wasn't as strong as some of Klune's other works such as The House in the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door. That being said, the unique take on the werewolf mythology that Klune presents in this novel is refreshing, and the world-building is well-executed.

In conclusion, I would recommend Wolfsong to readers who enjoy YA and LGBTQIA+ fiction and to those who appreciate complex themes and character arcs. I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

DNF

While I ADORED house in cerulean sea, not a single other work from Klune has managed to be enjoyable for me.

This is an epic PNR narrative that begins when Ox is 12 and ends when he is 26. We first meet him on the day his father abandons him and his mother. Four years later, a youngster moves in next door, and he has no clue how this boy will affect the course of his life. He and Joe are first and foremost friends: when they meet, Joe is 10 and Ox is 16. Joe, who is recuperating from tragedy, and Ox both sorely need a buddy. (Please see the content warnings.)

Tj Klune can do no wrong. Ever since I read House in the Cerulean Sea I have been slowly working through all of his novels. This one was no exception, they have all been amazing. The character development in this book is like no other. I fell in love with Ox and his story from the very first page. Lovely book.

I've never read a TJ Klune book before now, so I didn't go in with any expectations other than "a lot of people like House on the Cerulean Sea". And really, that is probably a benefit for me.

It reads pretty much like your typical male/male romance with some pretty typical werewolf tropes. It did do some subversive work on a couple tropes that made it fun at points, it really isn't much different than most werewolf fiction, which is pretty tried and true at this point in time.

I think in the end I'm going with 3.5 stars since the prose is pretty simple and has its fill of drama, it's an easy read, but nothing I really considered special.

The new cover is pretty and a good representation of the book, too.

TJ Klune has pulled on my heart strings yet again.

In Wolfsong we follow a beautiful journey of Ox and Joe. Following them both from a young age through adulthood and them falling in love in the process. The way I was sucked in from the beginning was incredible.

This story feels like coming home. It's the best way I can describe it. I would love to live in Green Creek please.

I can't wait to see what Klune does next.

First off, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an e-copy of this book! This is my second TJ Klune read after the House in the Cerulean Sea, and believe me when I say that this person is a genius! Not just because the plot line is so unique and creative, but also because there is something about the tone of the book — which I’m not extremely sure how to express in words — that leaves such a tone of hope and warmth even through all the struggles that the characters face. I loved Ox as a character, especially his relationships with other characters in the story. Even though he grew up in environments that are not the most favorable, the fact that he is still able to appreciate, care and love those around him is something that is extremely admirable. His relationship with Joe especially?! Oh my goodness, I strongly urge everyone to pick this book up and read it for themselves, because their chemistry and relationship development is OFF THE ROOF!

And I believe that a book that — despite having many pages — doesn’t feel like a drag, is a truly great book. And this is how I exactly felt with Wolfsong. There’s just something about this story, about the prose, that makes you want to keep turning the pages. Regardless of the many twists and turns in the story, every event is fleshed out and serves an important purpose. Another aspect that the author did wonderfully is develop many characters in the book. Oftentimes, it is difficult enough to develop even just the main character, let alone multiple characters, some of which may be secondary. However, the fact that I came to care about the fates and decisions of many of the characters in the book shows just how incredible of a piece of writing the Wolfsong is.

Overall, for everyone who loves a good and heartwarming fantasy, with an abundance of moral messages and beautifully crafted story and characters, I fully recommend you picking up this book.

This book reminded me of Twilight except with wolves instead of vampires. It is the first book of a trilogy.

The main character and narrator is Oxnard 'Ox' Matheson, a young man who is assumed to be dumb as an ox, partly because he is not very articulate, is slow to move and speak, and is very large for his age. Ox may not be great with words, but he has good emotional intelligence and is loving and loyal. I loved how Ox described what he experiences as being green - for example, green like relief, and wondered if he might be experiencing synesthesia. Ox grows and comes into his own over the course of this book.

The first part of the book is about his early life. His father left when he was 12. He was abusive to both Ox and his mother, and made it clear to Ox that he was worth nothing. Ox was already used to this treatment at school but it was a particular disappointment from a parent.

When his father left, he left them in bad shape financially. He had stopped paying the mortgage months before and they were going to lose the house. Twelve year old Ox went to Gordo's, the shop where his dad had worked, and asked for a job. Gordo, the owner of the shop, helps them with the mortgage, and Ox begins working after school for him. Gordo is paying the mortgage from Ox's earnings. Gordo is a wonderful man - in a few months the mortgage was caught up and Ox had still earned money. Ox was paid 'under the table' since he was too young to legally work for payment,

It was soon after this that Ox meets Joe, a younger outgoing boy he meets on the road outside of town one day. Joe and his family, the Bennetts, have just moved to a house outside of the town.

Meeting Joe and his family would change Ox's life forever. They welcomed him and his mother as family, and saw what Ox had the potential to become and what he would be to Joe.. Then something terrible happened and everything changed again for both Ox and the Bennetts.

I highly recommend this book to any lover of contemporary fantasy and romance. I received an e-arc from the publisher via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

This book has been on my radar for a while, so I was excited to finally get to read it. And I’m glad I did (his other books will be moving up my TBR list because of it).

I’m a sucker for found family and supernatural so this felt right up my alley. I loved all the characters very quickly and I enjoy Klune’s writing style enough to want to read more from him. Every character’s voice is so very distinct, which can be hard to do with a cast so big. Also werewolves ... but not like the murdery kind (but also the murdery kind).

The only drawback I had was the ages that the two main characters meet and the gap between them in the beginning. It’s safe in that anything romantic doesn’t really happen until they’re in their 20s, but I wish the age gap would have been a bit smaller for the initial age range.

It could also tend on the side of heavy handed in some of the conversations between Ox and X character(s) trying to convince him of his self worth. I’m also emotionally stunted, so that could just be me uncomfy with feelings.

Still a really fun read! I look forward to the sequels.

Star Rating: —> 5 BRILLIANT, AMAZING Stars
🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟

[ You should know, friends, when I say 5 stars, what I really mean is all of the freaking stars in the sky, in the universe, & every other possible universe out there

I have honest to God CHILLS after reading this book. Chills. What an absolutely incredible work of art! My God TJ KLUNEEEEE IS ONE OF MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE AUTHORS OF ALL TIME! How is he SO BRILLIANT??!?

and (for those of you whom thave not yet read this—please excuse me while I talk wolf a little bit here...)
the moon
themoonthemoonthemoon
all of the moons
in existence
themoonthemoonthemoon
because
this was
absolutely EVERYTHING
IS everything
lovelovelove
loveox&joe&ox&joe
&oxoxoxoxoxPACKalpha
this was
moonstarssunsky
this is
green(love and happiness and pure undiluted joy)
green
🤍🖤🤍 ]

*bows* lol

My GAAAAHHHHD! (Hahha) this was just so... PERFECT. If we are friends & you read a lot of my reviews, you probably are SICK of hearing about how much I freaking love TJ Klune, haha. He makes me so very proud to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community! His signature POSITIVE queer representation in his books was front & center here & as real & beautiful as ever. I loved reading his style of writing in a mlm PNR story with werewolves & witches & extraordinary humans, oh my! (Though this novel was so very much more than your average PNR/ UF story—let me tell you!); it was, as always, so REFRESHING, & I believe, so IMPORTANT, as well, for people of all ages, and all identities to read. I LOVED that in this book, that the werewolves are all sexually fluid! Seemingly, so is Ox, the very much human main character & narrator of Wolfsong. The prose was so readable, unique, & so very vivid, it was like I could HEAR the wolves' songs!

SO—There's something VERY, very, special about Ox, & this story is about him coming to realize this, being made to feel it for himself & KNOW it about himself and about finding true love in many forms (especially three major ones that i'm going to touch on in a moment) & making it work, no matter what, because the right love is so very much worth it. He faced abuse as a child from his father up until his teens, (but so very much love from his mother🤍) & before his father left, Ox was constantly told that he was an absolute nobody & that would always amount to nothing, which (ummmm yeah. F*ck ALL THE WAY off) couldn't be FURTHER from the truth ( so TAKE THAT, Ox's DAD, shows what you know. So yes. Thank you, really, for kindly f*cking off! He's SO MUCH BETTER without you!). Lol I do apologize in a sorry not sorry sort of way because I am SO protective of Ox & love him SO MUCH, he's just so damn precious & so loving & he deserves the WORLD! 🖤.

(Also keep in mind— this book takes place over the span of quite a few years. I believe about ten to fifteen?)

So; at the very roots of this story, its lifeblood, is the love that comes with found family, a common theme in Klune books! And I feel like I am doing it a disservice by putting it so very simply, because it has so many facets in this beautiful, touching, wonder of a novel & the way Klune writes about it is SO emotionally provoking (believe me, my face is still stained with the remnants of a very VERY large amount of tears 😅)—but I do not want to, no, I REFUSE to spoil Ox's journey for you, at ALL, so simply put, it must be. All I can say is that the beauty & the love of the found family theme here is just... absolutely everything; Just next level extraordinary; you can feel the love jump off the pages, its so prolific!

The next kind of love is SELF love, which I already touched on, but it really is so beautiful how Ox blooms all on his own, though always with the people who care for him at his side reminding him how loved, trusted, & respected he is by them. He is everything his father never said he could be. In fact, at a certain point, he rarely ever even thinks about his father because of this.

The last but most DEFINITELY not least kind of love I will mention is romantic love. MATED (or to be mated) love. The romantic interest is an adorable werewolf named Joe who is to be the next great Alpha of the Bennett clan. He is a supporting character that is just so damn adorable... we are introduced to him when he isn't yet even into his teens, eleven, I believe? He takes to Ox IMMEDIATELY, & they begin to have a wonderful friendship that one day, yeaaarrrrs later, turns to all o' that crushing love love when Ox notices just how much Joe has grown up & sees him for the sweet, HUNK of a man that he is & their relationship? It's what we LIVE FOR in PNR novels, & more. They both suffer from trauma & help each other heal. They build an unbreakable bond that is only just beginning! Plus the sex scenes were🤌🏻(!), seemingly realistic, & thus awkward at first (but thats part of what makes it so GREAT!), & intense, & the perfect mix of romantic & raw ;)); So all in all— definitely some high quality stuff right here! 😉

Klune is just a master of his craft. Truly.
Just... this depiction of werewolves/ witches really, truly, is such a fascinating take...

BUT it is those many facets of love (though there IS also tragedy, & much sorrow at times— I will not lie to you.), where this really shines the most. As bright as the sun!

I am not too much into werewolf stories generally, but if any of my fav authors write about them then you KNOW i'm going to read the books! Lol. Everything you THINK you know I’m penciling in the EXACT DATE that each new release comes out ud rd lol. about werewolf stories is turned on its head here, by a very special boy (who later becomes an absolutely exceptional, strong, unique, & VERY special, important man) who doesn't know his own worth until he finds a group of people who love him endlessly for who he is...

This one is in the will-probably-reread-(and cry over)-a-million-times pile, you can bet your bottom dollar on that!

10/10, 100% plus extra credit, HIGHLY recommend for all upper YA/ NA/ adult readers!!!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!