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!

I really wanted to like this book. The ABO werewolf shifter genre isn't one I've seen very often in the world of mainstream fiction, and I've heard nothing but good things about TJ Klune's other books. Unfortunately this book just didn't land for me. Maybe it was how long it took for the two romantic leads to finally enter into a relationship (nearly the entire book). Maybe it was the way the book was written, with so many repeated phrases and odd stylistic choices. Not having read any of the authors other books I'm not sure if this is Klune's usual style, or just an example of an author's earlier works being less well-written. I also found some parts of the story too unintentionally hilarious to suspend disbelief (every time it talked about them 'singing' wiht the wolves all I could picture was grown men screaming into the woods, and don't even get me started on the weird 'packspeak' that is both oddly formal and weirdly childlike). I did enjoy some of the worldbuilding and the side characters, so I might pick up the next book to see if I can get into that one. That being said, I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this one more.

Another great book from TJ Klune. I’ve read other books by this author this one was just as good as those. I really enjoyed the story and the characters were well thought out.

lunes work gets better and better.i genuinely loved this one despite not loving the beginning of it. around half way I couldn't put it down. the story line is complex and twisty and I loved it. it hwas hard to keep track of the characters in the beginning but it adds to the story and I couldn't get enough.

TJ KLUNE owes me damages for the emotional rollercoaster I just went on.

This is the kind of book you should be reading with a support system nearby. I spent the first half of this book sobbing consistently and the second half sobbing sporadically.

This book takes a look at trauma and grief in the most beautiful way, and told through the lens of Ox it coalesces into something simple and beautiful and devastating.

Every character in this book is someone to love. Gordo and Elizabeth especially. If found family is your trope of choice then be ready to read this book and have it sink into your bones.

The symbolism of the colour green and of tears in relation to manhood were explored so beautifully throughout the book and I was turning pages so fast that I’d often have to go back and reread.

The way that Ox as a narrator evolved from simplistic sentences to a larger mastery of language as he aged was so skillful.

I adored this book. 5 stars, I wish I could reread it for the first time again

I'm so mad I slept on this for so long - it's fantastic!

Ox's daddy told him before he left that he was gonna get shit and never amount to anything. And Joe believed him, for the longest time he believed him.
And then there was Joe. This curious, energetic boy who claimed Ox the moment he saw him. Ox knew there was something different about their friendship, and as they grew together in their small town, Ox knew his life was not the same as others.

It's hard to summarise this books as SO much happens, it spans years. But the writing really pulls you in, Klune's voice (or Ox's) is so engaging and relatable. He doesn't write as though everything is perfect. We see every stumbled thought, every unconscious reaction. The characters were brilliantly written, and the AWKWARDNESS of Ox in the early days had me in tears of laughter multiple times.
I adored watching these characters grow and move together and cheered for them when they triumphed. And then there were the sad parts, the ones that had silent tears tracking down my cheeks because they were so beautiful in their heartbreak. I love the rawness with which Klune writes the story and doesn't hold back on the details of the queer relationship, it's refreshing to see it written with as much intimacy as the many straight relationships I have read.
The audiobook narrator did a stellar job bringing this story and the characters to life, and I am keen to see what the next book in the series is about, since this one wrapped up so neatly.

Wolfsong is the story if a young man, Ox, whose father has left him and his mother. Ox finds family and more with a pack of werewolves that move in next door.

I didn’t know until reading it that this book was being republished (it was originally published in 2015), presumably to capitalize on the popularity of House on the Cerulean Sea.

I loved HotCS. It was unique and amazing. The same can’t really be said of Wolfsong. It is a good example of the wolf pack genre, but falls into the traps and tropes of the genre without distinguishing itself. I’m not a fan of the whole Alpha trope. For one, it is not an accurate way of representing wolf family structures, which we’ve known for 20 years (at least 10 when the book was written). For another, it feels like repeating it merely reinforces outdated ideas of hierarchy (see also Jordan Peterson’s lobster nonsense).

The characters here are a combination of well-drawn and tropey placeholders. Some I liked others weren’t fully drawn enough to feel anything for.

All in all, I think this book shows how an author can grow and mature as a writer. It is amazing to see TJ Klune go from writing something that is a decent example of wolf pack fiction to creating something that truly stands on its own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for providing the advance reader’s copy.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this story as I did not read anything about it for requesting it, just knew about the author.

But there were so many things I loved about it! It was heartwarming and the characters sucked me right in from the very start.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the chance to read it.

This was absolutely amazing. I was hooked right from the first page and I was completely absorbed into Ox's life. I absolutely loved this book.
I just reviewed Wolfsong by TJ Klune. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Stupid me didn't realize this was just a reprint of TJ Klune's old work. LOVE this new cover, love gay werewolves, love TJ Klune. Overall very happy with an excuse to re-discover this series.