I adored this book! The way TJ Klune writes found family novels just resonates with me so much. Wolfsong is no exception and I loved all of these characters and the story so much.

I think this book just isn't for me.

Having read Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door, I was expecting an introspective cosy fantasy. This was decidedly not that.

Being an educator, the age gap really didn't sit right with me. They meet at 10 and 16 and Ox constantly thinks back to the 10 year old Joe throughout the book. As a result, I felt that Joe's character development was stilted and at pivotal times nonexistent. I also struggled with accepting some of the character development we are told about Ox midway through. Perhaps if they had met at the same developmental point, these issues would have been easier to overcome.

I can see that there is an audience for this book and certainly I do love a found family trope - plenty of that here. But I simply wasn't able to overcome the timing of the age gap.

If you liked Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, and House by the Cerulean Sea, you will find in Wolfsong the same themes of love, found family, and acceptance. You will laugh, cry, and you might possibly howl 🐺. You're definitely going to feel GREEN.

Ox was young when he and his mother were abandoned by his father, and that experience affected him deeply. When a new family moves in nearby and he makes a new friend, Joe, he starts to learn just what a family can be...a wolf pack!

TJ Klune is amazing at writing characters that are easy to fall in love with, and I fell in love with Ox, Joe, the Bennett family, the guys at the auto shop, Gordo the witch, and everyone in Green Valley. I already have the next book in the series, Ravensong, downloaded and I'm looking forward to reading it next.

Content warning: the age gap between Joe and Ox is cringe worthy at the beginning of the story. This book is a paranormal romance and there is one scene that is quite detailed. If you have read the other books by TJ Klune I mentioned, they are low on spice. Wolfsong rates quite high.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing a digital copy of Wolfsong for my honest review.

“The Bennett family has a secret:
They’re not just a family, they’re a pack.
Wolfsong is Ox Matheson’s story.”

This story.

This story.

This story is everything.

I mean, yes, this book is, I suppose, a Gay Werewolf Book, but that’s like calling Field of Dreams a Sports Movie or Shawshank Redemption a Prison Flick.

This work contains werewolves, and witches, and magic (oh my!) but it’s also deep, and tender, and funny, and poignant, and everything you don’t generally get from a bit of YA sparkly vampire fiction.

I’ll admit to being a little concerned about the age gap, but everything was 100% above board.

My only hesitation in suggesting this book to LITERALLY EVERYONE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 12 and 120 are the extremely graphic sex scenes.

If you like open door scenes, you’re going to love this. It’s sexy and tender and more than a little dirty.

Me? I’m getting cranky in my dotage, and tend to skip ahead.

This is my fourth TJ Klune, and it won’t be my last. Cannot wait for Ravensong.

8/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this tender ARC.

TJ Klune is a genius. Wolfsong is incredible. It's like gay adult Twilight but the wolves are the main characters, and there isn't an annoying emo girl character everyone is obsessed with.

Ox Matheson has been told his entire life he's nothing. He's 16 when he meets the Bennett family--his new neighbors and the kind of supportive, loving family he's always longed for. He develops a special connection with Joe, the youngest Bennett. The Bennetts, however, have a secret. Ox is 23 when tragedy strikes, and things get complicated from there.

Omg, I loved and hated and loved this book. I wanted to SCREAM at Joe for some of the decisions he made, while at the same time understanding why he made them. Ox, however, owned my heart from the first page. His character is really something special. I want to wrap him up in a huge hug and never let him go.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Thank you to Tor Books and Netgalley for my ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! I've never read anything quite like it. The descriptions used in this book made me feel like I was right there in the story. I love how TJ Klune makes the characters come to life. I am working my way through this series. Who knew werewolves could be so exciting.

I've had this book on my TBR for a while now, and when I requested this ARC I didn't even realize this was a re-release. I've had mixed luck with TJ Klune thus far, but am always open to reading more from him, and I am happy that I did because I ended up loving this book. In fact, I was debating giving this 5 stars if wasn't for some things that happened at the end of the book.

I think what worked for me was the fact that this book read like fanfiction, and I mean that in the best way. Fanfiction, in terms of the format and themes, isn't for everyone, but it is for me, and the way the book was written allowed me to become really engrossed in the story. It was just more than the overall story though that worked, as I loved Ox and Joe right from their first interaction. Granted, it was odd at first reading it in the context of knowing that they would end up together even though Joe was only 10 when they met, but the relationship was platonic until way later on so it was fine.

Now, I know I just said I liked the way the story was written, but it wasn't perfect. The narrative was disjointed at times and the book itself was rather long and felt dragged out at points. By the time I was halfway through the book, it felt like the story should have ended. Was still enjoying myself though so it wasn't all that big of a deal. The text was also very repetitive at times, particularly when it came to Ox's trauma from his father. I understand why it was repeated, but after a while it got annoying.

One other concept I wished was more clear was the dynamics of the pack. Ox ends up becoming part of the pack, but as a human, I don't understand how he gains some supernatural abilities just because of that. In my mind, he is still a human and therefore should be able to hear their thoughts or see their auras. At the least, an explanation would have been nice for context.

Overall though, despite the ending which I didn't like, this was fantastic, and I can see myself re-reading this over and over again.

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Books, for giving me the opportunity to review this in advance (even though I am posting this after the book was released.)

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Green Creek series. I got an eGalley of this through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: I really loved the first part of this book, thought the middle was slow, but enjoyed the ending. Prior to read this I had read a number of Klune's other books. I really loved "The House in the Cerulean Sea", "Under the Whispering Door", and "The Lightning-Struck Heart". I liked, but didn't love, "In the Lives of Puppets". I have not read his The Extraordinaries series. For some reason I had no idea that the Green Creek series existed until I saw it up for review on NetGalley.

This story is told from Ox's POV. Ox is a bit slow and has had a tough upbringing, but all that changes when the Bennett family moves in next door and Joe (the youngest Bennet) chooses Ox as his. Ox doesn't know that the Bennetts are shapeshifters but he does know he is finally finding the family he never knew he needed. Years pass, Ox's feelings towards Joe start to become more, then violence strikes and Joe leaves town...leaving Ox to protect the territory and fight through trouble that plagues Green Creek...that is until Joe comes back.

I really loved the beginning of this book. Ox is a bit slow and the story is told in a very lyrical but stylistic way that echos Ox thinking. We find that it's not really that Ox is slow, he just thinks through things a bit differently than others. I enjoyed the writing style and found it very engaging and unique. There is a ton of humor as well, which had me laughing out loud numerous times. In fact I really enjoyed a lot about this book until Joe leaves. Then things just slow down a lot. There are some good action scenes but you really feel the loneliness and ennui that Ox is experiencing and it went on for too long for the reader. It just gets too serious and too slow.

Things pick up again once Joe returns and I enjoyed watching Ox, Joe, and Joe's family navigate through all the of the issues that were created both by Joe's leaving and by the evil werewolf and mage Joe is trying to hunt down.

I know that there have been complaints about the weirdness in the age gap between Ox and Joe. The age gap is really only 5 years, which isn't that big. The fact that Joe identifies Ox as his true love at the age of 10 is a bit weird, but not that weird considering the supernatural/paranormal aspects involved. Additionally, they end up being just very close trusting friends at this point. A point is made that Ox is a bit developmentally slow and Joe has had to grow up way too fast, so that evens the mental playing field some. Also, Ox and Joe aren't romantically involved until Joe is in his upper teens and Ox is in his low 20's. Even then it's mostly fooling around and not anything beyond kissing. They don't really get serious until both characters are in their 20's...so I guess I don't see the issue here. I mean my grandparents were 10 years apart in age and they did fine...5 years is nothing.

My biggest issue with the book was how much re-hashing of emotions there are throughout the story; this needs some editing to take out a lot of repetitive angsting over the same issues again and again. This book is a couple hundred pages longer than it actually needs to be. I ended up skimming a lot of parts where Ox was rehashing the same issues over and over in his head. Additionally, a lot of the plot hinges on the fact that Joe leaves, and Joe's decision to leave seemed a bit contrived to me and never made sense.

I did enjoy the complex characters and the way Ox finds a new family with the Bennetts. I also enjoyed Ox's friendship with the local car mechanics. The different aspects around the Alpha magic were very intriguing and the issues this created when Joe returned were also well done. This is definitely an adult book, there is gruesome violence and very detailed male/male sex scenes in here. Will I read the rest of the series? Not sure right now. I liked a lot of this but also felt like it was just too wordy and repetitive at points.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed most of this book but thought the middle portion was too slow and depressing. The beginning of the book was fantastic with a lot of humor, intriguing characters, and a unique writing style that was engaging and fun to read. The book then got too serious and slow for me. There are some great action scenes in here and I enjoyed the plot around the evil werewolf/mage. I also really enjoyed the Bennett family and how they interacted with each other. I would recommend this to paranormal/werewolf story fans who don't mind a romance heavy story with some very explicit male/male sex. I am on the fence about whether or not I want to continue it.

There’s no doubt that TJ Klune writes absolutely beautiful. His stories are always magical and captivating. Wolfsong was an amazing read. I loved everything about it. I can’t wait to continue reading the series. Thank you so much NetGalley for giving me this amazing opportunity.

I really loved this book. Second book read by this author and I’m excited to read the next one in this series.

I absolutely loved the first book and can’t wait to read the sequel. I adore TJ Klune’s writing style.

I received this ARC from NetGalley a few months ago and I was putting it off, partly because it was so long and partly because while I wanted to try this author, I hadn't read their writing before.

This book is about Ox, a boy growing up in a small town with a father who left and a mother who tried to make ends meet. He had a close group of friends at the mechanic's where he worked (and I absolutely loved their group of friends) and he also befriended the mysterious Bennet family who are all very close and have a mysterious history in the town previously. This book is about werewolves, small towns, found families (pack), fated mates and the supernatural underneath the mundane. I love all these tropes so I shouldn't be surprised that I enjoyed this book as well.

I really enjoyed this book. The main POV is Ox as he grows up and settles into his life as the man he wants to be, rather than the man his father thought he would be. He also has a fated mate relationship thing with Joe and I enjoyed that, even if I know some reviewers didn't like the age gap between them. I appreciated the fact that Ox got the chance to have other relationships before getting together with Joe and it's made clear they weren't just waiting around for him (especially before he even knew what was going on), because it backed up the whole thing about the two of them being each other's choice very well.

I also liked the change in the book about halfway through after the tragedy struck and Ox and Joe were apart for a while. I liked how, while it wasn't a good decision all round, it made perfect sense for the teenager who had all this sudden responsibility to make this impulsive decision, especially considering what Ox had said in his grief. I loved how it was treated as the serious break it was, and we got to see how Ox had to handle Joe making the decision for the both of them, especially after Joe came back.

One thing I didn't like was the very end of the book, considering that it not a trope I particularly like. I especially didn't like it in this book considering everything that had happened before around Ox and his choices, and it felt like since it was at the end of the book we couldn't see Ox dealing with it.

But I am definitely interested in checking out the rest of the series and other books written by this author.

4.5 stars!

Wow. I’ve been having a hard time trying to put into words how this book made me feel. It honestly made me feel everything. It’s been a long time since I have loved a book this much. It has become my whole personality since I finished it. I can’t think of anything else. I want to crawl into this book and live there. 🥰

Wolfsong is like a cozy blanket. Which I am finding out is usually how TJ Klune’s books feel. He is definitely one of my favorite authors now, for sure. 💗

This book is a M/M shifter/ werewolf romance, about two amazing characters named Ox & Joe. They are both amazing characters with hearts of gold. The way they care about each other is unmatched. Absolute soulmates💕 Also the spice scenes (however few) were🤌🏼

Every character in this book is fantastic (besides the bad guys), very much found family/ pack vibes. ✨

I really loved the way TJ Klune went with this book, it is so different from any other shifter book (or film) that I have ever read. It was a bit confusing at first and definitely a bit strange but in the BEST way. Not to mention an emotional rollercoaster! I cried & cried while reading this book, because I loved these characters soooo much, & they went through a lot. But alll the sad tears were worth it because in the end there were only happy tears.🥹

Thank you TJ Klune & Netgalley for letting me receive this ARC💗

I cannot wait to read the rest of this series! It might just be my favorite series ever! GO ADD THIS TO YOU TBR!

While I’ve heard ton of praise for this author, it wasn’t until I saw Tor was reissuing this series that I decided it was finally time to pick it up. I don’t know what took me so long to read this because this is like angsty found family concentrate.

Ever since his dad left Ox and his mom, Ox has tried to help his mom out however he could. It doesn’t help that most folks in the small town of Green Creek consider him “slow” because he tends to think things over before he speaks so he has very few friends to rely on. That all changes when the Bennetts move back in and he meets Joe, the youngest son. And sure, there’s something a little different about the Bennetts, but why should that matter? That is, until the evil hunting them follows them to Green Creek.

“Just who are you?”
“I’m Ox,” I said. “Just Ox. That’s all.”


Everyone looks down on Ox for being “simple.” But it’s more that his motivations are just so pure – he wants to take care of his mom, and as time goes on, his friends. Steps along that path – like getting a shirt with his name embroidered on it from the mechanic – that would seem like nothing to most people are milestones to him. Protecting, supporting and loving those he cares about are the bedrocks of his personality and all of his actions stem from that. How could you not love a character like that? It’s his unique POV that takes a well-worn plot (normal person discovers there’s werewolves!!!) into something that’s impossible to put down.

“I’m not eating that” was the first thing I said.
Mom elbowed me in the stomach. “He might be listening!” she hissed at me.
“I mean. Uh. Wow. That looks so good!” I was almost shouting.
“Subtle, Ox.”
“A werewolf is courting me with a dead rabbit. There’s nothing subtle here.”


This does eventually turn into a romance. The “eventually” being because Ox and Joe first meet when Ox is sixteen and Joe is ten. It’s a deep friendship from the start for both boys desperately in need of friends – Ox needs someone who sees him for himself and not his large size and slow manner, and Joe needs someone who sees him and not the trauma he’s just been through. While Joe immediately knows that Ox is “his,” Ox doesn’t develop romantic feelings for him until Joe’s almost eighteen – and is immediately horrified by the age gap and the possibility of ruining their friendship. Ox, of course, is the last person to realize that Joe’s into him. But Circumstances occur and Joe is 20 and Ox is 26 before any real attempt can be made at a romantic relationship – and they have a lot more things to work through and trust to rebuild before that can happen.

“You’re my family. Okay? You’re my family. My pack. And whatever happens, whatever comes our way, I need you to remember that. That you have each other, no matter what.”


The found family aspects were what really drew me into the story. The Bennetts immediately enfold Ox into their family, and before she knows it, his mom is included as well. Ox also has his mechanic friends at work – his original second family – and as the story progresses, the two found families interact in interesting and emotional ways. It’s hard to go more into that without going into spoilers, but there’s just as much angst and happy tears to be had over these relationships as Ox and Joe’s relationship.

Overall, an intriguing and engrossing take on werewolves with a generous dollop of found family. Highly recommended to any other found family fanatics out there!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

TJ Klune can do no wrong. I’ll read every book he comes out with! This is a new favorite of mine by Mr. Klune! 5 stars from me.

As with all Klune books, I’ve been completely swept away and immersed in this world. Green Creak, Oregon in nothing special. The people who are forced to stay are nothing special.

But then there’s Ox, or “just Ox” as he constantly refers to himself, a gentle, humble boy who’s been dealt too much pain and sadness for one so young.

After his father (and I use that term in the loosest of definitions) leaves unceremoniously, Ox must step up and be “the man” of the house and help his mom.

On his way home from the mechanic shop job that he loves (and provides him with the safest, most supportive found family) Ox meets a tornado of a young boy who says the strangest things. When the boy begs Ox to come to his house and meet his parents, Ox is so flabbergasted he agrees. But the Bennett family is more than just a family, they’re a pack. And Joe, the little tornado, is more than just a boy. He’s an abuse and abduction survivor whom hasn’t spoken in 15 months since his rescue. Until he meets Ox.

Wolfsong is so earnestly beautiful. Klune writes like few and his work stands out prominently as some of the most lyrical I’ve read to date. His characters are gorgeously alive and three dimensional, and I’d follow this author anywhere.

This is my 3rd book read by this author and as always it has been a joy to read. It was a very comforting read and I was hooked from the beginning. A lot of character building and deep emotions. Looking forward to my next T.J. Klune read.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read “Wolfsong” by T.J. Klune in exchange for an honest review. He has become an automatic author buy for me, whatever he releases, I will read. Klune is the type of author that I feel safe with, knowing that no matter what the book is, I know I’m in good hands for a fantastic piece of literature. “Wolfsong” did not let me down. I was hooked from the start for Klune’s writing style allows the audience to want to know more, to feel the emotions that the main character goes through, and to feel the need to turn the pages. The story is immersive, the characters felt raw and real, and I loved every bit of it. I am so excited to continue the series! If you’re a fan of found family, this work or ANY by T.J. Klune, is for you.

TJ Klune never fails!

Though this title was previously released years ago I never got around to reading it despite being a massive TJ Klune fan! Now that its getting the traditional publishing treatment I knew it was the time to pick it up.

Klune has woven an incredible story filled with characters that have so many layers of emotion and depth. It is so easy to bond with the characters in this book and get pulled in to their story.

I really loved the staccato first person narrative of this book, and I really loved the repetition of a lot of phrases and themes. I think because I grew up reading Stephen King who uses a lot of repetitive phrasings in his books that's something that always strikes me as either creepy or important, depending, like a heartbeat, like hammering something home, so it was very appealing.

I haven't read much werewolf/shifter fiction so this genre is more or less new to me. I appreciated that the wolves identify as (sexuality-wise) fluid but my dumb logic brain is like "oh if the Alpha has a male mate what about the Bennett bloodline?' as if this isn't the first book in a several book series with plenty of potential to figure that out if they even want to! I actually expected quite a lot more spice, but that's probably because of shifter romance expectations and not like, a story where romance isn't the main focus and a lot more attention on family, bonds, trauma recovery (sort of), and grief.

TJ Klune is really good at writing both found family and really cute kids (and I'm not even a kid-character liker), and while this was the third book of his I read it's a rerelease of one of his earlier works-- I'll definitely keep reading this series! And not just because I already have the ARC downloaded for Ravensong!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for this ARC borro in exchange for my honest review.