Member Reviews
Welcome back to the world of werewolves and witches and the tiny town of Green Creek. Ravensong follows the story of Gordo Livingstone, witch to the infamous Bennett werewolf pack.
Gordo has a long, haunting history with the Bennett family, full of abandonment, anger, and broken hearts. When outside packs move against the Green Creek pack, Gordo has to choose how deeply his loyalties lie and is he capable of forgiveness.
This was the most difficult TJ Klune book for me. Every work I've read of his has immediately drawn me in, and I'm bewitched by the characters almost instantly. That didn't happen for me in this book. It came in waves in this book. I'd start to lose interest, then a conflict would arise, and I'd be drawn in again.
That being said, I am planning on continuing the series. Every author can't be perfect all the time (although TJ, if anyone could be it's you), and I haven't given up hope on the coming books.
Right off the bat I want to sat that, I just love this series so much so far. I seriously flew through this book. Fantastic. Amazing. Lots of laughs and lots of tears.
These books are not stand alones so definitely read “Wolfsong” before reading this one!
I was honestly a bit nervous about this book becausei knew it was going to focus more on Gordo and Mark versus the last book focusing on Ox and Joe. But honestly it did not matter I was hooked right away. I won't lie though Ox and Joe are still my favorite.
Ravensong brings us back to Green Creek with the stronger than ever Bennett Pack. It takes us back through some of the events that happened in Wolfsong but through Gordo’s POV, aka The witch of the Bennett pack. We get to see what the other side was going through. We also get to see alot into Gordo’s past and why he is the way he is.
The story of Gordo and Mark's relationship is a heartbreaking one. They both have been through so much and have hurt eachother so much. a lot of should haves and wasted time. Throughout this story they work on trying to rebuild what has been broken for a long time. Its not road an easy especially with everything else going on. Something spreading throughout the wolves and all of Green Creek under attack.
This book was very tense at times but these characters are all so amazing. They never failed to make me laugh. I wish I could be a part of their pack!
If you loved “Wolfsong”, you will love this one too! And if you haven’t read it yet, DO IT! And that goes for all of TJ Klune’s books honestly.
Thank you Net Galley & TJ Klune for this ARC, it was wonderful.
Thrills, fascinating personalities, humor, romance, well-woven communities, and dazzling authorship fill the pages of TJ Klune’s “Ravensong.” In preparation for this sequel, I re-read Book 1 of the Green Creek series, “Wolfsong,” and was impressed. It’s rare for a book to get better the second, much less the third time around. I suspect the same will be true for “Ravensong.” But fair warning. To be steeped in the exquisite glory of these adventure romances, read then in order.
Mr. Klune has created a unique and enticing wolf-shifter world. where individuals have tethers, who balance their wolf and human natures. And strong packs have witches. When certain witches and wolves go “bad” without their tethers, our heroes are hard hit. This installment features Gordo’s terrifying youth, how he became pack witch and why he broke tether with Mark, the pack’s “enforcer.” Unfortunately Gordo’s father is one of the bad witches. In the midst of a wolf pandemic (written long before COVID,) Gordo and Mark must re-develop trust in their love to save the pack and possibly their species.
“Ravensong” explores factors that create and destroy humanity - how a loving community draws the best from each individual. Appreciation of diversity is central, as humans, wolves and witches either cooperate or collide. I appreciate how Mr. Klune slowly bends the clumsy arc of their universe towards justice. This is a book of true depth.
Mr. Klune ‘s language sings, even in what he doesn’t say, as words set an ever-shifting tone. Here is Gordo’s account of his mother’s death. “He swerved to miss something on a darkened road. Went into a tree. Father said it was an accident. Probably a deer. He didn’t know I’d heard Grandpap and Mother whispering about taking me away just days before.” Way creepier than saying he suspected his dad was involved in his mother’s demise, isn’t it? And wait until you read the dialog. People’s characters enveloped me, merely through how they spoke to one another!
The plot is fast-paced, and might seem action-driven, but it isn’t. Instead, facts are revealed at emotionally appropriate moments, leaving me anxious to learn outcomes. With other authors, the technique feels contrived. Here it bound me to the characters. I was no sooner giggling, than I was terrified or crying for them.
And these are some of the minor joys. Mr. Klune’s brilliance shines through interactions where love leads, binding, sometimes cursing its victims. These super-creatures stumble or become tongue-tied at all the wrong moments, ignore their own wisdom, and generally behave like everyone else I know. Even as my skin crawled at villains’ twisted views, I wanted to hug each pack member.
Simply put, my highest recommendation goes to “Ravensong.”
Book Description:
Ravensong by TJ Klune is book 2 in the Green Creek series. Gordo Livingstone had sworn off wolves and Mark Bennett. Content with throwing himself into work at his garage, he creates a new family for himself with Chris, Tanner, Rico, and Ox. But now, despite past warnings from his mother, Gordo has once again found himself aligned with the Bennett pack. When new threats come to Green Creek, everything he believes is tested, and Gordo learns the true meaning of love and family.
My Thoughts:
Klune makes you FEEL. You feel happiness and grief. Loyalty and palpable dread. Longing and love. Ravensong was INTENSE! At times, I found myself yelling, "No! No!" It's just so good!
Klune knows how to draw the reader in until you feel like you're part of the Bennett pack yourself. I was completely blown away when I read Wolfsong earlier this year, and now I think Ravensong is even better! If you want a book that gives you all the feels, add this to your TBR now!
Read this if you like:
• Romantic fantasy
• Found family
• LGBTQ+ friendly books
There is some spice, but it's easy to skip over if that's not your thing. I'm more of a closed door kinda girl myself and didn't find it too distracting.
The Green Creek series continues to be a favorite of mine.
I really enjoyed that this book started being in the same timeline of Wolfsong. I loved reading about their journey on the road and the feelings that they were experiencing. I also loved to read more about Joe and Gordo's relationship and how that naturally formed.
I can't wait until the next book in this series, although it's going to hard to top Gordon and Mark.
I recommend this series to everyone!
I love all of TJ Klune's books and was not disappointed with this one. Klune weaves a masterful tale and his characters come right off the page. This series is a bit darker than his other works but it works well for the story and Klune's signature style still shines through. I love Gordo and the relationship between him and Mark is so interesting to read about. I wish we were given a bit more of it in this book. I am looking forward to the 3rd book and cannot wait to read it.
4.5 Stars rounded up!
I love TJ Klune's work anyway, and I really enjoyed Wolfsong. But, I definitely liked this one even more than the first. Gordo was my favorite character in the first novel and I was elated to get his story. I have said it before that if your introduction to TJ Klune was Under the Whispering Door or The House in the Cerulean Sea, this one is a lot darker and more angsty than those standalones. TJ Klune has a very discernable voice in his writing, and I usually associate him with the kind of whimsy as a Wes Anderson film. Artsy and Charming. These novels don't really fit that vibe --but its not a bad thing.
Sometimes I think the characters are all a bit similar with all the same humor, but also, birds of a feather and all that. I really have no complaints about this book and even to find them I am grabbing at straws. I really like the whole atmosphere and the vibe of the Bennett pack, and the PNW setting. There were a few things that I cringed at a little in the first novel, but I ran through this one so quickly. I appreciate the more mature characters and not everyone being a teenager.
I really love this series and I recommend it if you like shifter romance, TJ Klune, and MLM series'. I'll definitely continue to read this series as it (re)releases, and I dig through TJ's backlog of work. Despite my advanced copies I have still ordered physical books for my shelves --I like this series that much.
Thank you so much to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel for review!
Thank you @torbooks and @netgalley for the ARC of this re-release (originally published in 2018)!
This was a great follow-up read!
Thoughts:
This continued the found family themes from book 1 through a different character's POV as we dove headfirst into book 2. Klune has layered characters, fantastical elements and a constant theme of acceptance to people viewed as different, throughout so many of his books. This was no different.
This story had a lot of different emotions, as it explored the idea of choices and family, regrets and decision.
Akin to the first book, there were a couple repetitive parts, but I think the emphasis was intentional as Klune showed the reader why characters made decisions and how emotions aren't always rational or logical, but still intense in how they can demand attention.
I did struggle at first to remember where book 1 had left off, and catch up on where book 2 was in the timeline of events, but once I got about a third of the way, everything clicked and made sense.
These are books I recommend going into when you want to dive into a world, fly through a story, and meet some interesting characters.
I am looking forward to book 3, Heartsong!
I've just completed Ravensong by TJ Klune, and it was quite a captivating story with werewolf politics, hunter clans, witches, feral wolves, and the Bennett family. The portrayal of their history, joys, losses, strength, and pack bonds kept me enthralled throughout. Nevertheless, my primary interest was in the romance between Mark and Gordo, and while they both endured a lot for their pack, I felt that the development of their relationship left me wanting more. The book had a lot of buildup, angst, and intense emotions, but I wished there were a few more lighthearted moments between them before everything got complicated.
The side characters like Gordo, Chris, and Tanner were standout, adding humor and depth to the narrative. However, I found it somewhat hard to believe that the town's residents were so accepting of a pack of wolves roaming around. It seemed odd that there wasn't a more significant investigation into the events that unfolded in the town, given the number of casualties.
As for the ending, it left me feeling conflicted. After all that happened, I still couldn't fully relax and breathe a sigh of relief. I do look forward to the next book in the series, hoping it'll be a bit lighter and less emotionally draining than this one.
The characters in the book were deeply compelling. Gordo, in particular, elicited strong feelings of empathy and frustration with the layers of betrayal and fury he carried. The series overall has left a profound impact on me, and I genuinely love it.
However, I must admit that the book felt overly long, making it a bit exhausting to read. While the first book had the advantage of introducing new elements and characters, this installment expanded the world but didn't quite match the same level of emotional connection for me.
Ravensong returns readers to Green Creek and the amazing pack that lives there. The focus of the second installment is the story of Gordo and Mark. We learned more about Gordo’s past and how his interactions and perceptions of the Bennett pack changes from his childhood time spent with the Bennetts to the present as an almost 40 year old man.
The conflict with Richard Collins may have been resolved at the end of Wolfsong, but the repercussions of everything he put into motion spilled into the present of Ravensong (1 year after the Bennett boys and Gordo returned to Green Creek).
This book was so well done - the continuation of some of the major plot points, the continued character development, getting to know more about other members of the Bennett pack through a different point of view. Klune did all of this so masterfully and I can’t wait to continue the Green Creek pack series with Heartsong and get even more diverse perspectives as part of the story..
If you saw my review of Wolfsong last month, you know I love this series. I absolutely love the ways that Klune plays with time, and manages to give events we already know a new spin based on who the central pair is in each book. I wanted to read this book as soon as I finished with Wolfsong, and knowing that Heartsong doesn't publish until January feels cruel because this is absolutely a series that flows so well together, that you can easily ready them all at once in a row. I'm so glad a new audience gets to discover the magic of Green Creek, and the wolves whose songs fill the town.
This book just wasn’t for me.
The setting was interesting and the plot/pacing was but it didn’t draw me in and keep me invested. I found myself not wanting to pick it up, which is unfortunate. It didn’t completely sour me on TJ Klune but this one just wasn’t my thing!
The Green Creek series continues, this time focusing on Gordo, the resident witch of the Bennett Clan.
While the first book took me a while to get into, this one had me hooked from the start. I really enjoyed Gordo’s story a lot more than Ox’s. You can see my review of the first book for my reasons, but the maturity of the characters here was appreciated. I felt like I could relate more to some of the struggles and was overall less frustrated.
The book is not without its ethical dilemmas. (Let’s be honest, the series as a whole isn’t) But that’s what makes it more interesting for me. These aren’t perfect characters. They’re human (you know what I mean).
They make mistakes. They don’t get it right all the time. There’s loss. There’s gains. While overall there’s a level of predictability, the surprises are there and they’re effective.
I’ll definitely be continuing the series and am happy that it’s already out there for me to devour!
Ravensong is getting new covers (I presume), so thank you to Tor Books for providing me with an arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
TJ Klune, you always know how to pull on the heartstrings. He always builds such beautiful worlds, found families and characters to root for and this book is no exception, just beautiful.
Would recommend reading Wolfsong first.
I could not read this one because I dnfed the first one, but I just found the whole story super strange.
Told from the POV of Gordo Livingstone, the second installment in the Green Creek series covers more of the time before, the time during the three years the pack is split, and the current actions. The pack faces new dangers and treachery from without, and Gordo and Mark Bennett have a reckoning over their past and their future.
This is a second chance romance inside a fantasy epic, and the "old man pining" for the one that got away is fierce. Gordo's anger and loneliness is so difficult - as the reader one just wants to shake him, but the reasons behind it are so understandable. At times it feels as if there is no possible way for the pack to come through all that is being thrown at them, much less a way for the couple at the heart of the story to come back together. All in all, the angst, the outside difficulties, and the fantastic found family aspect of the pack comes together to leave the reader satisfied.
Personally, I am loving this series so much and cannot wait to see where it goes.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for my review copy.
Klune is fabulous!
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for letting me read this book for an honest review.
I havent read much of Klune (only this and Wolfsong) but I understand the hype and love for his books.
This books hits all the breaking points of love while combined with awesome fantasy. It was a magical (and heartbreaking) story full of longing and adventure and i think everyone with sweetness in their soul would need tissues. I was in PAIN!
Can't recommend this enough.
Once again, TJ Klune knocked it out of the park. I adored this book. Everything about it was gorgeous: the writing, the story, the characters, the angst, the romance, the found family vibes. It was just an incredible read and really solidifies why TJ Klune is a favorite author of mine.
This story follows Gordo, the Bennett family witch, and Mark. In Wolfsong, Gordo's history with the Bennett's is alluded to, but never fully explained. His tense relationship with Mark isn't either. Here, we get that background information. Told in a mix of flashbacks that catch up to a year after the events of Wolfsong, the author does an incredible job fleshing the world out and diving deeper into events that were only hinted at in the previous book. Mixed in with the right level of character development, this story was a great addition to the series.
I feel like with a series like this, it is easy to get repetitive. However, this book does a great job at propelling the narrative forward and setting up the events for the next two books. I got the answers I needed after Wolfsong, while still looking forward to how conflicts that were set up are going to flesh themselves out in the next installments.
And, as always, TJ Klune is such a beautiful writer that makes me feel a variety of emotions. He is one of the only authors I know that can make me laugh and cry within a single chapter. His ideas about living authentically, what it means to be part of a found family, and the joys, complexities, and heartaches that mean being human are all central here, creating a perfectly crafted novel that demonstrates Klune's unique talents are a writer and his ability to make his readers think.
As per usual, I definitely recommend this book and I think you should read it, especially if you loved Wolfsong or other books by this author. This story, while more angsty and more plot driven than the last, will still hold a special place in your heart.
Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Ravensong 🌕🌕🌕🌗/5
This is a continuation of the Green Creek series. It follows Gordo Livingstone and offers multiple timelines. Gordon’s life has been challenging to say the least.
He finds himself torn between the past and the present. Confounded by grief, anger, loss and his loyalty to the Bennett pack.
Struck with a new threat towards the pack he must protect all he holds dear and let his raven sing.
I Enjoyed:
Gordo’s complex character. He is relatable and well developed.
I enjoyed the past and present timelines. They are interconnected and the story flows smoothly.
Let’s all acknowledge that the cover art is extraordinarily designed as well.
What Needed Improvements:
I would have preferred there to be less banter between Gordo and his friends. It did nothing for the plot except give some comic relief.
Gordo and Mark could have resolved some things earlier on.
Totally recommend this book. Its focus on family, forgiveness and overcoming obstacles was at the heart of this book.
Thank you to Tor books and NetGalley for the eARC for an honest review.
It's always a risky decision to write a sequel that shifts focus to a new set of characters, but Ravensong manages to do it in a way that keeps the story moving forward while maintaining interest for the reader. We get the same pack of wolves in all their cringey glory, along with a new romantic interest to root for and a slew of new tropes. This series is turning out to be any fantasy romance reader's dream come true: a world where werewolves and magic exist, and all anyone wants to do is protect the people they love (and perhaps find their mate along the way). As always, TJ Klune builds a world that is easily consumed and insular, giving a sense of familiarity as we get to experience Green Creek and all that the small town has to offer. Unlike Klune's other popular books, we get to explore the inner lives of different characters, seeing their perspectives and experiences as he shifts focus through the series. Ultimately, a solid follow-up to Wolfsong, with plenty of build-up for books yet to come. If you're looking for a palate cleanser series between heavier reads, I highly recommend trying this one.