Title Wolfsong (Green Creek 1)
Author: T.J. Klune
Published: August 2022
Publisher: Pan Macmillan (Tor)
Readership: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: ★★★★★
RRP: $34.99
Content warnings: Death of parent, violence, absentee father, age gap, kidnapping (off page), trauma
I received a copy of Wolfsong from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Ox Matheson was twelve when his father taught him a lesson: Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.
Ox was sixteen when the energetic Bennett family moved in next door, harbouring a secret that would change him forever. For the family are shapeshifters, who can transform into wolves at will. Drawn to their magic, loyalty and enduring friendships, Ox feels a gulf between this extraordinary new world and the quiet life he’s known. He also finds an ally in Joe, the youngest Bennett boy. Joe is charming and handsome, but haunted by scars he cannot heal.
Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town, and tore a hole in his heart. Violence flared, tragedy split the pack and Joe left town, leaving Ox behind. Three years later, the boy is back. Except now he’s a man – and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.
Wolfsong is the first book in the Green Creek series by bestselling author TJ Klune. Continue the journey with Ravensong in 2023.
One of my all-time favourite paranormal romance series is being re-released with beautiful new covers and I’m so excited to share the first book, Wolfsong, with you. When I first read this as an independently published title I absolutely fell in love with it – the characters, the world, and, promptly, the whole Green Creek series.
Ox is a young teen when his father leaves him and his mother alone, and then he meets the Bennett family who move in next door. Their youngest son, Joe, has been through some horrific experiences in his short life, but is enamoured with Ox, and soon the entire family welcome Ox and his mother into their lives – and share their secrets. The book spans years of the lives of the characters of Green Creek, through heartache and tragedy to finally recognising the bonds of fated mates.
It’s hard to put into words how much I love this book (and series). It holds a special place in my heart that makes me want to pick it up and read it over and over again, and I am so happy that it’s been picked up for wider distribution – and that the cover artists have done such a beautiful job with the new cover. For as dark and deep and emotional as this book gets (and it ranks among the few books that has truly brought me to tears time and time again), there’s an absolute element of magic and whimsy that sucks you into the story.
There is an age gap romance between two characters who meet as children/teens – and for anyone worried about that, absolutely nothing happens until all characters are of-age, and consent is a big part of this book. It draws on the ideals of found family – recognising that those people we surround ourselves with become integral to who we are and form our support network. And whilst initially the Bennetts adopt Ox and his mother into their family, throughout the book this network is expanded to include other members of the community who are seen as equals to the lead characters in every way.
I’m always a big fan of shifter romances, and this one felt unique in the way Klune has set up the world and the politics of the wolf shifters. There’s a wider plot that spans the four books of the series, and we get an introduction to many of the players in this book who’ll come back into play in future books. Told from Ox’s perspective, this book is firmly grounded in Green Creek and highlights his ties to the place, and the place is a character in its own right, which is always something that makes a book special for me.
I’m so glad I had the opportunity to review the release of Wolfsong and I know it will be a book I reread in years to come. I look forward to the release of the rest of the series, starting in 2023.
Noveltea Corner 