I was lucky to get an ARC of the new edition of Wolfsong, which will be published on July 4th, by Tor Books and NetGalley. I couldn’t really tell what had been changed from the previous edition, but I can tell you this: This book is an absolute masterpiece! It’s a magical, beautiful and poetic tale about love and friendship, pack and mates that will make you cry and break your heart and then heal it again. It’s a book that hasn’t left my mind since I first read it, and that will always have a special place in my heart. Please give yourself the gift of experiencing the magical and heartfelt world of Green Greek and its werewolf villagers and read this book you too!

It’s not really possible to describe in words what makes this book so special and all the things it made me feel while reading it, nor properly explain the impact it had, and will continue to have, on me. It’s the way it sings to you, the way it speaks directly to your heart and the way it rips your heart in pieces and makes you fall madly in love with all the characters. But in short, Wolfsong is an urban fantasy/paranormal story taking place in the small village of Green Greek somewhere in USA, where the main character Ox gets abandoned by his father as a young kid. To help his mother, Ox starts to work for Gordo’s car repair shop about the same time as the intriguing Bennett family moves into the house next door, with the youngest son, Joe, immediately taking an interest in Ox. But as Ox is about to find out, the world is not what it seems, and there are werewolf and witches, kindness and cruelty, magic and destiny to discover.
 
Wolfsong is one of those epic family histories that lets us readers follow along for decades and tells the story by letting us readers truly get to know the characters and feel their feelings. The writing style is so unique and perfect it feels ethereal. And the characters are so lovable, so vulnerable, so full of flaws that you immediately take them all to your heart.
 
There is Ox, who’d always been seen as slow and stupid, but who was aimed for greatness. His POV is just one of the best I’ve ever encountered. He sees the world in such a beautiful way, and T J Klune really lets us see and feel all his emotions and his growth from insecure and sad to feeling loved and being able to love wholeheartedly and lead others.
 
“Things made sense, so much more sense now, but they didn’t. At all. The world was not full of monsters and magic. It was meant to be mundane and marred with little broken pieces of fucking retard and you’re gonna get shit, Ox.”
 
And Joe. Sweet, sweet Joe, who’d been so severely traumatized but who found a home in Ox and dared to start living fully again. Their journey to discover what’s howling between them is so heartwrenching and breathtaking. But also fun! T J Klune has this special humor that I adore.
 
“Except.
Except.
Joe wore a pair of low-slung shorts. Just the smallest things. And that was it.”
 
“He must have seen me out of the corner of his eye. He turned and grinned at me, and it was Joe, but it was Joe.
So, naturally, that’s when I walked into the side of the house. The tomatoes in my hand crushed against me. My head hit the wood siding and I thought, Oh shit.”
 
And all the members of the Bennett family with their amazing bonds and how they run and sing together, Gordo who is suffering from his own broken heart but who nevertheless wraps his love around Ox, the other workers at the shop who are like their own pack and the love and spirit of the village and the nature itself.
 
“I thought, I won’t let anyone hurt them because pack, because home, because love.”
 
I really don’t know how to explain how much I love these characters and their love for each other, the world building and the magical, poetically writing. All I know is that this is a book that hit me straight in the heart and will stay there forever.
 
Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read this marvelous book! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
​5 epic stars

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T.J. Klune

​My poor heart… What an epic conclusion to an epic series. I just want to start this series all over again, not at all ready to leave these beloved characters yet. I really don’t know how to explain how much I love these characters and their love for each other, the world building and the magical, poetically writing. All I know is that this is a series that hit me straight in the heart and will stay there forever. It will be one of my comfort books that I know I’ll reread it many times onwards.

“We must be the gayest werewolf pack ever.”

Yes, this pack sure is. And the most wonderful one. With characters I love. And who love each other. And who make fun of each other. And who tells each other everything. And nothing. And with Carter realizing that his forever love is a dude and he’s never been with a dude, but how hard can it be… he’s brothers seemed to figured it all out. Right?

I absolutely adore T J Klune’s wit and humor, and all his characters. They will all have a special place in my heart. And I know that I will return to this series and read it again. Very soon. But for now, all I want to say is that I couldn’t have been happier with the way this story was concluded and how all lose ends were tied up and the happy wholesomeness after all.

It was warm like a summer day. It was candy cones and pinecones, it was epic and awesome, it was dirt and leaves and rain, it was grass and lake water and sunshine.

I truly love this epic saga about love and friendship, pack and mates. It’s nothing less than a masterpiece. If you haven’t started reading it yet, you should. Please give yourself the gift of experiencing the magical and heartfelt world of Green Greek and get to fall in love with Ox, Joe, Gordo, Mark, Kelly, Robbie, Carter, Gavin, Rico, Bambi, Chris, Tanner, Will, Jessie, Dominique and Elizabeth you too!


Rating:
​5 epic stars

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T.J. Klune

​This third book continues the epic urban fantasy Green Greek series. I love this series and its characters to pieces, but the storyline was a bit harder to get into in this book. With Robbie’s memory loss and the way the story was told, it was confusing at first and it took me almost half of the book to fully understand if it was a backstory or if the storyline continued right after the events in the second book. But the second half of Heartsong was pure magic and heartwrenching and back to the epicness of the other two books.

Robbie has lost his memory and has been taken care of a good witch (or is he really?), but he keeps having these dreams of running with wolves in an unknown forest. And sometimes he misses days without knowing what he did. And the children at the compound tells him he’s always blue, but he used to be happy. Before. (Before when?)

This time the story is told from Robbie’s POV, but since he’s not himself and doesn’t remember his pack or his love Kelly, it gets a bit confusing at time. I think I would have liked to enjoy the falling in love part of Robbie’s and Kelly’s romance first hand, not told in a backstory.

But about halfway in the book, the action really starts to pick up and the beloved pack is back in swing. Now with two new wolf members from the previous Team Human. And with all of them more hurt, more scared, older and cynical, being fractured even though there still is this enormous love between the pack members, and now also including the villagers. I loved how the human villagers were part of the story and how they were allowed to be heroes too, not just passive victims that needed protection from the wolves.

The pace was a bit slower this time, with Robbie’s struggling it was a lot one step forward and two steps back. But it only made me root more for the characters, especially Kelly. I appreciated the fact that Kelly is asexual and how T J Klune showed the beautiful love story between him and Robbie and how it was built on deeper emotions and affection.

Even though this book was full of pain and struggle, there was still a lot of fun and banter and that typical T J Klune humor. I loved that Jessie got a bigger part of the story this time and how she really showed all of her bad-ass self.

And the timber wolf finally revealing who he was… I’m even more excited for Carter’s story now! I’m both dreading and feverishly longing to read the epic finally of this magical, beautiful and absolutely heartwrenching series!

Rating:
4 stars

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​This second book in the epic Green Greeks series is darker and even more heartwrenching, but also maybe even more gripping and addictive, than the first. This is both a second chance romance and a urban fantasy story about survival, destiny calling and epic fights with werewolfs and witches.

In the first book, we got to learn all of the characters and see Ox and Joe fall in love. In this book, the story is told from Gordo’s POV and we get to know about his past with a terrible childhood with an abusive father, more about the witch dynasty Livingstone and how it’s been interwoven with the Bennetts for such a long time. We also get to see how the Bennetts loved him but also used him and left him behind, and how his heart got broken by Mark. and what happened when he followed Joe, Carter and Kelly to hunt for Richard Collins and how being without the pack and the longing for their loved ones breaks them down. And we get to see and feel all his feelings of sadness, longing, betrayal, heartbreak and yet, neverending love for Mark.

Since the POV this time is the grown-up Gordo the story feels more of an adult one than a YA like the first book did. It’s also darker, with evil wolf hunters and more of a build-up towards the fight that can’t be avoided.

But there’s also love. So much love. And how it’s never too late to put the pieces back together. And pack. And fun. And hunting the moon and howling.

PackWitchBrotherLove

And new amazing characters like the badass Bambi and the formation of Team Human. I love the secondary characters and all their banter! And how Carter is being followed by the big timber wolf everywhere (and I mean everywhere…) and who may or may not turn out to be his big epic love. The last one of the Bennett brothers to join Team Gay? And of course, there’s Mystical Moon Magic and mates and epic love making. I really do love T J Klune’s wit and humor!

Once again, I was completely blown away by this magical, beautiful and so poetically written series. I binged all of these 400 pages in just one day, so hooked I just couldn’t bear to put it down until the end (when I immediately continued with Heartsong…). I didn’t think it would be possible to reach the same epicness as Wolfsong, but T J Klune sure pulled it off!

Rating:
​5 stars

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T.J. Klune

I don’t even know where to begin to explain how much I love this book and what a masterpiece it is. Words aren’t enough to describe all the things I felt with this book and give justice to the impact it had on me. Started to reading it I never expected to have my heart ripped in pieces and to fall so madly in love with all the characters and to read this 500 plus page brick of a book feverishly in one sitting, but I did. This magical, beautiful and poetic tale about love and friendship, pack and mates, will make you cry and heal your heart. Give yourself the gift of experiencing the magical and heartfelt world of Green Greek and its werewolf villagers and read this book you too!

In short, Wolfsong is an urban fantasy/paranormal story taking place in the small village of Green Greek somewhere in USA, where the main character Ox gets abandoned by his father as a young kid. To help his mother, Ox starts to work for Gordo’s car repair shop about the same time as the intriguing Bennett family moves into the house next door, with the youngest son, Joe, immediately taking an interest in Ox. But as Ox is about to find out, the world is not what it seems, and there are werewolf and witches, kindness and cruelty, magic and destiny to discover.

Wolfsong is one of those epic family histories that lets us readers follow along for decades and tells the story by letting us readers truly get to know the characters and feel their feelings. The writing style is so unique and perfect, it feels etherial.

“Why do you smell like that? Why is it all candy cones and pinecones and epic and awesome?”

And the characters are so lovable, so vulnerable, so full of flaws that you immediately take them all to your heart.

There is Ox, who’d always been seen as slow and stupid, but who was aimed for greatness. His POV is just one of the best I’ve ever encountered. He sees the world in such a beautiful way, and T J Klune really lets us see and feel all his emotions and his growth from insecure and sad to feeling loved and being able to love wholeheartedly and lead others.

And Joe. Sweet, sweet Joe, who’d been so severely traumatized but who found a home in Ox and dared to start living fully again. Their journey to discover what’s howling between them is so heartwrenching and breathtaking. But also fun! T J Klune has this special humor that I adore.

And all the members of the Bennett family with their amazing bonds and how they run and sing together, Gordo who is suffering from his own broken heart but who nevertheless wraps his love around Ox, the other workers at the shop who are like their own pack and the love and spirit of the village and the nature itself.

PackSonLove
you belong to us
we belong to you
i feel your pain, I feel your grief, we have lost, i have lost, but so have you.

I really don’t know how to explain how much I love these characters and their love for each other, the world building and the magical, poetically writing. All I know is that this is a book that hit me straight in the heart and will stay there forever. It will be one of my comfort books that I know I’ll reread it many times onwards.

Rating:
​5 epic stars

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​Author info:
T.J. Klune

This was the perfect conclusion to the adorable, quirky, sweet and super queer Extraordinaries series! I love T.J. Klune’s humor and writing style and his adorkable characters! There were so many feels, and so many closures (both expected and totally unexpected ones). T.J. Klune managed to tie all lose ends together and give us a wonderful and completely satisfying wrap up.

Since this is the third book, I won’t get into the story too much to not spoil anything of this wonderful trilogy, but to say that it is about Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz who are teenagers dealing with typical embarrassing coming of age stuff at the same time as they are superheroes known as the Extraordinaries bringing justice, protection, and disaster energy to the people of Nova City.

This series is completely over the top in the best possible way. It’s absolutely hilarious! T.J. Klune is an amazing storyteller who brilliantly nails the awkwardness of being a teenager and trying to figure out all the stuff about love, friendship and sex out (the scene with Nick’s dad helping him figuring the technical aspects of gay sex out almost killed me!), but it also touches on deeper subjects like neurodiversity, grief and loss of a parent. I absolutely love Nick and Seth, their friends and families (the dad squad is just the best!) and the way T.J. Klune lets his characters be themselves in all their awkwardness and relatability. I rooted so much for all characters and the romance was one of the sweetest ever.

All in all, this was a perfect ending to a perfect trilogy!

Thank you so much to Tor/Forge and NetGalley for the ARC of this gem! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
5 stars

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This sequel to The Extraordinaries was everything I’d hoped for! It was just as good, if not better, and just as hilarious and adorkable as the first book! I love the sex positivity and I also really appreciated the way T.J. Klune addressed the issues with police brutality and privilege to make a clear statement about the wrongfulness of some of the actions that didn’t sit well with me from the first book.

In this sequel, we once again return to Nova City and the adorable characters from the first book, and get to follow Nick who now has a superhero boyfriend in his childhood crush Seth. I just absolutely adore their relationship. I also appreciated how we got to see more of Gibby and Jazz in this book. It’s the characters and T.J. Klune’s humour that make this series so amazing! I just love the way he makes the characters be completely themselves in all their awkwardness and how they have to deal with ordinary teenage stuff (like promposals and embarrassing teenage romance situations), in the midst of all the superhero action.

All in all, Flash Fire was a perfect sequel and just as hilarious, sweet, queer and heartwarming as the first book in this wonderful series! Highly recommended!

Rating:
5 stars

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T.J. Klune

This was such a unique, adorable, quirky, sweet and wonderfully queer story! A completely new take on the superhero concept and so hilarious. I love T.J. Klune’s humor and writing style and his adorkable characters!

The story is something of an urban fantasy that takes place in the future city Nova City, where a group of superheroes know as The Extraordinaries try to serve the people and fight for justice. But the main character of this story is not one of the superheroes but the adorkable fanboy Nick Bell, who has ADHD and pretty much always says what he thinks (or rather speaks without thinking at all), and is the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom. He also may or may not have a secret crush on his best friend Seth Gray, but also on the mighty Extraordinary know as Shadow Star…

This was such a delight! It was completely unique, and might not be for everyone, as it’s more of a parody of the superhero genre than an actual superhero story. But I personally think that it was a brilliant idea to have a superhero story where focus is on the quirky non-hero and his fanboying rather than the actual superhero. I also really loved Nick and Seth from the beginning and their slow burn friends-to-lovers romance (poor Nick, I loved how clueless he was before finally figuring out that he was in love with Seth…). I also really loved Nick’s father and their amazing relationship. There were so many awesome dialogues between Nick and his father, and they had such a wonderful and deep connection.

There were some things that Nick’s father did in his role as a police officer that didn’t sit well with me though, which is why I will only rate this book as a four-star read, even though I adored everything else about it.

But all in all, this a hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age story with wonderful, adorkable characters to root for and one of the best father-son relationships ever. It’s ridiculous in the best possible way, so queer and fun, but it also deals with some dark and serious matters. And it has a wonderful queer and own voices ADHD rep. Highly recommended!

Rating:
4 stars

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T.J. Klune

This is another unique, beautiful, sad and heartwarming story by T.J. Klune! I absolutely loved The House in the Cerulean Sea and am so grateful for the opportunity to read the wonderful Under the Whispering Door already as an ARC. (Thank you so much Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley! All opinions are completely my own though and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.)

The main character in this contemporary story full of magic and fascinating beings is the mean, selfish and obnoxious workaholic lawyer Wallace Price, who has ruined all relationships he’s ever had and is living solely for his work. Until he suddenly dies of a heart attack and finds himself at his own funeral. From there a wonderful, magical and empowering tale evolves, with Wallace meeting the mysterious Mei, who brings him with her to the tea shop Charon’s Crossing and its owner the ferryman Hugo, and his dead granddad Nelson and dog Apollo. Together they try to help Wallace come to terms with his faith and help him cross over to the afterlife, all the while Wallace also slowly starts to reevaluate his whole life and realize the bad choices he’d made while living.

I have to admit that I struggled a bit with this story compared to The House in the Cerulean Sea, which stole my heart from the very first sentence. Mostly due to the fact that the main character was so dislikeable, bitter and mean for a long time. He does undergo a remarkable character development, and in the end, I absolutely loved him, but it took a bit too long for that to happen. The story also dragged quite a lot in the middle.

But after that, it was all back to the best kind of T.J. Klune magic again! The last part of the book was absolutely amazing! It was just pure perfection and so full of emotions, and I loved the romance so, so much. It must be one of the best endings ever! It both broke my heart and put it back together. Even though it was so sad and gripping it was also so full of love and hope, healings and new beginnings.

“Because life is senseless, and on the off chance we find something that does make sense, we hold onto it as tightly as we can. I found myself because of you.”

​I also loved the whole concept of the story, and all the humor and the characters’ banter that is typical for a T.J. Klune book.

All in all, this was a beautiful, poignant and unique story about finding yourself and your purpose, and a homage to living your life to the fullest and the power of love and found families, no matter if they are alive or dead or somewhere in between.

Rating:
4 stars

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T.J. Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea is such a unique and heartwarming story. It’s full of hope, acceptance and magic, and with amazing characters to root for. The story is something of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children meets the X-Men and the Ministry of Magic, all mixed together into a completely unique, beautiful and empowering tale about the power of love and found families.

It follows forty-year-old Linus Baker, a case worker at the Department In Charge Of Magical Youth (DICOMY) who has always followed the rules and regulations to the letter when inspecting the orphanages for “special” children run by the government. In contrast to his rather exciting work, Linus private life was quiet, to be kind (dull, grey and utterly boring and lonesome, to be honest). He lived alone in a tiny house with only a grumpy cat and his old records as company. Nothing exciting ever happened to him. Not until the day he was summoned by the Extremely Upper Management and given the highly classified assignment to visit the orphanage in the Cerulean Sea. There Linus was faced with the most unusual children he’d ever met, but also the charming caretaker and a hostile village with people full of fear for the unknown.

In this book, TJ Klune has created a world full of magic and adventures, and with some of the most wonderful characters in literature. I rooted so for them all; the devil’s son Lucy who loves old records, the bearded gnome Talia with a passion for gardening, the forest sprite Phee, the wyvern Theodore who collects buttons, Chauncey who is so unique that no one knows exactly what he is and who’s been told his whole life that he’s a monster but who’s dream is to become a bellhop to greet and help people, and the shy and sweet Sal who writes poetry but who changes into a small Pomeranian when he gets scared. And of course, the enigmatic caretaker Arthur Parnassus, with the big heart and his own secrets, and the island’s protective sprite Zoe.

Even to Linus, who had worked with magical children his whole life, the visit to the island was a mind-blowing experience. He had to struggle to keep an open mind and not let prejudice, rigid rules and unease for the unknown get the better of him. But along the way, he found some eye-opening truths, got to experience the wonders of the world, and the courage to live life to the full.

“Funny how that works out, isn’t it? That we can find the most unexpected things when we aren’t looking for them?”

Linus was such a dear, kind and just man. Seeing how he opened his mind and heart to the children was so heart-warming and touching. The journey to self-discovery for Linus and his character development was simply astounding. From a repressed and quiet little man (with a somewhat large waistline) he grew into a strong and unyielding fighter for justice.

There is so much to be learned from this book! It’s such an enchanting story about acceptance, respect for diversity, the power of love, and about realizing that a home and a family can be found where you least expect it.

“A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with.”
​
The story dragged a little in the middle, but the ending more than made up for it. All in all, this was a breathtakingly beautiful novel about discovering what makes life worth living and about daring to stand up for the people you love and the things you believe in. It’s a story about the importance of kindness and how a small act of sympathy or love can shine a light even into the darkest of places. I recommend this empowering, hopeful and heartfelt book with all my heart, it’s a book that helps make this world a better place!

Rating:
4.5 magical stars rounding up to 5

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T.J. Klune