T.J. Klune

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. Praise for TJ Klune: 'Like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket' – V. E. Schwab 'A whimsical, warm-hearted fantasy'– The Guardian 'A radiant treat' – Locus Magazine

Wolfsong

Cassidy Nolan

He said, “And I can’t wait to show you how I’m made for you just as much as you were made for me.”

i am here with you for you ox because you have always done the

same for me you are candy canes and pinecones you are epic and awesome you are

the only reason why i was able to get through the years i was gone i cut us off and tried

to push you out of my mind but when it was late when it was dark i would think of you

of coming home to you of being with you being happy being home because ox you’re my home

without you i am nothing i am no one you are my love my life my pack my mate so i need you to

so you come back you come back you fucking come back to me ox

“Sorry,” Kelly said. “Something in my throat.”

“That’s what Joe said,” Carter muttered under his breath.

They fist-pounded each other without taking their eyes off me.

“No shit,” Tanner said. “Seriously?”

“Oh boy,” Rico said. “This is probably going to get awkward.”

“Only if we make it awkward,” Chris pointed out like a reasonable adult. Then, “We should make it really awkward.”

“We could compare stories, I guess,” Jessie said because she was evil.

Because regardless of what Richard Collins would bring, I wouldn’t let him touch Joe Bennett. Not again. Not ever.

But he wasn’t done. “Mom,” he said, though his eyes never left mine. “Mom. You have to smell him. It’s like . . . I don’t even know what it’s like. I was walking in the woods to scope out our territory so I could be like Dad and then it was like . . .” He closed his eyes for a moment. We all held our breaths. He continued, “And then he was all standing there and he didn’t see me at first because I’m getting so good at hunting. I was all like 

” He opened his eyes again. They were filling with the red of the Alpha. “I don’t even know. You gotta 

 him and then tell me why it’s all candy canes and pinecones. All epic and awesome.”

Sometimes, when your heart gets so full, it takes away your voice and all you can do is hold on for dear life.

“It’s you, Ox. For me, it’s always been you.”

“I know what this is. I know what I’m doing. Yes, I’m 

 years old, but I knew the day I met you that I would do 

 to make you happy because no one had ever smelled like you did. It was candy canes and pinecones. It was epic and awesome. And it was 

, Ox. I’d forgotten what that was like, okay? I’d forgotten that because 

 took it away from me and I couldn’t find it again until I found you.”

“Okay,” Joe said. “Let’s try this again. Hi, Maggie. How are you? These flowers are for you. I think your son is the greatest thing in the world.”

Because it’s the only thing that explained the cosmic explosion that was the feeling of 

 The force of it was ridiculous. It had to have been there. For a long time.

My head didn’t know its way out of my heart…

I was not cursed with an overabundance of brains.

i liked that 75% of people in this small oregon town were gay.

i didn't like that the main romantic relationship inexplicably began when one of the characters was 10 and the other was 16. 

Jordan Chan 

i liked that 75% of people in this small oregon town were gay.

i didn't like that the main romantic relationship inexplicably began when one of the characters was 10 and the other was 16. 

I did not vibe with this book at all. the age gap made me uncomfy and I did not get along with the writing style of the author. 

Elizabeth Denny

great great great so good the best book i’ve read in so many times amazing love great pack pack pack bennett ox pack 

luca

I want to give this more than 5 stars. The writing style was so eloquent and beautiful. Ox and Joe’s story was so organic and different and just fantastic overall. They just “were”.  

I was engaged from the very first page and I cried more than once. Ox’s heartbreak and angst was damn near tangible and I felt it as though it was my own pain. 

Just an overall amazing story with a found family, so much love and packpackpack!

Cass Paul

I want to give this more than 5 stars. The writing style was so eloquent and beautiful. Ox and Joe’s story was so organic and different and just fantastic overall. They just “were”.  

I was engaged from the very first page and I cried more than once. Ox’s heartbreak and angst was damn near tangible and I felt it as though it was my own pain. 

Just an overall amazing story with a found family, so much love and packpackpack!

love ox, love gordo, think the main romance is a little strange I can’t lie the age gap did put me off, and the writing style was very different than the rest of TJ Klune’s that I’ve read and not in a good way. that said, the plot was engaging and this was certainly a book that I read

fris🐝

Sorry to say but saying how plotpoints from your novel are Twilight-y within the novel itself does not save it from feeling like a Twilight speedrun. Because this is exactly what this read as, plus the explicit sex scenes and it being queer. Also an EXO fanfic I plotted out back in my day but never wrote. Just overall a very "Do not quote the old magic to me, witch; I was there when it was written" moment for me who has spent my formative years on tumblr and have been in the Twilight, Supernatural and EXO fandoms, all prime wolf estate.

And here I am torn between it is actually sort of nice to have a queer mainstream-ish novel, the kind of which there is plenty of straight ones, and queer people still deserve better. Like let it engage in all the genre foolishness but are we now above plotting and pacing and tighter prose?

Regardless, somehow, in spite of all of the ridiculousness of this novel, the amount of times I physically cringed and its obsene length, I sort of want to read the whole series. But maybe I will leave it for cleaning and cooking days, it is a bit awkward for the office.

Side note but do all of those writers out there writing about mates and making penetrative sex the final frontier of truly mating (so... marrying), relating it to biological processes, not realising at all that they are just repackaging some traditionalist right-wing-y BS? It does not matter if you swap genders around, etc. - it is still quite the choice to introduce into your fantasy world.

Sorry to say but saying how plotpoints from your novel are Twilight-y within the novel itself does not save it from feeling like a Twilight speedrun. Because this is exactly what this read as, plus the explicit sex scenes and it being queer. Also an EXO fanfic I plotted out back in my day but never wrote. Just overall a very "Do not quote the old magic to me, witch; I was there when it was written" moment for me who has spent my formative years on tumblr and have been in the Twilight, Supernatural and EXO fandoms, all prime wolf estate.

And here I am torn between it is actually sort of nice to have a queer mainstream-ish novel, the kind of which there is plenty of straight ones, and queer people still deserve better. Like let it engage in all the genre foolishness but are we now above plotting and pacing and tighter prose?

Regardless, somehow, in spite of all of the ridiculousness of this novel, the amount of times I physically cringed and its obsene length, I sort of want to read the whole series. But maybe I will leave it for cleaning and cooking days, it is a bit awkward for the office.

Side note but do all of those writers out there writing about mates and making penetrative sex the final frontier of truly mating (so... marrying), relating it to biological processes, not realising at all that they are just repackaging some traditionalist right-wing-y BS? It does not matter if you swap genders around, etc. - it is still quite the choice to introduce into your fantasy world.

Hannah

This is the best book I have read in a while

— lae

4.5

what in the hell. what the hell.

i didnt read the plot of this book, so you can imagine my surprise when i saw it had werewolves in it. my only exposure to werewolf books where bad wattpad stories, so i was a little icked. i didnt want to read a werewolf story.

i didnt expect to love it, but i did.

first off, the characters are extremely likeable. second off, the plot was so good. did tj klune just manage to make the words alpha and omega sound non silly and serious and fit the green creek world so well? you bet. never did i ever cringe at any of the whole werewolf shenanigans.

i love it when seemingly happy-ending ya books have unexpected heavy gritty drama. its amazing!!!!!

the deaths? the fights? the romantic drama and fighting? exactly what i needed. it gave that little push which made this book so so much better.
sure, there were more than enough happy funny moments, but the angsty moments made it feel so real and made you hurt and dear god how i loved it.

also the found family trope?? what in the hell?? i am emotionally unstable.

amazing book very enjoyable im so glad ive read it

Aishling

Idk what else to say right now other than I want MORE. For so long I’d wanted to read a shifter book which didn’t feature the uncontrollable urge to impregnate people and it turns out mlm shifter stories are the way to go and I am very happy about this discovery.

Jamieson

look I really wanted to like this it has such a high rating on goodreads and all my friends gave it five stars and I HONESTLY thought it would be a five star read for me but, alas. I probably would have dnf'ed this if I didn't need it for Magical Readathon 

what didn't work

	• never got over how icky I felt over the age gap. When the characters meet they're 11 and 16, and from that first meeting they're 'destined' to be mates. Even though they don't start dating until their 17 and 23 (which I still think is weird lol) it just didn't sit right. ESPECIALLY since a large portion of the 'angst' from the first half is the 11-13 year old being upset the 16-18 year old is dating people who aren't him.... and honestly even when they're adult I still found the whole "you've always been mine since I was ten" WEIRD not CUTE

	• as a result never invested in the main couple and investing in the main couple really is 90% of the point of this book

	• Couldn't get into the writing. Some people said they found it lyrical but I just found a lot of it corny and overly repetitive. The humour also wasn't my kind of humour so the funny parts sometimes read cringy to me

	• all the women characters exist to be fridged for the male angst/pain or to be emotional soundboards with no personality except to soothe and console the men when they feel angsty and need advice 

	• honestly just found the story boring and the plot doesn't even kick in till well over 50% through

what I did like

	• good casual representation I LOVE how everyone is queer and all the queer relationships we get and how normal and chill it is. ownvoices representation
	• the found family elements and the focus on the love between family and friends
	• my boy carter
	• reminded me of a teen wolf episode

Honestly it's probably me not this book because it has a 4.5 rating but urgh, sadly this just did not work for me

amber baardsen

** spoiler alert **
           it’s basically just gay twilight with werewolves instead of vampires.

i think i finally understand what people mean when they say they both love and hate a book. cause that was my relationship with this book.
- it’s quite literally so bad? like, i don’t really understand how it’s so popular and how people recommend it without cringing. i mean, it’s about werewolves. cmon guys.
- every time i read the word “alpha” i had to close my eyes for a few seconds. i mean, i kinda got used to it, but for the first, like, 50% of the book i was just kinda like😐😟 yk?
- but after i got behind the plot, i can see why people like it. the writing is actually wonderful? like, i love how the words are formed together and it’s actually really beautiful(when you forget that it’s about wolves)
- it has that found-family aspect of it, which i like, but i was also kinda weirded out by it? like, it’s difficult to see them as family when they lick each other yk
- and the romance. which, are we just gonna ignore the age-gap? i mean i *kinda* get why it’s there, for the plot and such, and i would think “yeah ok, an age-gap. probably 2 maybe 3 years apart.” but no, it’s quite literally 6 years apart. and it’s especially kinda weird when Joe is 17 when they start dating and Ox is 23. so.
- and speaking of their relationship; Joe is extremely possessive. and i get that it’s like a wolf thing™️ or whatever, but like…marking him? man. chill.
- i did quite like the characters, tho. they’re very chaotic and they kinda reminded me of aftg. i literally love Gordo, don’t even get me started. and the garage gang: love them.
- i wasn’t very invested in the plot OR the relationship, tho i did get more attached later ig. but i was more invested in Gordo and Mark(💔), which is why i’m not stopping rn with the series and i’m gonna read Ravensong next, cause it’s about Gordo😁
- and y’all that said this wasn’t spicy. bruh. y’all are fucking LIARS. i think i read 3 different words for cum in the span of a paragraph. like, chill. not that i’m really complaining lol, but it was kinda a jump scare, and it would be nice to have a warning or something 
- i can’t really comprehend that the same man that wrote “the house in the cerulean sea”, wrote this. idk
- needless to say, it was actually quite entertaining, i’ll give it that.
- i literally hate it so much, it’s so bad, but i love it. we have a complicated relationship ig
- i don’t think i have anymore to say lol

camilla

me jogue aos lobos e voltarei sendo o alfa da matilha né p0rr4!!!

adorei essa belezura apesar do universo? 
abo criado aqui ser meio diferente do que eu conheço e que tô mais acostumada (formada em fanfic do ao3) não foi algo que me incomodou ou atrapalhou na leitura. amei muito esses personagens e o crescimento deles no decorrer de tudo, principalmente se tratando do joe e do ox meus anjos inocentes

Suzanne

Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of TJ Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door are so incredible and I will reread them many times I suspect.

The first book, I gather has been republished in the UK and published in the USA in 2016.
The protagonist Ox moves to a sleepy lil village with his parents and his dad leaves him and his mom pretty quickly.
His neighbors live in a big beautiful house and turn out to be dum dum dum..... wolves. The story is about love, connection, family, chosen family and finding your place in it.
The world building was excellent. I can picture the whole town and what people look like. I loved how much queerness was in the story and how it's just about love is love.

Perhaps because the protagonist goes from a child to late teens, but maybe intentional, but there was too much inner dialogue and repetition for me which was such a pity. I feel like his other books were perfect in editing. Even so the book is pretty amazing, I read it in a few days and just finished the second part of the Green Creek series.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

  
    
  




Wolfsong is the first book in the Green Creek series and the first book that I have been truly tempted to read by this author. I have heard some tremendous things about some of his other works especially his "House in the Cerulean Sea" but I need a good strong romance plot in my reads although who knows I might even read that one this year considering how much I FELL in head over heels in love with this author's work. Now I haven't read too many M/M romance reads in my time, I don't mind them, but I do need to be in the right mood for them for it to work for me. And I do apologize first hand because I know there is nothing I could say about this book to truly bring it the love and justice it truly deserves....It BLEW my mind away in all the best ways that I look for in a romance and for a male romance author, I am beyond impressed (although I do think males can make some of the best of the romance authors in the business) 



Wolfsong is a story that takes us to a small town in the woods, where a boy lives with his parents, when his father leaves and has made him believe that he is worthless, he believes there is nothing good about him. And then this boy learns to be a man, and when he is sixteen, working as hard as he can, he meets a boy, a boy who charms his heart and their is a bond that is formed between them that is stronger than friendship. And as Oz and Joe grow into men, their bond becomes one so powerful and intense yet overwhelming for both of them. But their story is just beginning, because pain and betrayal will enter their lives, and they along with members of their pack, will have to find their own way back together and embracing what pack means....family, loyalty and love. 



There is no one else I would have picked for him. Ox, you will do wondrous things together. He will be a leader, and as an Alpha, he will put the pack above all else. But remember that you’ll always be his heart and soul.



I honestly hadn't heard of this book until these past few months, I had seen some people raving about it around Goodreads of course, but didn't think much of it. But then when I saw how many of my favorite booktuber's RAVE about this one, I knew that it was one that I needed. And I happened to be in the mood for a paranormal romance, and since it has been too long since I have read a M/M romance, I knew it was time to grab this one up here. And this story ....just overwhelmed all of my emotions and I was here for it. It has been so long since I have sobbed in a book (like I normally don't cry in books hardly unless its pretty intense) and this author just provoked so many raw emotions within this story. 



But I swear to god, if you choose me, I will make sure that you know the weight of your worth every day for the rest of our lives because that’s what this is. I am going to be a fucking Alpha one day, and there is no one I’d rather have by my side than you. It’s you, Ox. For me, it’s always been you.



I fell in love with all of these characters, but especially Oz and Joe. They were both just wonderful males, and loved seeing all the masculinity and vulnerability rise to the surface. It was so interesting to see them grow into adulthood and seeing their friendship turn into something way more deeper and heartfelt. And boy when they both realize the attraction ---SPARKS LITERALLY FLY-between these two. I really enjoyed seeing Joe's way's of courting his mate and typical shifter mating ritual right there and it was quite amusing to see their connection form over time. But what really breaks the heart is seeing their true characters being put to the test in the most brutal of ways. It just broke my heart to see all the conflicts that they have to overcome. 



 I would do anything to make you happy because no one had ever smelled like you did. It was candy canes and pinecones. It was epic and awesome. And it was home. You smelled like my home, Ox. I’d forgotten what that was like, okay? I’d forgotten that because he took it away from me and I couldn’t find it again until I found you.



Overall I found Wolfsong to be a breathtaking, heart achingly jewel of a romance, and one that will be in my memory for a long while. Its a story of love, friendship, hardship, and unity of family.

even after the batshit emotional rollercoaster of it all, i still think joe x ox is a pretty mid ship ngl. the age gap dude, why was there an age gappp, u could've aged ox down man, it was, it was so simple. and then u have ox referncing candy canes and pinecones before he's abt to lick joe's balls?!?! all the side characters will stay in my heart tho, robbie im looking at u <3

anarh

Brianna Danielle Jackson

This book was amazing to read and i just fell in love with joe. He is so sweet. I can't wait to reread this wonderful book. T.J Klune you are an outstanding author.

Wolfsong

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