6 howling/singing stars !
Another of my “little gem”. Another book I’d like EVERYONE TO GIVE IT A CHANCE because it’s just SO BEAUTIFUL!!!
This book simply gutted me. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions… I’ll try not to quote too much from the book but this will be very, very hard as I was highlighting quotes and taking notes of everything that I felt like a mad woman. I know if the review is too long people sometimes don’t read all. I get it. That’s why I compromised with myself and will write a “condensed” review a “first part”. I’ll also put a second part with more quotes because the writing is so beautiful and so right I want to give you a taste of it. I want to convince everyone to give this book a chance because it’s so wonderful. I’m bursting with so many words I feel like Ox, too slow to speak/type them because they all sing in my head and want to come at the same time.
First part (that could be the only you read to have a feel of this book): condensed review
I hesitated for a very long time before reading Wolfsong. I had never read M/M romance and did not feel drawn to it. But the reviews from my friends kept coming and coming. All more enthusiastic than the others. So I put my big girl panties on and…fell in love head over heel with this gorgeous story.
This book is about love in all its complexities and variations. The love of a mother for his child, the love of a young Ox for his mom wanting to care for her because he was the man now that his Daddy left them.
It was the love of non-blood related brothers with Rico, Chris, Tanner and Gordo at Gordo’s garage. A love and connection between hard working guys so deep they had each other’s back when things went south. They helped a slower Ox with schoolwork.
It was the love of an adopted family: The Bennets. So tight with each other, needing to touch the members of their “pack”. Ready to do anything to ease the suffering of one of them. Ready to move to help little Joe recover after the horror that happened to him.
It was the love of friendship, the love of lovers…
If love could have a name it would be Ox.
Ox so big, too slow always feeling inadequate, not enough but holding everyone together because he simply was Ox. He was different. He was more.
Always helping and caring and putting others before him. And he broke my heart at least a hundred times (go see the quotes in the second part if you want to understand why).
This book is also about healing someone. When Joe saw Ox for the first time it was like the world had colors once more. Joe felt safe, alive because Ox smelled like “all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome” and then it was like “kaboom”. Joe was ten and Ox was sixteen when they met. Joe was like a little tornado and held onto Ox like you would hold a life raft.
And when Gordo gave Ox a job, when the Bennet welcomed Ox in their family he began healing as well.
It’s also about being a man. What does truly being an Alpha mean.
It’s about many things really….
TJ Klune’s writing is exceptional.
With short sentences he says so much and can convey so many feelings. I never would have believed I would love a M/M romance so much and yet I consider this book one of the best books I’ve ever read.
I won’t lie though. The very few sex scenes were foreign to read. I could not relate. I now know that I could never read a book mostly written with sex scenes between men. Or between women I guess. But as they were few and that this book is so much bigger than that it remains an extraordinary read filled with very,very loveable and extraordinary characters. Full of vibrant colors and rich with the sounds and smell of the Oregon’s forest. Bursting with joy, love, loss, grief, courage and hope.
I want to thank my Goodreads friends for their wonderful reviews because they convinced me to take the risk. Now if only I could convince you as well to give this book a chance….
Second part: all some of the quotes that broke my heart or filled me with happiness or any other strong emotions
How his father saw Ox and how he saw himself for a very long time:
“Dumb as an ox,” he said. It didn’t sound mean coming from him. It just was. (…) It was okay. He was my dad. He knew better than anyone. “You’re gonna get shit,” he said. “For most of your life.” (…)“People won’t understand you,” he said. “Ox. People are going to be mean. You just ignore them. Keep your head down.” “People aren’t mean. Not always.” I didn’t know that many people. Didn’t really have any friends. But the people I did know weren’t mean. Not always. They just didn’t know what to do with me. Most of them. But that was okay. I didn’t know what to do with me either.”
He took care of his mom. He was barely a teen when his dad left and he promised her he would always protect her. This scene was the second of the many cracks in my heart…
“She touched my face. Her hands smelled like salt and french fries and coffee. Her thumbs brushed against my wet cheeks. “What happened?” I looked down at her, because she’d always been small and at some point in the last year or so, I’d grown right past her. I wished I could remember the day it happened. It seemed monumental. “I’ll take care of you,” I promised her. “You don’t ever need to worry.”
He was desperate, bills piling up and went to the auto shop his dad worked for before leaving. He asked the boss Gordo to give him a job because:
”I’d do good, Gordo. I would do good work and I’d work for you forever. It was going to happen anyway and can we just do it now? Can we just do it now? I’m sorry. I just need to do it now because I have to be the man now.” My throat hurt. “
And when years later he got his gift from Gordo on his sixteen’s birthday with his name embroidered:
” Ox, the work shirt read. Like I mattered. Like I meant something. Like I was important. Men don’t cry. My daddy taught me that. Men don’t cry because they don’t have time to cry.”
I was looking like a panda on the train, all mascara running on my cheeks…
When Joe met Ox for the first time: <b> He shook his head. “No, no, no. It’s something bigger.” He walked toward me, his eyes going wider. Then he was running. He wasn’t big. He couldn’t have been more than nine or ten. He collided with my legs, and I barely took a step back. He started climbing me, hooking his legs around my thighs and pulling himself up until his arms were around my neck and we were face to face. “It’s you!” I didn’t know what was going on. “What’s me?” He was in my arms now. I didn’t want him to fall. He took my face in his hands and squished my cheeks together. “Why do you smell like that?” he demanded. “Where did you come from? Do you live in the woods? What are you? We just got here. Finally. Where is your house?” He put his forehead against mine and inhaled deeply. “I don’t get it!” he exclaimed. “What is it?” And then he was crawling up and over my shoulders, feet pressed against my chest and neck until he clambered onto my back, arms around my neck, chin hooked on my shoulder. “We have to go see my mom and dad,” he said. “They’ll know what this is. They know everything.” He was a tornado of fingers and feet and words. I was caught in the storm. (…) “Mom! Mom. You have to smell him! It’s like… 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… whoa. 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 rawr and grr but then I smelled it again and it was him and it was all kaboom! I don’t even know! I don’t even know! You gotta smell him and then tell me why it’s all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome.” </b>
I’ll stop here as I don’t want to give any spoiler away and won’t reveal more than what’s already is on the cover. JUST READ IT!
LOVED it!! Thought the plot and the author’s voice were amazingly unique.
So true!!!! <3