Wolfsong – Book Review

Mild spoilers throughout, with big spoilers clearly marked under subtitle headings.

LONG REVIEW.

Under the Oak Tree: Side Story isn’t the only book with adult themes that I’ve read recently. Before I say anything more, it’s important to make clear that Wolfsong is an 18+ book. It features a lot of violence and a couple of very intense sex scenes. While I certainly enjoyed it, not everyone will.

That said, one of the core themes of Wolfsong is growing up, so some particularly mature teens might get a lot from reading this book. Despite this, I would still be wary of recommending it to under eighteens because the novel does feature a prominent age-gap relationship which could be romanticised by impressionable (or irresponsible) minds.

Much like Under the Oak Tree, Wolfsong’s relationships can be dangerous. I think the book knows that, but do its readers?

Wolfsong’s Cover and Erasure of Bisexual Peoples

My husband has recently been listening to Bi (Dr Julia Shaw) which talks about the unique struggles bisexual peoples face in LGBT communities and the world at large. For me, overhearing his audiobooks as I work, one of the most interesting sections of the book was about the erasure of bisexuality in modern English-speaking media.

Since hearing this, I haven’t been able to stop noticing it. Bisexual characters are often coded as gay, or at the very least not described openly as ‘bisexual’, and while Wolfsong itself avoids falling into this trap, its marketing fails.

The cover of my copy, unfortunately, features a quote from V. E. Schwab, ‘Like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket’. It’s not exactly untrue, but it is misleading, and I’m embarrassed to say that it did sell the book to me.

On reading the book, however, I was confused when our protagonist and narrator, Oxnard Matheson, dated a girl at school and seemed to develop honest, romantic feelings for her. Indeed, it’s a few hundred pages later that Ox tells his mother that he thinks he might be bisexual:

“I don’t care about stuff like that.” // “What stuff?” // “If you’re gay or whatever.” // “Bisexual,” I said as if that would make it any better.” // “Bisexual,” she said. “Okay.”

P.128

Brilliantly, Wolfsong doesn’t shy away from the b-word, but its marketing does and that disappoints me. It’s not untrue that the book is like a big gay blanket, but that statement obscures so much about Oxnard’s romantic explorations.

Descriptions, Repetition, and Style

Most of the one-star reviews for this book on Goodreads speak about problems with its style. Many people complain about its ‘unnecessary repetition’. For the majority of readers, the repetition serves to communicate intensity and emotion, but a minority find it extremely off-putting, ‘try-hard’ and ‘annoying’. As such, I recommend that people try reading a section of the book before they commit to buying it.

Although… I recommend doing that with all books? I struggle to imagine buying any book based on its marketing alone…

Does Wolfsong Romanticise Age Gaps?

Mild spoilers for the progression of the main romance.

Yes and no.

It’s difficult to explain, a sensitive topic, and it’s why I recommend that readers of this book need to be very mindful about their stance on age-gap romances before going in. When our main couple first meet one another, Ox is 16 years old, and Joe is only 10. The book ambles along with our perspective character, Ox, never viewing Joe romantically—much to Joe’s disappointment. Despite that Joe already has feelings for Ox, there’s never a moment where Joe really tries to seduce Ox, not until Ox finally develops honest romantic feelings for Joe at ages 23 and 17 respectively—which is still awkward.

In the six years between their first meeting and initial courting, both individuals see other age-appropriate people. There’s no sense of romantic grooming on either side, but there is an intensity and dependence that isn’t normal. In addition to this, the book signposts the idea that Joe and Ox are destined for one another throughout, which plants some awkward ideas in the reader’s mind quite early on.

I haven’t read any of Klune’s work previous to Wolfsong, so I found it quite uncomfortable not knowing whether there was going to be a stronger paedophilic element to the plot. I didn’t know whether I could trust Klune to handle this sensitively. It was a bit anxiety-inducing and for other readers, this was enough to cause them to DNF the book.

In the end, I think Klune himself tried quite hard to avoid elements of grooming coming through in his writing, and at ages 23 and 17 (Ox and Joe), we get conversations between Ox and his mother about Ox’s own unease with his newfound attraction to a very young man/ teen.

“He’s seventeen, Ox.” // “And nothing will happen until he turns eighteen.” I didn’t want to talk about that part with her anymore. […] // “What happens if it doesn’t work out?”

P.168

Despite this care and attention to try and write an age-gap romance sensitively, without making it creepy, I can’t help but think that many readers will still struggle with this. Of course, there are going to be some readers who will romanticise the early moments of Joe and Ox’s friendship, which is a problem. There will also be others who can’t quite separate the unease they feel about a 23-year-old showing interest in a 17-year-old who has been raised like their little brother. I can’t deny that it had an incestuous feel to it, even at the end.

Overall, it’s worth mentioning that even though their romance begins when Joe is 17, nothing of a sexual nature happens until Joe is 21. Their age gap is still there, but by this point, Joe is definitely an adult and able to make his own decisions without the pressure of parental views and with far greater knowledge of the adult world.

Comparisons with Lore Olympus – Another Age-Gap Romance

Mild spoilers for Lore Olympus and Wolfsong

For those of you who don’t know Lore Olympus, it’s a webcomic retelling of the Hades and Persephone story from Greek myth. However, in LO, the world of the Greek Gods is an urban paradise, allowing its creator, Rachel Smythe, to talk about modern problems alongside traditional magic and myth.

In Lore Olympus, the younger teen is both seducer and seduced. There are clear problems, but both parties are very aware of the difficulties. Their feelings are explored, questioned, and empathised with. Instead of romanticising the age-gap romance, I believe that Lore Olympus explores why they happen whilst still agreeing that they’re problematic, which is a refreshing change to most age-gap fiction I’ve (often accidentally) read.

Then, similarly to Wolfsong, the lovers are eventually torn apart so that the younger can be fully mature before their relationship deepens.

Personally, I’m not sure that the age-gap problem in Wolfsong is interrogated enough for me to consider it a worthwhile addition to the book. Unlike in Lore Olympus where the feelings and power dynamics of both sides are thoroughly considered and explained, the age-gap here seems to be an awkward addition to the story that Klune is trying to encourage the reader to ignore.

In my opinion, if Klune wasn’t comfortable with exploring the topic more, it would have been a better read if Joe had simply been a few years older. It was miles better than Twilight’s rendition of ‘imprinting’ where Jacob finally gets Bella by falling in love with her daughter, Renesmee, but then… Twilight has never been a paragon of ethical or moral virtue.

Better than Twilight, not as good as Lore Olympus.

Werewolves in Wolfsong

I’ve seen one or two reviews of Wolfsong complain that its werewolves and magic aren’t explained enough. I, on the other hand, enjoyed that the text generally lacked long swathes of exposition. Honestly, not every detail is explained, and I’m OK with that. The important parts come across in time, and it’s important to recognise that this is the first book in a series—some of its mysteries are intentionally being left for later books, I’m sure.

To speak about the werewolves themselves, they don’t feel particularly cursed. They can choose not to shift during the full moon, but they find it incredibly painful. Unlike in Glen Duncan’s The Last Werewolf, they aren’t struck with an insatiable hunger to consume human flesh once a month. The wolves in Wolfsong can transform halfway or completely outside the full moon, and in doing so find power and community.

They are a family and a pack. There are difficulties with being a werewolf, but not distinctly more than anyone who has ever felt different. In this way, they are relatable. They are strange and ostracised, but they are loyal to one another and deeply loving. They can be vicious when threatened, but they also like to sing under the full moon.

The focus of the werewolf magic is the idea of ‘pack’ and how it connects the feelings of all those involved. Everyone in a pack is family, even if there are romantic relations within that pack, which sometimes gives the book a bit of an incestuous feel to it.

Aside from this, the theme of the wolf comes through in many ways. The werewolves often feel the need to reassure one another in very physical ways, like touching the shoulder or face, kissing their cheek, or falling asleep in a big pile. When shifted, their language regresses and becomes repetitive and simplistic, conveying their base desires and needs.

The Ending – I Didn’t Like It

Major spoilers for Wolfsong

It undermines so much of what came before. So much of the book is about communication, or the lack thereof, and one of my favourite moments in the book was when Gordo told Ox not to tell the other mechanics about the world of magic, but Ox did so anyway because he was tired of the secrets and the betrayals, because he needed their companionship and conversation.

That moment went against so many other urban fantasy books where the magic must be hidden from someone important to the protagonist. Ox disagrees. If you love someone, you let them know the truth, as mindfully as you can, but you include them.

I loved Ox in that moment.

And that’s what made it so difficult for me when the finale depended on him cutting communications and keeping secrets.

Inevitably, this nearly kills him, which is perhaps the moral of the story—a lack of communication can only lead to greater problems. We are stronger together, never apart. Still, as a reader, I struggled to understand how or when Ox had shifted his perspective on secrets to allow him to act in the ways that triggered the final confrontation.

As an aspiring author, it reads like Klune had the ending in mind for a long time, but that the character Ox developed into over the course of the book didn’t quite fit that ending and perhaps he didn’t know how to correct that, so he wrote it anyway. It doesn’t ruin the book or series for me, but there’s always going to be the feeling that it didn’t quite fit, and perhaps needed something more, or different.

To Conclude…

Despite its many flaws, I really loved this book. While some readers try to put it down by saying that its melancholic aura is suffocating and its humour is too awkward, I heartily disagree. I love the way this book was written—it was perfect for me (aside from the age-gap romance which I really could have done without).

I won’t be rushing to read the sequels because for me, the book felt quite finished and Gordo—protagonist of book two—is far from being one of my favourite characters. That said, I’ll be interested to read more of TJ Klune’s work in the future.

If you’re a fan of wolves, you might like my post, Best Dogs in Fiction for more recommendations.

Stay tuned for my next post on the Avatar Yangchen book! Follow us if you want to be notified when it releases!