Never Hollowed By The Stare

Green Creek: Ravensong – T.J. Klune

Gordo Livingstone never forgot the lessons carved into his skin. Hardened by the betrayal of a pack who left him behind, he sought solace in the garage in his tiny mountain town, vowing never again to involve himself in the affairs of wolves.

It should have been enough.

And it was, until the wolves came back, and with them, Mark Bennett. In the end, they faced the beast together as a pack… and won.

Now, a year later, Gordo has found himself once again the witch of the Bennett pack. Green Creek has settled after the death of Richard Collins, and Gordo constantly struggles to ignore Mark and the song that howls between them.

But time is running out. Something is coming. And this time, it’s crawling from within.

Some bonds, no matter how strong, were made to be broken

T.J. Klune wasn’t kidding when he said that Ravensong was “bigger, more hardcore, darker and shit blows up”.

In the first book, Wolfsong, we meet Ox and Joe, and the Bennett pack. The boys grew up together then fell apart. The book closed with the pack once again united. Now it’s Gordo’s story to tell.

Once, there was a boy.
Once, there was a wolf.
He had sat with his back against a tree.
His bare feet were in the grass.
The boy leaned forward and kissed the wolf.
And knew then that nothing would ever be the same.

Ravensong is Gordo’s past, present and future. The first several chapters jumps back and forth from his childhood, growing up with his dad inking magic into his skin, running with the pack, his adventures with Rico, Chris and Tanner, and his encounters with Mark up to his life on the road with Joe, Kelly and Carter on the trail of Richard Collins.The rest of the book deals with the town’s lockdown and the war with Elijah.

The hurt. The grief that never entirely goes away. The rage. The hate. The push and the pull. The love. SO.MUCH.FEELS.

The funny thing about hate is the razor-thin line that separates it from something else entirely

Gordo has been burned time and time again and he doesn’t forgive easily.

I don’t believe your promises anymore.

He also can’t stay away.

Here, in the dark, hearing him laugh reminded me of the way things once had been. And the way things could be…

The atypical prose perfectly captures all the raw, hard-edged emotions. Nobody comes out unscathed.

There were bright spots of irreverent, self-aware humor inserted at just the right places because Team Human is gold. They say out loud the things I’m thinking.

The entire Bennett pack is precious. I live for the wolves and the humans. Protect them at all cost!

It took almost the entire book for Gordo to get his head out of his ass. All while, nobody hesitated to tell him he’s being an asshole. I love it! He and Mark deserved their home.

I know Wolfsong was epic and awesome but Ravensong was all that and more. I wholeheartedly recommend the Green Creek series even to those who are not fans of shifter stories because I am also not a fan of shifter stories but T.J. Klune had me howling with his wolves.

All my stars for the Bennett pack.

P.S.

To fully enjoy Ravensong, it’s best to read Wolfsong first. The books are not standalones.

A succinct review of Wolfsong here

T.J. Klune and narrator Kurt Graves’ interview on Jeff and Will’s Big Gay Fiction Podcast here.

Rating:

5 Stars – absolutely perfect

Soundtrack: Raven Chant
Artist: Of The Wand & The Moon
Album: Nighttime Nightrhymes

(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35114241-ravensong)