Howl at the Klune

I knew it wasn't going to be high art going in, but I was nevertheless curious to read the book Wolfsong, by T.J. Klune. Klune is a prolific writer of gay romance, and this book in particular among the most highly-rated by fans of the genre. From a brief description, you can imagine why it would be: it's gay romance involving werewolves.

Told in the first-person, Wolfsong unfolds over several years as a young man named Ox befriends the strange new family down the street and learns their supernatural secret. He's particularly drawn to their youngest son Joe, who is destined to one day become Alpha of their werewolf pack. Ox helps Joe overcome a past trauma, of being abducted by a twisted rival seeking power. Now that past is returning in the form of the villain himself, and it threatens Ox and Joe's relationship and both their families.

The book almost tells you straight out that it's trying to be Twilight with gay characters, by mentioning that famous series by name multiple times in dialogue. Supernatural romance is a huge subgenre in fiction; why not give LGBT audiences their due? But if you're looking for something that might be better than than that inspiration, that might rise above the tropes somehow? Nah, don't get your hopes up.

The truth is, Wolfsong doesn't have the most compelling story. I'd call it predictable, but the author doesn't seem like he's making any effort not to be. At multiple points in the narrative, Klune comes straight out and has his protagonist Ox tell you that "looking back later, I'd remember this moment and think..." In this way, every major plot development is telegraphed well ahead of time. And Ox is deliberately built to not be the brightest of characters. What the reader has figured out takes Ox 100 pages or more to catch up with.

I wasn't even especially convinced by the romance at the heart of the story. There's a significant age gap between Ox and Joe -- not so big an issue later in the years-long narrative when both men are in their 20s. But it's quite awkward at the beginning when Ox is 16 years old and Joe is literally a boy. To root for their relationship in any way would feel creepy. To watch one unfold after what they experience in their youths feels almost incestuous. Klune can certainly write a steamy scene when the time comes -- which, lets face it, is probably what most readers are really here for. But the circumstances between those scenes really force you to engage in some willful amnesia.

I knew Wolfsong wasn't going to become my favorite book before I started reading it. But I had dared to hope for a little more. I'd give it a C+. Though it's the first of a multi-book series, I'm not sure I can see myself continuing to read them.