Brothersong

This book DEHYDRATED me. I spent the first 1/4 of it in tears and a few more parts besides. I was a bit too invested in all the lives of the Bennetts and Klune's style of writing really inspires a sense of melancholy that hit me hard. However, I did have some issues in hindsight.

While I absolutely adore this series as a whole, I felt that Carter was a bit short changed in this book in comparison. We spend all of the last book from Robbie's disjoined POV, with Carter and the timberwolf that follows him everywhere (later known to be Gavin) as side characters and then we're hit at the very end with this dramatic climax culminating in Livingstone and Gavin leaving. The afterword included in that book dropped the reader in the middle of Carter's story and was pretty powerful but then that scene is left out of this book, assuming the reader already knows about it from that afterword (and is referenced in passing during this book). Livingstone is barely mentioned after they leave the cabin in Minnesota, with all of the action with him vs. the witches happening “off screen” while the Bennetts and their town basically go about their normal lives. The witch that betrays them is very anticlimactic and is just a repeat of the battle from the other books, with even the characters themselves mentioning how everything keeps repeating.
While reading, I was interested in everything as it was happening but thinking back on the series, we're left with a lot of questions and it seems like Klune was himself unsure how to write about Livingstone and how to end the book and the series.

I just hope this isn't the last we get from the Bennetts.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Love but with notes

4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes

5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive

I don't round up if half stars are not allowed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Review Edited)

I’ll go ahead and start this review by saying I almost DNFed this book.

Which sucks because it was the 1 book in the series that had a lot of scenes how the main pair developed their romantic relationship. Wolfsong did give us a lot of scenes how Joe and Ox developed their relationship however that relationship was primarily a friendship because Joe was a minor for most of Wolfsong.

I almost DNFed this because I got frustrated about a lot of things.

1. Why didn’t Livingstone just off Carter when they were in the middle of the woods? He knew Carter was there. He had time, opportunity, the strength. There was no good reason for him not to just kill Carter right there and then other than the fact it would have cut the story very short.

2. Why did Carter have so many hang ups about having a guy as his mate? It was mentioned in 1 of the books that same sex pairings were not only not taboo but a pretty common occurrence. So, it shouldn’t have surprised Carter at all despite his clear preference towards women before.

In addition to that, it also struck me as odd that Carter kept on saying he really has no idea how to go about having gay “relations”. He grew up in a culture where gay relationships are not uncommon, people are ok with a lot of nudity, and has family in gay relationships. But he still had no idea how that works?

Huh?

3. I had the same feeling about the final battle here as I did about the battle in Heartsong. It was underwhelming.

I mean, how scary is Livingstone supposed to be when a regular Beta wolf like Elizabeth can break another wolf’s neck with a bite but Livingstone, who is described as a “beast”, can’t effectively crush Rico’s spine when he caught him? Yes, he killed a human but the whole battle only 1 human was killed?

Then there was that scene with the doors which confused me because they were battling it out in the town and then that doors scene and then all of a sudden they were in front of the blue house. How did that happen?

4. The book went back and forth between glorifying Thomas and then have scenes where people would discuss how Thomas was wrong. I get people would go back and forth about how they feel about people they loved despite knowing that those same people messed up. But I feel that they should have emphasized that Thomas was not that great at all. He tried his best but he wasn’t really that great.

In the books, it was always mentioned that Thomas would take Joe to teach him to become the “Alpha of All”. But was he really? Joe left his nuclear pack and his responsibilities of being the “Alpha of All”. And when he came back, he was struggling with the responsibilities of juggling his duties with his nuclear pack and Caswell. So really, how good was Thomas at preparing Joe? Not that much, it seems like.

And how Thomas prepared Joe is so different from how Livingstone, Grandpa Abel and Thomas prepared Gordo for his life as the next witch for the Bennett pack. Gordo got his whole arms tattooed at a young age. That was horrifying. And that was just to be a witch and not an “Alpha to All”.

On top of that Thomas kept secrets that kept on biting them back in the end. Him and Grandpa Abel. And he didn’t tell anyone about these secrets/mistakes to at least warn them. He wrote letters to the future mates of his sons but he couldn’t write letters to his family warning them about the issues he caused? REALLY?!!

5. It grates my nerves that in the end they renamed the garage from “Gordo’s” to “Bennetts”.

In the books they kept on saying that the Bennetts were special but after reading all 4 books, I have come to the conclusion that this family is not so great or special. They actually messed up. A lot. Who saved their bacon? Ox and Gordo.

If anyone should be honored at the end of this series, it is my opinion that it should be those 2.

Some positives, I was glad that characters were finally discussing how Thomas has made mistakes. I also very much liked how that Carter, Kelly, and Joe had heart to heart conversations. I was especially moved when Joe confessed his feelings of being left out.

My views on this book is a culmination of frustrations with the whole series rather than this book in particular. But as the last book in the series, I expected more.