REVIEWED by Jay V.

TITLE: Heartsong

AUTHOR: TJ Klune

SERIES: Green Creek #3

PUBLISHER: BOATK Book

LENGTH: 402 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 22, 2019

BLURB:

All Robbie Fontaine ever wanted was a place to belong. After the death of his mother, he bounces around from pack to pack, forming temporary bonds to keep from turning feral. It’s enough—until he receives a summons from the wolf stronghold in Caswell, Maine.

Life as the trusted second to Michelle Hughes—the Alpha of all—and the cherished friend of a gentle old witch teaches Robbie what it means to be pack, to have a home.

But when a mission from Michelle sends Robbie into the field, he finds himself questioning where he belongs and everything he’s been told. Whispers of traitorous wolves and wild magic abound—but who are the traitors and who the betrayed?

More than anything, Robbie hungers for answers, because one of those alleged traitors is Kelly Bennett—the wolf who may be his mate.

The truth has a way of coming out. And when it does, everything will shatter.

REVIEW:

I will preface this review by saying that I will try to keep away from spoilers.  I was struggling in how I could review this book without ruining the angst and joy of the novel, but I hope I’ve kept this spoiler free beyond what is known from the blurb. Much of the enjoyment in reading the bulk of TJ Klune’s books is not really knowing the whole story going in, but exploring as you go along.

This is Robbie’s story – where he comes from, how he doesn’t feel like he fits, and how he becomes part of the Bennett pack. There are twists and turns to how that comes about and then the epic story of the Bennett pack continues. Robbie’s had a difficult life and much of his memories are muddled due to past traumas. His journey is quite a struggle.

Klune’s writing is always so good with much thought put into the themes, emotions, coloring of his characters, and the actions that happen to them, but he has really stepped it up in this third installment of the Green Creek saga. The first two books in the series really must be read before this one, not because there are cliffhangers in each but to get the backstory and the opportunity to read a masterclass in writing.

All of the three Green Creek books are told from differing outside perspectives of the main pack/family – in the first book, Wolfsong, Ox, the neighbor boy, tells the story in his youthful way, with his wandering of words and feelings as he matures. There is a sense of Virginia Woolf in that book –  a sort of stream of consciousness and kaleidoscope that never confuses, but flows through Ox’s thoughts and emotions. The use of short sentences and repetitive words makes part of the book read like beautiful poetry. The second novel, Ravensong, told from the wolf pack’s on and off again witch, Gordo, has more underlying mistrust and a bit of rage. It is written in a more structured, mature style than the first, though it does hark back to the first novel’s poetry with some of the pack interaction.

Heartsong then continues the story but is now told from Robbie’s point of view. He had come to live with the Bennetts to report back to the main Alpha and her pack over all packs but quickly becomes part of the Bennett pack, finding his home and his potential mate. In the first book, the story is mainly moving forward in the present. In the second and third books, we get backstories on the characters in how they came about to be part of the pack and then continues on with the present story.  For Heartsong, Robbie’s perspective is written in a differing tone from the other two. Memories and dreams are a large exploration in this story, almost returning back to the wandering train of thought writing similar to Woolf, but in an even more modern style.  It takes the tone of the unreliable narrator as Robbie struggles with his past and dreams melding together before he joins the Bennett pack. The writing is never esoteric but in the first part, it takes some time to cull through the strands of his past history to build to the present story.

Sometimes middle books in a series struggle with being just a kind of holding point working towards the last book, but there is a definitive story arc that ties up many of the loose strings, though opens a few more situations. Klune’s books are notoriously addictive. I was going to slowly read this book but shortly in I was hooked, reading for long stretches of time to keep on finding out more of the story. There are some truly beautiful and some splendidly awful moments in this book, but that seems to be the way of this universe.  There are layers to the story that make you reassess what you’ve read.  This novel has a sense that part of their stories are completed, but I still anxiously await the last book though I strongly urge you not to wait since this book is just so deliciously good.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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