The Alpha's Son (The Alpha's Son, #1) (2024)

the Sterek vibes tho

The Alpha's Son is a debut book from author Penny Jessup, and the first book to launch with this new indie small press, Tiny Ghost, which is a publisher focused on releasing queer paranormal YA books. The cover art is adorable - look how cute Max is!

Buckle in, I have thoughts. For it being the launch book, my immediate thoughts in the first 50-100 pages was that for being marketed as a queer mm werewolf book from a queer-focused press, the world building and overall feel was VERY heteronormative and binary. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the words "gay" and "bi" were only used as a quick reference for humans, as if they just don't exist as an option for werewolves? It just seemed...odd. (I keep seeing people on insta shouting that it's GAY - and I'm that Thor gif that has him squinting and going, "is it though?")

The opening of this book begins where teen werewolves are invited to attend the Blue Moon festival, an event where all unmated wolves have the chance to find their fated mate. This also kinda hit me in a somewhat uncomfortable sort of way - do we have a-spec wolves? What if a shifter is aromantic? Sex-repulused? Romance-repulsed? Also these shifters are CHILDREN haha, they're just 16 trying to find FOREVER life partners!!

Also, I think one of the characters called another wolf "omega" as an insult - so are there traditional ABO-verse hierarchies here? I think this is me asking for more world building and grounding of werewolf "rules" as it were. Does every state have this festival? Because it seems pretty far fetched that some 70% of wolves find their mate if they can't even go beyond their home state?

Max goes with his best friend Katie (who, honestly, I'm possibly more interested in her story with her mate issue haha but there were just the same issues with that too as I have with gay/not gay), despite not having any interest in finding a mate for himself. (I'm with you, Max!) OK, so Max is adorable - he did have some great lines as he is thrown into the mating craze when all he wants to do is draw.

The person he discovers is his fated mate, however, I never really warmed up to him at any point during this book. I think that being in first person POV and not getting a chapter or anything from Jasper's POV did a real disservice to him and make him basically impossible to be likable. I get that Aisha says he's great, that everyone loves him and he's a great guy, but all I see as the reader is him constantly being a dick to his mate. Who would want that as your mate?!

I also have a big problem with the whole martyr move (Thanks Angel and Buffy, that's who I blame for that lol) where one character makes a decision that will affect them both without any discussion or input from their partner. And actually, the more I think about Jasper, the more I think he is a total d-bag and Max deserves better. There is literally zero redeeming quality about him in this overall book, tell me why Max should settle for someone like Jasper.

I didn't know going into this that this was going to be a series, and it's a....somewhat decent sort of cliffhanger, since the main relationship is still in question at the end of this 400 page book. I would be interested in knowing if book 2 will be from Jasper's POV (I think that would help readers care for him more lol).

If you are a fan of the younger end of YA, (because this felt like it read young YA to me with the lingo and using "like" actually in the prose), and you like lots of drama, sometimes OTT, this might work for you! There are plenty of reviews already that are raving about this book. If I was 14, I'd probably love it. But I'm 20 years past that and while I love me some werewolf stories, this one ultimately missed the mark for me as an overall story.

I received an arc from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not going to rate The Alpha’s Son because sometimes a debut has potential but isn’t ready to enter the world yet. This is such a book.

The Alpha’s Son is a queer YA about werewolves. Max is sixteen when he gets invited to the Blue Moon Festival to find his mate. But he doesn’t want to find his mate, he’d rather draw in his sketchbook. Until he meets Jasper.

I had Green Creek vibes when I put The Alpha’s Son on my TBR, but the minute I started reading, those vibes disappeared. If I had to compare this story to another T.J. Klune’s series, it would be The Extraordinaries. The Alpha’s Son is action-packed, humorous (almost over the top at times), lively, and even though it’s nearly 400 pages, it’s very easily readable. This is a story to read on an evening or a Sunday afternoon in just one sitting.

While I liked the overall story and read the book in just a few sittings, there was a bit too much drama for my liking especially in the second part of the story (that ending???). And more importantly, I had mixed feelings about the writing and the editing. Sometimes the writing was vivid and active, and at other times it felt clunky, immature, simple, and repetitive. Furthermore, paragraphs broke off rather abruptly and sometimes consisted of only one sentence. The transitions between chapters or within chapters were also awkward at times. At the same time, the simpler writing and the drama are far more suited to younger MCs (upper MG/lower YA) than to sixteen and eighteen-year-olds (the age of Max and Jasper).

I contacted the publisher, and they told me they want their first book to have the best chance of success as possible out in the wild, and they promised to look into the manuscript again. I really hope The Alpha’s Son will be thoroughly edited. If done right, I believe this could be a great book!

I received an ARC from Tiny Ghost Press in exchange for an honest review.

I received this arc and was genuinely so excited for this book. It sounded exactly like something I’d love to read and my followers would be interested in! When I tell you I was utterly disappointed I mean it. I’m a very chill reader and I believe books deserve a chance and I know it’s hard writing a book!

This is the first book I’ve ever rated so low.
So before I spoil it let me say if you’re excited for this book READ IT. If you love it that’s AWESOME. We all have different tastes and expectations and you should always see for yourself. This is the first time a book did not give me ANYTHING good to talk about. I genuinely have no praise to give and that sucks.

This book… it felt like a cringe hetero fanfiction. It was too serious and the tropes were written so bad and you couldn’t even connect with the MC. The story line was messy and I didn’t like any of the characters. The girl/guy best friend trope was WEIRD and honestly the book focused on them way more than the actual ‘enemies to lovers’ or whatever it was supposed to be. It kind of felt like ‘oh I *get* to be gay because the mating bond said so’ (and the MC didn’t want a mate and then all of sudden that’s all he cared about).
Also in this book the wolves are the conservative hom*ophobic ones while the humans are progressive so that was an interesting twist. There’s a side polyamorous plot too between the girl best friend and two guys she mated with (who she saw both of behind the others’ backs only to not be able to choose and the guys ‘begrudgingly’ agreed to all hang out together). This is the same Best friend who was excited for the meeting festival because she wanted to mate so bad and blew up at Max because he didn’t want a mate, much less HER because if you had to be stuck with someone why not your best friend? But she actually was in love with him and got so childishly angry at him ONLY to forget his existence once she bonded?
The best friend got more page time than Max and Jasper.

It just felt cheap.

There was no depth to ANYTHING. It felt like everything was for shock value instead of expressing who these characters are and letting us connect with them.

Max became obsessed with Jasper and it was weird having the ‘my identity is a boy’ trope here. We went from ‘I don’t care about mates’ to ‘I’m no one without Jasper’.

The plot twist bad guy ended up being a female volunteer from the Blue moon mating festival ,who at the end, held the Alpha at gunpoint because all she wanted was a mate and hadn’t bonded yet after YEARS of waiting and wanted the alpha to force his son to bond with her. Otherwise her father, who chauffeured the Alpha around, would be disappointed or something. ‘I’ve worked for your family for years without recognition’ type of thing.

What

Y’all, I pictured the sheep from Zootopia with her tiny angry energy and high pitched nasally voice.

After spending the entire book in denial they were supposed to be together (and I mean hard core ignoring and angrily pushing away Max and hardly ever being on page together much less in positive ways), Jasper confesses his mutual feelings only to walk away again because it would be ‘too dangerous’. We know Jasper has a lot of trauma and fear but I felt separated from him and it was difficult to really connect or empathize.

That’s how it ends. I only know this because I skimmed the last 60 pages because I needed to know how things ended but also didn’t care about this book to actually read anymore.

It was very difficult to pine for the couple to be together when we had no satisfaction of them ever truly connecting ONLY FOR THEM to still not end up together. There was no rewarding reunion to encourage us to care and cheer for them. It was frustrating and tiring.

The humor was terrible.
No character chemistry.
The girl /guy best friend relationship was terrible.
The plot, plot twist, and bad guy made my eyebrows rise into my hair line.
The writing was cringe
The romance? What romance? It was a weird infatuation.

The Alpha’s son... was not what I was expecting. I didn’t realise that this would be an urban fantasy set in New York, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, I was just anticipating something very different. I was really hoping for a full on new fantasy werewolf world that I could sink my teeth into.

As someone who literally grew up reading Sterek fanfiction, and to be clear, I have probably read more of those fics than I have published novels, I had high expectations. I also read a lot of different werewolf series, and love the genre. The point is, I feel like I’ve exhausted every trope, pack dynamic, world-building device, and wolf system, you could imagine. Alas, I love stupid little werewolves, and based on my expectations for the Alpha’s Son, I thought it could be a new favourite.

For the most part, if I ignored the little problems I had with it throughout, this could have been something I really loved. I hate that I am a critical reader, but I just can’t ignore those things no matter how hard I try. The thing that bothered me the most was how Jasper treated Max - like absolute sh*t. Jasper was genuinely cruel sometimes, and for what reason? It also felt really out of character at some points and so confusing.

The thing is, I normally LOVE dark romances and enemies or hate to lovers. Literally give me any book with those kind of tropes and I’ll devour it. As long as it makes sense for the plot and is well written, of course. I don’t really think that was the point of this romance, so it really surprised me. In this case, it did not make a whole lot of sense. The ending was actually kind of infuriating. After treating Max like sh*t for literally the entire novel, and then finally having that lovely moment with him on the beach, Jasper flips and pushes him away again. Why?

I get that this is a series and they are obviously going to get together eventually. Yet, there are so many better ways to do slow burn romances. I just didn’t think any of that was necessary. It also didn’t really make any sense by the end of the book. His father gives him permission to be with his mate, aka the one thing that was holding him back from openly loving him, and now he suddenly has a new excuse to not be with him for the sake of prolonging the burn?

I wish the author had just went FULL enemies to lovers and had them both absolutely hate each other and despise the fact that they were mates. The get together in the next book or third book or whatever, would probably be so much more satisfying. With the way that their story is being set up currently, I don’t feel myself rooting for them as much as I could be. Why would I want them to get together when Jasper literally doesn’t even deserve Max?

My point is, it wasn’t the fun kind of slow burn. Their dynamic just felt a little off. It was very clear that they both actually liked each other, and I just don’t think Jasper’s reasonings for pushing Max away were justified. I get the pressure parents can put on their queer children, I understand the internalised hom*ophobia he may have been feeling because of the tradition his father was projecting on him. If those were the reasons, I don’t think they were really explored well enough to be good justifications for his behaviour. Maybe this would have benefited from a dual POV so we could get inside his head and really understand him. I hope the author expands the story with a Jasper POV in the next book!

Despite my complaints, I did actually enjoy the read! I finished it in less than a day, which is always a good sign for the slowest reader in history (me). I really liked the side characters, and Max was a fun protagonist. I just wish he had a more worthy love interest. The pack dynamics were interesting and I’d like to learn more about that. The rogues were endearing and I feel like there’s potential there for some interesting storylines to unravel. I ended up really liking the references to things like TikTok and how modern it ended up being. I felt like the urban fantasy aspects could have been pushed further, and I’d love to know more about how the wolf society functions around the human world.

The plot ended up being really fun and mysterious. I did not see the twist coming at the end, and when it happened, I could see the groundwork that had set everything up, and it did feel believable. I LOVED the conversation between Max and his Alpha in the final chapter. I was craving a one-on-one like that and hope the author explores that relationship more because it could make for some really fun dynamics. There is a lot of potential for this to be a really good series. I’m hoping the next novel makes sense of the few problems I had so I can just full on love this!

I’m definitely going to pick up the next one. Jasper has a lot of work to do to win me back. Yet, from that ending I feel like he’s probably going to infuriate me even more in the next book. I am looking forward to revisiting the world!

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I don’t want to come across as mean and unfeeling because, writing a book? It’s hard work.

This is a debut novel from a very small publishing company, and both those things together make me feel all warm and fuzzy. I love supporting new writers and indie companies, but in all honestly, I can’t rate this one any higher than 1.25 stars.

I love the premise, but this one needed a little bit more TLC in terms of editing.

They were very one dimensional, especially Jasper.

He had absolutely no redeeming qualities and acted like an asshole 95% of the time. He was purposefully cruel to Max and he seemed to enjoy the pain he inflicted on him.
There were no grand gestures and love declarations, only selfishness and a reluctant admission of the fact that they were mates. Lots of hiding too, he almost seemed ashamed of Max.

I hated it to no end. Max deserves better.

Max was just ok, somewhat bland and very judgemental. I didn’t enjoy being stuck in his head.
He also had no dignity. He was treated like literal trash by Jasper and he kept coming back for more. He was always the bigger person, reaching out and fighting for their ‘love’, but to no avail.

I had no respect for him, and neither did Jasper.

The cast of side characters were truly unremarkable. Some were introduced for no apparent reason (Troy, Olivia…) as they didn’t play a significant role in, well, anything.

I was midly surprised, so it had potential. But same old, same old. They were bland and that’s all I’ll say about that so that this remains a spoiler free review.

This book is meant for a very young audience, so I’ll excuse the cringey werewolf puns (“ladies and gentle-wolves”, “to be the bigger wolf in this situation”, etc) and overall light-heartedness; but still, it has undeniable flaws.

The dialogue was incredibly choppy and felt very clumsy at times.

The pacing was really fast, which I don’t mind, but the climax and ending felt very rushed and cut short just to have an excuse for there to be a sequel (unnecessary)

I could tell which scenes Penny Jessup included AFTER she finished writing the book, probably during the editing process. Max had 3 first kisses with Jasper. It’s as if the editor told her “hey, there’s literally no chemistry between these two, you have to include at least a kiss at the 30% mark, and then another around the 60% mark, before finishing with the movie scene kiss at 90%.
And Penny did as she was told and nobody reread the final version it seems because each time, Max thought “I can’t believe this is my first kiss.”

We do get lots of fan favourite tropes along the way:
✔️First love
✔️Enemies to lovers
✔️One bed
✔️Starcrossed lovers

But, disclaimer, none of them gave me any satisfaction because, again, they felt rushed, with many possibilities being left unexplored and just there for the sake of it.

Still, I am confident that Penny Jessup’s following books will be great, because the potential is there. It just needs a little shaping.

*4.25*

Gracias Tiny Ghost Press por mandarme una copia avanzada de este libro!

THIS WAS SO FUN WTF.

The Alpha's Son es de esos libros que son meramente para entretenerte. Es una historia divertida, encantadora y muy, muy entretenida. Es de esos libro para pasar el rato y cumple con su cometido perfecto, porque a mi parecer es imposible pasarla mal mientras lees este librito.

Siempre describo este libro como una mezcla de adolescentes lobos + Camp Rock. Es una mezcla que no sabia que necesitaba hasta que llegó este libro y fue increíble. A riesgo de sonar repetitivo, es demasiado divertido. Las situaciones por la que pasan los personajes, el plot, los plot twists; todo fue perfecto para la historia que Penny Jessup te quería contar.

Los personajes me gustaron mucho igual y tengo demasiadas ganas de ver hacia donde va su historia.
Max y Jasper tienen muy buenos momentos en el libro pero aún hay espacio para mucho desarrollo en ambas partes. A veces no veiamos ese desarrollo porque la autora los escribió con mucho angst pero creo que hay oportunidad en la secuela para expandirlos independientemente y también como pareja.

Que emoción que me haya gustado este libro y que emoción que todavia falta mucha historia por descubir.

TW: possible abusive parent?, very heteronormative worldbuilding

You know I’m a total sucker for werewolf storys, especially if they are queer. So of course I had to read this one!
Max is 16 and going to the Blue moon festival for the first time with his best friend Katie. It’s a festival where young werewolves are supposed to find their mates when the Blue Moon, a second full moon within a month, appears.
Only Max doesn’t really want to find a mate and his mother (and Katie) constantly suggesting that it might be Katie annoys him even more.
At the festival they all get introduced to Jasper, the Alphas son, who’s there for the first time as well and looking for a mate. A Luna for their pack.

What I did not expect going into this was how absolutely un-queer this book would be.
I read a lot of werewolf books by now and for me it seems most werewolf books are centring mainly around queer werewolves. Most books I read have werewolves who are regularly bisexual. So this book being more like a coming out story in a world where being queer is not common or even abnormal…that was a huge f*cking surprise to me. No queer words are even used in this (gay, bi, pan, poly, ace etc.).
We can all guess how this story evolves, so this wasn’t a cutesy romance, but a rather star crossed, forbidden lovers one.

It was a very easy to read story though, the style of writing is very fresh and young and I think perfect for YA readers. The chapters are short, there isn’t much of a heavily described world building and the humour was good.
Max’s thoughts are pretty hilarious most of the time and I think everyone enjoys a bit of a dumbass character.

“Oh no, I think I did something bad.” “Like how bad?” she asks. “Like I should probably walk into the forest and never be seen again.”

The first part of the book was a pretty fun and gripping read for me.
Jasper is a totally moody dickhe*d, constantly frowning and snappish towards everyone.
You want to know when and where they finally figure out they are mates. You want to know when Jaspers real character finally comes to light.

When I was over half way though the story though, nothing changed and that’s what made this book not for me.
Jasper is being horrible throughout this whole book, until the very end. We meet his best friend Aisha in this story who constantly repeats how much of a sweetheart he truly is. But there is not a single scene in this where Jasper isn’t either insulting or pushing away Max. He’s only ever being mean.
These two do not have a single normal conversation in the whole book. They don’t get to know each other at all (and also the reader doesn’t get to know anything really about these characters). They spend hours and days together without really talking, apart from Jasper being horrible to Max. And Max is running to him and trying again and again and again, no matter what Jasper says to him.
And Aisha and Katie tell Max over and over again how he should talk to Jasper and try again and fight for him.
Is that the kind of love we want teenagers to think is good? Being constantly insulted and pushed away? That they should fight for such a toxic relationship? Hell no!
By the end of this book I was absolutely rolling my eyes so hard they started hurting.
With the amount of times Jasper tells Max he doesn’t want him…a boy should take a hint.

“You’re being so pessimistic.” She holds up a shiny silver number, considers it, then hangs it back on the rack.
“Am I? He’s been a jerk the entire time I’ve known him and when he isn’t being a dick he ignores me completely.”

All in all this book is very 2000 over-the-top cliche YA, with the moody beautiful badass prince loveinterest and the most absolute ridiculous things happening.
If you love cliche YA fantasy with a character like that I would absolutely recommend this book and I bet you will love it! It reads kinda like a teenwolf fanfic, which I think a lot of people would most definitely be interested in.
It just isn’t a thing I’m looking for and enjoying anymore.
I personally can’t see me reading the sequel for this, but can absolutely tell a lot of people will absolutely enjoy this.

A little side note before I end this though: there is a scene in which Max overhears Jasper possibly being beaten by his own father. Later on he sees Jasper with a lot of bruising when he changes.
After this it is never even mentioned again.
As this is supposed to be a series I hope this will get addressed properly later on, especially because it’s written for a younger audience.

…at least the cover is pretty.

I was given an eARC by Tiny Ghost Press in exchange for an honest review.

I won’t be giving a star rating for The Alpha’s Son because I’m struggling with how I would rate it. I tend to get stressed when it comes to writing reviews for advanced copy of books when I didn’t like the book, because I know it’s just my personal opinion, but I hate the idea of my review putting readers off, so please don’t read this review and come away thinking it’s a bad book.

The Alpha’s Son is a queer, young-adult novel that focuses around werewolves. I’m a huge sucker for werewolf romance stories, especially angsty werewolf stories, but this was definitely not a novel for me.

The writing and dialogue was a little too young for me & I was finding it hard to enjoy the characters/plot due to this, especially at the start of the book. The writing felt jarring at times, and I was really struggling to get into the feel of it.

I think this is a book that will be perfect for people who want an easy, cute and over the top teen story, which personally, from how it was written, I was not very fond of. It’s a very simple story to follow, it’s got comedy, angst, and the main thing I was happy with, was that it was queer.

Although I’ve settled on the fact I did not enjoy this, I may come back and reread it in the future, just to give it another go and see if my opinion changes. Not every book is meant to be, and I’m sad that this book was one of them.

TWITTER | INSTA

wolfblood but make it gay!

The Alpha’s Son was cheesy, cringey and read like a wattpad fanfic, but it was gay so i’ll allow it. Although the writing clearly wasn’t perfect and had some errors, i think that with a bit more editing, it could have great potential. I loved the majority of the characters and the plot had me so invested that i read the whole story in two sittings. It was just a nice, fun read which kept me hooked throughout and honesty, this book had no business being as funny as it was! I wasn’t a huge fan of the way things ended with the cliffhanger, but i’m definitely intrigued to see where things go in book two.

Overall, The Alpha’s Son was very cute, queer and exactly what i needed. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for an over the top, easy to read, gay enemies to lovers story with lots of pining, angst and “bonehead” boyfriends.

Thank you so much to Tiny Ghost Press (@tinyghostpress) for sending me an eARC of this book!

if you need me i'll be here feeling vaguely feral until the next book drops

☼ thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc of the alpha's son in exchange for an honest review.

pitched as young royals meets teen wolf meets twilight (hello hyperfixations!), max couldn’t care less about finding his mate. so attending the blue moon festival, a rite of passage where wolves go to find their mate, is his kind of his personal hell. that is, until he bumps into the alpha’s son - jasper - who he finds himself inextricably linked to.

the alpha’s son is an exploration of choices: choosing between destiny vs. the life you were born into, between turning your back and taking the easier way out, or choosing to stay and fight, even if that involves sacrifices.

although i’ve started gravitating towards na/adult books, there’s always a soft spot in my heart for ya - a place that forever feels like home even as i grow up. i’m reminded of what a good jumping off point ya is for different genres. ya fantasy? ya sci-fi? all bangers!

the alpha’s son feels like quintessential ya (lower ya/upper middle grade, specifically). full of dorky kids who are still fumbling their way through their teens, not having figured things out yet but they are good beans! full of heart! making mistakes & learning as they try to do the right thing!

and then you have kids like jasper who have a lot on their plate, coming off as condescending and aloof. i have a soft spot for him even though this boy makes Questionable decisions - shoutout to penny jessup for literally making me yell at the book. you see the walls they’ve built to protect themselves, and watch them come down as they realise that hurting others hurts themselves.

generally speaking, ya has lower stakes. its relatively easier to consume. so i do enjoy how this made me sit back and reconsider things. it asks you: what are the extents one would go to to change their circ*mstances. its something i sat with for a long time, and i love that ya books still leave a mark on me.

I enjoyed the first part of this book. I can easily imagine that part as a comic or on of those Netflix teen shows. Would have been a delightful pastime for an afternoon on my couch. Although that camp culture is a foreign concept for me, we probably have seen enough American shows to be able to jump right into it and if you still remember the awkwardness, insecurity combined with a know-it-all attitude, the hormonal sense of romance and the anxious coolness of the years when you were 16, you certainly know what to expect and it doesn't matter that it's about werewolf kids and the promise to find their mate under the blue moon. That part totally keeps the promise made by the neat cover.

Of course there is also pressure and fate doesn't always work as it is supposed to do. It could easily happen that you find yourself with 2 mates or none at all, maybe you don't want one because you're already in love with a human or you're forced to accept your sexuality and as if that would have been not enough your mate is a jerk and the son of your Alpha. Poor Max, until the moon run he's so clueless it's almost funny but once he knows his mate, he takes it in stride without looking back. Too bad it's not the same for Jasper who caves in under the pressure to be the future alpha. The game of hot and cold might be understandable to a certain degree and a lot of it comes from Max's friends propping him up again and again but it's still like such teenage dramas are done, so I'm totally fine with it, same applies to the little action part which usually leads to a solution and a happily-ever-after … just not here. Here comes the Harvest Moon party and Jasper is turning from jerk to ass and regardless what came afterwards he doesn't really redeem himself and I don't even talk about what he does at the end of the book.

The first part had everything necessary for a nice, enjoyable read but the 2nd part with the party, the yacht and the beach … strange logic holes, unbelievable actions, bullsh*t reasoning overly used in romances and an ending that is supposed to make me curious about the next book but has a completely different effect on me.

Gosh, that was terrible. Perfect case of "don't judge a book by its cover because you'll sure be disappointed."

Do I wish I hadn't spent hours reading this book? f*ck yes.
Honestly the only thing I could think during all the book, it's that Max could have AT LEAST a little of pride and some self respect.

It’s super late so I’ll make it quick just so I won’t forget before I write an actual review:

I’m not sure I can call this a good book. I mean, it was SO MUCH FUN, I really had a hard time putting it down… but it just wasn’t good, you know? The one-note writing, the sloppy world-building, the depth of the characters (or lack thereof), that RIDICULOUS ENDING...

But with all that - I really did have a lot of fun reading it.

Full review to come✌🏾🙏🏽

I liked this book.

Boy meets boy at a Summer Camp Festival, boys turn into Werewolves and become mates, boys have some adventures and deny their feelings but then kiss, but then break up....

Fun to read, sweet characters and it's a m/m, YA, teen romance. 👍

3.5 Stars

Review:
This started out a bit iffy, but it definitely got better for me as it went on. I'll start by getting some nitpicky things and complaints out of the way, then talk about what I liked.

The teen werewolf mating campout, in which teens as young as 15 were pressured to find “the one” within a few days time, was weird. To be fair, these are fictional werewolves, and even real life adults put weird pressures on teens, but still. That part of the book wasn’t the strongest for me.

I've seen reviewers mention that the werewolf community in the book is very heteronormative, and it is, among other things. But I was ok with that, in the sense that there are real life communities full of heteronormativity/queerphobia, so it’s a reality some teens have to deal with. And though the characters didn't question things as much as I might've expected them to (being queer or female themselves, and presumably Gen Z), at least some of the problematic stuff was slightly challenged. And maybe the characters are just so mired in the beliefs they were raised with that they’re slow to realize or confront certain things. That's not necessarily unrealistic.

I was unclear on some things. I would’ve liked more info on wolf abilities and society. I was in Max's POV, and yet I couldn’t tell how he felt about being attracted to a guy. And I especially didn’t understand the mate bond. It was a huge deal. But then there were wolves who didn’t have a fated mate, they just chose their mate. And then it turned out there was a ritual with biting that would make a bond with that person and break any existing bonds with others. But doesn’t that mean chosen mates are just as good as fated ones? *SPOILER* And why would breaking a bond by forcefully creating a new one even matter if the original two people still just genuinely like/love each other? Does the new bond create artificial feelings that overpower the real ones? Because that would have uncomfortable and widespread implications. *END SPOILER*

There were a couple things that I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about, so I’m reserving judgment until I see more. The friendship between Max and Katie didn’t feel very close. So if it’s meant to be a great friendship, I don’t buy it. But if it’s meant to be an imperfect friendship, maybe one that’s drifting apart or two people who are really only friends because they’ve always been friends, it feels realistic. And the alpha—if I’m meant to like him just because of a good thing he did, no thanks. But if he’s meant to be complex or to show how a person can treat their child abusively but be very charming publicly, or if he’s having his own growth arc, then he’s being written well.

And now the good---the book got better in the second half, once they left the festival! The plot got more interesting with some drama, action, and danger. I got more invested and wanted to know what would happen with both plot and romance. Dialogue was somewhat stilted in the beginning, especially between Max and Jasper, but that improved and felt more natural as the book went on. There was also just more interaction between them, so we got to start seeing the feelings and the angst.

Some characters were likeable. Some were sympathetic. Some weren’t. Max was kind of oblivious but determined. Jasper was broody. And they all felt like teens. Sometimes they made rash decisions or bad decisions or hurt people or had dramatic emotions, but, you know, so do a lot of teens. (Some adults too.)

A few neutral things readers might like to know... Jasper was a jerk to Max at first, but it was never too extreme or unforgivable. It was sort of general condescension. *SPOILER* And in the end, he explained that he acted like a jerk purposely in order to push Max away, because of his fear of getting something good only to lose it the way he lost his mother. *END SPOILER* I’ve seen it mentioned that Max seemed to forget that he and Jasper kissed earlier in the book, but, just to clarify, he thinks at one point about how he just doesn’t consider that first one a real kiss. Last but not least, this is the first in a series, so all the threads, including romantic, are not wrapped up yet.

I try to keep in mind with YA books that they’re not for me, they’re for and about teens. And as a teen, I probably would’ve liked this even more since I wasn’t as nitpicky and just enjoyed getting sucked into a good story with some action and drama and angsty romance.

So overall, I liked this, and it was good in a lot of ways. It just lacked the oomph and awareness it could’ve had. But it’s possible some of these things will be better in the next book, and I’m interested in the characters and was pulled into the story and want to see what will happen next!

*Rating: 3.5 Stars // Read Date: 2022 // Format: Ebook via TTS*

Recommended For:
Anyone who likes queer YA romance with angst, some drama and action, and wolf shifters.

Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight

Ok no so first off, i wanted this book to be good. I wanted this book to be good so bad. Gay werewolves? f*ck yeah. But first off, they were human like 95% of the time. What the f*ck is that about? They say multiple times things like: ‘i haven’t shifted in a while’ and ‘it had been so ling since i had seen my best friend’s wolf it was nice to see it again’ like??? Any shifter book has the shifters almost more comfortable in their animal form than their human form and these guys maybe shift once every few months? No. Make it believable.

Also: it felt like the author was just using them being wolves as an excuse to use a mate/alpha dynamic? Literally no other part of their culture had anything to do with being wolves. Do they meet as a pack ever? No. Do they regularly see their alpha? No. Do they run as wolves in any kind of family dynamic? No. It felt cheap.

Also are we just gonna ignore the fact that parents regularly send their SIXTEEN YEAR OLDS to camp for 4 days with the expectation that they will bring home a lifelong mate? They literally send them to sex camp and expect them to come home with spouses at SIXTEEN????

The writing was meh, very surface level understandings of the characters and their emotions. It reads a lot like a fanfic, which is not necessary a bad thing but there were also some inconsistencies. Like i could tell the author is from the UK because there would be random references to ‘trainers’ and ‘bin’ when in the rest of the book they use ‘sneakers’ and ‘trash/trash can’. Also im not sure if it was because i was reading a day 1 ebook version but there were some spelling errors and grammatical mistakes too. Like at one point they just leave out a whole word to finish the sentence.

I could forgive most of this if it weren’t for the ending though. We went through the WHOLE book with Max actively pursuing Jasper and calling first and showing up even when Jasper was being a toxic sh*thead, even though he should have waited for Jasper to make a move but he didn’t, Max made the first move time and time again and in the end Jasper finally f*cking accepts him only to say ‘no we can’t be together because people will always be after you because of me its too dangerous for you to be with me’ like???? What the f*ck we went through all of that bullsh*ttery of Jasper’s for nothing?? And it ends with Max being like: ‘no im gonna fight for him……in book 2’ f*ck that. Jasper is not worth fighting for at this point.

Also we had that whole heart to heart with alpha Jericho and we are just supposed to forget that he made Jasper into a shell of a person with his abuse and expectations and LITERALLY f*ckING HIT HIM???

Bro f*ck that. If this was a standalone and they got together in the end it would have gotten a perfectly average 3 stars but no i cant that ending was absolute garbage sorry babe.

The Alpha's Son is a quick and enjoyable read.

In this were-world there is the Blue Moon Festival, a summer camp where wolves go to find their mate.

Max Remus doesn't couldn't care less about mates. So naturally, he finds his mate during the 'Mating Run'. And his mate just so happens to be the Alpha's son, Jesper Apollo...As if the drama wasn't enough, throw in some rogue wolves and a hostage situation on a yacht.

While The Alpha's Son does have its faults, I can see the potential it has and I'm hopeful the sequel will be an improvement and that I'll enjoy it more.

I really wanted to like this book. I was so excited to read it when I put it on pre-order as the premise was pretty amazing for a young adult book, rather than what you'd usually find in the ABO section of Kindle. However, I was sorely disappointed.

This could have been amazing, but the characters were so boring. It was like a toss-up of teenage-angst and weird ultra-campy vibes mixed into stereotypes and clichés you'd find in a parody b-list movie.

MAX:
I feel like his whole character was defined by the sort of tropey shill you'd get in any other Degrassi type drama and some whiny mix of everything sucks, but I guess I'm here so maybe I'll make it suck more? He couldn't make a decision for himself throughout the whole dang book.

KATIE:
Best friend? I don't know, Max and Katie's whole relationship seems more toxic and brushed to the side more than it's worth. Not only were they constantly on a "I love you"/"I hate you" thing, but the situation usually resolved itself fast without any sort of preamble. Some of the arguments they got in were so petty that it made me cringe- they're not 13 year old teens, though they seemed to act like it most of the time.

JASPER:
Don't even get me started. Sure, it was mentioned NUMEROUS times that he "has a lot on his plate" and that no one should give him flack for it, but jeez, that was the same line repeated over and over and over and over. Honestly, it was so played out by the end that it became a petty excuse for the character to just cause more useless drama for the sake of continuing the book/series.

AISHA:
Cool character- but dang did her arc come out of no where with little more explained on the depth of what really happened beneath it all. Sure, we got some sort of closure for the things that happened in the book, but there were so many unanswered things that ended up getting glossed over for the sake of speeding the story along?

Alright- I can't harp on this with so much negativity that it may put off any potential readers. However, I'd warn you that you'll be slightly disappointed in such a mediocre ending. The characters don't change, there's no progression, and the story gets buried beneath the same old spiel of "No happiness" under the guise of safety? Really? There's a reason why people hated that in Twilight so much- because it's a total cop out.

Lastly, I just want to urge authors, or anyone writing, to PLEASE edit your works thoroughly. I mean, read through that sucker as many times as it takes and have others do the same before it's released to the general public so you know there are no discrepancies.
There were misspellings galore and more than one occasion that the character suddenly seemed to forget an event that happened and acts as if it were the "first time" they'd done something? It makes the book seem like it was written by a teenager at times with no real substance behind what's happening with the character or how they react to something they've already reacted to.

Either way- the story was a convoluted take at drama with so many twists and turns that it basically made the whole thing seem like three different books crammed into one without any sort of real ending in sight. I don't think I'll be picking up the second one.

SPOILER:

Max and Jasper kiss at the festival in Chapter 21, but then later on when they almost kiss in the pool and finally kiss at the end, apparently it's their first kiss? Uh, what? Did they not clearly make out, naked in fact, when Max was chasing Jasper? Sure, maybe they didn't actually confirm the whole "Mate" thing in words, even though they clearly knew it, but Max even says "My first ever kiss!" before they're interrupted in the pool.

2.5? maybe?
this is 100% a wattpad werewolf story. there is no changing my mind on that. I read it in just two or three sittings because I couldn't put it down but in the same way you keep reading trashy fanfics. 10/10 would recommend.

I just absolutely cannot get over the hor'dourves. Hors d'oeuvres. It's spelled hors d'oeuvres. I am, once again, begging authors to stop using sentences/words in languages they do not speak if they're not even going to ask someone who does speak the language to verify their use of it. Or just google it! it takes 30 seconds tops. It's extremely distracting for people who do speak the language, unfortunately. It only happens once in this book but I tend to keep away from books using French that were written by non-francophone authors so this is the one review that gets my rant. Sorry. I did find it hilarious here though (even talked to my mum about it!), but it just took me out of the book immediately. Maybe it was misspelled on purpose because Americans find it funny to write French with the most ridiculous spellings possible, but... French speaking people do read your books too, guys! It's funny, but really distracting.

I enjoyed reading this a lot, though. It was really fun, and I couldn't put it down (only reasons I did were sleep deprivation and my lecture starting. Otherwise I would have finished it in one sitting for sure). It's not my favourite book ever (sorry), but it's a great time. I'll definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out (I'd love to have a publication date btw, if anyone has info), because I know it has potential - and uh, to be completely honest, I'm not opposed to reading more werwolf fanfics.

the alpha’s son by penny jessup was a fun read. the storytelling is rich and thrilling at times, the characters are enticing and charismatic (though sometimes annoying), and the enemies to loves trope was fun to witness. it’s a m/m love, wolf shifter romance full of yearning, comedy, and adventure. such an interesting and unique debut. i wasn't a huge fan of the ending, because the character choices felt regressive. i also wasn't a fan of the heteronormative-ness of the world it was set in. for it being a queer book, that part also felt super regressive. but i still very much enjoyed this book for what it was.

This has to be Teen Wolf fic with the serial numbers filed off right?

(Received this book as an eARC from Tiny Ghost Press in exchange for a review, THANK YOU!!!)

Just finished this and WOW this book is GAY and I love it for that reason, I absolutely wish I had books like this one to reach for when I was a kid figuring out things.
I enjoyed the characters, the story setting and overall plot.
But I do need to say that again, I wish I read this as a kid not adult because I would have enjoyed it much more.

!!This is my opinion and my opinion only; This is a perfect intermediate YA LGBTQIA+ book, I don't think it's mature enough for YA.
I explain below.

This book (I feel) could have used one more round of editing. There's just a few grammatical issues, sentence structure issues and the writing style I had some issues with or (some of mentioned above) just, didn't assist the storyline in anyway.
Some of the characters could have done with the same as well, one more edit to crisp up the edges and give some fullness to characters and places.
I do want to say, there was A LOT of cheesy and predictable parts, the dialogue between characters is very teen-angst and overall, the story was again, predictable in too many places which makes me feel this is a wonderful intermediate YA LGBTQIA+ book.
It handles being gay and handles what the LGBTQIA+ community handles in a very light, gentle and almost, beginner kind of way. I'd love to have a middle schooler read this book, it would speak volumes to them.

Anyway,
I give this book 3.5 stars, I feel I want to read the next book to give my full opinion but, if you are looking for a quick, feel good (I think it's 370pgs?) adventurous and enjoyable LGBTQ+ friendly YA book that involves gay werewolves and kidnapping, look no further.

Until Next Time My Friends,
-Mr.Horror

woof.

Review will follow soon

This is definitely a YA story, but it never pretended to be anything else. I enjoyed it. I would have given it 4 stars, but I didn’t like the ending. I don’t plan to read the next book because I just don’t want to spend that much time while Max chases after Jasper.

I'm rating the ARC a 3.5/75? I'm confused on how to rate this because the first quarter of the book felt entirely different than the last three quarters. The first quarter felt like I was reading an overdramatic middle grade novel. For one thing, the sheer number of times the main character, Max, called Jasper a jerk was annoying. The manner he called Jasper a jerk reminded me of my 12 year old brother rather than the 16 year old he was supposed to be. It happened so often it was actually distracting (it seemed like it was occurring almost every other paragraph at some points). And the number of exclamation points throughout the novel needs to be reduced by a solid 95%, but they were especially bad in this first quarter of the book. I don't hate explanation points; I think they can be really effective, but it was just too much in this book at the start. They made a lot of the sentences fall short in their tone. The overuse of exclamation points made them feel cheesy/corny instead of dramatic and exciting. I think overall, the writing felt more middle grade than YA in this first quarter, which isn't inherently bad, but weird when most of the characters are 16-19 years old.

BUT then (and I remember the exact chapter the shift occurred) all that started to change! It seemed like the editing got better and more consistent for the last three quarters of the book because it was SO MUCH BETTER! The exclamation points were still a bit much for my taste, but they were sparse enough to better ignore so I could actually focus on the ABSOLUTELY COOL STORY. The world/politics of the wolves and the mating run were amazing. Jasper and Max were such great characters and the drama that unfolded was really interesting. I love the idea of mates and the way it impacted Max was angsty and cute to read. His growth from being aloof about mates to truly understanding them was beautiful. I was also really surprised at some of the turns this book took. I think I wish we could've gone a bit deeper into a few characters (it would've been nice to get even angstier with Max and Jasper I think) but I imagine we'll get that in book 2, which I am VERY excited for. These last three quarters felt more mature and more YA than the first quarter. The writing and the pacing were also really good in these sections.

Overall, this book was good, in fact I wish I could ignore the first quarter because if I could only rate the last three quarters of the book, this rating would be at least a 4.5. But the first quarter..
I'm going to meet in the middle for now with a 3.5/75, but I'll update my rating when I reread the finished product, because I have a feeling (from other reviews) that there will be bigger changes made between the ARCs given out and the final copy.

Thank you soo much to Tiny Ghost Press for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

first off, i hate it here.

this was genuinely fun at the beginning then just became more and more toxic as it continued. the "plot twist" had me rolling my eyes so hard they very well could've rolled right out of my head. the character development? what character development? we get more time learning about katie and her two mate issue that she ends up lying to both of them in a poor attempt at polyamory I'd assume than we do of max and jasper.

i can look past jasper wanting to do what he thinks is right for the pack as that's the duty he's been born into and being stoic and cold towards max most times, but what really gets me here is that the characters left the book really the same that they did before. no growth, still just very not right for each other as they were when they first met. the ending was just.... inexcusably bad. there's really zero reason this book needed a sequel and it'll be an icy day in hell before i spend money on it.

my extreme and utter distaste for this book stems from the COMPLETE brushing off of jasper's dad hitting him and bruising his ribs. no, instead max says oh cool thanks after their alleged heart to heart at the end of the book. if this is max just brushing it off then, well, sorry but he's the real villain of this story.

oh, and this reads like a first draft. yikes.