Reviews

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

steph1101's review against another edition

4.0

For fans of Kristin Hannah and Delia Owens I think you would like this novel. It has a bit more prose and it a little slower but still a heart wrenching novel about a strong willed female, her relationship with her broken sister, trying to bring wolves back to a strong - willed, anti wolf town in Ireland.

beck4books's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kirstycarson1's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

c_ab_bage's review against another edition

4.0

charlotte mcconaghy has such a way with storytelling that it always leaves me feeling hollowed out. there is never anything explicitly sad about the endings of her books, but similarly to migrations, the ending of ‘once there were wolves’ left me feeling so emotionally wrecked that it brought tears to my eyes.


humans have the capacity for so much love. the world around us is so beautiful and there are endless things to appreciate about it. and that never felt more apparent than when i finished this book.

luise96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not sure how to feel about this one! The first hour was quite slow and I thought I might DNF, but after that it got quite interesting. There are quite some subplots, and some questions left open for me. I was expecting a „The Overstory“ kind of book, which this wasn‘t for me. The main character was not exactly likeable for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, and Murder

meminger's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

emgovan's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

emilyjhahn's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

3.5

spatterson12's review

4.0

A quick weekend read that shined a light on the role wolves play in the ecosystem. Something that’s never crossed my mind. The first third was a little slow, but the remaining chapters were hard to put down.

beereading90's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ich weiß nicht, wieso in letzter Zeit die meisten meiner gelesenen Bücher 5 Sterne bekommen.
Bin ich einfacher zufrieden zu stellen oder hab ich einfach Glück bei meinen Picks?

Was ich aber weiß ist, dass es mir sehr gut gefallen hat.
Die Prämisse des Buches ist die Frage wer eigentlich die brutale Kreatur ist
- Wolf oder Mensch?
Wenn man sich so durch das Buch liest und der Lebensweise
der Wölfe näher kommt und im Gegensatz dazu liest was die
Menschen sich so teilweise aus Spaß gegenseitig antun,
scheint die Antwort auf die Frage klar.

Dieses Buch ist eine Ode an die Natur, an das Leben darin.
Die Landschaftsbeschreibungen sind so gewaltig,
aber auch fein, malerisch, poetisch und tiefsinnig.
Ich möchte jetzt sofort nach Schottland in die Highlands reisen.

Nicht nur erhält man hier Sachwissen über Wölfe und wie sie
unserem Ökosystem helfen können, sondern gibt es auch
einen Kriminalfall mit einigen unerwarteten Wendungen
und dubiosen Charakteren, die alle irgendetwas zu verbergen scheinen.