Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

96 reviews

mamesjegan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

kponturo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Suicide

cuddlewithbooks's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

There is so much to this book. It touches on so many graphic topics, I would highly suggest finding a list of trigger warnings before trying this book out. 

I'm not sure what to say, I picked this up on a whim thinking I would enjoy biologists in Scotland but it was so much darker than that. Obviously I needed to know what was next but it was so graphic and sometimes felt unnecessary. Though I can see the power in looking and feeling uncomfortable. 

I just didn't like it, especially in regards to the treatment of the animals in the book. If you don't like animal deaths, I really would not pick this one up. 

It's for someone but it's not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Animal death, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Rape

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Child abuse, and Death of parent

froon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

i love mcconaghy’s relentlessly hopeful (though not always happy) endings. no matter how much you feel like there’s no way things will turn around, they do, somehow.

i was gasping, covering my mouth, pulling my hair at the end of every chapter,, such a great book again from mcconaghy, probably a new favorite author

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal death, and Gore

Minor: Suicide

marsspider42's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is well written thriller with a side platter of climate activism. I don’t usually read mysteries, but Charlotte McConaghy’s beautiful prose and skillful manipulation of flashbacks, first person perspective and the reader’s assumptions makes for a fantastic book. I really enjoyed this book, and I think McConaghy is an author I would seek out again just to be enveloped so wholely into a story once more.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in nature, character studies, and mystery. Definitely check the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, Pregnancy, Stalking, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

miaromano's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Rape

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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

Pushed through to finish this after they dropped the unexpected pregnancy, and I can kinda see where it fits in the story but overall felt like an afterthought. The plotline of the wolves scaring the farmers was a fine plot on its own, and even the murder mystery. I just don't think the romance (?) really added anything because I don't think Inti can ever fully trust Duncan after everything that happened in her life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

fluffernutterfriday's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious fast-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

3.5

I lapped this book up like a wolf drinking from a stream. I'm a sucker for alive writing right now, and this writing is alive. The story moved quickly, and I read the book in functionally two sittings. I had to stop in the middle for our book club meeting, and it drove me nuts that I had to wait. The suspense hooked me in so tightly that I spent an hour and a half before work reading the next day, to the point that I didn't exercise or eat breakfast or shower. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual violence, Stalking, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, and Cursing

brittanymcmcmc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Violence, Death, Murder, and Mental illness

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, and Vomit

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

My IRL book club read this and overall, we really enjoyed it. I loved that I was immediately immersed in the story. It had short chapters (thank goodness!) and was a fast-paced, propulsive read. After struggling for weeks to be gripped by a book, I was so grateful to actually want to read. That alone left me feeling overwhelmingly positive about the book, and upon finishing, I rated it pretty highly. But then the more I thought about it, the more there were elements that really didn’t work for me. 

 

The wolves are excellent and are some of the best characters in the book. The human characters weren’t always well fleshed-out and their relationships didn’t always make a ton of sense (there seemed to be more telling than showing of the fact that characters cared for each other). The main character has a rare neurological condition that is mentioned constantly, but doesn’t really seem to add anything to the book. Finally, the ending is kind of a mess and way too rushed to really make sense of anything. However, overall, the book was a compelling, mostly satisfying read. I prefer Migrations, but I’ll continue reading McConaghey’s work. Lots of content warnings in this one though.

 

CW: animal death, gore, murder, sexual assault, abusive relationship, dementia, domestic violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Dementia