Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

96 reviews

beebeewin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

What a fantastic book! My favorite of the year so far! I couldn't put it down and was drawn in by all the different parts of the story. McConaghy masterfully built tension and suspense with each new tidbit and event. Each character felt fleshed out and I appreciated each plot point. The romance felt real and I identified so deeply with the urge to not be vulnerable and let trauma close all doors. I would recommend this read to anyone!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Gore, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy

riddlemesphinx's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Vomit

Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Pregnancy

dahyol's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• 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, Murder, Blood, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

je_re_la's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Gore, Animal death, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

oliviaclaire's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book is beautiful, it's also horrific. There is violence, death, grit and gore, yet at the same time there are some of the most beautiful descriptions of nature and a powerful sense of enduring hope in the face of some pretty heavy odds. 

So I find myself torn, the premise is intriguing, our protagonist has a very interesting trait that is well portrayed, the cast is divided and divisive. But as with a lot of books I have read lately, our journey takes darker and darker turns before crashing into a slightly desperate attempt for a 'gotcha' ending which tips us into tropey and melodramatic thriller territory. 

In summary this book is moving, atmospheric and powerful but builds to a wildly melodramatic conclusion that pushes us somewhat into the realm of disbelief and sours the beauty of the writing. 

I also feel like maybe there was character death included which I would class as unecessary and mildy gratuitous

Fingal didn't need to die, we'd had the rabbit, sheep, cattle and two of three wolf deaths by this point. It didn't serve much of a purpose and I have a personal gripe with killing dogs in film and literature when it doesn't actively serve to drive the story or a character to a pivotal plot point. End of rant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Gore

mmccombs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved everything about this book! In reading this right after finishing Braiding Sweetgrass, the themes of rewilding and creating balance between humans and the Earth were especially poignant. I loved Inti’s character, she is complicated and passionate and angry, and her relationship with her sister makes her arc even more interesting. The mystery, Inti’s backstory, and the story of the wolves beautifully blended into something so complex and stunning and hopeful, I’d recommend this to just about anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Animal death

quinntessentialbird's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

leahrosiee's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Grief, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Gore, and Sexual content

Minor: Stalking

nerdybookworm23's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse

mikah_wazowski's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I thought (and the synopsis said) that this would be a mystery novel about someone who reintroduces wolves into the Scotland Highlands and ends up trying to absolve them of murder-then in doing so discovers it’s her lover who is the prime suspect. Ok. Sure. That’s maybe 150 pages of this story though. The majority of this book is an exploration of why people do absolutely horrible things to each other-and it doesn’t even do that well. I wanted to like someone. I ended up liking one side character and the wolves and that was it. All of that is fine but then when the

pregnancy, sexual assault, and physical and emotional abuse

become the main crux of the story, I was done. The descriptions of birth, assault, and abuse are needlessly graphic, starting with the first sentence. And I understand why, I just didn’t like it and don’t think it was handled well at all. I wanted a story about wolves and I got another story about how terrible people are :( 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, Rape, and Grief