Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

29 reviews

_inge's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

3.5 stars. This read like a Gothic novel, there was a dark, tense atmosphere throughout. The characters were morally grey in a believable way and the decor was set really well. I actually liked how it showed women who lived with traumas and how that changed their perspective of men as a whole, it was interesting to see the other side to that for a change. I liked the conversations about rewilding projects too. So overall this was an enjoyable read. It simply didn’t blow me away. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death, Rape, Gore, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

massivepizzacrust's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

The audiobook read by Saskia Maarleveld is outstanding! I usually space out during audiobooks but I was engaged the entire time and the narration added an new level of emotion to the story. This was sometimes a hard book to get through, and listening to the last 20% of it in the car made me forget to take my freeway exit. Definitely check content warnings before heading into this, it was more detailed than I realized.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Blood, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Violence, Rape, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit

Domestic abuse is a central theme of this book. On screen events happen in flashbacks but they are quite detailed.

leahrosiee's review against another edition

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

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Stalking, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion, Dementia, Drug use, Infertility, and Suicide

arcookson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Pregnancy

readergonewilde's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Vomit

alimoo511's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

This is such a deep book. None of these characters are likable and the only man I love in this book is a wolf and he is dead so. 

I highly recommend this book though it has an amazing balance of talk between conservationism and women's struggles. 

Inti is such a complex character and her deep love of nature and Wolves is so relatable, but is so beautifully contrasted with the love she has for her sister and her resentment towards society and men. 

Because of her character she is forced to be so empathetic and yet she wants to be anything but. She wishes she could do all these things, but for better or for worse she can't. Her heart belonging to the forest in connection to her neurodivergency is also SO GOOD. 

Honestly Read this now if you haven't it is remarkable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

beccadamb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Violence

keenanmaree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

This book is very beautifully written, and there is really a lot to love in it. It is a a story about humanity and our complicated relationship with nature, each other, and ourselves. McConaghy does a wonderful job of depicting the frustration and rage that comes out of simple misunderstandings, and also out of the sense of helplessness when we are unable to either prevent or correct the evils inflicted on ourselves or our loved ones. 

My lowish rating is due to some purely subjective issues I had with the story. Although I saw the sexual assault coming almost from the beginning of the book, the actual scene was so alarming (I’m sure intentionally so…how could it be anything but horrifying?) that I had to step away from the book for a bit. I also didn’t love that the victim of such a violent assault was transformed into a violent murderer herself. It works narratively, but I think it sends a harmful message about sufferers of ptsd. I am also always a bit turned off by the story device of “hardened woman has a baby and it solves all of her problems and teaches her how to love again.”

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Dementia, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Stalking, and Vomit

Minor: Child death, Infertility, and Suicide