Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

108 reviews

ankellogg's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Trigger warnings galore!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

olivebleu's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sonlight21's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

2.5

When I started this book I was not expecting what it would become. This is not a light hearted wilderness book. The emotional journey taken is wild, tense, and dark. There is a lot to learn but also a lot to be aware of before entering. 

At first I found the writing style hard to get into. It felt broken and chopped. I didn't slip into it until the last 60 pages or so. Some of the plot felt broken and missing such as the main relationship. It felt like it was just sprung into existence no feeling or relationship built. 


Please read the content warnings! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent and Gaslighting

Minor: Hate crime

lovelymisanthrope's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I received a copy of this book as a gift. 
"Once There Were Wolves" follows Inti Flynn as she arrives in Scotland. Inti is a biologist who has been tasked with introducing wolves back into the remote Highlands in an effort to bring life back into the dying landscape. Unfortunately for her, she receives nothing but pushback and critique from the townspeople. 
This story was intense and heartbreaking as an animal lover. Wolves are natural predators, and because of that, people seem to fear them. When there is a member of the town found dead, everyone is quick to point the blame at the wolves rather than each other. Some moments I found difficult to read because I love animals so deeply, and I felt like the town was being unreasonably cruel towards the wolves, and other animals in general. 
I did not love Inti as a character. There was something about her character that I could not connect to, and it made it difficult for me to become invested in her story. 
I did really enjoy the atmosphere and setting of this story. I felt entirely immersed in the forest and I loved getting to explore more of the Highlands with the characters. 
I am not completely deterred from reading Charlotte McConaghy in the future, but I am not jumping with anticipation either. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

mmc_librarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism

astridrv's review against another edition

As with Migrations, it took me a few chapters to get into the voice - something about the overtly rebelious tone always initially irks me. And then, somehow, magic happens: a scene, a paragraph, an image of utter awareness and connection to the natural world, a burst of intense emotion, and I'm hooked. Can't stop reading. Inti, like Franny, stays with me in between pages. The writing is poetic as fuck, and yes, the story could be more restrained, less dramatic. But so what? We are alive in this raw rare miracle and Charlotte McConaghy not only gets that but also shares it on an instinctive level. She might say, from her wild parts to ours.

That said, I have issues with the way the theme of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and PTSD was portrayed in here. It feels unnuanced, and one character especially felt like a metaphorical device at times more than a person. I'm increasingly upset about how their arc ends. In attempting to do three things at once, I feel like this book was mostly successful as an eco-fiction work (although I raised my eyebrow at

giving birth in a snowy forest

), rather unconvincing as a murder mystery, and widely immature as a commentary on misogynistic violence and PTSD.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy

neni's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

clemireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

abbasaurusrex's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

5.0

Absolutely riveting. A stunning read exploring the nature of humanity and the humanity in nature. Lots of graphic violence but none of it senseless. Check trigger warnings but if you can get through it you will be richly rewarded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

brea's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail