Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

177 reviews

ejsimpson's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

have had this book for three years but never read it because I was convinced it wouldn’t be as perfectly spectacular as Migrations. Reading the majority of this book had me second guessing that, but then that twist came and ruined absolutely everything for me. 
The world building, the characters, the setting, <i> the wolves </i> and the slow build up of tension in the town, between Inti and the farmers or some other characters, the emotional reveal I knew was waiting for me later in the book about Inti and her sister. We were gearing up for a promising five star if not solid four star title. But the reveal, after so much was lost, it wasn’t the type of emotional devastation I was expecting. I wasn’t devastated, I was furious. This completely ruined the story for me, everything just suddenly fell apart and felt like it didn’t matter at all. I was mad at everyone, mad that I was enjoying this story as equally as Franny’s, and that it all came crashing down in a sort of unforgivable way. 

⚠️ Spoilers:
The dog dies. No, you know what, he was murdered. 
There is a pretty graphic scene with one of the wolves, think GoT-like. And others of them who are killed, or die. 
Aside from it being released a few years before OTWW, this had to have been inspiration for My Sister, the Serial Killer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Child abuse

northernfleabag's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Grief, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

jaedee09's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

What a beautiful, tense, emotional story. This book made me feel so many things - anger, love, sadness...strength. At first I wasn't sure about the flashbacks, but quickly came to appreciate how poetic the story was written.

That birth scene was incredibly powerful!

Such a poingant way to blend a story of conservation, family ties, murder, and love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Animal death, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Murder

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

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

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

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

Moderate: Death of parent and Gaslighting

Minor: Hate crime

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

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Misogyny

Minor: Ableism

lunar_power's review

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

labricoleuse's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved this book until it began to strain credulity too far. I’ll probably try another book by this author in the hopes that she reins in the tendency to jump all the sharks, because the conservationist thriller is a genre hybrid I’m interested in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Gore

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

Moderate: Physical abuse and Domestic abuse