Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

136 reviews

perseusj4ckson's review

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, and Pregnancy

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

myeonmae's review

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Pregnancy

elaan's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This book was incredible. I was absolutely hooked. I could not put it down. My only criticism is that the ending revelations/events happened so quickly (perhaps this was intentional) and were convenient and a little fantastical. But even so, I really really enjoyed this story. So well done.

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Abandonment

norahc's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

mbomersheim's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I think it’s so fitting that I read this book while in Scotland!

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy is a fiction novel following Inti, a team member for a project that aims to rewild Scotland by reintroducing wolves into the Highlands in an area where the locals are not too pleased with their work. The plot starts picking up when a farmer is found dead and Inti gets swept into the drama of the town and protecting the wolves she released. I don’t think I was the intended audience for this book; it just wasn’t for me. The pacing was slow, and I didn’t care for the characters. Maybe it is because I have been reading a lot of fantasy recently, but I just wanted more plot. This being said, I know many people rate this book highly, so maybe I was just missing something. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

corncake's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Medical content, and Abandonment

allyem_reads's review

2.5

4.04 CAWPILE 

Meh? Not a great start to the year, but I'll deal. I knew this kind of story was out of my comfort zone anyway, so I'm not completely surprised that it just wasn't the book for me. At least I read it and knocked one more book off of my TBR!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

entangled_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent